FAA makes aircraft registration application available online

Applicants may now download Aircraft Registration Application, AC Form 8050-1, from the FAA’s aircraft registration website, and complete and sign the form by hand as provided in instructions on the form’s first page. Applicants can then send the original signed form to the FAA for processing, accompanied by evidence of ownership, and the appropriate fee. A copy of the completed and signed application form can be used as temporary authority to operate the aircraft for up to 90 days.

Before Form 8050-1 was available online, applicants had been required to obtain it from the Aircraft Registration Branch or the local flight standards district office and send the completed form, evidence of ownership, and the registration fee to the FAA. Applicants would then retain the pink copy of the form in the aircraft as a temporary registration certificate.

Applying for the registration certificate by submitting the carbon-copy form is still permitted.

Making Form 8050-1 available online was in conjunction with an FAA review of digital signature acceptance policies and practices. Effective May 1, the FAA allows a digital signature to be used on Form 8050-1 as long as it satisfies the conditions set out in the FAA’s recently issued digital signature policy.

For aircraft registration renewals, Form AC 8050-1B is used and may be downloaded from the FAA website. Renewals also may be completed online.