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I have a friend of mine who is selling his Cessna 150L.

A very nice IFR aircraft.

He has a buyer who has a young IA doing the pre-buy inspection.

I have done the Annual the past 3 or 4 years. And the first year one of the items I caught was that he didn't have the model & serial number on the fuselage.

So, according to 14 CFR 45.11(d), I made and installed the proper placard where the FAA specified.

Now this young IA says the placard isn't kosher. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!

With the help of Alan Core and Brian Anderson I found the reference material.


Fletcher (my friend) just called while I was typing this. He said this IA is a buddy of the buyer. Makes me thing he is making up stuff to lower the price.

Fletcher is now thinking about just telling the buyer he is not selling the plane.

This ain't over yet...

Where is the model & serial number supposed to be located on the fuselage and why is he saying it's not kosher?

Here is the reference Ron used. It gives two locations.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/45.11

I think his problem is with the word "FIREPROOF" I made a placard with a label maker and applied a coat of polyurethane over the inspection plate that I put it on.

My FSDO says the factory dataplate is fireproof, and suffices for that requirement. The one that they want outside, on the aft tailcone near the left horizontal stab can be written with a sharpie on a piece of masking tape, so long as it's legible. P-touch labels, plastic embossed labels, or even a piece of white paper held on with clear tape would suffice.

Their point is that the external data plate is mainly so an FAA inspector can read it on the ramp. The fireproof, factory data plate is the one the accident investigators will use...not the one in the back.

Tony Baumgard at the North Texas FSDO is my cited source. Lucky Louque of Air Salvage of Dallas is the DAR that reaffirms that stance.

Look at this on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/172072589660

Cessna Aircraft DEA Required Arcft Identification Data Plate Etched Stainless #1

Or this one also on EBAY [ebay.com]....

Absolutely correct.

14 CFR 45.11(a) and (a1) specify the fireproof plate requirement, but (e) says:

"The owner or operator of an aircraft manufactured before March 7, 1988 must mark the aircraft by attaching the identification plate required by paragraph (a) of this section. The plate must be secured at an accessible exterior or interior location near an entrance, if the model designation and builder's serial number are also displayed on the exterior of the aircraft fuselage. The model designation and builder's serial number must be—
(1) Legible to a person on the ground,
(2) Located either adjacent to and aft of the rear-most entrance door or on the fuselage near the tail surfaces, and
(3) Displayed in such a manner that they are not likely to be defaced or removed during normal service. "

Note that nothing requires the external "display" be fireproof, only the placard at the "accessible" location.