This can turn into a real can of worms, but here's the information I got from a lengthy conversation with the head of the Albuquerque FSDO. I ended up in this can of worms over a plane that I built and sold 11 years ago that was in the process of being re-registered, then was confiscated from the new owner as settlement for a law suit. It has been sitting in somebody's back yard for the last 10 years. A friend has been trying to buy the plane, but the registration is now expired. Since I was the last legally registered owner, we needed to find out what had to be done to make the plane legal and airworthy once again.
If one fails to renew their registration, the registration number is removed from the FAA registry and unavailable for re-assignment for 5 years. Losing the registration number also voids the airworthiness certificate, regardless of whether the plane is certificated or Experimental. If one was to buy a plane with an expired registration, you would have to apply to the FAA for the issuance of a new registration number. Then the aircraft would have to go through a new airworthiness inspection by the FAA or a DAR, same as when the original airworthiness was issued. For a certificated aircraft, the same rules apply. The aircraft would have to go through an airworthiness (type certificate compliance) inspection by the FAA or a DAR to have a new airworthiness issued to go with the new registration number. All the previously filed STCs and 337s would still apply to the aircraft since they are tied to the serial number. So, as an example, let's say I failed to renew the registration for my KR. My N number N1213W would go away and be ineligible for reassignment for the next 5 years. Then Joe decides to buy my KR. Joe would have to apply for the issuance of a new registration number and would have to have a new airworthiness inspection done by the local DAR once he gets the plane home. This would also include the issuance of new operating limitations paperwork. However, Joe would not have to do the phase 1 test flights as that time has already been logged and signed off in the log books for the plane as those logs go with the plane and serial number. So, there is a penalty for not renewing your registration. That is that the airworthiness becomes invalid and the buyer of the plane would have to pay for a new airworthiness, which runs about $650 in my neck of the woods. That would essentially devalue your plane by that amount. Hopefully that clears up the reregistration questions without opening a can of worms. Jeff Scott Los Alamos, NM ----- Original Message ----- From: Dave_A Sent: 10/31/11 01:44 AM To: KRnet Subject: Re: Fw: Re: KR> re-registration - another registration question So what happens if you don't renew in time - say, because the registration expired when someone else owned the plane?
