The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily

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Registered aircraft · FAA record as of November 5, 2026
N3176Q

Balloon Works FIREFLY 8B-15

ValidFAA registration status code V: Valid registration. All codesNevada

N3176Q is a Balloon Works FIREFLY 8B-15, a balloon with no engine, built in 2000. It has 1 seat. It is registered to an individual in Reno, Nevada. The registration is valid: it was issued on May 3, 2024 and expires on May 31, 2031. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate for commuter, dated May 7, 2000.

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Flight history: where it flew in the last seven days · follow it on the live map

Aircraft

Maker
Balloon Works
Model
FIREFLY 8B-15 · all FIREFLY 8B-15s and related versions
Built of
fabric and wicker
A hot-air balloon: a coated nylon envelope, stainless-steel cables, and a wicker or aluminium basket under a propane burner. This is how the Balloon Works FIREFLY 8 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
F8B-562
Type
BalloonFAA type of aircraft code 2 (the FAA's broad category for the airframe). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
Power
NoneFAA type of engine code 0 (what powers it, as the FAA classes engines). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
Seats
1
Year built
2000
Transponder code
A3640B (octal 50662013)

Registration

Status
Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
Certificate issued
May 3, 2024
Expires
May 31, 2031
Last FAA action
May 3, 2024
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 · CommuterFAA certificate purpose code C (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). All codes · May 7, 2000
FAA region
Western-PacificFAA region code 4 (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
FAA record id
00643686

Owner as the FAA publishes it

Name
Begin Echo R
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
8683 Piper Pl
Reno, NV 89506-2136

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.

Earlier use of this number 2

1993-04-07Messerschmitt BK 117 B-1 · exported to Germany · Valid registration
1988-05-03Douglas DC3C-S4C4G · N-number assigned but not yet registered

Connections how N3176Q links to the rest of the register

Design
Place

The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N3176Q.json.

Records check free · 1 to understand · 4 clear

The public federal record on N3176Q, 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.

CLEARRegistration and identity

Valid registration to Begin Echo R, an individual, certificate issued May 3, 2024, expires May 31, 2031. No fractional interest recorded. [1]

CLEARAirworthiness certificate

Standard certificate for commuter, dated May 7, 2000, consistent with the 2000 manufacture year. [1]

CLEARPrior registrations of this airframe

No earlier tail number is recorded against serial F8B-562 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]

ATTENTIONTail number reuse

N3176Q was previously assigned to 2 other aircraft: Messerschmitt BK 117 B-1 (serial 7241, cancelled April 7, 1993); Douglas DC3C-S4C4G (serial 4476482, cancelled May 3, 1988). Histories keyed to the tail number alone can mix aircraft up; this check keys on the serial number. [2]

NOTERecent registry documents

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]

CLEARAccident and incident record

No NTSB investigation records located under N3176Q. CLEAR means the query ran and returned nothing, not that nothing ever happened. [4]

PENDINGTitle chain, liens and 337 forms

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.

PENDINGAirworthiness directives and utilization

AD compliance against the logbooks and flight-activity reconciliation are researched layers of the full report.

CLEAR the source was checked and shows no adverse findingATTENTION a fact a buyer or lender should understand, often routineNOTE context onlyPENDING covered by the full report
  1. FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file, file of November 5, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
  2. FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download), file of November 5, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
  3. FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks, file of November 5, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
  4. 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, November 5, 2026. See this record on the FAA site · This record as data