Aircraft model
GREAT LAKES 2T-1A
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 2T-1A is an ORIGINAL Great Lakes: one of the roughly 260 built between 1929 and 1933 with a Cirrus inline engine, not one of the 1970s Lycoming-powered aircraft that share the designation family. They look the same and they are not the same aeroplane.
For an owner the era is the whole question. An original is a wood-and-fabric antique with an engine nobody supports, and it is bought as an artefact. A 1970s aircraft has a modern Lycoming, a proper parts supply and certification to a standard a shop recognises. Either way the fabric and the wood are what the inspection is for, and a tailwheel endorsement plus real aerobatic instruction are the minimum before the aeroplane is used for what it is for.
Compare with…
Put GREAT LAKES 2T-1A side by side with up to two other models.
- GREAT LAKES 2T-1A
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | American Cirrus Mark III (inverted inline) |
| Horsepower | 90 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1930 |
| Production end | 1933 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 77 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 250 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 770 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 40 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 670 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 514 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,580 lb |
| Empty weight | 910 lb |
| Usable fuel | 26 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 5 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $100,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $250,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 140 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 35 |
| Median year built | 1930.5 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 57.14 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 28.57 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 5 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 14.29 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 2 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 35 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 35 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 35 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.5 of 103 |
| Support | 3.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.1 of 105 |
These record scores treat GREAT LAKES 2T-1A as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 1 aircraft registered under PAIR OF JACKS INC; includes the record of aircraft once registered under GREAT LAKES/NELSON; includes the record of aircraft once registered under NETHERLY GREAT LAKES. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- 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.