Which N-Number are you looking for?

[David_Nelson]

A couple of days ago, I asked about valid N-Numbers (ie 'What's wrong with 999AI'). I mentioned about a pet project I was working on and, specifically, it had to do with searching for possible N-Numbers that weren't yet active/reserved. I believe that some folks have been using spreadsheets to filter the available data which seems rather tedious and a lot of work. However, having not done the spreadsheet method, I could be wrong. I thought there had to be a better way and since I'm teaching myself Python, I thought I'd give it try. I've no idea if anybody has this available somewhere else or not; I did it to learn some new things.

So, if you are looking for an N-Number that begins with, contains, or ends with a particular sequence, this should do it. It's certainly nothing fancy, but I believe it'd be useful to others. If you run into problems or you have some suggestions, please let me know.

The FAA updates the data on a somewhat regular basis. Because of this delay, an entry may show as being available when, in fact, it's just been recently activated or reserved. For this reason, each returned entry is a link to the FAA's real-time search so that you can verify its availability and get the paperwork started ASAP.

http://caura.homenet.org/cgi-bin/nsearch.cgi

Hope You Enjoy,

[fatherson]

Originally Posted by David_Nelson

So, if you are looking for an N-Number that begins with, contains, or ends with a particular sequence, this should do it. It's certainly nothing fancy, but I believe it'd be useful to others. If you run into problems or you have some suggestions, please let me know.

Nicely done, David. I've used the spreadsheet method in the past, but this is more elegant. The FAA's online version doesn't permit searching for every available registration which ends with a certain two chars, so your version is useful even if just for that.

--
Stephen

[Av8torTom]

Pretty slick...

[dbaflyer]

That saved me a lot of frustration. Just reserved N649DS.

[krw5927]

Started playing around with this and found that the number I though I still had reserved for my 9A was back in the pool

Quickly jumped back on it. Not that it's particularly special or popular, but it's the one I want. Thanks for posting this tool, David. If not for you, I might have missed out on the number I thought I'd already reserved!

[Phlyan Pan]

Slight issue...it only shows those numbers with 3 leading numbers.

For example, I chose to search for N numbers ending with TS (my initials). It showed me every available number that was "###TS". But it did not show me the three numbers which are "##TS".

[fatherson]

Originally Posted by Phlyan Pan

Slight issue...it only shows those numbers with 3 leading numbers.

No, it works correctly for me. It's just that most two-number-two-letter and one-number-two-letter combinations are unavailable.

--
Stephen

[David_Nelson]

I'm glad to see that it's proving useful!

Hi Phlyan Pan - It seems to be working correctly as '38TS', '61TS' and '68TS' are reported as being available. The sorting could use some work; I'll give that some thought and see what develops.

Regards,

[RV7Guy]

Just killed an hour I won't get back

Very useful tool!!!

[longranger]

Thanks David! I used to use the one on Mike Bullock's build page (that's how I found the one I have reserved now), but it no longer works. It's interesting to occasionally go through and see what's available. Hmmm... 216 available numbers ending in RV...