Anyone buy their parts while AT the Van's facility?

[zspivey]

My understanding is when you reserve an N number the FAA merely avoids assigning it to another aircraft. You are not allowed to put the N number on an aircraft before you register the aircraft. Registration is completed at the time of the DAR's inspection.

Discuss this with someone who has been through the process. I am still trying to understand it all.

[ptrotter]

When you reserve an N-number the FAA simply reserves that number in your name. There is no aircaft information associated with it. I believe that when you register the aircraft, you tell the FAA to assign it your reserved number. It is my understanding (and I may be wrong here) that you can register the plane before you complete it, but most people don;t. It is actually cheaper to register the plane at a one time $5.00 fee rather than pay $10.00 per year to hold a reserved N-number.

I expect that many states get info from the FAA on aircraft that are registered with addresses in that state in order to try and collect the sales tax. I don't know if the info from the FAA includes reserved N-numbers, but it may, and you may get a letter from your state tax dept. requesting the tax and you will have to try to explain that the plane does not exist yet. On the upside, they will not have a make and model from which they can try to derive a valuation from so they wil have a hard time justifying the demand. It will however raise a flag that they should keep an eye out for when the plane is actually registered.

I am curious as to whether NY will see my N-number reservation and inquire about my "aircraft". We'll see :-)