N Numbers

I always thought it sounded weird when people would talk about the “N number” on an airplane, instead of the “tail number”. They all start with an N, so it made it sound like when people misunderstand the term PIN and call it a “PIN number” (“personal identification number number”). However, I discovered that the term is not actually incorrect (very unlike “PIN number”). The N is a reference to a USA airplane registration. Different countries have a different registration letter as the first character of the airplane’s tail number. So, they aren’t referencing the “number number”. They’re referencing the ‘US registration number’. I think Canada is C, so they have “C numbers”. The UK is G, so “G numbers”. Not that they even refer to the tail numbers that way, but that would be the equivalent to the “N number” folks keep using here.

Now, I still prefer using the proper term, “tail number”. And it still sounds silly to me at first when I hear someone use the term “N number”. However, I accept it now, now that I know it isn’t a repeating term phrase. That would have driven me totally bonkers to hear it all the time if I hadn’t figured it out. (Phew! Dork. Haha)

Post-a-day 2025