Maule Air M-5-235C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Maule M-5 Lunar Rocket is a four-seat fabric-and-tube taildragger with enormous flaps and 235 hp, built in Georgia by a small family company. Its short-field performance is the point: it will get off in a few hundred feet and land in less, which puts it alongside a Super Cub while carrying four people instead of two.
That combination — four seats, short-field ability and a low price — is why Maules are bought, and nothing else quite matches it. The compromises are build quality that is functional rather than refined, a cabin that is narrow for four, and fabric covering that will eventually need replacing. The tailwheel is conventional and the aeroplane is relatively benign on the ground for the class, but a high-performance endorsement and tailwheel currency are both required. Maule remains in business, which helps parts support considerably.
Variants of the Maule M-5
- M-5-180C · 1974 · 57 active
- M-5-210C · 1974 · 94 active
- M-5-235C · 1974 · 181 active · this page
Also consider
- Maule Air M-7-235CScore 21.2/50 · 4 seats · 130 kt
- Tecnam P2010 TDINo overall score · 4 seats · 136 kt
- Commander (Aero Commander / Rockwell) 112Score 30.7/50 · 4 seats · 130 kt
Compare with…
Put Maule Air M-5-235C side by side with up to three other models.
- Maule Air M-5-235C
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Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-540-J1A5D |
| Horsepower | 235 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1974 |
| Production end | 1983 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 130 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 600 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 | 900 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 522 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,400 lb |
| Usable fuel | 63 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 13.2 gal/h |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a single-engine piston, 3–4 seats.
| Fuel (burn × price) | hourly | $98/h | $9,781/yr |
| Engine reserve (overhaul ÷ TBO) | hourly | $2,725/yr | |
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | $2,000/yr | |
| Insurance | fixed | $2,000/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | $1,800/yr | |
| Hangar | fixed | $6,000/yr | |
| Rental rate, wet | for comparison |
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $100,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $225,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $45,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $64,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 341 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 181 |
| Median year built | 1978.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 16 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 88.41 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 77.352 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 36 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 19.893 |
| Airworthiness directives | 3 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 181 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 181 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 181 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 0.5 of 101 |
| Severity | 8.9 of 102 |
| Access | 1.9 of 103 |
| Support | 5.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 21.6 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 204 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 148.
- 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. 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