Aircraft model
NANCHANG CHINA CJ-6A
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Nanchang CJ-6A is the Chinese air force primary trainer, a tandem two-seat low-wing monoplane with a radial engine, retractable tricycle gear and pneumatically operated systems. Large numbers were imported into the United States from the 1990s onwards and they operate on the experimental register.
It is the cheapest way into radial-engined warbird flying by a wide margin, and it is genuinely aerobatic and pleasant to fly. The complications are all about support. The systems are pneumatic rather than hydraulic or electric, which is unfamiliar to most mechanics; documentation is often translated and incomplete; and parts come through a small number of specialist importers. The Housai radial is a Soviet-derived design with a short overhaul life. It operates in the experimental exhibition category with the operating limitations that carries, which restricts how and where it can be flown.
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- NANCHANG CHINA CJ-6A
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Housai HS-6A (radial) |
| Horsepower | 285 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | 1958 |
| Production end | 1986 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 120 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 370 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,500 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 55 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 661 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 409 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,086 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,425 lb |
| Usable fuel | 42 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $50,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $85,000 |
| 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 | 143 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 119 |
| Median year built | 1972.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 7 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 58.821 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 58.822 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 16 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 13.453 |
| 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 119 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 119 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 119 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.8 of 103 |
| Support | 6.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.9 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.