Aircraft model
NANCHANG CHINA CJ-6
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The CJ-6 is the Chinese primary trainer that replaced the licence-built Yak-18 and, despite the resemblance, is a different aeroplane: tricycle undercarriage that retracts inward, a wider track, and a Housai HS-6 radial of 260 hp. From 1965 the engine was uprated to 285 hp and the aircraft redesignated CJ-6A, so a plain CJ-6 is one of the earlier, less powerful machines.
CJ-6s came onto the American register in numbers in the 1990s and they are the cheapest way to own a radial-engined, retractable, aerobatic two-seater. The economics work because the aircraft were surplus and cheap; the complication is everything downstream of that. Parts come from a specialist import trade, the documentation is in Chinese, the aircraft are registered as experimental exhibition or amateur-built rather than in the standard category, and the HS-6 is an engine most shops have never seen. The community is organised and helpful, and it is where the knowledge lives.
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- NANCHANG CHINA CJ-6
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Housai HS-6 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 260 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1958 |
| Production end | 1965 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 115 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 370 nm |
| Service ceiling | 19,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,370 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 55 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 672 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 420 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,086 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,414 lb |
| Usable fuel | 42 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 14.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $56,500 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $179,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 750 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $35,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $65,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 55 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 39 |
| Median year built | 1979.5 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 51.28 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 51.28 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 13 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 33.33 · 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 39 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 39 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 39 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 5.1 of 103 |
| Support | 3.6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 8.9 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- 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.