# Aircraft registration question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 8, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580 "2010-08-08T04:46:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580/1 "2010-08-08T04:46:34Z")
I’ve mentioned I have a habit of looking up aircraft registration numbers when I see them. I looked up the Schweizer on _Whale Wars_ to see when it was made, and MFR Year is None. Ar? 😕 Could it be that this is a ‘salvage’? I’ve seen some helis offered on eBay that had belonged to A&P schools and/or did not have a dataplate. Maybe it was put together from salvaged parts and is in the Restricted or Experimental category? EDIT: Other missing information is Engine type and model, and Category. . ---
**Author:** ![Waffle\_Decider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Waffle\_Decider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waffle_Decider)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580/2 "2010-08-08T13:56:20Z")
IIRC, the FAA has reserved a number of fictional registrations for use in movies and such. I have a hard time finding a cite, though. Perhaps the registration you saw is one of those? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580/3 "2010-08-08T15:30:32Z")
I had not heard that. It did have Sea Shepherds as the registered owner, and it had their address. (The FAA site seems to be down at the moment. I know it showed their city and state. I didn’t pay attention to the mailing address last night, but I presume it was there.) If any information would be considered private, one would think the owner’s name and address would be; not the year of manufacture or engine type. ---
**Author:** ![lastsong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@lastsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lastsong)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580/4 "2010-08-09T06:17:04Z")
How old is the aircraft? Did the FAA ever have to re-construct registration data from surviving records? Or, ask your friendly, local FSDO… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580/5 "2010-08-09T15:27:38Z")
How old is the aircraft? It doesn’t say! 😛 That’s the thing. Ordinarily the date of manufacture would be there, but it isn’t. AFAIK the FAA never lost their data (e.g., to a fire in the records building). ---
**Author:** ![lastsong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@lastsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lastsong)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580/6 "2010-08-09T20:53:23Z")
Searching by name, Sea Shepherd has 3 N numbers - one is merely “assigned” (reserved), there is a Hughes 369, engine type: Turbo-shaft (no mfg), no mfg year, as well as the Schweizer. I am not going to look up every Hughes 369, but the 6-7 I found all had “turbo-shaft” for engine type and “none” for year mfg. Just an FAA thing with rotorcraft. Mfd I can see - by the time it is 10 years old, are there any signifigant original pieces left on a chopper? (for those who do not understand that Q: pointing the prop at the sky and calling it your wing is not a real efficient means of generating lift. Subsequently, heliocopters shake themselves apart, and just about every piece except the upholstery has to be replaced/rebuilt with truely scary frequency. If they aren’t, they have the nasty tendency to fall apart at really unfortunate times and places. When looking for a heliocopter ride, cheapest is not best…) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aircraft-registration-question/549580/7 "2010-08-10T01:54:01Z")
The aircraft in question is a 269C. Engine type is reciprocating. Under the engine manufacturer it says ‘None’. Ditto engine model. Classification is ‘Unknown’. Category is ‘None’. Airworthiness date is ‘None’. Picking a random heli I found online, I found another 269C (actually a 269C-1). Engine type is reciprocating, engine manufacturer is Lycoming, engine type is HIO-360-G1A, MFR year is 2006, classification is Standard, category is Normal, and A/W date is 03/26/2009. So it’s not ‘an FAA thing with rotorcraft’ as far as I can tell. This is the first time that I’ve come across an aircraft of any type that is demonstrably flying, but has virtually no information about it. Weird.