Aircraft model
PIPER J3C-85
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The J3C-85: a J3C-65 fitted with the 85 hp Continental C-85, an optional engine listed on the type certificate for landplane, skiplane and seaplane use. Everything else -- the 35 ft 3 in wing, the steel tube fuselage, the tandem seats, the 12 gallon tank in front of the windscreen -- is the standard Cub. More power in a Cub buys climb and a shorter takeoff, not speed; the airframe runs out of aerodynamics long before it runs out of horsepower.
A J-3 is a slow, light, honest aeroplane with a stick, no electrics worth the name, and a fuel gauge that is a wire bobbing in front of the windscreen. It teaches stick-and-rudder flying better than anything built since and it will not take you anywhere in a hurry or in weather. Ownership is cheap by aviation standards and the parts supply is excellent because so many were built, but the airframe is steel tube and fabric: the recover is the big bill, tube corrosion under the fabric is the thing that ends aeroplanes, and a tailwheel endorsement plus real instruction is not optional.
Compare with…
Put PIPER J3C-85 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER J3C-85
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental C-85-12 |
| Horsepower | 85 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1939 |
| Production end | 1947 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 70 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 190 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,305 ft |
| Climb rate | 588 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 33 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 730 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 470 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 526 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 454 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,220 lb |
| Empty weight | 694 lb |
| Usable fuel | 12 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 4.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $40,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $75,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $22,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $32,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 54 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 34 |
| Median year built | 1945.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 7 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 20.59 · 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 34 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 34 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 34 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 3.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 29.1 · 174 models in class.
- Severity: class median 9.09.
- Access: class median 974.
- Support: class median 81.
- Liquidity: class median 20.47.
- 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.