Originally Posted by
rwanttaja
I do have one slight disagreement with your post. When an airplane gets a new N-Number, it doesn't look like the old one is added to the deregistration list. The deregistration list isn't just a column of N-Numbers; it has the aircraft code that identifies the make, model, and serial number. So the FAA doesn't list the same aircraft in both the active and inactive list, even if the N-numbers disagree.
About a hundred EABs got new N-Numbers in 2018, and none of the old numbers appeared in the deregistered list under the same aircraft type. About 40 of the N-Numbers were listed in the deregistration list, but as different makes/models of aircraft (e.g., they got an N-Number previously used by another aircraft).
In some cases, planes that were previously deregistered are returned to the active list. I understand that the FAA doesn't re-use the N-Number for five years, to accomodate cases like this. One case pointed out to me was deregistered in March 2018, but restored to the active list in February 2019.
Ron Wanttaja