Aircraft model
MAULE M-4-220C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Maule M-4 Rocket is the original of the line: a four-seat fabric-and-tube taildragger with enormous flaps and short-field performance that puts it alongside a Super Cub while carrying twice the people. The 220C has the Franklin six-cylinder engine that Maule used before switching to Lycomings.
The Franklin is the buying question and it is the same problem the Stinson 108 has. Parts are scarce, overhauls difficult and expensive, and a tired engine can cost more than the aeroplane is worth; many M-4s have been converted to Lycoming power and those are the ones to look for. Beyond the engine, it is a Maule: functional rather than refined, narrow for four, fabric-covered, and capable of getting into places nothing else with four seats will reach.
Compare with…
Put MAULE M-4-220C side by side with up to two other models.
- MAULE M-4-220C
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Franklin 6A-350-C1 |
| Horsepower | 220 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1965 |
| Production end | 1975 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 130 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 550 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,250 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 40 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 800 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,000 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 748 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,300 lb |
| Usable fuel | 42 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 12.3 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $110,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 165 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 83 |
| Median year built | 1972.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 48.19 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 48.19 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 13 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 15.66 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 83 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 83 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 83 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 0.5 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 7 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 1.1 of 103 |
| Support | 3.6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.7 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 13.9 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- 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.