Buying guide

Buying a pre-owned private jet or aircraft: title, registration, records, and the pre-buy

Updated October 24, 2026 · Written by the Only for the Wealthy editors · General information, not legal or financial advice

Owning the aircraft, rather than chartering it, is the quiet summit of private travel: your cabin, your schedule, your tail number on the ramp. The pre-owned market is busy right now. The International Aircraft Dealers Association reported that its dealers closed 746 business aircraft transactions in the first half of 2026, 21% more than a year earlier, and that inventories of high-quality pre-owned aircraft remain historically tight, giving sellers leverage and pushing buyers to move quickly [13]. Moving quickly is exactly when the paperwork gets skipped. Here is how a discerning buyer checks the title, the registration, and the records, using the FAA’s own rules and lookups.

We don’t sell aircraft or vehicles. Only for the Wealthy is a publisher. We don’t sell, broker, consign, or arrange the sale of any aircraft or vehicle, and we don’t act as an agent for buyers, sellers, or dealers (see 625 ILCS 5/5-101). This is general information, not legal, tax, or maintenance advice. A transaction of this size deserves an aviation attorney, a title and escrow company, and a mechanic who knows the type.

1. Registration is not ownership

The FAA’s Certificate of Aircraft Registration is issued to the person who appears to be the owner based on the evidence submitted. Federal law says registration is not evidence of ownership in any dispute over who owns the aircraft, and the FAA doesn’t issue a certificate of ownership [3]. So a seller’s registration certificate tells you who is on file, not who holds clean title. That is what the title search is for.

2. Search the FAA record, and know its limits

Start with the free lookup. The FAA Registry’s Aircraft Inquiry lets you search by N-number, serial number, or owner name, and its document index shows recently received documents [14][1]. Confirm the make, model, and serial number match the aircraft in front of you.
Read the status line. “Valid” with the right owner and address means properly registered. “In Question” with “Sale Reported” means the last owner’s registration has ended and the aircraft may not be flown until the current owner applies. “Registration Pending” means an application is in and outstanding requirements remain [7].
Order the full aircraft record. The Registry sells copies of an aircraft’s record: $10 per CD-ROM (one aircraft per CD) or $0.10 per page on paper, and it says an average paper record runs 76 pages [6]. The public record is what allows title searches by buyers and lenders; recorded liens and their priority can be found by careful review of it [15].
The FAA won’t search title for you. “Clear title” means no unreleased chattel mortgage, security agreement, tax lien, artisan lien, or similar document is on record. You can review the record yourself or use an attorney or aircraft title search company; the Registry doesn’t perform title searches [4].
Not everything is on file. State law governs liens, and there is no federal requirement to file them with the FAA [4]. The FAA records a mechanic’s claim of lien only if the state’s law provides for recording it [12]. The FAA’s own owner handbook warns that federal liens against an owner may not show up on your title search, and that other records may sit with federal, state, or local agencies [10]. Ask your attorney which state, county, and tax searches to add.
Get releases, not promises. A recorded lien is released when the secured party signs the release on the FAA’s Conveyance Recordation Notice (AC Form 8050-41), or signs a release document that identifies the lien and the collateral [4]. Make recorded releases a condition of closing.

3. File the bill of sale promptly

Until a conveyance or security instrument is filed for recording with the FAA, federal law makes it valid only against the person who made it, that person’s heirs and devisees, and anyone with actual notice of it. Once recorded, it is valid against everyone from the filing date [5]. Its validity is governed by the law of the state where it is delivered [5]. That is why closings are timed and located with care, and why the bill of sale should be filed the moment funds release.

To register, the new owner sends the Registry an Aircraft Registration Application (AC Form 8050-1), evidence of ownership such as the Aircraft Bill of Sale (AC Form 8050-2), and the fee, which the FAA lists as $5 [2][3]. The FAA rejects applications that are incomplete, where the name and signature don’t match throughout, or where the signer’s name isn’t printed with the signature [3]. An aircraft may be registered only by and in the legal name of its owner [2].

4. Who can register, and the owning entity

A U.S.-registered aircraft must be owned by a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, a qualifying U.S. corporation, or certain others [2][3]. A corporation counts as a U.S. citizen only if its president and at least two-thirds of its directors and managing officers are U.S. citizens and at least 75% of the voting interest is owned or controlled by U.S. citizens [2]. A U.S.-organized corporation that doesn’t meet that test can still register if the aircraft is based and primarily used in the U.S., which the FAA describes as 60% of all flight hours on flights starting and ending in the U.S. [2]. The FAA publishes separate guidance for aircraft owned by an LLC or held in a personal or family trust [1][2]. Settle the owning entity with your attorney before the bill of sale is drawn, because the name on it must be the name that registers.

5. Flying it home: the temporary authority

No one may operate a civil aircraft without an appropriate, current airworthiness certificate displayed at the cabin or cockpit entrance and an effective registration certificate, or, for flights within the U.S., the second copy of the registration application [9].
That second copy (the “pink copy”) works as temporary authority only for an aircraft last registered in the United States, only inside the U.S., and only until you receive the certificate or the FAA denies the application [3]. It isn’t available if no registration number is assigned, or once 12 months have passed since the first application after the transfer [3].
A new Certificate of Aircraft Registration expires seven years after the last day of the month it is issued; renewal opens six months before expiry [3]. Tell the Registry in writing within 30 days of any change of mailing address [3].
If the aircraft carries a 406 MHz emergency locator transmitter, update its NOAA beacon registration when ownership changes. The FAA calls that registration free and required [2].

6. The records that must change hands

When a U.S.-registered aircraft is sold, the seller must transfer certain records to the buyer at the time of sale [9]. The records that must stay with the aircraft include [9]:

total time in service of the airframe and each engine, propeller, and rotor;
the current status of life-limited parts;
time since last overhaul of items that must be overhauled on a schedule;
the current inspection status;
the status of every applicable airworthiness directive, with the method of compliance, AD number, revision date, and when any recurring action is next due;
copies of the FAA Form 337 for each major alteration to the airframe and installed engines, rotors, propellers, and appliances.

The FAA’s handbook also tells buyers to make sure the airworthiness certificate, engine and airframe logbooks, equipment list, weight and balance data and placards, and the flight manual or pilot’s operating handbook are present and in order. It warns that missing documents, pages, or logbook entries can cause significant problems and reduce value [10]. Airworthiness directives are legally enforceable FAA rules that correct an unsafe condition in an aircraft, engine, propeller, or appliance [11], and the owner is primarily responsible for keeping the aircraft airworthy, including AD compliance [10]. Inherit a missed AD and you inherit the problem.

7. The pre-purchase inspection

The FAA recommends an inspection by a mechanic you trust, ideally one familiar with the make and model, with a written report of condition. It says pre-purchase inspections should be done by an FAA-certificated airframe and powerplant (A&P) mechanic or an approved repair station [10]. For piston aircraft, the handbook says the inspection should include at least a differential compression check on each cylinder. For any aircraft, it should include a review of the logbooks and records for Form 337s, AD compliance, service bulletin status, and component serial numbers [10].

Mind the overhaul vocabulary. A top overhaul, a major overhaul, and a factory-remanufactured “zero-time” engine are different things. After a top or major overhaul, the logbooks must still show the engine’s total time, if known, and its history [10].
Look past fresh paint. The handbook lists engine hours, installed equipment, AD history, damage history, and paint and interior as key value factors, and suggests checking new paint carefully for corrosion beneath it [10].
Know the inspection clock. Most aircraft may not be operated unless they have had an annual inspection within the preceding 12 calendar months. Large airplanes, multiengine turbojets and turboprops, and turbine-powered rotorcraft must instead follow a selected inspection program and replace life-limited parts on time (a turbine rotorcraft may elect the annual route) [9]. Ask which program the aircraft is on, and when the next event is due.

8. The International Registry, for larger aircraft

Under the Cape Town Treaty, interests in certain aircraft and engines can also be registered with the International Registry. This covers airframes type certificated to carry at least eight people including crew, or more than 2,750 kg (6,050 lb) of goods; helicopters certificated for at least five people or more than 450 kg (990 lb); jet engines with at least 1,750 lb of thrust; and turbine or piston engines of at least 550 rated take-off horsepower [8]. If the aircraft you are buying qualifies, have your title company search the International Registry as well as the FAA record, and register your interests at closing [8].

Close with confidence: a checklist

Run the N-number and serial number in the FAA Aircraft Inquiry and read the status line [14][7].
Order the full aircraft record and commission a title search by an attorney or aircraft title company. Add state, tax, and International Registry searches where they apply [4][6][8][10].
Confirm the owning entity qualifies to register, and put that exact legal name on the bill of sale [2][3].
Get a written pre-purchase inspection from an A&P or repair station that knows the type, plus a full records and AD review [10].
Make signed, recordable lien releases and delivery of all required records conditions of closing [4][9].
Pay through an escrow you verified yourself, by phone at a number you looked up independently, never from instructions in an email. Our escrow and wire-fraud guide shows the red flags.
File the bill of sale and AC Form 8050-1 immediately, and keep the second copy aboard until the certificate arrives [3][5].
Update the ELT beacon registration and diarize the seven-year registration renewal [2][3].

Prefer to fly without owning? Our private jet charter guide covers how to verify the operator and the broker.