Buying your first aircraft calls for a fair amount of due diligence. Narrowing down your price range, scouring a sea of online listings, and completing quite a bit of paperwork during and after the transaction can be a time-consuming process. One of the more important pieces of documentation, the airplane registration, will be a form you will become increasingly familiar with throughout your aviation career. At the outset of your journey in the skies, however, you may be wondering, how long does that registration last? And what actions do you take if it expires?

Will I Need to Renew My Airplane Registration?

Getting your first airplane registration represented a significant milestone in your career as a pilot. This meant your aircraft was entered in the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) registry, and you received your own unique n-number. As the FAA prefers to maintain accurate records for the safety of everyone in the skies, they will periodically seek to check on any updates to their registered airplanes. This is generally accomplished by requiring aircraft registration renewals.

Read more about airplane registration at National Aviation Center.