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$3500 N number

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Jpm757

Well Known Member
$3500 N number (closed by dr)

[ed. 11/18/19 update. This eventually turned into a government, lawyer, socialism, capitalism, cybersquatting type thread....so I'm locking it. Non-RV. Please revisit the posting rules. v/r,dr]


Anybody been frustrated trying to reserve a specific N number, only to find it has already been reserved? A website called short-n-numbers.com is holding thousands of otherwise available numbers hostage. I just inquired about a 3 character number and found out it could be had for a mere $3500. I can't believe the FAA allows this practice of compiling and then selling these numbers for a huge profit. Sure, if some guy just dropped 70M on a G650 then what's another couple grand. But if Mr. G650 wants a specific number then apply for it like the rest of us, OR, find out who owns it and buy it from them. I have to give credit for the guy who thought this scheme up, but it is not in the interests of fair play.
 
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No difference than scalping tickets. Both our Governments are just as bad. Nobody cares ,you have a plane and are rich.
 
I got very lucky this week and snagged a short number by mail. Seemed like every time there were short numbers available on the FAA website and I tried to reserve one on line, I would get the letter in the mail stating it was not available. It’s as if this clown outfit knows you want it and gets it first. Oh well, I got one that I wanted this time.
 
Don't forget to renew your reserved n-number. I missed, or never received the FAA reminder to renew my reserved short n-number and someone else quickly grabbed it.
 
It's really no different than sitting on internet domain names or real estate. It's unfortunate that somebody else has something you want, but it's not illegal or immoral but rather quite entrepreneurial. This guy saw an opportunity to make some extra jack and took it.

But things are only worth what people are willing to pay, you can probably negotiate a better price.
 
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It's really no different than sitting on internet domain names or real estate. It's unfortunate that somebody else has something you want, but it's not illegal or immoral but rather quite entrepreneurial. This guy saw an opportunity to make some extra jack and took it.

But things are only worth what people are willing to pay, you can probably negotiate a better price.

The sad part is the FAA could easily make this more fair for all by limiting the number of reserved N numbers that any one company can hold at one time. The only reason for holding 10's or 00's of numbers is to profit from others that don'[t have the technology, or more likely the internal contacts, to get these numbers.

Larry
 
This practice is not the same as mass scalping for profit (which I don?t agree with either). The govt requires your plane to have an N-number. The govt does not require you to go to a particular sporting game or theatre. This guy may be entrepreneurial, but he?s making a profit without providing a service other than giving you a little bit of what he has horded from the govt. Further, if you?d been slightly late to re-reserve your number and this guy snatched it up figuring you?d pay big bucks to get it back, it smacks of extortion. Not helpful to GA at all.

Bevan
 
And that's the good ol' "Amurican" way - GalinHdz

I think you misspelled "American".

“If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose--because it contains all the distinctions of the others--the fact that they were the people who created the phrase "to make money". No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity--to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created. The words 'to make money' hold the essence of human morality.” ― Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

Not liking what he's done does not make it illegal, immoral, or wrong.
 
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Supply and demand drive things. Makes me wonder who is paying $3500 for N numbers.

I don't agree with it regardless of how legal it is. If FAA made all expiring N numbers have a 2-4 week open time to assign to a real aircraft prior to being reserved to sit in storage would probably solve this issue.
 
Supply and demand drive things. Makes me wonder who is paying $3500 for N numbers.

Likely nobody - just like nobody pays sticker price for a car. It's a starting point in the negotiation, the initial asking price.
 
I think you misspelled "American".

No I didn't. I spelled it as many "good ol' Amuricans" pronounce it. ;)

FWIW; When I went to register my airplane the N-number I wanted was taken and I was unwilling to pay the asking price for it. So I simply found another number. An N-number, just like anything else, is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it.

:cool:
 
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Likely nobody - just like nobody pays sticker price for a car. It's a starting point in the negotiation, the initial asking price.

I agree, but what are people really paying then? Obviously this guy has found more than 1 customer and continues to provide his business.

If somehow we could convince nobody to do business with him, it would end. Not likely to happen obviously.
 
Short changed

1. I have previously communicated with the FAA on this issue. They don't care.
2. The very simple fix is to make these reservations non-transferable. That would end it quickly.
3. See item 1.
 
Supply and demand drive things. Makes me wonder who is paying $3500 for N numbers...

Several years ago a guy contacted me about the N number assigned to one of my restoration projects. He bought the number from me (for $3500) and hung it on his Gulfstream.
 
Short N Numbers

I, for one, believe that Short N Numbers is indeed providing a service. John has not only secured a nice collection of desirable numbers, but has arranged them in an easily searchable manner and provided an equally easy way to pick one up, whenever you like.

The FAA has certainly not provided such a great service, which is why John started doing it. If the FAA were willing and able to provide that service (much like vanity license plate services at the DMV) they would probably charge extra bucks too, just like John. After all, supply and demand still apply. Perhaps their prices would be even higher than his. Or perhaps, you wouldn't be able to buy one, since they might give "first dibs" to government officials, lobbyists or special interest groups.

Right now, John is the one fetching the numbers, registering them and paying to keep them registered, at $10 a pop, per year. Because of him, if you want a short vanity number for your plane, you don't have to stay up all night to push a button at the first stroke of midnight, only to miss out to someone else. All you have to do is wait until you're ready to register your plane, go pick a number you like, and call him up to make an offer. I can't think of any reason why he shouldn't be allowed to provide what I see as a valuable service to our community. The only gripe that's been aired here is about the price he charges. Well, if you don't like it, then negotiate or don't buy it... but don't complain that Big Brother needs to go whoop on him, just because you want something for nothing. That's not fairness, that's just whining.
 
Several years ago a guy contacted me about the N number assigned to one of my restoration projects. He bought the number from me (for $3500) and hung it on his Gulfstream.

I remember reading years ago in "AOPA Pilot" some shoe company in the pacific northwest got a corporate jet and paid some guy big bucks for n-number off his glider: November One Kilo Echo So that worked out OK I guess...
 
It is really a stretch to define ANY value added from this company.
You can search available numbers on the FAA web site.
And this one is even better: www.TailNum.com

I, for one, believe that Short N Numbers is indeed providing a service. John has not only secured a nice collection of desirable numbers, but has arranged them in an easily searchable manner and provided an equally easy way to pick one up, whenever you like.

The FAA has certainly not provided such a great service, which is why John started doing it. If the FAA were willing and able to provide that service (much like vanity license plate services at the DMV) they would probably charge extra bucks too, just like John. After all, supply and demand still apply. Perhaps their prices would be even higher than his. Or perhaps, you wouldn't be able to buy one, since they might give "first dibs" to government officials, lobbyists or special interest groups.

Right now, John is the one fetching the numbers, registering them and paying to keep them registered, at $10 a pop, per year. Because of him, if you want a short vanity number for your plane, you don't have to stay up all night to push a button at the first stroke of midnight, only to miss out to someone else. All you have to do is wait until you're ready to register your plane, go pick a number you like, and call him up to make an offer. I can't think of any reason why he shouldn't be allowed to provide what I see as a valuable service to our community. The only gripe that's been aired here is about the price he charges. Well, if you don't like it, then negotiate or don't buy it... but don't complain that Big Brother needs to go whoop on him, just because you want something for nothing. That's not fairness, that's just whining.
 
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RE $3500 N number

A short n-number is like a vanity license plate for your automobile. The MVD in my state will let you pay extra for a vanity plate but the money goes into the MVD's budget.

I have lost two short n-numbers that I had reserved and guess where they showed up? (hint: Short-N-Numbers, LLC). In both cases, I most definitely did not receive a renewal notice reminder from the FAA. Suspicious to say the least and definitely frustrating.

Because aircraft n-numbers are associated with a government mandated licensing and registration function, no private individual should be allowed to hoard n-numbers and sell them for a profit.
 
I, for one, believe that Short N Numbers is indeed providing a service. John has not only secured a nice collection of desirable numbers, but has arranged them in an easily searchable manner and provided an equally easy way to pick one up, whenever you like.

The FAA has certainly not provided such a great service, which is why John started doing it. If the FAA were willing and able to provide that service (much like vanity license plate services at the DMV) they would probably charge extra bucks too, just like John. After all, supply and demand still apply. Perhaps their prices would be even higher than his. Or perhaps, you wouldn't be able to buy one, since they might give "first dibs" to government officials, lobbyists or special interest groups.

Right now, John is the one fetching the numbers, registering them and paying to keep them registered, at $10 a pop, per year. Because of him, if you want a short vanity number for your plane, you don't have to stay up all night to push a button at the first stroke of midnight, only to miss out to someone else. All you have to do is wait until you're ready to register your plane, go pick a number you like, and call him up to make an offer. I can't think of any reason why he shouldn't be allowed to provide what I see as a valuable service to our community. The only gripe that's been aired here is about the price he charges. Well, if you don't like it, then negotiate or don't buy it... but don't complain that Big Brother needs to go whoop on him, just because you want something for nothing. That's not fairness, that's just whining.

Everyone is allowed opinions, and that?s fine, but I think you?ll find that a vast majority of pilots would disagree with you and John on this. He?s really not providing a service that any other pilot couldn?t do with a few minutes of (free) research. Something for nothing? How about a short N number for 10 bucks? Seems fair to me.

My humble opinion? John?s method is a crappy, wrong thing to do.
 
A short n-number is like a vanity license plate for your automobile. The MVD in my state will let you pay extra for a vanity plate but the money goes into the MVD's budget.

I have lost two short n-numbers that I had reserved and guess where they showed up? (hint: Short-N-Numbers, LLC). In both cases, I most definitely did not receive a renewal notice reminder from the FAA. Suspicious to say the least and definitely frustrating.

Because aircraft n-numbers are associated with a government mandated licensing and registration function, no private individual should be allowed to hoard n-numbers and sell them for a profit.

James,

I'm sorry you "lost" two short N-numbers that you had reserved. Sounds like the FAA failed you. What would you do if the guy in line ahead of you at the DMV wanted the same vanity plate you wanted? Or... what if the guy behind you in line forgot to renew his vanity plate, but you were about to reserve that plate. You're in line first, so you've got dibs. The guy behind you is happy and grateful, because all he has to do, to get his prized plate renewed, is negotiate some means of compensation with you, before his vanity plate goes back into the void and picked up by someone else (maybe the guy in the line next door, who's listening to the conversation and thinking he might like that same plate on his car. Maybe the compensation is simply a heart-felt "thank you," or it could be a cool $1,000 in your pocket... But you wouldn't do that, right, because it's not fair to all the other people in line...?
 
It's definitely not "wrong", he is well within his rights to buy and sell a product or service for a profit.

As long as it's legal it's legit.

It's no different than the buying and reselling of internet domain names or toll free vanity numbers, two other very successful similar businesses.
 
He?s really not providing a service that any other pilot couldn?t do with a few minutes of (free) research.

Well, one could certainly beat him to the punch then, right? If there's something else going on (like the FAA is giving him special treatment), then I agree with you. However, if he's just getting in faster than the next guy, how is that any different than you clicking a short N-number on the FAA site before someone else gets it. And, if your hangar buddy really wanted you to transfer that short number to him, would you do it, or would you say, "No, sorry, it's got to go back in the pool, so everyone has a shot at it." I think the only disagreement here is what he's charging...which is really based on what the market will bear. He's not preventing you from getting an N-number, just allowing you to purchase one of his numbers, that he (supposedly) got fair and square through the same system.
 
This practice is not the same as mass scalping for profit (which I don?t agree with either). The govt requires your plane to have an N-number. The govt does not require you to go to a particular sporting game or theatre...

The government also doesn't require you to have a plane, nor is there some finite number of N-numbers available that might prevent you from registering yours. Just because someone has something that you want, doesn't mean you're entitled to it. And no, they aren't immoral because they see it as an investment.
 
I've watched this thread expand all day with some interest. I agree with this guy's right to find a need (people want vanity N-numbers) and figure out a way to cash in on their need.

But if you really want a vanity number, you can do the same legwork and deal directly with the FAA.

My first reserved/used N number was obtained by mailing the FAA a letter asking for the lowest N number ending in "DH". Even though the DeHavilands were snapping up all of the numbers, I was assigned N17DH via snail mail.

My second reserved/used N number was obtained by doing a wildcard search on the FAA website for **7RV. I found N957RV and put that on my RV-7.

My third reserved N number was more of a hunt. I wanted something with "14" for the RV-14, but I wasn't really interested in the "RV" part. Being a new grandpa, I found N144P and snapped it up. Not realizing how volatile the short N numbers are, I let this one sit on the website for almost a week before I finally decided to reserve it.

I keep my reservation letter pinned to my "to do" whiteboard in my shop. I send in my $10 two or three months before the annual expiration date, and then watch the check clear to make sure that I don't lose the reservation.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
 
James,

I'm sorry you "lost" two short N-numbers that you had reserved. Sounds like the FAA failed you. What would you do if the guy in line ahead of you at the DMV wanted the same vanity plate you wanted? Or... what if the guy behind you in line forgot to renew his vanity plate, but you were about to reserve that plate. You're in line first, so you've got dibs. The guy behind you is happy and grateful, because all he has to do, to get his prized plate renewed, is negotiate some means of compensation with you, before his vanity plate goes back into the void and picked up by someone else (maybe the guy in the line next door, who's listening to the conversation and thinking he might like that same plate on his car. Maybe the compensation is simply a heart-felt "thank you," or it could be a cool $1,000 in your pocket... But you wouldn't do that, right, because it's not fair to all the other people in line...?

DMV analogies are flawed. DMV does not allow one to reserve vanity plates. You have to have an actual vehicle to put it on. You can't go on to the DMV site, reserve boatloads of plate numbers, and then just hold on to them and charge ridiculously high prices to transfer them to someone else.

Further, it's doubtful that this guy is manually logging in every night at midnight and searching for newly available n-numbers. There must be some way of accessing the FAA database via an API and running a query, and then one can automate the process of reserving them through that same API. Just my guess.

Try doing that with the DMV.
 
I've never had any issues finding a good N number for my aircraft. Last year I bought a gyroplane and since my airport is called Vaca Moo I got 32VM ( three two vaca moo, rhymes and slips right off the tongue).

Since I was considering building a Ran's S-21 (ended up buying the RV-8 instead, best decision I've made in a long time ! ) I looked online for something similar to 32VM which would look and sound good too. I found 52VM ( five two vaca moo, the 2 rhymes with moo also). I just called the FAA and asked if they could kindly check to see if that number was in the que to be reserved when processed. When their computer accepts your reservation it's still not yours until they put it into the main system in que and then a month or so later it gets to the person who processes it and sends you the letter BUT once it's in the system they can check and tell you it's in the que so it's not going to be available. They checked and said nobody had it in the que but someone could have reserved it earlier that day and it's still not entered into the system. It was early in the day so I took the risk and paid online hoping that nobody had reserved it that day just before me.

It worked and now my two aircraft are 32VM and 52VM.
 
To the notion of it's worth what it's worth, a guy on my field has a really nice A36. He probably wouldn't even have responded to a $3500 offer. But a race car driver really wanted his N-number ending in "RP" and gave him a new leather interior and repainted his number. Oh well, them that gots, gets.
 
In this hypothetical situation, are we also going to assume that the FAA, airlines, NBAA, AOPA, etc. are all going to just going to allow this to happen and accept this as the status quo? Are we also going to assume there are no other options like adding a 6th alphanumeric digit (which would instantly create another 30 million combinations).

In our current situation, N-numbers are practically an unlimited resource. Anyone can get one at face value. Yes, the current system limits us to ~900,000 combination, but that is a completely artificial limitation. The only reason more combinations are not available is because they aren't needed. If for any reason that were to ever change, then I'm not quite sure I would buy the fact that everyone would just say "Oh well, no more airplanes. We're not even gonna try to solve this problem" and call it quits.

I appreciate the thought experiment though. It illustrates that even in a wildly impossible scenario, the free market would find a way to correct itself just fine. So yeah, I'm good with it.

The underlying problem, of course, is that it's NOT a free market (unless you take the position that you can always just not own an airplane). The government requires you to have an n-number, and only they can issue them.

So furthering the thought experiment, assume that the government does NOT increase the maximum length or the general scheme (1 or more numbers followed by 0, 1 or 2 letters, maximum of 5 characters). Now, as stated, someone or some group with enough cash access the FAA database (presumably in some automated fashion) and reserves ALL available n-numbers. They may not even have a single plane on which to put any of them, but hey...they reserved them fair and square. At what price point would you call foul? $25? Probably not. $250? Getting a bit scratchy there. $2500? $10 grand? More? Maybe a hundred grand for the highly-coveted very short numbers. Maybe more...those G-650 owners won't have a problem, but the rest of us might.

The FAA, because of whatever reason, sides with the "free market", and says "oh, well, guess you'll just have to pay what the market will bear!"), and Congress, ever grid-locked, won't act. You're stuck...want to register your new RV? Toss another few grand into the RV fund.

I don't know about you, but I have a bit of an issue with someone scarfing up government-controlled and mandated licensing and registration stuff like this, then turning around and selling it to the taxpayers at a significant mark-up without adding ANY value to the product or the process.
 
The underlying problem, of course, is that it's NOT a free market (unless you take the position that you can always just not own an airplane). The government requires you to have an n-number, and only they can issue them.

So furthering the thought experiment, assume that the government does NOT increase the maximum length or the general scheme (1 or more numbers followed by 0, 1 or 2 letters, maximum of 5 characters). Now, as stated, someone or some group with enough cash access the FAA database (presumably in some automated fashion) and reserves ALL available n-numbers. They may not even have a single plane on which to put any of them, but hey...they reserved them fair and square. At what price point would you call foul? $25? Probably not. $250? Getting a bit scratchy there. $2500? $10 grand? More? Maybe a hundred grand for the highly-coveted very short numbers. Maybe more...those G-650 owners won't have a problem, but the rest of us might.

The FAA, because of whatever reason, sides with the "free market", and says "oh, well, guess you'll just have to pay what the market will bear!"), and Congress, ever grid-locked, won't act. You're stuck...want to register your new RV? Toss another few grand into the RV fund.

I don't know about you, but I have a bit of an issue with someone scarfing up government-controlled and mandated licensing and registration stuff like this, then turning around and selling it to the taxpayers at a significant mark-up without adding ANY value to the product or the process.


there Is value. Maybe not to you but to many people whodon't want to search, and will pay for the option of not having to search.

As for someone buying up ALL the n numbers they are taking risk. Who's to say the government under those circumstances wouldn't issue bar codes instead, and the numbers would have zero value. ? They are buying on spec. Just like a builder buys lots to build on, or a stock broker buys stock or options them.

We are not "entitled" to short N numbers. If people really don't like it they won't pay for it and that will stop it because the guy won't waste his time if there's no financial return ie: no value.
 
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I think a better system would be for the FAA to auction “vanity” N numbers, say any with more than one request within a 90 day period. Perhaps the revenues could be used to provide additional/better traffic services at OSH ... I don’t see much value in allowing the free-market to provide this service “rent” free. Short-N-Numbers and others would be welcome to bid in a more open and transparent market with benefits (revenue) to tax-payers who are the “owners” of the scarce resource in question.
 
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Anyone noticed?

Short-N-Numbers, LLC
PO Box 368
Groveland, FL 34736
Contact: John Reynolds
Title: President
Phone: (305) 394-1740
Website: www.short-n-numbers.com

http://www.buzzfile.com/business/Short~N~Numbers,-LLC-305-394-1740

Isn’t the description of John’s business a little odd?:

Business Description
Short-N-Numbers is located in Groveland, Florida. This organization primarily operates in the Sperm Bank business / industry within the Health Services sector. This organization has been operating for approximately 6 years. Short-N-Numbers is estimated to generate $50,865 in annual revenues, and employs approximately 5 people at this single location.
 
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there Is value. Maybe not to you but to many people whodon't want to search, and will pay for the option of not having to search.

As for someone buying up ALL the n numbers they are taking risk. Who's to say the government under those circumstances wouldn't issue bar codes instead, and the numbers would have zero value. ? They are buying on spec. Just like a builder buys lots to build on, or a stock broker buys stock or options them.

We are not "entitled" to short N numbers. If people really don't like it they won't pay for it and that will stop it because the guy won't waste his time if there's no financial return ie: no value.

Still not addressing the hypothetical...NO changes in n-number formats by the FAA, n-numbers still REQUIRED by law, and a company rich enough to reserve them all and then charge whatever price they want.

It's easy to wriggle out from underneath the hypothetical posed by inventing some new way of registering airplanes, but that's not what is happening today and not what the question was.

And a stockbroker is buying on the *private* market, not a limited government-owned, federally mandated "resource".
 
I find this thread extremely interesting! Is it possible to say that "both sides are right"? I think people on both sides of this debate have very valid points.

It reinforces a belief I have....There are no "perfect" systems! Free market systems are not perfect because the "haves" can have so much more than the "have-nots". The difference just seems immoral. Yet, socialism is not perfect because there is no incentive for one person with a better ideal to exploit a "better way of doing things" because they will not benefit anymore than everyone else.

Here's my unsolicited opinion FWIW..... if no system is perfect (because they all have their flaws) pick the system that "sucks least". I'd rather John have the right to extort money from me for a highly desirable N-number than to encourage my government to be more restrictive. That seems to suck the least.

Here's something else I find very interesting. I bet most of the people who want to criticize the FAA for allowing John to do what he does are also the same people who enjoy the freedoms we have as homebuilders in America. Would those same people applaud the FAA for becoming MORE restrictive on our rights as homebuilders???? My guess would be that these same people would be terribly upset if the FAA began to "infringe" on our rights.

So, back to my opinion. There are no perfect systems. So, I'll choose to side with the choice that sucks the least.
 
We're lucky they're not randomly assigned, or sequential. An N number is required, the N number you want isn't...

Don't be jealous you didn't think of it first.
 
9
We are not "entitled" to short N numbers. If people really don't like it they won't pay for it and that will stop it because the guy won't waste his time if there's no financial return ie: no value.
Well said.
Still not addressing the hypothetical...NO changes in n-number formats by the FAA, n-numbers still REQUIRED by law, and a company rich enough to reserve them all and then charge whatever price they want.

It's easy to wriggle out from underneath the hypothetical posed by inventing some new way of registering airplanes, but that's not what is happening today and not what the question was.
It addresses the fact that theory has to eventually face reality.

With a simple stroke of the pen the airplane registration numbering system has changed before and, if needed, can/will change again with another stroke of the pen. Just converting one character of the existing system from numeric to alphanumeric (N12XXX vs N123XX) would almost quadruple the available registration numbers. This reality makes your hypothetical business model so fundamentally flawed no investor would risk loosing the massive amounts of money required to attempt it. Your hypothetical situation is simply DOA.

:cool:
 
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It would be one thing if there were a shortage of N numbers but there isn't ... I don't see any problem with it.

Nothing stopping anyone from doing the same and selling them for less ... cheap-n-numbers.com is available ...
 
Still not addressing the hypothetical...NO changes in n-number formats by the FAA, n-numbers still REQUIRED by law, and a company rich enough to reserve them all and then charge whatever price they want.

It's easy to wriggle out from underneath the hypothetical posed by inventing some new way of registering airplanes, but that's not what is happening today and not what the question was.

And a stockbroker is buying on the *private* market, not a limited government-owned, federally mandated "resource".

Ok, yes. In this situation you've concocted, you can conclude that someone is profiteering from a "government-owned, and federally mandated 'resource'". I'm not going to argue otherwise within the context of your hypothetical.

Instead, I'm saying that your hypothetical situation is so far divorced from reality that it is ridiculous. You're proposing a scenario (someone hoarding all currently available N-numbers) that isn't going to happen, but that doesn't necessarily stop us from considering "what if". However, your experiment completely disconnects itself from reality when you stipulate that nothing is allowed to be done or changed to fix the problem. IF some big conglomerate gobbled up every last N-number, it would be foolish to really, truly, honestly believe that nothing would change. Do you see the airlines just accepting the fact that they can't get any new aircraft? Boeing and Airbus? They're just going to roll over and play dead?! The transportation industry as a whole would entirely reject this idea of "nothing is allowed to change". Maybe nobody would be allowed to reserve N-numbers anymore; instead, they would be randomly or sequentially assigned to an airworthy, certificated aircraft. Maybe the FAA adds 30 million possible registrations by adding a 6th digit, or another billion by adding a 7th. The point is, under the circumstances that you've imagined, something will change. To pretend otherwise is to forego an honest discussion.

Coming full circle and knowing how simply and easily things could and would change to fix the problem, you can easily see why the original hypothetical situation of someone buying up every N-number will never happen.
 
Ok, yes. In this situation you've concocted, you can conclude that someone is profiteering from a "government-owned, and federally mandated 'resource'". I'm not going to argue otherwise within the context of your hypothetical.

Instead, I'm saying that your hypothetical situation is so far divorced from reality that it is ridiculous. You're proposing a scenario (someone hoarding all currently available N-numbers) that isn't going to happen, but that doesn't necessarily stop us from considering "what if". However, your experiment completely disconnects itself from reality when you stipulate that nothing is allowed to be done or changed to fix the problem. IF some big conglomerate gobbled up every last N-number, it would be foolish to really, truly, honestly believe that nothing would change. Do you see the airlines just accepting the fact that they can't get any new aircraft? Boeing and Airbus? They're just going to roll over and play dead?! The transportation industry as a whole would entirely reject this idea of "nothing is allowed to change". Maybe nobody would be allowed to reserve N-numbers anymore; instead, they would be randomly or sequentially assigned to an airworthy, certificated aircraft. Maybe the FAA adds 30 million possible registrations by adding a 6th digit, or another billion by adding a 7th. The point is, under the circumstances that you've imagined, something will change. To pretend otherwise is to forego an honest discussion.

Coming full circle and knowing how simply and easily things could and would change to fix the problem, you can easily see why the original hypothetical situation of someone buying up every N-number will never happen.

Never is a long time, especially in a climate that encourages privatization of government assets.

I guess, in the end, my biggest problem is with the government forcing one to acquire/use a government "resource", but then allowing a private corporation the ability to monopolize the resource. If it were a tangible asset, and it was required that you buy one to fly, and the source was the government, I don't think as many people would be so accepting of this scheme. Regulation says you have to get an X widget from the government, at a minimal cost, to be airworthy. Private company buys up Xs from the government, creating a shortage or very long lead time, unless you pay an exorbitant fee to the company. Taxpaying aviators are the ones stuck with the choice...pony up or don't fly.

I don't think a lot of pilots would be too happy about a situation like that.
 
I guess, in the end, my biggest problem is with the government forcing one to acquire/use a government "resource", but then allowing a private corporation the ability to monopolize the resource.

Best argument against yet ... however, I'm sure the FAA would drop the hammer if the resource was actually being monopolized. The negligible number of reserved N numbers this guy has is not a problem that needs attention or rule change. The raised hairs are from people who want one of those numbers for vanity purposes. There are plenty of N numbers available to register. Same as domain names or toll free numbers.
 
$3500

A few good arguments on both sides. Keep in mind that the ability to reserve these numbers from the FAA is (in theory anyway) the same for all of us.

I wanted to perform a quick exercise to see how a nice N number could be found and reserved. I did a quick check to determine which registrations were "Cancelled".

Please correct me if I'm wrong with any of this:The regs state that any registration that is not renewed is considered "Expired". After "about 90 days" it is considered "cancelled". That number then becomes available again after 5 years (midnight).

I found that N14EC was cancelled on 4/9/2014 and will therefore be available at midnight 4/9/19.

If any of you are interested in working for your N number instead of paying for someone else to harvest it for you, get all of your ducks in a row at about 11:55 and set your trigger to "hit that number" at midnight. Don't forget that the FAA is in OK City when doing this. Spend $10 on a practice session before going for that number so you will know what you're doing when going for the big prize.

I'll be interested to see who gets this. If i's one of you guys, and you decide not to use it, will you gift it to one of your fellow RVers or will you sell it?

I'm all for private enterprise but also FIRMLY disagree with "if it's "legal" it's not wrong or immoral"
 
N numbers only mean something to the builder, or owner of any airplane (maybe falsely). No one else cares. I would be happy with a randomly selected N number - like buying a lottery ticket with auto pick. Who cares, really?? The only reason I can think of for selecting a personalized N number is how it rolls off the tongue. I don?t prefer to end my call sign in ?Sierra Echo, or Zulu Hotel? - too many syllables for me, but others may like those ones. BUT - I could get used to any number. The N number means NOTHING. We could shut the N number pirates down by not caring what our useless N number is. If you built your airplane, your name is on the data plate. Isn?t that enough?
 
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