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N Num reservations slow?

maniago

Well Known Member
Anyone notice a slowdown in the speed of reservations and renewals? I never got my renewal letter last year like I had in previous years like clock work. I redid the reservation but its been well past the 3 weeks the FAA quotes, where as before it was just a few days for the confirmation letter. Site still says my reserved number is unreserved/unallocated. I got confirmation they took my money however....

Anyone else waiting unusually?
 
Yeah. I sold my RV-6 over a month ago and the new registration hasn't gone through. I called and they told me they were experiencing about 6-8 weeks lead time.

The good news is that they process everything in the order received. So the delay shouldn't affect your priority.
 
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Yep.

We placed a request for a number about a week ago and the same has happened. The number has not been removed from the aircraft that had it before it was let lapse. But after about a week the number we wanted has started to show as not available now. We too paid the 10 dollars and got our copy of the transaction. I think all we can do now is hope it all went through and the system is just weeks behind on it's postings. I do talk to "FSDO" from time to time and at last, I was told to be patient, that the system has gotten way behind. That was a few months back in med summer.
Hope this helps, Yours, R.E.A. III # 80888
 
I?ve had similar experience. I don?t think the FAA is sending out reminder letters anymore. Know when your anniversary is and renew before it. Last year I was late waiting on a renewal letter. Fortunately my number was still available.
 
I?ve had similar experience. I don?t think the FAA is sending out reminder letters anymore. Know when your anniversary is and renew before it. Last year I was late waiting on a renewal letter. Fortunately my number was still available.

Nah... I just got a renewal reminder postcard a couple of weeks ago.

But I'm not renewing it, so N333GA goes back into the pot. :)
 
Busy

FAA too busy processing N Numbers.com scheme. Somehow it doesn?t seem legal, definitely not ethical. They must have someone on the inside.
 
My letter finally showed up this past Saturday, about 2 months total time......never did get a renewal card like in the past years tho....
 
FAA too busy processing N Numbers.com scheme. Somehow it doesn?t seem legal, definitely not ethical. They must have someone on the inside.

Yeah, agree with that. Same for short-n-numbers.com. Thought I had an N number with my initials. short-n-numbers.com got it. I could get it from them ... for $2000. Such a deal :(

I wish they would disallow the practice ...
 
I reserved my n number online about a month ago and just received the letter today. Ironically, I sent my registration paperwork in about two weeks ago and got it back yesterday! I was expecting to wait several months. Even the phone recording said they were still processing apps from back in August.
 
Short numbers

Yep aught to be a rule against selling or offering for sale more than say 4 or 5 N numbers per year. Or perhaps FAA could also allow/accept applications for this service by mail so that that the Short N Numbers.com can't snatch it from your request and hold it hostage.
 
Yeah, agree with that. Same for short-n-numbers.com. Thought I had an N number with my initials. short-n-numbers.com got it. I could get it from them ... for $2000. Such a deal :(

I wish they would disallow the practice ...

Seems like someone taking advantage of a government program/monopoly.
EAA or AOPA needs to jump in on that.
 
Yep aught to be a rule against selling or offering for sale more than say 4 or 5 N numbers per year. Or perhaps FAA could also allow/accept applications for this service by mail so that that the Short N Numbers.com can't snatch it from your request and hold it hostage.

Scams like this really p*ss me off. They're like patent trolls IMO.

There's one quick fix, although I doubt most people would like it...no reserving N-numbers. You can get a number once you have a plane registered, but not before, just like you can't reserve auto license plate numbers from the state.

Any other ideas on how to end this malarkey?
 
Any other ideas on how to end this malarkey?

There's probably a way to make it impossible to reserve a number and transfer it without it having been assigned to an airplane. So, you reserve a number - fine, but you can't sell it. You can either turn it in, or register an airplane with it.
 
Foolish me - I actually tried contacting the FAA about this. They didn't bother to respond ...
 
Foolish me - I actually tried contacting the FAA about this. They didn't bother to respond ...

FAA is never going to do anything about it on their own. There's absolutely zero impact to them for someone to scoop up N-numbers and resell them.

It'll take either push from someone in Congress, or an effort by the alphabet groups, to get movement out of the FAA on anything like this.

Best of luck.
 
IMHO these guys make money on vanity, which I have no problem with. Just register your airplane with whatever number the FAA assigns and be done with it. If you want a specific "vanity" number then pay for it, at market price. Just my 2 cents.

BTW, I have two friends that own very short (N1RY, N2JU) tail numbers. I suspect that for the right $$$$ they would transfer the number to you.

:cool:
 
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IMHO these guys make money on vanity, which I have no problem with. Just register your airplane with whatever number the FAA assigns and be done with it. If you want a specific "vanity" number then pay for it, at market price. Just my 2 cents.

BTW, I have two friends that own very short (N1RY, N2JU) tail numbers. I suspect that for the right $$$$ they would transfer the number to you.

:cool:

If the "resource" wasn't actually "owned"/controlled by the government (taxpayers, the public), I might agree with you. But it's not.

What if the guy eventually reserves *all* n-numbers, and then charges people thousands to "buy" an n-number? Still okay with that?
 
If the "resource" wasn't actually "owned"/controlled by the government (taxpayers, the public), I might agree with you. But it's not.
The person is following the rules so I have no problem with it.

What if the guy eventually reserves *all* n-numbers, and then charges people thousands to "buy" an n-number? Still okay with that?
Sure. Then the FAA can just add another alphanumerical character to the registration list (N123ABC) creating millions of additional registration numbers. Add a fourth character (N123ABCD) and billions of additional combinations arise. Not a very good business model and the FAA doesn't need congressional approval to do that.

IMHO; The bottom line is if you want a "vanity" number, pay market price for it. Otherwise register with what you get assigned.

:cool:
 
...the FAA can just add another alphanumerical character to the registration list (N123ABC) creating millions of additional registration numbers. Add a fourth character (N123ABCD) and billions of additional combinations arise. Not a very good business model and the FAA doesn't need congressional approval to do that.

Wouldn't this be the government acting specifically *against* someone's private business, in effect trying to deprive the business of income? Isn't that what you're arguing against (FAA taking some action to prevent private control of N-numbers)?
 
...

IMHO; The bottom line is if you want a "vanity" number, pay market price for it. Otherwise register with what you get assigned.

:cool:

Maybe, but since all numbers actually belong to the govt. shouldn't the US treasury get the $$ for a non-assigned (aka "special") number?

In the way past... when custom number first came out (mid-70's) and I almost got N3GA for my sailplane, you had to have the custom number assigned to an actual plane.

For homebuilts, it didn't have to be airworthy yet, and someone got N6GA, which I would have liked for my -6A, assigned to a Scorpion helicopter.

It seemed that the helicopter never flew, and the number was tied up from 1974 to 2016.... I applied for it 1 second after midnight on the day it was released, but guess who got it...:rolleyes:

https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=6GA

Any new system needs to make sure numbers go on real aircraft.
 
Sorry but just like vanity license plates, I just don't get all the "Bru-Ha-Ha" (I can't use the "things in a wad" term that really applies) over a tail number. :rolleyes:
 
Back to the original topic of delays in Aircraft Registry in Oklahoma City. I sold my RV-6 on August 29. Registration transfer was sent in same day. Finally showed up on FAA website today. Over 8 weeks.
 
... I sold my RV-6 on August 29. Registration transfer was sent in same day. Finally showed up on FAA website today ...

Mine was somewhat faster: on September 20 I mailed the FAA Forms 8050-1 and -2 to register a new purchase and it appeared on the web site late this week (October 25).

Maybe they're processing registrations in batches.
 
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