Keeping a based-aircraft and hangar registry at a residential airpark
The short answer
Record each based aircraft by N-number with its owner, lot and hangar. Require proof of liability insurance that names the association the way your rules say, and track the end dates of both the insurance and the FAA registration, which now lasts seven years. Remind owners before anything ends, and keep a read-only view your insurer can open.
Updated by Baybook, LLC.
What to record for each aircraft
- The N-number, make, model and year.
- The owner, their lot, email and phone, and any co-owner or company the aircraft is registered to.
- Where it’s kept: a hangar at home, a T-hangar on the field or a tie-down.
- The expiration date of the FAA registration.
- The liability insurance: carrier, policy number, limit, end date, and whether the association is named.
Keep one record per aircraft, not per owner. An owner with two aircraft has two records, and an aircraft sold to a neighbor keeps its N-number.
Set the insurance rule
The airpark rules we read ask pilots for $1,000,000 in liability coverage. The Sea Ranch Association requires at least $1,000,000, asks to be endorsed as an additional insured, and has certificates filed with its community manager; Elk River asks sponsored guests for the same $1,000,000 plus $100,000 per passenger. Apply one rule to based aircraft and guests alike, so nobody flies under a lower bar. Guest landings and PPR covers the guest side.
Track the FAA registration too
Since January 23, 2023, FAA aircraft registrations last seven years, and registrations that were current then were extended by four years without the owner doing anything. So a printed certificate can show a date that has already passed while the registration is still good: before treating one as expired, look the N-number up in the FAA Registry (registry.faa.gov), then record the expiration date it shows and remind the owner well before it.
Hangars and who uses them
- List every hangar and tie-down: home hangars, T-hangars by number, the ramp.
- Record who holds each one, and whether the person holding a hangar owns the aircraft in it.
- If you lease T-hangars, keep a waitlist in date order with each aircraft’s size, the way a lake keeps a slip waitlist.
A map helps. Put each hangar and tie-down on a plan of the field, so the office can see at a glance who is where.
Keep it current without chasing
Ask owners for renewed insurance before the policy ends, for example 60, 30 and 7 days ahead, and let them send it from a phone. Check each renewal the same way: the right aircraft, the limit, the dates and the name. An aircraft whose insurance has lapsed should show as not current on whatever your airport manager checks.
Give your insurer a read-only view
Your own insurer may ask which based aircraft carry the required coverage. A read-only list of carriers, limits, end dates and additional-insured status answers that without sending anyone the documents, and without phone numbers or addresses.
Doing this in Baybook
Baybook for residential airparks keeps every based aircraft by N-number with its owner, lot and hangar, reads each insurance certificate against your liability minimum and additional-insured rule, and tracks when the insurance and the registration end. Owners renew from a personal link with no password, you decide when reminders go out, your hangars can sit on your own map of the field, and your insurer can have a read-only link. See pricing, or try the airpark demo.
Template: based aircraft registration rules
Adapt this for your owners’ handbook or the season notice.
{Airpark name}: based aircraft registration
Every aircraft based at {airpark name} is registered with the association, renewed each year and updated whenever something changes.
What to send
- N-number, make, model and year.
- Where the aircraft is kept: home hangar, T-hangar {number} or tie-down.
- A copy of the current FAA registration certificate.
- Proof of liability insurance of at least {$1,000,000} per occurrence, naming {association legal name}, {association mailing address}, as additional insured.
Keeping it current
- Send renewed insurance before the old policy ends. The association reminds owners {60, 30 and 7} days ahead.
- Tell the office within {30} days when you sell an aircraft, buy one, or move it.
If insurance lapses
- An aircraft without current insurance on file {may not use the runway / is reported to the board} until the renewal is in.
Questions: {airport manager or office}, {email}, {phone}.Questions
How often does an aircraft’s FAA registration need renewing?
Since January 23, 2023, aircraft registrations last seven years, and registrations that were current then were extended by four years automatically. If a certificate’s printed date has passed, look the N-number up in the FAA Registry (registry.faa.gov) before treating it as expired, then record the date it shows and remind the owner before it.
Should we record aircraft that hangar here but belong to non-residents?
Yes, if they use the runway. Record the aircraft, who answers for it and its insurance, and hold it to the same rules as residents’ aircraft.
Sources
The published rules and articles this guide quotes, as we read them in October 2026. Each community’s own documents are the final word on its rules.
Ten minutes to import your roster.One link for your members.A quieter spring.
Sign up by March 31, 2027 and your first season is free, then 30% off for three years. No card needed to start.