N-number Reservations

[Kyle Boatright]

There is at least one active business reserving n-numbers and holding those numbers hostage.

Shortnnumbers.com

I do not see that it is right for a commercial business to take-over public property (like n-numbers) and hold them hostage/charge exorbitant fees to turn those numbers over to aircraft owners. I'm all for free market capitalism, but this just ain't right.

Under the current rules, someone could (theoretically) reserve all of the available n-numbers and charge an infinite amount the next time Boeing or Delta needs an n-number.

EAA and other advocacy groups need to work to put an end to this.

[gbrasch]

Unbelievable! I didn't want to give up my email address to find out how much they charge. EAA, are you listening???

PS, Kyle, I thought your post was worth repeating to the AOPA forum, so I did so giving you the credit as the author. If you object I will delete it. Glenn

[Sam Oleson]

Hello gentlemen,

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We're passing this onto our government relations director for review.

Thanks again.

[Kyle Boatright]

Unbelievable! I didn't want to give up my email address to find out how much they charge. EAA, are you listening???

PS, Kyle, I thought your post was worth repeating to the AOPA forum, so I did so giving you the credit as the author. If you object I will delete it. Glenn

Thanks, Glenn!

[Tom Charpentier]

We've been aware of this outfit and 1-2 others for a little while now. We assume they use an algorithm to determine "desirable" numbers (even hundreds, short numbers, popular abbreviations) and then buy them as soon as they drop off the FAA rolls. At least in the corporate aviation world, there must be enough people willing to write the check to keep this business model sustainable (I once took a phone call from some corporate flight department looking to buy the n number off one of our museum aircraft - we declined). Fixing the problem may not be as easy as it looks, but we're looking into what we can do.

[Paul8661]

I once reserved a short N number in anticipation of building an airplane. Eventually I just bought a plane and didn't feel it necessary to change the registration number. A little down the road I was contacted by a charter company who wanted the reserved number. I gladly turned it over to them, a week later a gift certificate showed up at my door with thank you note. It's a shame that some "bottom feeder" would try to work the angles on something like this.

[rwanttaja]

The most famous story along this line is from legendary aviation writer Peter Lert.

In the '70s, he built a trailer for his glider. It looked a lot like a rocket, so he found a clever combination of characters that spelled out the name of a famous rocket of the time, and used that to register his glider.

Years later, he was contacted by a company who wanted to buy his registration.

The number?

"N1KE"

Peter won't say what the compensation was, but admits he's never had to buy shoes, since....

Ron Wanttaja

[gbrasch]

The most famous story along this line is from legendary aviation writer Peter Lert.

In the '70s, he built a trailer for his glider. It looked a lot like a rocket, so he found a clever combination of characters that spelled out the name of a famous rocket of the time, and used that to register his glider.

Years later, he was contacted by a company who wanted to buy his registration.

The number?

"N1KE"

Peter won't say what the compensation was, but admits he's never had to buy shoes, since....

Ron Wanttaja

I have seen that Gulfstream here in Tucson before when some big basketball games were going on, had to take a second look.

[pylon500]

Unfortunately this is a rampant problem around the world.
Anywhere there is the option of a customised name, registration, number-plate (HUGE trade there...), website etc, there will be some group that will try to reserve (especially if it can be done free) registrations, and a lot of authorities turn a blind eye to it, as if it's a paid for reservation, then it's income to the authority.
Welcome to the free world I guess.

[Jim Heffelfinger]

Classic capitalism - taking from the public and privatizing it. Humm where have we heard that before......?

[martymayes]

Airlines & aircraft manufacturers have been reserving blocks of N-numbers for 60 yrs. Where do you draw the line? I suppose eventually the FAA will run out of available numbers and have to do something.

An individual grabbed Richard Collins' N40RC as soon as it became available. He apparently had at least one fan.

[Floatsflyer]

I suppose eventually the FAA will run out of available numbers and have to do something.

Transport Canada Civil Aviation implemented new ident variations to avoid this potential problem years ago. Since the dawn of registration requirements it was always CF- followed by 3 letters. A while ago they introduced CG- followed by 3 letters. For display purposes only on aircraft, variants can be used such as C-F and 3 letters or C-G and 3 letters.

[Bob Dingley]

The most famous story along this line is from legendary aviation writer Peter Lert.

In the '70s, he built a trailer for his glider. It looked a lot like a rocket, so he found a clever combination of characters that spelled out the name of a famous rocket of the time, and used that to register his glider.

Years later, he was contacted by a company who wanted to buy his registration.

The number?

"N1KE"

Peter won't say what the compensation was, but admits he's never had to buy shoes, since....

Ron Wanttaja

Also back in the seventies, I knew a USN MD that owned a refurbed J model Bonanza and based it with our military flying club in the DC area. It was sharp to say the least. He gave me a good amount of stick time in it. Cal was able to get a cool N number ending in his initials: November one Charlie Echo.

Bob

[martymayes]

Transport Canada Civil Aviation implemented new ident variations to avoid this potential problem years ago. Since the dawn of registration requirements it was always CF- followed by 3 letters. A while ago they introduced CG- followed by 3 letters. For display purposes only on aircraft, variants can be used such as C-F and 3 letters or C-G and 3 letters.

This is an example of how the US gov. plans ahead. I think the FAA infrastructure is limited to six digits including the "N" and it would be decades to get that changed.

[Marc Zeitlin]

Airlines & aircraft manufacturers have been reserving blocks of N-numbers for 60 yrs. Where do you draw the line? I suppose eventually the FAA will run out of available numbers and have to do something.There are about 215K US registered aircraft, and with the NxxxAA numbering scheme, there are about 1.4M available "N" numbers. We're not going to run out of available #'s in the foreseeable future. While folks can certainly buy up some desirable #'s, it's kind of like domain names - you may or may not get the one you want for the lowest price, but there's always SOME # you can get for the lowest price.

I kind of understand the objection in the OP, but it doesn't seem like a federal case to me, and my guess is that the solution would be worse than the disease, especially to free marketeers.

[Kyle Boatright]

There are about 215K US registered aircraft, and with the NxxxAA numbering scheme, there are about 1.4M available "N" numbers. We're not going to run out of available #'s in the foreseeable future. While folks can certainly buy up some desirable #'s, it's kind of like domain names - you may or may not get the one you want for the lowest price, but there's always SOME # you can get for the lowest price.

I kind of understand the objection in the OP, but it doesn't seem like a federal case to me, and my guess is that the solution would be worse than the disease, especially to free marketeers.

You're probably right, but the practice still gripes me.

[crusty old aviator]

I discovered this scam over a year ago and complained to the FAA about it. They never responded. Think about it, though: Trump is gutting budgets and along comes someone offering the FAA some money up front. Why should they care? $10 is $10 and greed is greed: America is great again (aren’t you thrilled?)...hire a lawyer and sue ‘em like Sporty’s had to do to get the sportys.com web address.

[Yellowhammer]

I am glad you made me aware of this nonsense!