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Temporary Vinyl N-Numbers

The Wizzard

Well Known Member
Has anybody had any experience with temporary N-numbers for flying in and out of Canada? My concern is the ability of the n numbers to stay on the side of the airplane as well as the ease of moving them without damaging the paint on the plane.

I want to make a trip up to alaska and only have 3 inch letters on my plane. I found a website called numbers.com that sells them for $60.00. Any suggestions?
 
Not Needed for Canada

Unless you are crossing an ADIZ you don't need them...:)
 
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I have permanent vinyl N numbers and still there after 600 hours.

Larry

My 3" N numbers are also vinyl and they are over 20-years old and 3,000+ flying hours.

IF you want 12" Vinyl registration marks for ADIZ flight then remove them, the permanent ones Sporty's sells are / were $35 a set. They come off without a lot of work using a hair dryer.
 
Alcan

If you don?t cross an ADIZ, which you won?t on the Alcan, 3 inch numbers are fine. I?m planning on crossing from Cut Bank to Lethbridge next Friday. Three inch numbers.
 
Dan what do you mean by Peel Trucks?

I mean I'm a truck dealer, and we remove vinyl letters and wrap from used trucks all the time. I would not be concerned about removing vinyl N-numbers less than a year old, more if the aircraft is hangared.
 
I apply and remove the race numbers for every race with vinyl and they've been to 205+ mph and through rain and haven't come off. Comes off easy with a hair dryer.

I use one of those CriCut CNC hobby machines with about $20 worth of material. Piece of cake. Would make 12" N Numbers about a 15 minute job.

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Since there is no ADIZ between the US and Canada, 12" Numbers are not required.
True. However he may be concerned with someone at the border flagging his 3" numbers which don't meet Canadian regulations. But that doesn't matter as he's flying a foreign-registered aircraft.

I used letters purchased at Staples to mark my RV-6 when I imported it from Idaho. The previous owner had used similar letters, so it was a simple matter to peel them off (15 years old and they came off without issue with a little thermal persuasion from a hair dryer).

After importing, I had new letters made to my specs and stuck them on. 10 years later and lots of polishing over top of them and they're still sticking fine.
 
Easy!

If you are dealing with a sign shop, they have differing strengths of glue. You can tell ?em that you will need to remove the numbers soonish, and they can set you up with a weaker glue. I would advise that you put a couple coats of wax on the areas that will get the numbers too.

We flew to the Bahamas in 1992 or so - peeled ?em off in Panama City a week later. Piece o cake!
 
I have used blue painters tape several times. Surprisingly it doesn't blow off.

To be honest I do the same whenever I have flown an airplane across the ADIZ that didn't have 12" numbers. Cheap, they hold up to the airstream, you can remove them without any harm to the paint underneath and they do come in different colors.

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:cool:
 
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There is a vinyl that is used as a paint mask that is made to be removed. I have used this for temporary N-numbers and it works great!
 
I've used gaffers tape for making 12" numbers when flying to the Bahamas. Stays put and comes off easily at the end of the trip.
 
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