Aircraft Re-Registration

[170C]

Just reading an article on this subject and while I have been led to believe the FAA will be notifying aircraft owners when their re-registration is due, I also have been told we shouldn't totally rely on the feds to do so. Apparently it is our responsibility to make sure our aircraft are re-registered within the appropriate time frame. One article said to go to the FAA.Gov site to determine when our aircraft's certification was issued. In my case my '56 C-172 shows a date of 10-06-1989. This would have been about one month prior to my purchasing the plane. I am curious why the certificate date was in 1989. I would have thought it would have been in 1955 or 1956 unless the aircraft had been damaged or for some reason assigned a new registration number from its original one, which it wasn't. According to the data I have found, I will need to re-register 6888A between 8-1-2012 & 10-31-2012. Would appreciate comments/clarification. Thanks

[johneeb]

Frank,
I received my notice in the mail, in early January, went on line Jan 7th paid the $5.00 and received the new Registration card in about 10 days. All pretty painless except the $5.00.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

John did you receive a certificate with the same month or about but 3 years from your old certificate. OR since you were "Johnny on the spot" with the reregistration, did you receive a certificate 3 years from your registration date? In effect losing several months of valid registration. I've heard this is what is happening. Folks are reregistering to early.

What I plan to do is wait. I know what the FAR is and my requirement. I will not let it pass. But I'm curious if I will get a notification as advertised, and whether that notification will be early. In any case I will not reregister early.

[170C]

The same article I read (in FLY LOW) said if you register before the re-registration window that they will not accept it and will ( I believe) return your payment. The article tells how to re-register via internet/credit card. I am still curious about the date of my certificate

[johneeb]

Bruce,
Yes my registration did not expire until April (can't stand clutter on my desk so I processed it already). I will check the date on the registration, next trip to the "igloo" the airplane is parked inside of , and let you know whether it is dated January or April.

[cessna170bdriver]

Frank,

The "Certificate Issue Date" in the FAA Registry is for the registration certificate, which is the date the FAA updated its records on to whom the airplane is registered, nothing to do with when it was made or its Airworthiness Certificate. If that date is before you bought the airplane, then either the registration notification form was incorectly filled out, or it was transcribed into the database incorrectly. If you were to sell your airplane today, and the new owner sends in the right paperwork, you would see that date change to xx/xx/2011 in the next couple of months. '98C's Certificate Issue Date is 9/27/1982, about 6-7 weeks after I bought the airplane and sent in change of registration paperwork. If they'd waited 4 more days to enter the data, I'd have an extra 3 months before having to re-register.

[GAHorn]

Just reading an article on this subject and while I have been led to believe the FAA will be notifying aircraft owners when their re-registration is due, I also have been told we shouldn't totally rely on the feds to do so. Apparently it is our responsibility to make sure our aircraft are re-registered within the appropriate time frame. One article said to go to the FAA.Gov site to determine when our aircraft's certification was issued. In my case my '56 C-172 shows a date of 10-06-1989. This would have been about one month prior to my purchasing the plane. I am curious why the certificate date was in 1989. I would have thought it would have been in 1955 or 1956 unless the aircraft had been damaged or for some reason assigned a new registration number from its original one, which it wasn't. According to the data I have found, I will need to re-register 6888A between 8-1-2012 & 10-31-2012. Would appreciate comments/clarification. Thanks

I'm trying to figure out WHICH "certification" you are questioning.
The word "certification" implies Airworthiness Certificate...the date of which might simply be the seller obtained a new one a month before selling the airplane to you. (Simple matter to obtain a replacement...just go into your local fSDO and they'll give you one in a few minutes, with today's date.)

If, however (in the context of registration) you are speaking of your aircraft's Registration Certificate then there would be a mysterious or erroneous matter if it predates your purchase by one month. (Perhaps a typo...or you forgot what month you bought it due to your alzheimers?)

[jrenwick]

The FAA aircraft re-registration FAQ is here: http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificate ... ation_faq/.

The first question on it is about finding out when your re-registration is due. The date is based on your registration date, which you can find by looking up your N-number in the registry: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry ... quiry.aspx. It's the "Certificate Issue Date" in the right-hand column.

Now go back to the FAQ page, and look in the table to find out what your re-registration period is. If it's now, and you didn't receive the letter from the FAA about it, you can still re-register. This could happen if the address in your registration record is no longer correct.

[170C]

October does follow September doesn't it I purchased Ole Pokey in September so the October date now makes sense and I must re-register between August 1, 2012 & October 31, 2012. Thanks to all for getting me squared away
George, you know how it is with these green planes

[sfarringer]

John did you receive a certificate with the same month or about but 3 years from your old certificate. OR since you were "Johnny on the spot" with the reregistration, did you receive a certificate 3 years from your registration date? In effect losing several months of valid registration. I've heard this is what is happening. Folks are reregistering to early.

Yes, Bruce, you are correct, I lost several months by re-registering when I received the notification, because the new certificate expires 3 years from the date they got my money.

It is an impressive system they have..... I received two new registration certificates, postmarked one day apart. They are both identical, near as I can tell, except that the one postmarked EARLIER has a statement in the margin that it is replacing a certificate printed in error (presumably the one sent a day LATER).

[marathonrunner]

It is no longer a simple matter to get a new Airworthiness certificate. It used to be. I just did an annual on a 180 and the Airworthiness Cert was missing. I called the FAA to get a replacement and it is now a huge big deal and could involve having them come out and do a comformity inspection just like when you import one from say Canada. Luckily after a big search the Airworthiness Certificate was found. I put it in a holder that I attached to the side front panel and it will be necessary to remove the panel and unscrew the screws and locknuts to remove it again.

[cessna170bdriver]

October does follow September doesn't it I purchased Ole Pokey in September so the October date now makes sense and I must re-register between August 1, 2012 & October 31, 2012. Thanks to all for getting me squared away
George, you know how it is with these green planes

Frank, go to your airplane's data in the online FAA Resistry: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry ... rtxt=6888a
it says your current registration is valid until 12/31/2012.

[W.J.Langholz]

Miles-
Thanks for posting that link. I clicked on it, put my n-number at the end of the address, and checked my registration date. Works great.

[lowNslow]

John did you receive a certificate with the same month or about but 3 years from your old certificate. OR since you were "Johnny on the spot" with the reregistration, did you receive a certificate 3 years from your registration date? In effect losing several months of valid registration. I've heard this is what is happening. Folks are reregistering to early.

What I plan to do is wait. I know what the FAR is and my requirement. I will not let it pass. But I'm curious if I will get a notification as advertised, and whether that notification will be early. In any case I will not reregister early.

I know it's the principle of the whole thing, but you do know three months of registration is worth 41 cents??

[jrenwick]

...I know it's the principle of the whole thing, but you do know three months of registration is worth 41 cents??

41 cents today, maybe, but when the registration fee jumps from $5 to $10, we're talking 82 cents! Or $20 and $1.64!!! Where will it end?!!!!