US registrations

JOHN TIPTON · Post by **JOHN TIPTON** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 8:45 am

Hi Guys

I went flying today (C172) out of my local airport, Exeter (EGTE) in the SW of England, and parked nearby was a Gulfstream reg: N1SF over here our registrations must be G-xxxx (G followed by four letters) the registrations are issued in order ie: the first was G-AAAA and we are now on the G-CAAA to G-CZZZ but you can buy a personnal reg: the majority of RV's for example are G-RVxx - We see many aircraft from over the pond, and the registrations look like they can be almost anything after the N - can you guys explain the system you have to me

Best regards: John RV9a wings

Post by **Spike** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:31 am

You can request just about anything after the N over here as long as it is not reserved or already issued. Most N numbers are 5 characters long (after the N) though some of the really early ones are shorter. Those tend to be sought after with people willing to "buy" them from the owner.

I don't believe that there is really anything special about the manor in which they are issue though. If someone knows more I would love to hear about it.

Spike

Brantel · Post by **Brantel** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:37 am

* N-Numbers do not exceed five characters in length
* N-Numbers start with a number between 1 and 9
* Many N-Numbers end in an alpha character (example: 2033D is a valid N-Number)
* N-Numbers cannot have a numeric character directly after an alpha character (example: 45H8 is not a valid N-Number)

4kilo · Post by **4kilo** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 9:48 am

US registration numbers must begin with N

Must contain one and may contain up to five additional charicters

Only the last two charicters may be letters of the alphabet

If the second to the last charicter is a letter, the last charicter also must be a letter

Use of certain letters may be restricted - I.E. an O may not be used if it could be confused with a zero

Examples of legal N-numbers: N1, N5446A, N333, N123RT, N1KE

Examples of illegal N-numbers (never issued): N3A4, NIKE, NAAAA, NPB34

Just to confuse things slightly more, there are special rules which may allow a C or X to be inserted between the N and the rest of the registration. This letter is not considered part of the registration, and may only be used by certain antique or classic designs of aircraft. If N123RT is an eligible experimental aircraft, NX123RT may be painted on the aircraft, even though its actual registration is N123RT.

Pat

Womack2005 · Post by **Womack2005** » Fri Dec 04, 2009 10:02 am

We have Nike's GV here now:

N1KE is the registration.

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sat Dec 05, 2009 10:57 am

Pat, very well stated! That is exactly correct!

Also there is the new Air Force One tail number!

CJ

airguy · Post by **airguy** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 8:56 am

captain_john wrote:Also there is the new Air Force One tail number!

Roger that! I painted that on one of my RC planes years ago...

captain_john · Post by **captain_john** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:09 pm

The same number ending in Romeo Romeo is currently available!

...not that I would EVER use it!

CJ