Aircraft model
GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-5
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Traveler, the first of the four-seat Grummans: a stretched AA-1 with a bigger wing, four seats and 150 hp. It cruises at 126 knots, which is ten knots better than a 150 hp Cessna or Piper on the same power, because the airframe is small and clean. It has a sliding canopy that can be opened in flight at low speed, which owners love.
The Traveler is the least refined of the four-seat Grummans — the later Cheetah added aerodynamic cleanups worth a few knots and a smoother ride. Useful load is a genuine 1,000 lb but the cabin is not large and the short wing gives a firm ride in turbulence. The two things to check specifically are the bonded honeycomb structure, where delamination and corrosion in bonded joints is the failure mode and repairs require a specialist shop, and the free-castering nosewheel, which means steering by differential braking and is hard on brakes. Parts support is adequate through specialists but thinner than mainstream types.
Compare with…
Put GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-5 side by side with up to two other models.
- GRUMMAN AMERICAN AVN. CORP. AA-5
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-E2G |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | FAR23 |
| Production start | 1972 |
| Production end | 1975 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 126 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 600 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,650 ft |
| Climb rate | 660 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 53 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,200 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,000 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 778 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,200 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,200 lb |
| Usable fuel | 37 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $45,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $100,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $28,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $40,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 421 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 258 |
| Median year built | 1974.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 8 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 31.011 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 27.132 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 47 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 18.223 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 258 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 258 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 258 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 3.1 of 103 |
| Support | 6.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.3 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- 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.