Aircraft model
AERONCA 15AC
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Aeronca Sedan is the company's only four-seat aeroplane: a high-wing fabric-covered taildragger with a 145 hp Continental six, built for three years at the end of the postwar boom. About 560 were made before Aeronca left the aircraft business.
It carries four people and 36 gallons, which makes it a genuine family aeroplane of its era, and it is popular on floats where the big wing and generous load work well. Performance is modest — 95 knots and 500 fpm — and with four aboard on a warm day it is working hard. The fleet is small so Sedan-specific parts are awkward, though the engine is the same Continental six used in early Cessna 170s and 172s and is well understood. Fabric age is the dominant cost question.
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Put AERONCA 15AC side by side with up to two other models.
- AERONCA 15AC
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental C-145-2 |
| Horsepower | 145 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1948 |
| Production end | 1951 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 95 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 450 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 500 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 44 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 870 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 654 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,050 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,180 lb |
| Usable fuel | 36 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.1 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $45,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $90,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $30,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $42,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 455 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 162 |
| Median year built | 1948.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 5 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 30.861 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 24.692 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 36 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 22.223 |
| Airworthiness directives | 4 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 162 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 162 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 162 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 5.8 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 5.7 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 2 of 103 |
| Support | 5.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 6.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 25.6 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.