Registering a Destroyed Aircraft

[lmccormick]

I "think" I was given a glider that is listed on the FAA registry as "destroyed" in 1992. The glider was sold/given to another pilot as parts since he has the same plane. No bill of sale or any other paperwork was ever filed, it is still registered with the FAA as "Cancelled/destroyed" in 1992. That remains of that plane was "given" to me by the second person - who has no paperwork. The original owners (it was co-owned by a father/son) has proved difficult/impossible to locate. All the local airports tell me they will not allow a plane to be at the airport without insurance and the insurance people tell me they will not insure without the title/registration. The glider needs a lot of work, but hesitant to even begin until I know that I own it.
Is there a way to register this plane in my name since it was listed as destroyed. Seems like people who recover lost aircraft that have been located years after they disappeared must be able to do this somehow?

Larry M

[Chris In Marshfield]

Great question. We have a similar scenario at my airport. I'd love to see what folks have to say about it.

[Dana]

People rebuild "destroyed" aircraft all the time, but the big problem might be establishing title to the aircraft (chain of ownership / bill of sale). Can you contact the original owner and get a bill of sale?

[lmccormick]

That was my question I was trying to state - establishing ownership.... So far we have not been able to locate either of the co-owners. I was really asking if "there is another way to establish title to a destroyed aircraft".

[dougbush]

You could ask the FAA Registry in Oklahoma City if a bill of sale from the second owner would be sufficient for you to register it. What have you done to try to locate the first owner? Did you write to their last known address? Did you call the airport where it was based?

[FlyingRon]

All you need is a serial number to "repair" an aircraft on to.

[1600vw]

I kinda went through this. I was told by the FAA that if indeed my airplane had been filed as destroyed, that said airframe would have to be inspected again by a DAR. It would then have to have the 40 hrs flown back off. It kinda went deeper then this meaning a few more hoops to jump through, but it could be put back into registration as a complete airplane but only after these hoops where jumped through. I was very lucky and destroyed my own airplane after purchase. I did this by marking out airplane on the registration or forum 8050-1 and marking parts. It takes certain paper work or forums to be filed to destroy an airplane. Seeing how this paper work was never filed the FAA reversed my bonehead move. They " FAA " was very nice and did everything they could to help me. This was the Oklahoma City Branch or the main office of the FAA.

Tony

[FlyingRon]

I don't know who you were talking to but you were fed a load of BS. If it wasn't an experimental what the hell does 40 hours have to do with it? If it's in conformance to the type certificate, why would you need a DAR?

If it was an experimental, then the FAA may rightfully demand a 40 hour test period, but the need for a DAR escapes me there as well.

[lmccormick]

This particular plane is a foreign built glider that never was certified, so it is experimental but not built by an individual and certainly not by me. So if I am reading this correctly, I should contact the FAA and put the question to them?

[TedK]

My airplane was "destroyed" and deregistered in the late '90s. It was repaired (with the appropriate 337 paperwork) and "Annual'd" which established it was in conformance with its Type Certificate. The FSDO then issued a new Airworthiness Certificate on the date of its resurrection in 2000. (Ok, maybe the R in front of the date stands for Reissued).

Of course, in this case, chain of Title wasn't an issue. The old owner sold the destroyed airplane to the new owner with a Bill of Sale, so the new owner had no problem reregistering the aircraft.

Ted