Registration

As with most other vehicles, an airplane must be registered with the government. Unlike most other vehicles, it has to be registered with the federal government in the form of the Federal Aviation Administration. I haven't checked what the requirements in other states are, but in Washington, you must also register it with the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT).

Starting with the state, the cost to register my airplane was $65. This is comparable to registering a car, at least if you don't live in the area of western Washington subject to the additional fees for building the light rail system. Fortunately, I live outside that area, but that's a topic for another blog. Basically, I went up to the WSDOT website and filled out the form saying I now own the plane. A few days later, I received an email that the plane had been added to my account. Finally, I went to the website again and paid the fee using my credit card. The previous owner said that the WSDOT employee that he had dealt with when he bought the plane had called him to confirm that he'd sold it to me. The aviation department of WSDOT is apparently pretty small so you get to know the people there.

When it comes to the FAA, the cost to register the plane was a whopping $5. The previous owner and I filled out a relatively simple bill of sale form that the FAA provides, and I then filled out the registration form. I sent both to the FAA along with a check. I'm hoping in the future that the registration can be paid online via credit card as I really don't like sending checks in the mail. Yesterday, while looking at my transaction list on my bank's website, I noticed that the check had posted. The online registry shows the plane is still registered to the previous owner but I'm assuming it will be updated eventually.

And that's pretty much it. It's a little more involved than registering a car, but pretty straightforward. And it's not terribly expensive either. Most of the income, at least at the state level, is derived from fuel taxes. Washington used to require that pilots register with the state and pay a fee, regardless of whether or not they owned an aircraft, but they don't anymore.