Looking for one of my old airplanes

[jimaire]

I can't find it listed. Last activity was in 2001. Can't find an accident report either.. I'm guessing it has had it's N number changed. Is there any way to track it down. N number when I traded it for a Christen Eagle was N881JC. It is a Pitts S1-S and last registered owner I can find record of was Richard L. Fox in Frederick, MD.
Thanks for any info.

[tspear]

Start by searching under serial number with the FAA.

Tim

[jimaire]

Thanks tspear, but I already have. Hopefully someone here knows the owner or the plane.

[CarlOrton]

I'd look up Mr. Fox and call or send a postcard. It could just be stuck away in a barn. I had a '67 C172 that was in a barn from the mid 80's until 2002 before I bought it.

[rwanttaja]

N-Number was changed to N300RF in ~May 2001, was exported to Australia in 2008.

Ron Wanttaja

[rwanttaja]

N-Number was changed to N300RF in ~May 2001, was exported to Australia in 2008.
Looking at the Aussie registry, I'm guessing it's VH-YGH. The Serial Number for your airplane was 002-S1, and YGH is listed as S/N 2. It was registered in June 2008, which ties in nicely to the deregistration date for your plane.

Here's the Australian registration:

http://www.regosearch.com/aircraft/au/YGH

Here's a pix:

http://img1.jetphotos.net:8080/img/2/4/4/8/33313_1232786844.jpg


Ron Wanttaja

[jimaire]

THAT'S IT!!! Ron you are a THE MAN...Thanks so much,you have no idea how much I appreciate you doing this for me. How in the world did you find it?
A little history about it...I found the Pitts listed in Trade-A-Plane while at Oshkosh '86 and bought it after returning home. It was lightly damaged and was in Louisiana. I took it to Kenny Blaylock at Special Products Aviation in Conway, Arkansas. It was completely rebuilt with all new Air-Tech coatings. I kept it seven years until a new Christen Eagle called my name at Oshkosh '93. By the way, my first landing in the new Pitts was an emergency landing at Stuttgart, Arkansas when the oil cooler cracked on the way home with it from Kenney's shop. That was also my first time to fly a Pitts. Again thanks, what a great group we have here.
Jimmy Chandler from the wet Mississippi Delta
P.S. No damage from the emergency landing, but the pucker factor went up when smoke filled the cockpit..

[rwanttaja]

THAT'S IT!!! Ron you are a THE MAN...Thanks so much,you have no idea how much I appreciate you doing this for me. How in the world did you find it?

If I told you, I'd have to tell everybody. :-)

Actually, it wasn't difficult, but did require resources most folks don't have, specifically old copies of the FAA registration database.

1. Look up N881JC in the current FAA registration database to verify it wasn't there.
2. Look up N881JC in the year 2000 FAA database to find the serial number
3. Look up that manufacturer and serial number in the 2005 and find the new N-Number.
4. Look up that N-number in the current FAA registration database...not there.
5. Look up that N-number in the Deregistered Aircraft list...found it, labeled as being exported to Australia
6. Do a Google search and find the Australian aircraft registry
7. Download the list of Australian Pittses, find the best match.
8. Google search on the Australian registration number

I only own the FAA registration databases back to the year 1998, so we got lucky date-wise. If the N-number had changed earlier, I probably wouldn't have found it.

Ron Wanttaja