Stockmanreef
Well Known Member
I just flew from MI to VA. Upon landing I got a call from the main owner of the airplane (I only own 10%, while he owns 90%). He got a call from a person from the FAA that told him that the plane was not registered. Apparently he did forget to renew and the reistration lapsed. I did not know you had to renew. I have never dealt with the registration aspect of a plane.
I called the FAA guy back and he said to call the FAA registration office. After talking with them, I found out that the plane was in fact not registered and the process to register would take 4-6 weeks and that the plane would be grounded in the mean time. And I am in VA.
I called the first guy back and he said that he had the authority to allow me to fly back to MI. But I could face up to an $1100 fine per leg if I flew the plane before it was registered again. All this for a $5 registration.
Could this be a scam? He said that there is a data base telling him when planes are flying with out of registration. He called when I was in the air (which I find hard to believe that the FAA is that efficient considering the 4-6 wk registration process). But I also flew a IFR mission in May and heard nothing from the FAA. I got no last name of the FAA guy or any real way to know who it was. Granted he did know the cell phone number of the owner and the FAA registration hotline #.
Needless to say, it has been a long frustrating day. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks
Ken
I called the FAA guy back and he said to call the FAA registration office. After talking with them, I found out that the plane was in fact not registered and the process to register would take 4-6 weeks and that the plane would be grounded in the mean time. And I am in VA.
I called the first guy back and he said that he had the authority to allow me to fly back to MI. But I could face up to an $1100 fine per leg if I flew the plane before it was registered again. All this for a $5 registration.
Could this be a scam? He said that there is a data base telling him when planes are flying with out of registration. He called when I was in the air (which I find hard to believe that the FAA is that efficient considering the 4-6 wk registration process). But I also flew a IFR mission in May and heard nothing from the FAA. I got no last name of the FAA guy or any real way to know who it was. Granted he did know the cell phone number of the owner and the FAA registration hotline #.
Needless to say, it has been a long frustrating day. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks
Ken