{"airworthiness_class":"Experimental","airworthiness_date":"2013-08-29","airworthiness_ops":"Amateur built","category":"conventional","cert_issue_date":"2026-08-19","city":"MEADOW GROVE","country_code":"US","county_code":"119","cruise_speed_mph":null,"data_date":"2026-10-02","documents":[],"eng_mfr_mdl":"55572","engine_horsepower":100,"engine_maker":"ROTAX","engine_model":"912ULS SERIES","engine_thrust_lb":0,"expiration_date":"2033-08-31","fractional_owner":0,"is_company":0,"is_electric":0,"is_unmanned_cert":0,"kind":"helicopters","kit_mfr":"SPORT COPTER INC","kit_model":"VORTEX M912","last_action_date":"2026-08-19","maker":"Greg J Gunther","maker_country":null,"maker_raw":"GREG J GUNTHER","maker_segment":null,"mfr_mdl_code":"056306P","mode_s_code":"53317510","mode_s_hex":"AD9F48","model":"SPORT COPTER VORTEX","n_number":"N977ST","name":"SMITH JOSEPH MICHAEL","ntsb_checked":true,"ntsb_records":[{"city":"LONE PINE","damage":"SUBS","date":"1993-06-20","highest_injury":"MINR","ntsb_no":"LAX93LA263","probable_cause":"the failure of the number four cylinder exhaust valve due to excessive heat exposure and lack of maintenance.","registration":"N977ST","state":"CA","summary":"Accident on June 20, 1993 at Lone Pine, CA: minor injuries, substantial damage.","type":"ACC"}],"num_engines":1,"other_names":"","plain_english":"N977ST is a Greg J Gunther SPORT COPTER VORTEX, a rotorcraft with a piston engine (a helicopter or multicopter), built in 2013. It has 1 seat. It is registered to an individual in Meadow Grove, Nebraska. The registration is valid: it was issued on August 19, 2026 and expires on August 31, 2033. It holds an experimental airworthiness certificate for amateur built, dated August 29, 2013.","records_check":[{"finding":"Valid registration to Smith Joseph Michael, an individual, certificate issued August 19, 2026, expires August 31, 2033. No fractional interest recorded.","item":"Registration and identity","source":1,"status":"CLEAR"},{"finding":"Experimental certificate for amateur built, dated August 29, 2013, consistent with the 2013 manufacture year.","item":"Airworthiness certificate","source":1,"status":"CLEAR"},{"finding":"No earlier tail number is recorded against serial 146 for this model in the deregistered file.","item":"Prior registrations of this airframe","source":2,"status":"CLEAR"},{"finding":"N977ST was previously assigned to 1 other aircraft: Sill/Thomas LONG-EZ (serial 100ST, cancelled March 16, 1994). Histories keyed to the tail number alone can mix aircraft up; this check keys on the serial number.","item":"Tail number reuse","source":2,"status":"ATTENTION"},{"finding":"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.","item":"Recent registry documents","source":3,"status":"NOTE"},{"finding":"1 NTSB record under N977ST: Accident on June 20, 1993 at Lone Pine, CA: minor injuries, substantial damage. Details below.","item":"Accident and incident record","source":4,"status":"ATTENTION"},{"finding":"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.","item":"Title chain, liens and 337 forms","source":null,"status":"PENDING"},{"finding":"AD compliance against the logbooks and flight-activity reconciliation are researched layers of the full report.","item":"Airworthiness directives and utilization","source":null,"status":"PENDING"}],"records_check_sources":[{"n":1,"name":"FAA Releasable Aircraft Database, master file","url":"https://registry.faa.gov/"},{"n":2,"name":"FAA deregistered aircraft file (part of the same download)","url":"https://registry.faa.gov/"},{"n":3,"name":"FAA document index: registry documents received in recent weeks","url":"https://registry.faa.gov/"},{"n":4,"name":"NTSB aviation accident database (CAROL)","url":"https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/basic-search"}],"region":"Central","region_code":"3","registrant_type":"Individual","registrant_type_code":"1","seats":1,"serial_number":"146","source":"FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database","state":"NE","status":"Valid registration","status_code":"V","status_short":"Valid","street":"54125 834 RD","street2":"","type_aircraft":"Rotorcraft","type_aircraft_code":"6","type_engine":"Piston (reciprocating)","type_engine_code":"1","unique_id":"01074836","url":"https://eflight.com/aircraft/N977ST","watchlist_group":null,"watchlist_note":null,"weight_class":"","year_mfr":2013,"zip":"687524067"}