The FAA N-Registry is a heck of a neat tool...

Kinja'd!!! "WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
06/23/2018 at 14:10 • Filed to: Piper Cub, Little Yellow Airplane, FAA Registry

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Lake Thompson, Rhinelander, WI - 8/1953

Above is a picture of a Piper Cub (N6856H) taken in August of 1953, in Rhinelander, WI . It was the first airplane that my dad ever rode in, and he kept this photo along with several others of it.

Well, he rediscovered those photos recently, and I pointed him at the FAA Registry to see if he could find the current owner. Turns out the airplane is still around, and in fact, still in Wisconsin. He mailed a letter and a couple of photos to the current owner, who responded back to him, and sent a photo along with it.

The current owners, a father and son, attend Oshkosh every year, and we are hoping to meet up with them during Airventure. They do not fly the plane in, however - too much headache, and they aren’t all that far from Oshkosh to begin with.

Below is a photo of the exact same airplane, fast forwarded 65 years.  It was restored a few years ago:

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N6856H - 65 years later

Don’t you wish they had this for cars? I’d love to find my first car, if it hasn’t been crushed.


DISCUSSION (33)


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:17

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That’s awesome. And the resto looks really nice, too. Maybe your dad could arrange another ride? That would be neat.


Kinja'd!!! facw > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:18

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Hmm, apparently the first plane I piloted was exported to Brazil: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N68148

Obviously we do have plenty of VIN checks that could tell you about old cars, though that info is not always complete. My big problem with doing that is not knowing the VINs of my older cars. The only one I can check is my S40 which was flooded last year by Harvey, and presumably has been scrapped.


Kinja'd!!! McMike > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:24

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I found my dad’s old log book when he got his pilot’s licence back in the late 60s. One of the planes he trained in/rented crashed in the Caribbean shortly afterwards.

Neat tools.


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > facw
06/23/2018 at 14:26

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Define “old” car here. :) The first 4 cars I owned long pre-date the standard 17 digit VIN, so they’re not searchable.

I have the chassis number of the first two cars I owned, but Google turns up nothing on either one.  


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn
06/23/2018 at 14:28

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That’s kinda his goal. He lives in Wisconsin , only a few hours from where the plane is hangared now.

I think the owner was excited to see the old pictures, too - he had heard that the plane had floats at one time, but hadn’t seen proof until now.  


Kinja'd!!! ttyymmnn > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:31

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Looking again at that old photo, they certainly aren’t planning to put all those people in the plane at the same time, are they?


Kinja'd!!! SmugAardvark > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:33

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Only reference I have is the first open cockpit plane I ever rode in. Looks like it was deregistered back in 2013.

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I’ll have to look through all my old family photos and see if I can find any of my grandfather’s plane that he had back in the 1940's and 50's.


Kinja'd!!! facw > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:34

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Fair enough. I think all of the cars me or my family have owned in my lifetime would have a standard VIN, with the exception of an old Toyota wagon (brown and manual, but not diesel) we had briefly when I was really young, and the car my mother had when living in England (but I can see info on that one based on the plate: https://cartaxcheck.co.uk/free-car-check/?vrm180601=BTC+856L&ab=&ref=Organic&cid=586520102.1526533040#mot-history )


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > McMike
06/23/2018 at 14:35

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The first airplane I flew (which I also soloed in) was in a runway excursion accident in 2013, damaged ‘substantially’ and has since been de-registered, sadly.


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > facw
06/23/2018 at 14:37

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Sadly, this is the airplane I first flew, and soloed in - it was in a landing accident in 2013, and later de-registered.  So it may have been totalled, IDK.


Kinja'd!!! E90M3 > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:39

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I googled the VIN of my first car back in late 2016. It was on a salvage auto site, it was totoaled by someone after I traded it in on my 128i. It was kind of sad. My “ Georgia Tech alumni” sticker was still on the back. I knew I wouldn't have that car forever, so when I changed the right side mirror, I kept the old one. I've still got it. 


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > ttyymmnn
06/23/2018 at 14:40

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Ha-  I don’t even think that’s physically possible in a Cub.  No, I think that was just some people checking it out.  I have another picture of my dad and uncle standing in front of it, I think the pilot plus *maybe* 2 kids could fit in it, but the airplane would only have 2 seatbelts total (it was a different era back then).


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > SmugAardvark
06/23/2018 at 14:42

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Sadly, it was ditched in the Atlantic Ocean in 2011:

https://www.aopa.org/asf/ntsb/narrative.cfm?ackey=1&evid=20111228X33855


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > facw
06/23/2018 at 14:44

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1981 is when that was standardized in the US. My first two cars were 1965 vintage, then a ‘72, a ‘74, ‘84, then a 1964.

Needless to say, the 1984 is by far the least interesting car of that bunch.


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > E90M3
06/23/2018 at 14:45

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Part of me is afraid to know about my first two cars - I would take either one back now, but I sold the first one in the fall of 1984, and was in an accident in the 2nd one a few months later.

Kind of unlikely that either one is still around, so it might be better not knowing.


Kinja'd!!! SmugAardvark > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 14:48

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Well, I’m sure glad I wasn’t on that flight. Hate to see such a good looking plane be lost because of pilot error.


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > SmugAardvark
06/23/2018 at 14:51

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Yeah, going swimming isn’t what those passengers signed up for.

And it’s ridiculous how many forced landings occur because the airplane is out of fuel.  


Kinja'd!!! SmugAardvark > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 15:01

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At least the water down in the Florida Keys is lovely any time of year...


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > SmugAardvark
06/23/2018 at 15:06

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Beats ditching in Lake Superior in January, I suppose.


Kinja'd!!! E90M3 > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 15:22

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Yeah sometimes ignorance is bliss. I still have the first car I bought, if that's any consolation. 


Kinja'd!!! McMike > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 15:42

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I saw this one last weekend with a banner on it advertising flying lessons . Looked it up and...

1) it’s a long way from Louisiana

2) I don’t think it’s a 120

https://goo.gl/maps/1r5FFt3sr6G2

N77380


Kinja'd!!! AfromanGTO > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 16:23

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He should put the floats back on it!


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > McMike
06/23/2018 at 17:24

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No, that’s a 172- Upon a closer look, the photo you linked is actually N7738U.

Lousy paint job hiding the letter at the end.

And the airplane you’re looking for met a much more tragic end - 3 killed:

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=5494


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > AfromanGTO
06/23/2018 at 17:26

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Cubs aren’t ideal floatplanes - they’re light and slow. This one has the “upgraded” engine with 85 HP. Would still result in long takeoff runs on the water - god only knows how long it takes to get that plane ‘on the step’.

Apparently the owner does put skis on in the winter, however.


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > E90M3
06/23/2018 at 17:28

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Do you mean bought, versus owned? 


Kinja'd!!! E90M3 > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 17:30

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Nope, I eventually got the title to the Explorer. 


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > E90M3
06/23/2018 at 17:32

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I don’t really follow -


Kinja'd!!! E90M3 > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 17:37

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My 1997 Explorer was my first car, it was also the first car I owned as my dad signed the title over to me in 2013.

The M3 is the first car I paid money for. I also have the title for that. It’s the first car I paid off. 


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > E90M3
06/23/2018 at 17:40

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Ah - I thought that’s what you meant, referring to the M3. Just wasn’t sure.

Is the Explorer still around too?


Kinja'd!!! E90M3 > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 18:09

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Sadly someone totaled the Explorer. At times I regret getting rid of it. 


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > E90M3
06/23/2018 at 18:31

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I think just about everyone has fond memories of their first car, even if it was a POS.

Mine was kinda cool then, and would be really cool now.


Kinja'd!!! McMike > WilliamsSW
06/23/2018 at 19:49

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That explains it.   It’s U, not 0

I was wondering how a that number ended up on a different plane.


Kinja'd!!! WilliamsSW > McMike
06/23/2018 at 19:56

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There are a lot of bad paint jobs out there that mix up L’s and 1's, U’s and O’s and 0's, etc.

Most communication is via radio, anyways, I guess.