DEA ID plate

[Bird]

I am having a discussion with a man that sells stuff on Ebay and he is telling me personally and others on Ebay that this data plate is mandated by the DEA and has to be placed on the outside of the aircraft and I tell not for antique planes--who is right?

[M Towsley]

Re: DEA ID plate

Every plane I have seen from 1928 on has one. The reason I say that is a friend of mine has several old aircraft, along with what I have owned, and they each have one.

You are talking to the gentleman from Guam, correct? I know him and his sister from past Ebay transactions, very nice people. Their father, before his passing, used to deal in a lot of old aircraft and parts.

This is what I found on an EAA site: Q & A:
Question of the Week
Question for EAA Aviation Information Services:

An "Aircraft Identification Data Plate" is the plate that the FAA and US Drug Enforcement Agency mandated back in the mid 1980s that duplicates some of an aircraft’s data plate information on the outside of the aircraft, allowing DEA agents to quickly identify aircraft. Is this additional data plate still required and can you cite the regulation requiring it?

Answer
Yes, the external identification plate is still required. This is called out in 14 CFR 45.11(d), which states in pertinent part:

"The model designation and builder's serial number must be legible to a person on the ground and must be located either adjacent to and aft of the rear-most entrance door or on the fuselage near the tail surfaces. The model designation and builder's serial number must be displayed in such a manner that they are not likely to be defaced or removed during normal service."

This regulation applies to those aircraft manufactured before 7 March, 1988 that do not have their manufacturer data plate on the exterior of the aircraft.

Note that this external identification is not required to be on a fireproof plate. (The manufacturer data plate takes care of that requirement.) It only needs to be legible to a person on the ground and must be located as specified. Also, this identification should not be on an access door or cover, or anywhere where it would be removed or defaced during normal service. This external ID can be painted on, put on with a decal, or in any manner that is legible.

[Bird]

Re: DEA ID plate

I disagree with this as I have read but can't find it again where this applies to our craft. The DEA can't say a damn thing about aircraft, we already have the N number

[M Towsley]

Re: DEA ID plate

Do as you wish. Just Google it, lots of info out there.

It is an FAR, remember the DEA is Federal. You may not agree with lots of things that you have no control over. I think it is silly in today's computer realm of being able to run an 'N' number and get more info than on the plate, but...the rules are the rules.

[rammon3]

Re: DEA ID plate

While it may be true that it is required, I don't recall ever seeing one in any of the photos on this site or any other. Can anybody post a pic of a pre 1988 T-craft with this data plate?

[VanDy]

Re: DEA ID plate

I dont have a good picture of mine, but its there. Right underneath the Horizontal Stab on the left side. put on via a label maker, not the prettiest, but it satisfies the Regs...

[cvavon]

Re: DEA ID plate

n26658 has two on it they are a metal tag and state just what Marty said and i have read that they are required in a FAR but don't know what number it was

[M Towsley]

Re: DEA ID plate

The FAR is listed in my first post. I'm sure this had something to do with aircraft doing drug runs, etc., so everyone has to have it. A lot like the Senator, or whomever, that was lost in the airplane crash and couldn't be immediately found. Now we all have ELT's because of it.

[cvavon]

Re: DEA ID plate

Marty the man that rebuilt my plane was a Secret Service Agent so that's why it has two he now instructs at Black Water.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: DEA ID plate

Mine has one as well. Very inconspicuous under the front of the stab. They weren't thinking tail draggers when they wrote the requirement. When someone looks at it, they looks like a dog sniffing anothers rear end.
Hank

[Garry Crookham]

Re: DEA ID plate

14 CFR
Aeronautics and Space
CHAPTER I
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
SUBCHAPTER C -- AIRCRAFT
PART 45 -- IDENTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION MARKING
14 CFR 45 * Amendmant 45-28 * December 31, 2011


Subpart B -- Marking of Products and Articles

§45.11 Marking of products.


(e) Aircraft manufactured before March 7, 1988. 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.
(f) For powered parachutes and weight-shift-control aircraft, the identification plate required by paragraph (a) of this section must be secured to the exterior of the aircraft fuselage so that it is legible to a person on the ground.
(g) The identification plate described in paragraph (a) of this section may be secured to the aircraft at an accessible location near an entrance
(h) Gliders. Paragraphs (a)(3) and (e) of this section do not apply to gliders

[Garry Crookham]

Re: DEA ID plate

I disagree with this as I have read but can't find it again where this applies to our craft. The DEA can't say a damn thing about aircraft, we already have the N number

The DEA had the FAA take care of it with FAR 45.11e.

FAR 45.22 allows, under certain situations, for antique aircraft to be flown without an N number but the data plate referenced in 45.11e is still required.

[M Towsley]

Re: DEA ID plate

Chuck, I am sure your Secret Service agent was just anal or had some symmetry issue. Only one required.

[Bird]

Re: DEA ID plate

Okay I give in to you guys-but this is one of thee dumbest things going, another damn rule that makes no sense-atleast I can make it so damn small they need a magnifying glass to read it-it just has to be visable on the ground.
Like the DEA couldn't check a N number faster and from a distance then getting on their knees to read the fine print.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: DEA ID plate

We evidently get a lot of planes flying into the Mid Atlantic area from islands hauling drugs and the N number check alone wasn't working out too well since the "runners" would change the number on the plane. If they were smart, they would at least use a number for the same type and model to give themselves a LITTLE more time, but they usually aren't that smart. Anyway, I was told that the little one by the tail gave a quick reference if the information didn't match the N number.
Think about that for a moment, and imagine you have a smuggler with at least LITTLE intelligence. Wouldn't he use an N number for another of the same type plane AND change the small tag too? Sometimes the DEA is just as dumb as the smugglers. I really don't think they catch any but the really dumb ones.
Hank