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Registered aircraft · FAA record as of November 5, 2026Cameron Balloons Us A-225
N980VA is a Cameron Balloons Us A-225, a balloon with no engine, built in 2022. It has 1 seat. It is registered to Rainbow Ryders INC, a corporation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The registration is valid: it was issued on February 14, 2023 and expires on February 28, 2030. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate for balloon, dated September 27, 2022.
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Flight history: where it flew in the last seven days · follow it on the live map
Aircraft
- Maker
- Cameron Balloons Us
- Model
- A-225 · all A-225s 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 Cameron Balloons Us A-225 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
- 6968
- 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
- 2022
- Transponder code
- ADAD00 (octal 53326400)
Registration
- Status
- Valid registrationFAA registration status code V (whether the registration certificate is in force). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Certificate issued
- February 14, 2023
- Expires
- February 28, 2030
- Last FAA action
- March 24, 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 · September 27, 2022
- FAA region
- SouthwesternFAA region code 2 (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 01375639
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Rainbow Ryders INC
- Type
- CorporationFAA type of owner code 3 (who holds the registration: a person, a company, a trust or a government body). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Address
- 5601 Eagle Rock Ave NE
Albuquerque, NM 87113-1765
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.
Connections how N980VA links to the rest of the register
- Cameron Balloons Us A-225 9 registered
- Cameron Balloons Us 715 aircraft on the register
- Built of fabric and wicker · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Rainbow Ryders INC 50 aircraft in the fleet
- Albuquerque, NM 1,180 aircraft registered in this town
- Albuquerque International Sunport · ABQ
- Double Eagle II Airport · AEG
- New Mexico 3,111 aircraft registered
- Approved modifications for the Cameron Balloons Us A-225 3 supplemental type certificates
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N980VA.json.
Records check free · 1 to understand · 4 clear
The public federal record on N980VA, 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 Rainbow Ryders INC, a corporation, certificate issued February 14, 2023, expires February 28, 2030. No fractional interest recorded. [1]
Standard certificate for balloon, dated September 27, 2022, consistent with the 2022 manufacture year. [1]
No earlier tail number is recorded against serial 6968 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
No other airframe has carried N980VA according to the deregistered file. [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]
2 NTSB records under N980VA: Accident on November 24, 2025 at Albuquerque, NM: serious injuries. Accident on September 15, 2025 at Albuquerque, NM: 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 2
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Cameron Balloons US A-225 · operated under 091
The balloon landing in increased wind, and the pilot’s inability to maintain the proper descent rate, which resulted in a hard landing.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Cameron Balloons US A-225 · operated under 091
The balloon pilot’s improper landing, which resulted in serious injury to a passenger. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to brief the proper landing procedure.
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