Aeronca 65-LB
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 65-LB is the Aeronca Super Chief of 1940 with a 60 hp Lycoming O-145 and side-by-side seating, the deluxe-trim Chief with the optional auxiliary fuel tank; 199 were built. Family figures are 1,150 lb gross, about 675 lb empty and a cruise near 98 mph, though the LB's Lycoming gives up 5 hp to the Continental Chiefs.
The side-by-side Chief is the sociable Aeronca and the LB's trade is the Lycoming O-145, an engine with far less support than the Continental A-65, which is why many have been converted - the one current listing found carried an A-65-8. Establish which engine is fitted and under what paperwork before taking any figure here as the aircraft's. Otherwise it is a pre-war fabric taildragger with wooden spars, a steel-tube fuselage and a hangar requirement, and the Aeronca community rather than a factory behind it. A single listing is not a band, so the price is left blank and recorded in notes.
Variants of the Aeronca 65 Chief (pre-war)
- 65-C · 1939 · 72 active
- 65-CA · 1940 · 140 active
- 65-LB · 1940 · 28 active · this page
- 65-TAC · 1940 · 40 active
- 65-TC · 1940 · 36 active
- 0-58B · 1942 · 132 active
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Not enough data for an overall score yet
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
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Put Aeronca 65-LB side by side with up to three other models.
- Aeronca 65-LB
Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-145 |
| Horsepower | 60 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1940 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | 85 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | 217 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 650 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 30 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 475 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,150 lb |
| Empty weight | 675 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a single-engine piston, 1–2 seats.
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | $1,500/yr | |
| Insurance | fixed | $1,400/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | $1,500/yr | |
| Hangar | fixed | $6,000/yr | |
| Rental rate, wet | for comparison |
No fuel burn is on record for this model, so fuel is not included.
No TBO or overhaul cost is on record for this model, so the engine reserve is not included.
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 131 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 28 |
| Median year built | 1941 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 35.71 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 11 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 39.29 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 28 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 28 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 28 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 2.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 9.5 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- 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. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30