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Registered aircraft · FAA record as of October 23, 2026Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-B
N948B is a Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-B, a glider with no engine, built in 1981. It has 1 seat. It is registered to an individual in Spring, Texas. The registration is valid: it was issued on July 17, 2024 and expires on July 31, 2031. It holds an experimental airworthiness certificate for racing; exhibition, dated March 16, 1982.
Schempp-Hirth: Ventus and Discus with electric self-launch
Where is it now Last seen October 10 at 4:41 pm.
Last seen October 10 at 4:41 pm. Checking whether it is in the air right now…
Aircraft broadcast their own position; volunteer receivers pool what they hear. Owners who have asked the FAA not to be displayed are not shown.
Flight history: where it flew in the last seven days · follow it on the live map
Aircraft
- Maker
- Schempp-Hirth (Germany)
- Model
- VENTUS-B · all VENTUS-Bs and related versions
- Built of
- compositeThe airframe is composite: carbon fibre or glass fibre set in resin, moulded in large pieces with few joints, which gives smooth shapes but needs different inspection and repair methods from metal. A glass-fibre glider. This is how the Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-B 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
- 56
- Type
- GliderFAA type of aircraft code 1 (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
- 1981
- Transponder code
- AD2AF9 (octal 53225371)
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 17, 2024
- Expires
- July 31, 2031
- Last FAA action
- July 17, 2024
- Airworthiness
- ExperimentalFAA airworthiness class code 4 (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). Every aircraft with this code · All codes · Racing; ExhibitionFAA certificate purpose code 43 (the kind of airworthiness certificate it flies under and what it is approved for). All codes · March 16, 1982
- FAA region
- SouthwesternFAA region code 2 (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 00900011
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Gordon Zach Edward
- 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
- 31230 Lockshire Valley Ln
Spring, TX 77386-4315
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 N948B links to the rest of the register
- Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-B 28 registered
- Schempp-Hirth 515 aircraft on the register
- Built of composite · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Spring, TX 258 aircraft registered in this town
- Texas 29,911 aircraft registered
- Where N948B is now · Last seen October 10 at 4:41 pm.
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N948B.json.
Records check free · 2 to understand · 3 clear
The public federal record on N948B, 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 Gordon Zach Edward, an individual, certificate issued July 17, 2024, expires July 31, 2031. No fractional interest recorded. [1]
Experimental certificate for racing; exhibition, dated March 16, 1982, consistent with the 1981 manufacture year. [1]
No earlier tail number is recorded against serial 56 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
N948B was previously assigned to 1 other aircraft: Beech 23 (serial M-1, cancelled September 3, 1965). 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 N948B: Accident on February 23, 1998 at Williams, CA: 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 1
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Schempp-Hirth VENTUS-B · operated under 091
The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate clearance from the oil drilling rig due to his attention being diverted inside the cockpit in order the secure the landing gear control.
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