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Good N Numbers For Uniqueness

iaw4

Well Known Member
I decided to look at the frequency of letters in the FAA registration data base. I prefer a call sign that does not sound too much like many others...alpha one charlie is not ideal, because each letter appears frequently in the data base. Without further ado, here are the number frequencies in the data base:

Letter Frequency

Q 6734
Z 7789
Y 7821
U 8487 <-- three syllables ("uniform")
X 9758
V 11492
N 11637 <-- three syllables
K 13980
F 14233
G 14595
E 14860
H 15204
L 15467
J 16452
W 17454
R 18105 <-- sort of three syllables
P 18810
T 19218
B 19755
D 19863
M 20694
S 22241
C 23150
A 24157

0 86213
9 98009
6 100360
8 100457
7 105206
4 105560
3 107743
5 107807
2 116671
1 123302
 
I?m an idiot, as I have NO clue, as to what you are talking about. Please excuse my idiot-ness.
 
I'm one of the lucky ones who got a short and meaningful N number, N6GY for my -6. From your frequencies it's also pretty low/unique. Also only has 4 syllables. Do I win?:)
 
67Q is available. Short and Three syllables.

Tailnum.com seems to be down. It was a nice way to search for available tail numbers.
 
Interesting information. It's worthy of some kind of Aviation Trivia question. I wonder if 90Q is available? :D
 
Hard to be unique when even the most under utilized character shows up 6700+ times.

I think uniqueness is derived more so from the assembly of the all potential characters than simply picking the leased used ones.

I'd put ease of speaking it at the top of the list. If you can do that plus pick something meaningful to you, all the better.
 
Why not drop the letter and use simple numbers that can be easily said and understood.
Also, numbers are much easier to enter at the gas pump.
 
I bet they sell a whole lot of gas to N1.

Yes, that's your option. Just keep this in mind.... several people at the Petaluma airport were GIVEN new motors by Chevron after they purchased contaminated fuel and were found through the use of sale tag and N number on the tag.
 
Yes, that's your option. Just keep this in mind.... several people at the Petaluma airport were GIVEN new motors by Chevron after they purchased contaminated fuel and were found through the use of sale tag and N number on the tag.

They would find me via my credit card receipt.
 
I'd put ease of speaking it at the top of the list. If you can do that plus pick something meaningful to you, all the better.

I looked at a LOT of N-number combinations with the "ease of speaking" at the top of my list. Finally found one that rolled off the tongue well AND had some meaning. N783V is my reserved number. The 783 represents my wedding date 36 years ago (July, 1983) and the V is for my last name. Here's a pic of what she'll look like when she's finished and painted.

STmggUpbOcFfBvHJ29TYo5j5oAqKsq0kSUKuTrGO1Qu_txlRhxQ8FRQV5LjHW45614LtbcNBkYfzPDTCDD-jt3wSlLlKuI-LhWGd_5ZAfKMlO-FGL6aeLpFgoIyR94qT60OFqsOGJhV1lsGn61M9a_gqD2uPlKDGdjdhwypXPJ9tcKJYBbQLJX_s7v0HCDoPYy7stpFP-jv1o4GmuEzDsTqRfDxKsmayyE9bgVUgypTJifS2PlNu0QQOuGiTE28mhHbEeojEKpEe3BMBR7LgPfBMY_Q6Btj66EJn0O1xO96vmpixum25_Fs8X3tA-DVmaraxdMS61cbT5ewnh73mXgnJltFmNTS6mcquVaosDjwr6h9A9S1UetFXSPcF3vKey6pFNIZW_YGKOzQama9dGJgef9wlRmPjBoighnpKfTf6SyZxLhxJB5Dslxezg7Efp5u0TwKMvwyfrSpudaPg1xUcySu6DSnrrLhm5UtV1BJH5Tvj83hUHWtWqL-JEUaPFuJqClFZ-m8dBo8t8DS5kB4VVNZKTWt-O2MPtonAz3l3YHYYNGUOJW-Yz647LYbS4dkt9XgcGUMOJJnmPS231zJqCaYNHkkfZ6ga_bvdr9-iegF1aZzrqG9JKBnRqRrp0-y6wgfW5Z0UL5acaKPnIGLQiirtKzOLXijLNEdE2lf2ZMbjJzRs1a-tTulGmIi5H_jq6HdLqDZOBvEEraP5w5M1Tli_jl5wnS432fFvpVM-SW4=w1050-h560-no
 
67Q is available. Short and Three syllables.
Um... No. Five.

Tailnum.com seems to be down. It was a nice way to search for available tail numbers.
Do we know who runs tailnum dot com? It would be a great way for a tail number hoarding website to find out what tail numbers people are searching for, and to snap them up before you get a chance to.

Just like the website URL providers, if you search on their site and don't register it right away, there's a good chance the next time you come back the URL won't be available anymore.
 
Juliet and Sierra also have three syllables.

how interesting. you are correct.

I pronounced it chool-yet. but it really is choo-lee-yet. and sje-ra is again see-ye-ra.

then again, I come from a country where we say "Wikter" and "Viskee"...
 
I?m an idiot, as I have NO clue, as to what you are talking about. Please excuse my idiot-ness.
Agreed! The initial post here makes almost no sense, but after reading it numerous times I sorta get the point. Not sure why it?s a point though...
 
I thought that N8RV was a decent choice for my RV-8. Easy to spit out, easily understandable, and would save ATC asking my aircraft type.

Until I was departing an airport in MO one day and the tower kept calling me an RV-6. :rolleyes:
 
3-letter combinations 70-90 aircraft each: 700 A01 AP1 CA6 CC1 CC4 E81 PS0 SA1 SD0 SD1 AC2 AM4 CA1 CA8 DC9 MA1 PS3 SD5 AM3 CA5 CM5 DC0 VR6 AC9 AM9 BJ3 BJ6 DC3 MA2 MA3 MD7 PS2 RS9 AM1 BJ4 CS2 MA0 PS1 VR7 VR8 AM6 BJ5 CA0 CA4 PS6 AM0 BJ9 CD1 PS5 VR9 AM8 M88 PS8 AM5 PC9 PS9 MD1 AM2 PC3 PC1 PC4 PC0 PC2 PC6 PC5 PC8 PC7 <-- last is most common

and for our more creative siblings:

22 RV0
24 RV1
17 RV2
14 RV3
20 RV4
18 RV5
17 RV6
13 RV7
13 RV8
6 RV9

2-letter combinations within Last 3 characters

start, 550 to 830 aircraft each: A7 C1 D5 D6 M0 T5 W5 W8 A9 C2 H4 H5 C5 T7 W9 D4 E8 W7 M7 M1 E7 P0 W2 M2 M8 M9 A1 WS D1 MC T3 C4 T8 E2 AP CP T9 E1 T6 BC AS CB T1 W0 W4 W1 M5 AB T4 W3 BD CM SA T2 CT CS CD RS CC MD AC SD DC MA CA VR BJ PS AM PC

end, 1000-1900 aircraft each, most common = 00, 21, 11, ... all numbers, 1000-1900 aircraft. First letter combos, about 1000: C0, A1, A0


of course, this is not too important. it just happened to me a few times that my call sign had two overlapping letters and radio reception was lousy. so I had to ask back a few times whether this was for me. not fun. it also becomes less automatic when there are similar call signs around you.
 
3-letter combinations 70-90 aircraft each: 700 A01 AP1 CA6 CC1 CC4 E81 PS0 SA1 SD0 SD1 AC2 AM4 CA1 CA8 DC9 MA1 PS3 SD5 AM3 CA5 CM5 DC0 VR6 AC9 AM9 BJ3 BJ6 DC3 MA2 MA3 MD7 PS2 RS9 AM1 BJ4 CS2 MA0 PS1 VR7 VR8 AM6 BJ5 CA0 CA4 PS6 AM0 BJ9 CD1 PS5 VR9 AM8 M88 PS8 AM5 PC9 PS9 MD1 AM2 PC3 PC1 PC4 PC0 PC2 PC6 PC5 PC8 PC7 <-- last is most common

and for our more creative siblings:

22 RV0
24 RV1
17 RV2
14 RV3
20 RV4
18 RV5
17 RV6
13 RV7
13 RV8
6 RV9

2-letter combinations within Last 3 characters

start, 550 to 830 aircraft each: A7 C1 D5 D6 M0 T5 W5 W8 A9 C2 H4 H5 C5 T7 W9 D4 E8 W7 M7 M1 E7 P0 W2 M2 M8 M9 A1 WS D1 MC T3 C4 T8 E2 AP CP T9 E1 T6 BC AS CB T1 W0 W4 W1 M5 AB T4 W3 BD CM SA T2 CT CS CD RS CC MD AC SD DC MA CA VR BJ PS AM PC

end, 1000-1900 aircraft each, most common = 00, 21, 11, ... all numbers, 1000-1900 aircraft. First letter combos, about 1000: C0, A1, A0


of course, this is not too important. it just happened to me a few times that my call sign had two overlapping letters and radio reception was lousy. so I had to ask back a few times whether this was for me. not fun. it also becomes less automatic when there are similar call signs around you.

SAY WHAT? WHA CHU TALKIN BOUT?
 
well, I wanted something meaningful. I wanted 14 in the call sign but that was not easy to find. So I went with 73XP. 73 is my kit number. X-ray Papa a nice combo of letters. It also stands for eXPerimental. You could even throw the 3 in as a backwards E. So EXP. I also think XP rolls off the tongue easily.

There are 743 of the available the N numbers ending in XP. So it is not very frequently used combination

Yankee Zulu has 907 open numbers.

Look for easy combinations of the last two letters and search 1-999.

cheers
ken
 
...Look for easy combinations of the last two letters and search 1-999...ken

Why two letters? You can have an N number that ends with only one letter. I have reserved ?N517D.? The explanation of my selection is in the other thread.
 
Luck me

Fun fact. I reserved my N numbers long before I actually put them on my project. One day I get a call from Canada saying they REALLY wanted my numbers. They paid for the new registration and $1,000 plus. Sometimes we just get luck and the money went toward finishing the plane.

Carlton Green
N12CG
 
N Numbers For Uniqueness

reminds me of a joke. how do you catch a unique rabbet? you-neek up on it. I know, that was bad.
 
N Numbers For Uniqueness...
I searched for my area code with my initial.
Worked out good for me.
Mike (TnMike)
N931M
 
Don-

The original post said "I prefer a call sign that does not sound too much like many others."

Well, if you pick a letter combination that rolls off the tongue and where most of the available number combinations with those letters are open, then it will not sound like others.

It was just a suggestion.
 
In Canada we have the challenge of having only letters to work with. I've noticed our registration (VLF) seems to get particularly clearly enunciated by ATC. Our other aircraft (JOY) is another one that controllers seem to spend some time clearly enunciating. I like that as it makes it difficult to miss a radio call.
 
I prefer a call sign that does not sound too much like many others...alpha one charlie is not ideal, because each letter appears frequently in the data base.

It's also not a valid callsign in the US:

NA1C

Guess I don't get what you're doing, other than a simple frequency analysis. If the stated goal is "one that doesn't sound like too many others", then you need to define a distance function (metric) on the space and then find the callsigns that maximize the distance between neighboring "points". While it might be an interesting mathematical problem given the constraints on callsign formation, beyond that, I'm kinda...meh...not sure what the point is.

But to each his own.
 
Some character combinations just seem to roll off the tongue easily while other seem very "clunky".

-1EM vs -6XQ

I'll take -1EM all day. But if you want something unique, pick the one that makes it sound like you just tossed a handful of Scrabble tiles into your mouth!
 
It's also not a valid callsign in the US:

NA1C

Guess I don't get what you're doing, other than a simple frequency analysis. If the stated goal is "one that doesn't sound like too many others", then you need to define a distance function (metric) on the space and then find the callsigns that maximize the distance between neighboring "points". While it might be an interesting mathematical problem given the constraints on callsign formation, beyond that, I'm kinda...meh...not sure what the point is.

yes, it assumes about equal distance across words and letters. I presume the aviation alphabet was chosen to make letters not too near one another. could be wrong.

I had not expected to start a long thread. I just wanted to note this for others picking call signs. They can do with it whatever they wish.
 
It’s not just letters that can be confusing.

Some number combinations confuse even the controllers. I’d say less than 10% of controllers understand my number on initial contact if I say it like I’m supposed to.
“November Seven Niner Fife Niner Niner.”

One controller made a suggestion, and even though it’s not by the book, it works most of the time.

“November Seven Niner Fife Nine Nine.”

I hope I never own another airplane that has a Nine in the N number.

:)
 
N531EM

Sometimes I call unicom and ask if my mike has an echo. Especially if I'm in the Christmas mood. I must be getting there.
 
It?s not just letters that can be confusing.

Some number combinations confuse even the controllers. I?d say less than 10% of controllers understand my number on initial contact if I say it like I?m supposed to.
?November Seven Niner Fife Niner Niner.?

One controller made a suggestion, and even though it?s not by the book, it works most of the time.

?November Seven Niner Fife Nine Nine.?

I hope I never own another airplane that has a Nine in the N number.

:)
I feel for you. Repeating digits seem to trip up controllers. My Navion is N5221K and my hangar partner's is N4428K. Both of us get stumbles and misreads from the repeating digits. Oddly, when we're flying separately we get the similar callsign warning because of 21K and 28K but it never causes an issue. Only occurs when they have to use the full reg number.
 
N numbers

I have had well over a dozen N numbers and flown over a hundred airplanes with different N numbers. I really liked the twin Beech number N711 which I flew for someone else. I have N6711 on my RV6A and haven?t had any issues with ATC. Just find one you like and figure out how to use it.
 
Fueling as N1...

Yes, that's your option. Just keep this in mind.... several people at the Petaluma airport were GIVEN new motors by Chevron after they purchased contaminated fuel and were found through the use of sale tag and N number on the tag.

And when Continental was severely back-ordered replacing thousands of cylinders, at least one person I know managed to get Chevron to instead help them buy a new airplane (which was used, but never filled with contaminated fuel).

That is reason enough to me, to take the extra 5 seconds to type out any N number in full....

Regarding uniqueness, -Romeo Victor is far from unique. I chose it so I'd get to sound like a cool RV pilot ;)
 
Being the vain sum-Of-biscuit I'm, went with one number (7 for RV-7) and my initials.... That is unique to me. I think you confuse unique with most used. Combinations of numbers or numbers and letters are huge and each one is unique. The question is are they interesting or catchy.
 
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