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Registered aircraft · FAA record as of November 5, 2026Balloon Works FIREFLY 8B-15
N3282P is a Balloon Works FIREFLY 8B-15, a balloon with no engine. It has 1 seat. It is registered to an individual in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The registration is valid: it was issued on March 14, 2019 and expires on March 31, 2029. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate for balloon, dated October 10, 1996.
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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 wickerA 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-520
- 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 · None NONE
- Seats
- 1
- Year built
- Not given
- Transponder code
- A38EB4 (octal 50707264)
Registration
- Status
- Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Certificate issued
- March 14, 2019
- Expires
- March 31, 2029
- Last FAA action
- July 21, 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 · BalloonFAA certificate purpose code B (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). All codes · October 10, 1996
- FAA region
- CentralFAA region code 3 (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 00816211
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Wheeler Archie J
- 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
- 1710 Joben Dr
Murfreesboro, TN 37128-5813
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 1
Connections how N3282P links to the rest of the register
- Balloon Works FIREFLY 8 183 registered
- Balloon Works 565 aircraft on the register
- Built of fabric and wicker · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Murfreesboro, TN 226 aircraft registered in this town
- Murfreesboro Municipal · MBT
- Tennessee 6,534 aircraft registered
- FAA orders naming the Balloon Works FIREFLY 8 3 airworthiness directives
- Failure reports filed on the Balloon Works FIREFLY 8 1 reports since 1995
- Approved modifications for the Balloon Works FIREFLY 8 19 supplemental type certificates
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N3282P.json.
Records check free · 2 to understand · 2 clear
The public federal record on N3282P, 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 Wheeler Archie J, an individual, certificate issued March 14, 2019, expires March 31, 2029. No fractional interest recorded. [1]
Standard certificate for balloon; the FAA file gives no certificate date and no manufacture year. [1]
No earlier tail number is recorded against serial F8B-520 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
N3282P was previously assigned to 1 other aircraft: Piper PA-23-160 (serial 23-1227, cancelled May 1, 1961). Histories keyed to the tail number alone can mix aircraft up; this check keys on the serial number. [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]
1 NTSB record under N3282P: Accident on July 15, 2017 at Murfreesboro, TN: serious injuries. 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 1
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Balloon Works FIREFLY 8B 15 · operated under 091
The passenger's failure to let go of the balloon's gondola when the balloon began to ascend. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to maintain control of the balloon after landing, which resulted in an inadvertent takeoff.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
- FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file, file of November 5, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download), file of November 5, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks, file of November 5, 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, November 5, 2026. See this record on the FAA site · This record as data