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Registered aircraft · FAA record as of October 23, 2026Aerostar International Inc RXS-8
N71493 is an Aerostar International Inc RXS-8, a balloon with no engine. It has 4 seats. It is registered to an individual in Rochester, Minnesota. The registration is valid: it was issued on November 26, 2025 and expires on November 30, 2032. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate for balloon, dated January 31, 1996.
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Flight history: where it flew in the last seven days · follow it on the live map
Aircraft
- Maker
- Aerostar International Inc
- Model
- RXS-8 · all RXS-8s 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 Aerostar International Inc RXS-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
- RXS8-3067
- 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
- 4
- Year built
- Not given
- Transponder code
- A98E98 (octal 52307230)
Registration
- Status
- Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Certificate issued
- November 26, 2025
- Expires
- November 30, 2032
- Last FAA action
- November 26, 2025
- 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 · January 31, 1996
- FAA region
- Great LakesFAA region code C (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 00335831
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Lesmeister Michael A
- 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
- 670 28Th St SE Apt 150
Rochester, MN 55904-6851
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 N71493 links to the rest of the register
- Aerostar International Inc RXS-8 64 registered
- Aerostar International Inc 825 aircraft on the register
- Built of fabric and wicker · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Rochester, MN 78 aircraft registered in this town
- Rochester International · RST
- Minnesota 6,933 aircraft registered
- FAA orders naming the Aerostar International Inc RXS-8 2 airworthiness directives
- Approved modifications for the Aerostar International Inc RXS-8 11 supplemental type certificates
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N71493.json.
Records check free · 2 to understand · 2 clear
The public federal record on N71493, 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 Lesmeister Michael A, an individual, certificate issued November 26, 2025, expires November 30, 2032. 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 RXS8-3067 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
N71493 was previously assigned to 1 other aircraft: Luscombe 8A (serial 2920, cancelled June 21, 1962). 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 N71493: Accident on April 20, 1997 at Sioux Falls, SD: 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: Aerostar RXS-8 · operated under 091
the ground crewmember failed to maintain visual contact with the balloon, while it was landing. A factor relating to the accident was: the ground crewmember allowed her attention to be diverted while keeping a child out of harms way.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
- FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file, file of October 23, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download), file of October 23, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks, file of October 23, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- NTSB aviation accident database (CAROL), records through September 30, 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 23, 2026. See this record on the FAA site · This record as data