I need help

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grandmallie

Filing Flight Plan
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grandmallie
Hi ya'll
Here is my dilemma...
My dad passed almost 6 yrs ago.. he was a partial owner of a single engine Cessna in the 70s out of Brainard Airport in Hartford ,Ct.
He took my mother,brother and I on a spectacular trip around the United States in the summer of 1976..
We are trying to at least hunt down a log book and a picture as I want to get a tattoo of the plane.. is there a way to find out the tail number or if it is still flying ? Id appreciate any help
 
This is a cool idea. I’ve done something similar making a collage of the aircraft I flew during the Air Force, all the way from my initial training days until the day I retired. I’ve also made a poster picture of them all and keep it in my office next to other accolades.

Do you have any pictures at all of the plane from your trips with him? It will be difficult to track down unless you have a tail number or registration.

Viper
 
If you have any of your father’s personal effects, that would be the place to look for the logbook. Aircraft logs would only contain maintenance entries.

It’s a real long shot, but you might try a name search of the FAA aircraft registry. If you know any other co-owner names, you could search for them as well.

 
Thank you all.. my brother has most of the stuff..and we will go through it..he left some of it for me ..im sure we have a log book somewhere and I know for sure we had pictures and slides of our trip..will keep on the hunt and will let ya'll know what I find.. God bless him he read his flying magazine right up to the end.. oh how he loved to fly..
 
grandmallie said:
Hi ya'll
Here is my dilemma...
My dad passed almost 6 yrs ago.. he was a partial owner of a single engine Cessna in the 70s out of Brainard Airport in Hartford ,Ct.
He took my mother,brother and I on a spectacular trip around the United States in the summer of 1976..
We are trying to at least hunt down a log book and a picture as I want to get a tattoo of the plane.. is there a way to find out the tail number or if it is still flying ? Id appreciate any help
Click to expand...
If you contact any of the aircraft title companies in Oklahoma City, they can do an archival search for aircraft owned by your Dad.

Paul
 
Thank you Paul..where do I start with that?
 
If you can learn the plane’s registration number (N#####) from an old photo or logbook, you can request the FAA’s data here:

That will give you all the previous registered owners.

If you want to start with the present owner, you can look that up from the N-number here:

Without the N-number it’s going to be tough. If you know the specific model Cessna, you can download a list of all the ones registered here:

That might be a lengthy list, but you could print out copies of a letter and mail it to all owners of that particular model.

Anyway you cut it, though, you’re going to need more specifics about the plane.
 
Once you get the tail number ,should have no problem,now getting a picture could prove to be difficult.
 
If there are any old tax returns or financial records you might find a bill of sale or other document with a tail number or serial number.

If Brainard is a public airport and he paid to hangar it there, a FOIA-type request might turn up something in their way-back machine.
 
Brainard is a small airport. You might also try contacting the FBO(s) or Maintenance outfits located at Brainard.
 
TCABM said:
If you have any of your father’s personal effects, that would be the place to look for the logbook. Aircraft logs would only contain maintenance entries.

It’s a real long shot, but you might try a name search of the FAA aircraft registry. If you know any other co-owner names, you could search for them as well.

Click to expand...
N number is usually on every invoice so any payment records, canceled checks, etc might be helpful
 
Sac Arrow said:
You might want to rethink your strategy. If you walk in to a bar with a Cessna tattooed to your arm, and another guy walks in with a Piper tattooed to his, the conversation might get a bit awkward.
Click to expand...

And if the bartender is a Beechcraft kind of gal with a Bonanza tattooed to her ______________________, the conversation might get real.
 
Ventucky Red said:
And if the bartender is a Beechcraft kind of gal with a Bonanza tattooed to her ______________________, the conversation might get real.
Click to expand...
"Yo mama's ____ is so big, she done got a C5 tattooed to it."*

*Not intended to denigrate literally your mama
 
Very funny guys about the tattoo,but its just something sentimental to me.. anyway still plugging away at trying to find out the tail number.. wondering if I go up to Brainerd how far there records go back ..thats a long time ago
 
grandmallie said:
anyway still plugging away at trying to find out the tail number
Click to expand...
I wonder if he was a member of AOPA. If so, I also wonder if they are able to reveal anything from their membership records.
 
asicer said:
I wonder if he was a member of AOPA. If so, I also wonder if they are able to reveal anything from their membership records.
Click to expand...
Checked,they changed to a new system and if he was a member that far back it was wiped out.
 
Skip Miller said:
Brainard is a small airport. You might also try contacting the FBO(s) or Maintenance outfits located at Brainard.
Click to expand...

This is a good idea. Furthermore, check out the local EAA chapter. Old guys going to local EAA meetings and some of the old guys still around at the airport will likely know. I talk to many old timers that are still around and remember flying in the 1960s. There’s bound to be someone that remembers last names. You can find your initial leads there I bet.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
This is a good idea. Furthermore, check out the local EAA chapter. Old guys going to local EAA meetings and some of the old guys still around at the airport will likely know. I talk to many old timers that are still around and remember flying in the 1960s. There’s bound to be someone that remembers last names. You can find your initial leads there I bet.
Click to expand...
Thank you.. yes I called up to the maintenance department ,bless the guy couldn't find my dad's name.. oh well another dead end.. I'll keep digging
 
Connecticut used to charge personal property tax on airplanes, levied by and paid to the town or city the aircraft was based in. I don't know if that was true in the 1970s, it was in the late 1980s, but you might try the Hartford tax office and see if they have records going back that far. That might reduce your search down to a handful of N-numbers.

Side note, they eliminated the personal property tax on airplanes some years back, in the name of "tax reduction"... they replaced it with a required CT state registration sticker, which you buy from... the town tax clerk, and the town keeps the money. The fee is based on gross weight, so it costs about the same as the old tax. But the politicians can proudly say that they reduced taxes!
 
Seems to me, the easiest way would be: are any of the other owners still alive? Just ask them the tail number...they will remember, trust me.
 
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