# High price for this aircraft N-number **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248 "2013-08-03T15:10:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **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 3, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/1 "2013-08-03T15:10:13Z")
[FAA Aircraft reserved Call Sign N420W for sale marketing Colorado POT Business](http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FAA-Aircraft-reserved-Call-Sign-N420W-sale-marketing-Colorado-POT-Business-/141029392491?pt=Motors_Aircraft&hash=item20d601c06b#ht_1184wt_1182) > [@](#): > > For sale special reserved FAA aircraft call sign N420W to any one interested in this for their Company or personal self . 420W could be used for business advertising marketing for one in that field maybe High times will buy it ,who knows, or the next large recreational company, maybe the size of **Budweiser** , no pun intended. And there’s a picture of a business jet with the N-number and pot leaf photoshopped on it. How much would you pay for this unique marketing tool? The low, low price of _only_ $100,000! (It appears he expects the buyer to also pay the $20 fee to the FAA.) That’s just for transferring the number to you. No airplane. Just a piece of paper from the FAA saying you can use that number on your aircraft. Now, I think Nike paid a good sum for N1KE. But someone paying a hundred kilobucks for N420W? I’m not seeing it. What’s the ‘W’ supposed to stand for, anyway? The seller suggests maybe _High Times_ could buy it. (Does Trans-High Corp even have a corporate jet?) Were I _High Times_ and wanted to advertise my ‘Establishment cred’, I think I’d choose N420HT – which is available for a sawbuck from the FAA. I think the seller might have been smoking something. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/2 "2013-08-03T15:26:59Z")
Who has call sign NCC-1701? ---
**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 3, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/3 "2013-08-03T15:39:50Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Who has call sign NCC-1701? No one! Aircraft registration in the U.S. must begin with N, and may have from one to five additional characters. The first character must be a numeral other than zero, and there are no numerals after an alpha character. The registration cannot end with more than two alpha characters, and alpha characters I and O are prohibited because they are easily confused with 1 and 0. If an aircraft was registered before 31 December, 1948, it may have an additional alpha character after the N: C for commercial, private, or airline; G for glider; X for experimental; R for restricted; L for limited; or S for state. In actuality, the additional character is not part of the registration. NC12345 is the same as N12345. So it’s possible there might be NC1701 – but you’d have to apply it to a pre-1949 aircraft, and you’d have to purchase the N-number from the current registrant (who has it on a 1965 Cessna 172F in Minnesota). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/4 "2013-08-03T15:45:57Z")
So N1701A could be an aircraft? It is. [and the E](http://flightaware.com/resources/registration/N1701E) is owned by Enterprise Equipment LLC. ---
**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 3, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/5 "2013-08-03T16:36:35Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > What’s the ‘W’ supposed to stand for, anyway? Ah, this explains it. (I should have read further. Oh, and emphasis is mine.) > [@](#): > > **Q:** Was wondering what you were smoking when you came up with this idea and how you arrived at the number? How much over $500.00 do you qualify for? Aug-03-13 > > **A:** I quit smoking and drinking many many years ago. When I became a pilot in 2009 I looked up numbers to reserve for future aircrafts that made a personal statement “No more weed and whisky” thus N420W. I sold my aircraft yesterday and decided, as a business man, to derive money for an inventive marketing scheme to whom ever is in that sort of business where it is legal. As for your last question How much over $500.00 do you qualify for? I have no idea what you mean ??? ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/6 "2013-08-03T16:51:08Z")
As a kid in Nashville, I used to see a King Air at the state hanger with N10EC on it all the time. My instructor told me it’s the governor’s plane. I always thought that was cool. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/7 "2013-08-03T19:05:20Z")
Disney had / has N123MM. Controllers just said “Micky Mouse” most of the time. ---
**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 3, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/high-price-for-this-aircraft-n-number/665248/8 "2013-08-03T19:31:00Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Disney had / has N123MM. Currently reserved by a guy in Florida.