Aircraft model
PIPER J5A
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Cub Cruiser, built from 1940: a widened Cub with a bench seat behind the pilot so three people fit. Piper sold it as a modest touring aeroplane before the war interrupted production, and it is the direct ancestor of the postwar PA-12 Super Cruiser. Surviving aircraft are flown for pleasure and for the history rather than for any practical purpose.
At 75 hp with three seats it is genuinely underpowered — two adults and fuel is a realistic load and three adults is not. Seventy knots means any headwind turns a short trip into a long one. There is no electrical system on most examples and the instrumentation is minimal. Fabric over steel tube means a recover is the dominant lifetime cost and the covering's age is the first thing to establish, with corrosion in the tubing the second. These are old and increasingly rare aeroplanes and a good one is bought by someone who wants that specific thing, not by someone comparing it against alternatives.
Compare with…
Put PIPER J5A side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER J5A
What it is
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental A-75-8 |
| Horsepower | 75 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1940 |
| Production end | 1942 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 70 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 300 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 500 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 35 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 590 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 440 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,450 lb |
| Empty weight | 860 lb |
| Usable fuel | 25 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 4.2 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $37,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $65,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $20,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $30,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 771 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 268 |
| Median year built | 1941.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 7 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 26.121 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 18.662 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 33 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.313 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 268 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 268 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 268 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 7.7 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 7.2 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 5.6 of 103 |
| Support | 6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.6 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 27.1 out of 506 |
These record scores treat PIPER J5A as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 1 aircraft registered under PIPER/MORRIS. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- 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.