The FAA currently allows us to reserve registration numbers for aircraft at a price of $10 per tail number, per year. For those of us planning on getting aircraft in the future, some strategic planning on what we will be painting on the side of our pride and joy (and what we will be saying over and over again on the radio) is worth some pre-planning.
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 has wording in it that insinuates they are going to look into how N Number reservations are handled and potentially make changes. This info is what I know/understand at this time and has a decent chance of changing to some extent in the near future.
I’ll try to keep this up to date, but if you are going through this guide in the future and find something is off or has changed please let me know so that I can update!
FAA N Number Requirements
- Must start with the letter “N”
- Must have 1 to 5 numbers/letters after the initial “N” (we will from this point forward be referring to these 1 to 5 numbers/letters that come after the initial “N”, the initial “N” will be assumed)
- Must start with a number (can not have a letter next to the initial "N’)
- Can not start with the number “0” (only 1-9)
- Can not be 1-99 (the FAA reserves these for itself)
- If including letters, the letters must be at the end
- Maximum of 2 letters at the end
- Can not use the letters “I” or “O” (this avoids confusion with the numbers “1” and “0”
N | 1 Number | 0 Letters (9 in existence, 0 in public circulation)
The FAA retains all of these. N1, N2, N3, N4, N5, N6, N7, N8 and N9 would probably constitute the most desirable tail numbers in existence, but they are not available to the public.
N | 2 Numbers | 0 Letters (90 in existence, 0 in public circulation)
The FAA retains all of these for themselves. Example: N10
N | 1 Number | 1 Letter (216 in circulation)
These are the most sought after N numbers. I didn’t even realize that these were available to the general public until I walked by a helicopter sitting on the back of a yacht that had one on the tail boom. Lee Griffing and I had incorrectly stated that these were not valid tail numbers on a FARAIM Podcast episode in the past… Our Bad! If you ever spot one of these “In-The-Wild” try to get a photo and post it here!! Example: N1A
N | 3 Numbers | 0 Letters (900 in circulation)
These make great tail numbers. If you don’t want letters at the end of your call sign, this is the shortest registration available to the public. Example: N100
N | 2 Numbers | 1 Letter (2,160 in circulation)
Example: N10A
N | 1 Number | 2 Letters (5,184 in circulation)
Example: N1AA
N | 4 Numbers | 0 Letters (9,000 in circulation)
Example: N1234
N | 3 Numbers | 1 Letter (21,600 in circulation)
Having this many in circulation, your odds of getting one start to increase dramatically from this point forward.
Example: N999Z
N | 2 Numbers | 2 Letters (51,840 in circulation)
Example: N12AB
N | 5 Numbers | 0 Letters (90,000 in circulation)
Example: N54321
N | 4 Numbers | 1 Letter (216,000 in circulation)
Example: N1234A
N | 3 Numbers | 2 Letters (518,400 in circulation)
Example: N321ZY
Looking For An N Number
Finding an available tail number to reserve that’s worthy of being your call sign can be a challenge. The best of the best N Numbers are typically already reserved by somebody (if not already being used on an aircraft). Don’t worry though, I am going to break down the options that you have for obtaining one…
Option 1: Find a tail number that nobody is using on an aircraft and that isn’t reserved by anyone else.
If you are not trying to get a short tail number, it might be possible to reserve a tail number today that nobody else has tied up.
To lookup a specific tail number, just head to this FAA webpage:
https://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/Search/NNumberInquiry
Enter the tail number that you have in mind (without the initial “N”) in the search box.
This will pull up all of the publicly available information that the FAA has on the registration number.
We are looking for numbers that are neither “Assigned” or “Reserved”. Numbers potentially available for reservation will show “Deregistered” or “Not Assigned/Reserved” at the top as shown below.
*These two examples may be reserved or assigned by the time you are reading this. This is what they showed at the time of posting this.
I said “potentially available” because there is still a chance that somebody has already requested to reserve the number and the FAA has not yet updated the official record. From my experience, this can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months for them to update the record after someone requests a reservation.
To see if its actually available or not we need to try and request a reservation from the FAA. To do this we will go to the following FAA webpage.
https://aircraft.faa.gov/e.gov/NN/reserve.aspx
Here we can enter the potentially available number (without the initial “N”) and get one of the four following results.
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If the system doesn’t detect an existing request in the system it should look like the image below with a status of “Available for Request”.
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If the system detects that another reservation request has already been made it will show “Requested” as the status.
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If the system detects that the number is already reserved it will say “Already Reserved” as the status.
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If the system detects that the number is already on an aircraft, it will say “Assigned” as the status.
If it shows a status of “Available for Request” and you want to reserve the number, simply fill out the requested information and follow the steps to submit and confirm payment.
Remember that your name and address will be public record and available online under the number that you have reserved.
Once completed, you will land on a page that confirms your request and issues you what is called a “Remittance ID”. My understanding is it’s basically a confirmation number for your request. I would take a screenshot, clear photo on your phone or print the page to save this incase you run into any issues.
If this is a 4 or 5 character N number (not including the initial “N”) that you randomly found available, than chances are you will be granted the reservation. There is a slight chance that someone else happened to reserve the same number at the same time as you then you may not end up with the reservation. (We will talk more about being denied a reservation later in this post.) Either way you will receive written notice from the FAA anywhere between a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
There is website that can be helpful in your search. It’s not perfect. I have found available numbers that were not shown in the search and I have had numbers show up in the search that were not actually available. But it is a lot more user friendly than the official FAA webpages. Link Below:
Option 2: Buy an N Number off of somebody who is willing to sell.
If you see that someone else has the number that you want send them a letter under the name and address listed. Everyone has a price, you could potentially come to a deal if you are willing to pay more than the number is worth to them.
There are also several people who hoard desirable N Numbers and list them for sale on there website. A simple online search should result in several sites that offer this. I have only heard hearsay about what dollar amounts these go for, but supposedly the one-number-one-letter ones go for big money. If anyone has ever purchased one of these and is willing to share the cost let us know, I would be curious.
I would reach out to an attorney if I were to ever purchase a tail number just to make sure everything goes well.
This is a somewhat annoying option, but I would definitely consider paying for a good number at some point. I’ll share the details if/when I do if I am able to disclose the number.
Option 3: Snipe One Off In The Middle Of The Night On It’s Purge Date
My experience from doing this method over the last couple of years is what inspired me to create this guide. I have had a little bit of success and a ton of failures trying this method. This one isn’t for the faint of heart, especially if you are going for the ones with lower amount in circulation as spelled out earlier in this guide. Here we go…
Once you have spent any amount of time looking up N Numbers in the FAA database, you will see what’s called a “Purge Date”.
This date refers to when the FAA will cancel the reservation of the current person and make it available for reservation by someone else.
The release happens at midnight central time (1am eastern time) at the end of the purge date.
So for example, if you are on eastern time and the purge date is 12/31/25, the number would be purged at 1am eastern on 1/1/26.
The process to make an attempt to “snip one” is similar to option one that we went over. Only you need to do it the moment that the FAA server strikes midnight and do it faster than everyone else attempting to get the same number.
It has been alleged that the super desirable tail numbers have computers that are attempting to reserve the number as fast as possible after the purge. This is one of the things mentioned in the recent Reauthorization Act that they want to look into stopping. But for now realize that you may be trying to compete against a computer.
Once you get to the confirmation page, you will see your time on the top right.
My record is 1 min 16 seconds.
Times will very depending on the night. The more people who are trying to snipe tail numbers on any given night, the slower it will be. I have had the payment processor alone take over 2 mins to process the payment one night and that’s all included in that time.
This is where I mentioned earlier, that just because your payment was accepted and you have a Remittance ID number, doesn’t mean that you got the reservation. If a bunch of people are all requesting the same number at the exact same time, the system will allow several people to request (and pay for) the same reservation. You won’t know if you actually got the reservation for weeks if not months.
In the event that you did not get the reservation (but you payed and got a Remittance ID) you will eventually receive a written letter in the mail from the FAA stating such. The letter will explain how to get your money back and once you go through that process the $10 will be credited back to your account (usually several months after you submit your refund request).
I have tried soooo many times to get 1-number-1-letter, 3-number-0-letters, 2-numbers-1-letter and 1-number-2-letters tail numbers and have NEVER gotten one.
The 2 and 3 character are extremely competitive.
I have had some success with 2-numbers-2-letters using the purge method, but others have beaten me to the punch on many of those as well.
I have lost countless nights of sleep attempting to get tail numbers!
Renewing Your Reservation
The FAA will usually send you a reminder to renew a month or so before your renewal date.
I wouldn’t depend on this though!
Just remember to go online within 60 days prior to your renewal date and renew.
You can find the FAA webpage to renew here:
https://aircraft.faa.gov/e.gov/nr/
If you no longer want to keep the number reserved, simply don’t renew. The FAA will release the number on it’s purge date in that case.
Using Your Reserved Tail Number
What’s the point of going through all of this unless you paint that awesome call sign on the tail of your aircraft!
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If you are re-painting an aircraft to place the reserved number onto the tail contact the FAA for an “N-Number Change”.
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If you are ordering a new aircraft, simply let the manufacture know that you already have a reserved N-Number that you want to use and they can guide you through the process.
If you have done any of this N-Number stuff in the past or did it after reading this guide please share your experience here on Pilot Ground.
Thanks For Reading & Good Luck Sniping!