The U.S. aircraft register, updated daily

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Registered aircraft · FAA record as of November 5, 2026
N72069

Balloon Works FIREFLY 8B-15

ValidFAA registration status code V: Valid registration. All codesUtah

N72069 is a Balloon Works FIREFLY 8B-15, a balloon with no engine, built in 2000. It has 1 seat. It is registered to co-owned owners in Moab, Utah. The registration is valid: it was issued on August 17, 2020 and expires on August 31, 2027. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate for balloon, dated July 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-607
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
2000
Transponder code
A9A6D8 (octal 52323330)

Registration

Status
Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
Certificate issued
August 17, 2020
Expires
August 31, 2027
Last FAA action
March 10, 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 · July 7, 2000
FAA region
Northwest MountainFAA region code S (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
FAA record id
00675740

Owner as the FAA publishes it

Name
Thornhill Elaina M
Type
Co-ownedFAA type of owner code 4 (who holds the registration: a person, a company, a trust or a government body). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
Address
550 Mountain View Dr
Moab, UT 84532-2954
Co-owners
Pertuset Nathan K

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 3

1996-06-14Beech 300 · exported to Colombia · Triennial registration form was mailed and has not been returned by the Post Office
1982-02-12Reims CESSNA FRA 150M · exported to Congo Dem Rep(Nz) · Valid registration
1969-02-11Luscombe 8A · Valid registration

Connections how N72069 links to the rest of the register

Design
Place

The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N72069.json.

Records check free · 1 to understand · 4 clear

The public federal record on N72069, 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 Thornhill Elaina M, a co-owned, certificate issued August 17, 2020, expires August 31, 2027. No fractional interest recorded. [1]

CLEARAirworthiness certificate

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

CLEARPrior registrations of this airframe

No earlier tail number is recorded against serial F8B-607 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]

ATTENTIONTail number reuse

N72069 was previously assigned to 3 other aircraft: Beech 300 (serial FA22, cancelled June 14, 1996); Reims CESSNA FRA 150M (serial FRA150-0301, cancelled February 12, 1982); Luscombe 8A (serial 3496, cancelled February 11, 1969). 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 N72069. 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