Aircraft model
NORTH AMERICAN SNJ-5C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The SNJ-5 is the Navy designation for the North American Texan, the advanced trainer that taught almost every Allied fighter pilot of the Second World War to handle a high-powered retractable-gear aeroplane. Six hundred horsepower, a constant-speed propeller, retractable gear and a tailwheel, in an airframe deliberately made demanding.
It is a warbird and must be budgeted as one. The R-1340 radial is well supported by warbird standards but an overhaul is a six-figure event, fuel burn is around 35 gallons an hour, and the airframe requires inspections that a light aircraft does not. It is genuinely difficult to fly well — the landing is famously unforgiving and the accident record reflects that — and insurance requires substantial tailwheel and type-specific training. Owners describe it as the most rewarding aeroplane they have flown and the most expensive.
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- NORTH AMERICAN SNJ-5C
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-1 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 600 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1943 |
| Production end | 1945 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 145 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 600 nm |
| Service ceiling | 21,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,200 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 57 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,142 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 482 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 5,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 4,158 lb |
| Usable fuel | 110 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 33.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $239,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $349,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $90,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $155,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 23 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 11 |
| Median year built | 1944.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 0 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 2.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- 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.