Aircraft model
PIPER PA-18-125
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Super Cub 125, with the 125 hp Lycoming O-290 and 36 gallons of fuel. The extra power over the 105 hp version is meaningful — climb improves substantially and the aeroplane will carry two adults without argument — and the larger fuel capacity gives it real endurance.
It sits in the middle of the Super Cub power range and is a genuinely useful short-field aeroplane. The gross weight is 1,500 lb rather than the 1,750 lb of the later PA-18-150, so the useful load is limited: two adults, full fuel and little else. Fabric is the recurring cost and its age should be the first question. As with every Super Cub, most survivors carry engine and gear modifications that determine what the aeroplane can actually do far more than the original designation does.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-18-125 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-18-125
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-290-D |
| Horsepower | 125 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1951 |
| Production end | 1954 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 92 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 400 nm |
| Service ceiling | 15,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 800 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 37 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 650 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 434 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,500 lb |
| Empty weight | 850 lb |
| Usable fuel | 36 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 7 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $110,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $250,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $26,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $36,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 192 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 90 |
| Median year built | 1951.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 44.44 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 22.22 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 8 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 8.89 · 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 90 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 90 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 90 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 1.6 of 103 |
| Support | 5.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.6 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.