Aeronca 65-TAC
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 65-TAC is the Aeronca Defender, the tandem-seat trainer and liaison version of the Chief family built from 1940-41 with a 65 hp Continental A-65, 1,150 lb gross and about 98 mph cruise. It was impressed in numbers as the Army O-58/L-3 and is the most numerous tandem Aeronca on the register.
The Defender is the tandem Aeronca most people mean, and what distinguishes it from the 65-TC in the pages read is the name and year rather than a figure, so treat the two rows as one aeroplane until a type sheet says otherwise. Ownership is a pre-war fabric taildragger's: wooden spars and a steel-tube fuselage that need a hangar and a careful inspection, an A-65 that is cheap to feed and overhaul, and parts through the owner community. Many survivors are ex-L-3s with military rebuilds in the logs. No listing was found, so the price is blank.
Variants of the Aeronca 65 Chief (pre-war)
- 65-C · 1939 · 72 active
- 65-CA · 1940 · 140 active
- 65-LB · 1940 · 28 active
- 65-TAC · 1940 · 40 active · this page
- 65-TC · 1940 · 36 active
- 0-58B · 1942 · 132 active
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 15.9 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
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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 | Continental A-65 |
| Horsepower | 65 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 | 199 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 40 |
| Median year built | 1942 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 25 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 25 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 7 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 17.5 · 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 40 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 40 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 40 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 9 of 103 |
| Support | 3.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.8 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 15.9 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
- 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