Previous Registration Details

[red750]

I am hoping someone may be able to guide me. I have photos of some aircraft which were manufactured prior to 1960 but their current registration was issued within the last couple of years.

 

One such example is Cessna 170A VH-SLY which was built in 1951 but its current registration date is May 2010. It was on static display at Avalon 2011.

 

They either changed registration on change of ownership or were restored after previously being withdrawn from service. Many of the old Civil Flying Services aircraft registered in the VH-CF* series were re-registered VH-CT* when sold.

 

Is there any way to trace previous registrations of aircraft if you have the serial/construction number? I am trying to determine when they first entered the Australian register and what was their original registration number.

 

 

[mnewbery]

Obviously one can use the CASA aircraft register to search by airframe serial number - in this case 20145 - or search by wildcard (e.g. CF* or CT*) but these will only provide the current details. I think that you would need to apply-for and pay-for a search under FOI. The lodgement of the request is free at which time CASA would provide a quote for the generation of the requested information. I believe that the system (CASA-AIRS) should be able to track all the details for the airframe once its Aviation reference number (ARN) is known. This number may or may not be known to the current owner. I'm not sure if it appears on the COA for the aircraft because I've never looked. I imagine it will be there. I don't know what will happen if the aircraft is de-registered, stored and rebirthed. It could result in a new ARN, in which case the serial number will appear in CASA-AIRS twice. This is where the FOI comes in.