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Cessna 185
N9823X is a Cessna 185, a fixed-wing airplane with one motor with a piston engine, built in 1961. It has 6 seats. It is registered to Top Hand INC, a corporation in Laurel, Montana. The registration is valid: it was issued on February 3, 2010 and expires on October 31, 2029. It holds a standard airworthiness certificate, dated March 31, 1961.
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Flight history: where it flew in the last seven days · follow it on the live map
Aircraft
- Maker
- Cessna
- Model
- 185 · all 185s and related versions
- Built of
- aluminiumThe airframe is aluminium: sheet metal over a riveted frame, the way most aircraft have been built since the 1940s. This is how the Cessna 185 Skywagon 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
- 185-0023
- Type
- Fixed-wing, single engineFAA type of aircraft code 4 (the FAA's broad category for the airframe). Every aircraft with this code · All codes
- Power
- Piston (reciprocating)FAA type of engine code 1 (what powers it, as the FAA classes engines). Every aircraft with this code · All codes, 1 motor · Cont Motor I0-470 SERIES · 260 hp
- Seats
- 6
- Year built
- 1961
- Cruising speed
- 125 mph
- Transponder code
- ADB569 (octal 53332551)
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 3, 2010
- Expires
- October 31, 2029
- Last FAA action
- September 9, 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 · March 31, 1961
- FAA region
- Northwest MountainFAA region code S (the FAA regional office that handles the record). All codes
- FAA record id
- 00353750
Owner as the FAA publishes it
- Name
- Top Hand 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
- 2750 Wold Rd
Laurel, MT 59044-9557
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 N9823X links to the rest of the register
- Cessna 185 Skywagon 228 registered
- Cessna 72,684 aircraft on the register
- Built of aluminium · as the model family is built; the register does not record it per aircraft
- Continental IO-470 series 4,724 aircraft with this engine series · 260 hp
- Top Hand INC 12 aircraft in the fleet
- Holds an FAA aircraft dealer certificate · valid to April 19, 2027
- Laurel, MT 34 aircraft registered in this town
- Laurel Municipal · 6S8
- Montana 6,049 aircraft registered
- FAA orders naming the Cessna 185 Skywagon 31 airworthiness directives
- Failure reports filed on the Cessna 185 Skywagon 69 reports since 1995
- Approved modifications for the Cessna 185 Skywagon 338 supplemental type certificates
- FAA orders naming the Continental IO-470 series 28 airworthiness directives
- Failure reports on the Continental IO-470 series 114 reports since 1995
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/aircraft/N9823X.json.
Records check free · 1 to understand · 4 clear
The public federal record on N9823X, 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 Top Hand INC, a corporation, certificate issued February 3, 2010, expires October 31, 2029. No fractional interest recorded. [1]
Standard certificate, dated March 31, 1961, consistent with the 1961 manufacture year. [1]
No earlier tail number is recorded against serial 185-0023 for this model in the deregistered file. [2]
No other airframe has carried N9823X 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]
3 NTSB records under N9823X: Accident on March 1, 1999 at Durango, CO: no injuries, substantial damage. Accident on June 13, 1992 at Durango, CO: no injuries, substantial damage. Accident on August 6, 1989 at Durango, CO: 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 3
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Cessna 185 · operated under 091
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control and inadvertently allowing the airplane to ground loop. Factors were gusty crosswind conditions, pertinent crosswind information not made available by the manufacturer, and FAA's inadequate certification and approval of the airplane.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Cessna 185 · operated under 091
IMPROPER USE OF BRAKES. FACTORS WERE: POORLY PLANNED APPROACH AND EXCESSIVE LANDING SPEED.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
Aircraft on the NTSB record: Cessna 185 · operated under 091
IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT. THE WIND CONDITION WAS CONSIDERED TO BE A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR.
Full record in plain English · Docket and reports at the NTSB
- FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file, file of October 30, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download), file of October 30, 2026. registry.faa.gov/
- FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks, file of October 30, 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 30, 2026. See this record on the FAA site · This record as data