Cassutt III-M
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Cassutt Special is Tom Cassutt's single-seat Formula One racer of the early 1950s, a 15 ft span steel-tube-and-wood aeroplane built from plans around a 100 hp Continental O-200: 500 lb empty, 850 lb gross and a quoted 248 mph maximum, with the longer-winged Sport the version for everyday flying.
A Cassutt is a racing aeroplane first, and most on the register have raced: landing speeds are high, the cockpit is minimal, the wing on a IIIM is 15 ft of plywood-skinned structure optimised for the pylons, and the figures above are an encyclopaedia's for an O-200 example rather than any owner's test data. Inspection is of the welded fuselage, the wooden wing and the engine's racing history - tight tolerances, high rpm and modified induction are common - and there is no two-seat Cassutt to learn in, so Formula One experience or careful tailwheel preparation is the pilot's burden. The Sport's 17 ft wing is the kinder choice for a non-racing owner. The owner may maintain it and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman certificate.
Variants of the Cassutt Special
- Cassutt III-M · 1954 · 65 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 9.5 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
Compare with…
Put Cassutt III-M side by side with up to three other models.
- Cassutt III-M
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One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tailwheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Continental O-200 (100 hp) |
| Horsepower | 100 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1954 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | — |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | 391 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 1,500 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | — |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 350 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 850 lb |
| Empty weight | 500 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
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 | 65 |
| Median year built | 1979 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 5 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 76.92 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 61.54 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 6 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 9.23 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 3 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 65 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 65 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 65 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 4.3 of 103 |
| Support | 4.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.8 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 9.5 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