Aircraft model
PIPER J5A-80
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The J5A-80 is the Cub Coupe's big brother with the 80 hp Continental A-80 in place of the 75 hp A-75 — a variation the type certificate handles as an engine limit rather than as a separate model, with the A-75 turning 2,600 rpm for 75 hp and the A-80 turning 2,700 for 80. The aeroplane is the three-seat J-5 Cruiser: a widened Cub fuselage with a bench seat behind the pilot, 25 gallons of fuel and genuinely useful range for its era.
A J-5 is a Cub you can take a passenger and luggage in, or two passengers if they are small and the runway is long, and it has the same virtues and the same bills. Fabric and tube, a recover every couple of decades, corrosion under the covering as the thing that kills airframes, and a small but healthy parts trade. The A-80 is a rarer engine than the A-65 that most Cubs carry, so establish its overhaul history and the availability of parts before assuming the five extra horsepower are free.
Compare with…
Put PIPER J5A-80 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER J5A-80
What it is
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental A-80-8 |
| Horsepower | 80 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1940 |
| Production end | 1942 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 73 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 300 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 535 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 35 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 585 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 435 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,450 lb |
| Empty weight | 865 lb |
| Usable fuel | 25 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 4.5 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $35,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $55,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $21,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $31,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 9 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 2 |
| Median year built | 1940.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| 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, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 0.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- 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.