JMB Aircraft VL-3 916
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.
An engine version of the JMB Aircraft VL-3: aircraft are placed here by the engine on their FAA record.
The VL-3 916 is the current top of the JMB VL3 line, the Czech carbon-fibre two-seat retractable with the 160 hp turbocharged Rotax 916iS: JMB's sheet gives 804 lb empty, a 600 or 750 kg gross (1,323 or 1,653 lb) with 518 or 849 lb useful, 37 gallons, a 320 ft take-off roll, 2,700 fpm, a 44-knot stall and a 200-208 knot maximum true cruise on 7.5 gallons an hour.
Two hundred knots on a Rotax is the whole proposition, and the buyer pays for it in three ways: a new-aircraft price that puts a 916 among the most expensive two-seat homebuilts on the register, a turbocharged FADEC engine whose rubber-replacement schedule, fuel requirements and dealer network are stricter and thinner than a Lycoming's, and amateur-built paperwork - every US VL3 was finished from JMB's kit by or for its first owner, so the builder's log, the gross weight the aircraft was licensed at and its own weight-and-balance matter more than the sheet. The 916 and 915 airframes are the same and the FAA engine record is what tells them apart; two aircraft registered as 916s carry 915s. Retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller make it complex for endorsement purposes, approach speeds are high for the class, the composite structure is inspected for finish damage rather than corrosion and the whole-airframe parachute has a repack life. One 2024 example asked $435,000 in October 2026; the fleet is young and few come up for sale.
Variants of the JMB VL-3
- VL-3 · 2004 · 24 active
- VL-3 915 · 24 active
- VL-3 916 · 23 active · this page
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TAILFAX SCORE
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Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Rotax 916iS (160 hp) |
| Horsepower | 160 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 200 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,000 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 2,700 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 44 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 849 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,653 lb |
| Empty weight | 804 lb |
| Usable fuel | 37 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 7.5 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $435,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $445,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 24 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 23 |
| Median year built | 2025 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 9 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 39.13 · 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 23 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 23 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 23 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 2.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 9.4 of 105 |
- 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 6 · scores Sep 30