Cozy III
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 Cozy III is Nat Puffer's original 1982 Cozy: a three-seat, side-by-side plans-built canard pusher derived under licence from the Rutan Long-EZ, with a 26 ft wing, a 40-inch front cockpit, a third seat over the centre of gravity, a manually retracting nosewheel and a 118 hp Lycoming O-235. The 1986 handbook gives about 900 lb empty, 1,500 lb gross, 50 gallons, 161 knots true at full throttle at 8,000 ft and 1,200 statute miles at 180 mph with an hour's reserve.
Against the later Mark IV it is smaller, lighter and narrower, a two-adults-plus-child aeroplane rather than a four-seater, and Puffer later withdrew the plans in favour of the Mark IV, so support is the Cozy builders' community rather than a seller. Every Cozy III was laid up by one builder from plans over several years and finished to that builder's standard, and most on the register carry an O-320 the designer advised against, so the empty weight, the engine, the front-seat weight limits worked out at the aircraft's own weighing and the quality of the glass work are what a buyer is actually buying; the figures here are the designer's for a 118 hp prototype. Canard habits apply: no conventional stall but a fast, flat approach around 70 knots, a belly landing brake instead of flaps, a pusher propeller exposed to nosewheel debris, paved runways only, and a nose that is parked on the ground. Composite inspection needs someone who knows foam-and-glass structures. Owner maintenance is permitted and an A&P signs the condition inspection. No current asking price was found.
Variants of the Cozy III
- Cozy III · 1982 · 68 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 6.1 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 3–4 seat pistons (223 models)
Compare with…
Put Cozy III side by side with up to three other models.
- Cozy III
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What it is
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Lycoming O-235 (118 hp per the POH; O-320s on most US examples) |
| Horsepower | 118 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1982 |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | 156 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | 1,043 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,000 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 55 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 600 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,500 lb |
| Empty weight | 900 lb |
| Usable fuel | 50 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 6.7 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $55,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 106 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 68 |
| Median year built | 1997 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 44.12 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 44.12 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 9 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 13.24 · 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 68 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 68 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 68 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 1.9 of 103 |
| Support | 3.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.1 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 6.1 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
- Accident record: class median 33.21 · 223 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 796.
- Support: class median 131.
- Liquidity: class median 19.89.
- 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