Aircraft model
PIPER PA-18-105 SPECIAL
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Super Cub 105 Special, a stripped version of the 105 hp Super Cub that Piper sold with reduced equipment at a lower price. Mechanically it is the same aeroplane: fabric over steel tube, tandem seating, the big wing and the big flaps that give every Super Cub its short-field ability.
The Special designation refers to equipment rather than to anything structural, so what it means in practice varies from aircraft to aircraft after seventy years of modification. With 105 hp it is at the bottom of the Super Cub power range and climbs and carries accordingly. Engine upgrades are near-universal on survivors and are what determine the aeroplane's real capability. Fabric age is the dominant cost question, as it is for every aircraft of this construction. Prices track the strong general Super Cub market.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-18-105 SPECIAL side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-18-105 SPECIAL
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-235-C1 |
| Horsepower | 105 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1950 |
| Production end | 1954 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 90 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 350 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 700 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 37 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 710 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 602 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,500 lb |
| Empty weight | 790 lb |
| Usable fuel | 18 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 5.9 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $65,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $170,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,400 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $24,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $34,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 166 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 97 |
| Median year built | 1952.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 8 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 82.47 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 61.86 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 15 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 15.46 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 2 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 97 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 97 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 97 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 1.7 of 103 |
| Support | 5.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.8 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.