The Small Planes Now Tracks FAA Registry Changes

A Living View of the Fleet

Back in January I introduced The Small Planes, our data journalism project exploring the FAA’s registry of America’s light aircraft. It just received another upgrade: a registry updates section that tracks what actually changes in the fleet.

Each update compares FAA registry snapshots and reports what joined, what left, who is building, and where the new aircraft are landing. The whole site also runs on fresh June 2026 data now. A few highlights from the latest update:

• The US light aircraft fleet stands at 268,170 registered aircraft as of June 10
• The fleet grew by 1,245 aircraft since January, roughly 8 per day
• Cirrus led all manufacturers in new registrations with 400; the SR22T alone accounted for 193
• About a quarter of all additions are amateur-built experimentals
• The oldest aircraft to rejoin the registry: a 1943 Boeing Stearman, 83 years young

Where the Data Comes From

The Small Planes is built on the same FAA registry sync data that BetterPlane uses every day (it’s how your tail number auto-fills your aircraft and registration details when you add an aircraft). Keeping that pipeline healthy for the app means the data project gets fresh snapshots for free, so the registry updates will keep coming.

If you spot something interesting in the numbers, or there’s a question about the fleet you’d like answered in a future update, let me know. There’s a lot more in the registry left to dig into.

Got a Story in the Data?

The Small Planes is open to contributors. If you’ve ever wondered which trainers are aging out of the fleet, where the warbirds actually live, or what’s really happening with light sport, I’d love help telling those stories. You bring the curiosity and the analysis; the registry data, the charts, and the editing are already set up. Send me a message, and let’s build one together.