Aircraft model
FORNEY F-1
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Forney F-1 Aircoupe is the Ercoupe as built by Forney Aircraft in the late 1950s, one of several companies to own the design after ERCO. It is the same two-seat twin-tailed all-metal low-wing aeroplane with tricycle gear, updated with a 90 hp engine and a revised canopy.
Forney fitted conventional rudder pedals to most F-1s, which is the significant difference from the original 415-C: the aeroplane can be slipped and flown like anything else, and transitioning in or out is straightforward. At 1,400 lb gross it exceeds the light sport limit, so a sport pilot certificate is not sufficient. Fewer than 150 were built before the design moved on to Alon and then Mooney, so the fleet is small, though much is shared with the far more numerous Ercoupes.
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Put FORNEY F-1 side by side with up to two other models.
- FORNEY F-1
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental C-90-12F |
| Horsepower | 90 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1958 |
| Production end | 1960 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 100 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 350 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 650 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 46 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 510 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 366 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,400 lb |
| Empty weight | 890 lb |
| Usable fuel | 24 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 5 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $25,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $35,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $23,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $33,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 104 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 50 |
| Median year built | 1958.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 20 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 20 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 10 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 20 · 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 50 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 50 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 50 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 4.4 of 103 |
| Support | 3.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 4.7 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- 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.