Piper PA-12
N3148M is a Piper PA-12, a fixed-wing airplane with one motor with a piston engine, built in 1947. It has 3 seats. It is registered to an individual in Wasilla, Alaska. The registration is valid: it was issued on July 8, 2014 and expires on July 31, 2027. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate, dated August 3, 1955.
Listed on the FAA charter and air-taxi certificate of Silvertip Aviation LLC, so it can be flown for hire; the registered owner is someone else, which is usual for a managed aircraft.
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Flight history: where it flew in the last seven days · follow it on the live map
Aircraft
- Maker
- Piper
- Model
- PA-12 · all PA-12s and related versions
- Built of
- steel tube and fabricThe fuselage is a welded steel-tube frame covered in fabric, with metal or wooden wing spars under fabric-covered wings; the fabric is replaced every few decades. This is how the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser family is built; the FAA does not record construction for each aircraft, and the type certificate data sheet is the authority for this one.
- Serial number
- 12-1835
- Type
- Fixed-wing, single engineFAA type of aircraft code 4 (the FAA's broad category for the airframe). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Power
- Piston (reciprocating)FAA type of engine code 1 (what powers it, as the FAA classes engines). Every aircraft with this code · All codes, 1 motor · Lycoming 0-235 SERIES · 115 hp
- Seats
- 3
- Year built
- 1947
- Cruising speed
- 82 mph
- Transponder code
- A35929 (octal 50654451)
Registration
- Status
- Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Certificate issued
- July 8, 2014
- Expires
- July 31, 2027
- Last FAA action
- March 4, 2023
- Airworthiness
- StandardFAA airworthiness class code 1 (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). Every aircraft with this code · All codes · August 3, 1955
- FAA region
- AlaskanFAA region code 5 (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 00781563
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Thoft Matthew M
- Type
- IndividualFAA type of owner code 1 (who holds the registration: a person, a company, a trust or a government body). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Address
- PO Box 873364
Wasilla, AK 99687-3364
Owners can ask the FAA to withhold their name and address from public files. When they do, those fields are blank here as well. How that works.
Documents on file 0
No bills of sale, loans or other documents are indexed against this tail number.
Connections how N3148M links to the rest of the register
- Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser 1,247 registered
- Piper 44,848 aircraft on the register
- Built of steel tube and fabric · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Silvertip Aviation LLC · charter operator
- Lycoming O-235 series 6,131 aircraft with this engine series · 115 hp
- Wasilla, AK 1,274 aircraft registered in this town
- Wasilla Airport · IYS
- Blodgett Lake Seaplane Base · D75
- Cottonwood Lake Seaplane Base · 3H3
- Island Lake Seaplane Base · 29A
- 6 more landing places in town
- Alaska 9,146 aircraft registered
- FAA orders naming the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser 32 airworthiness directives
- Failure reports filed on the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser 30 reports since 1995
- Approved modifications for the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser 359 supplemental type certificates
- FAA orders naming the Lycoming O-235 series 13 airworthiness directives
- Failure reports on the Lycoming O-235 series 20 reports since 1995
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N3148M.json.
Records check free · 2 to understand · 3 clear
The public federal record on N3148M, read the way a buyer, lender or insurer reads it: FAA registration, prior tail numbers keyed on the serial number, reuse of the tail number, recent registry filings, and the NTSB accident record under this and every earlier registration.
Valid registration to Thoft Matthew M, an individual, certificate issued July 8, 2014, expires July 31, 2027. No fractional interest recorded. [1]
The airworthiness certificate on file is dated August 3, 1955, 8 years after the 1947 manufacture year. A re-issued certificate commonly follows export and re-import, a rebuild, or a return to the register after cancellation. The cause is documented in the FAA aircraft records file, which the full report obtains. [1]
No earlier tail number is recorded against serial 12-1835 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
No other airframe has carried N3148M according to the deregistered file. [2]
No bills of sale, loans or releases have reached the registry in recent weeks. The index covers only recent filings; older liens are in the records file. [3]
3 NTSB records under N3148M: Accident on September 24, 2014 at Holy Cross, AK: no injuries, substantial damage. Accident on June 4, 1989 at Anaktuvuk Pass, AK: minor injuries, substantial damage. Accident on September 12, 1988 at Fairbanks, AK: no injuries, substantial damage. Details below. [4]
These live in the FAA aircraft records file (every document ever filed against the aircraft) and, for larger aircraft, the International Registry. Part of the full report.
AD compliance against the logbooks and flight-activity reconciliation are researched layers of the full report.
NTSB records 3
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Piper PA 12 · operated under 135
The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for takeoff/landing and failure to maintain control of the aircraft.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Piper PA-12 · operated under 091
THE PILOT FAILED TO ADEQUATELY COMPENSATE FOR DOWNDRAFTS ENCOUNTERED AFTER DEPARTING A GRAVEL BAR THAT WAS SURROUNDED BY MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Piper PA-12 · operated under 091
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
- FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file, file of October 30, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download), file of October 30, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks, file of October 30, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- NTSB aviation accident database (CAROL), records through October 28, 2026. data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/basic-search
This automated check reads the public federal record. Nothing here is a legal opinion, an appraisal or a statement about the aircraft's condition; a CLEAR line is a statement about the searched record, not the aircraft.
Source: FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database, October 30, 2026. See this record on the FAA site · This record as data