Aircraft model
PIPER PA-18S
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The PA-18S is the float model of the PA-18 on type certificate 1A2 -- a separate certificated model with its own maximum weight, not a landplane with floats bolted on. A Super Cub on floats is the aeroplane that opens up country nothing else can reach, and it gives up roughly a tenth of its cruise and a seventh of its climb to do it.
A Super Cub is the most useful small aeroplane ever certificated and the market has known it for decades: prices are set by the bush and float trade, not by the four-seat market, and they do not fall. Ownership is fabric-and-tube ownership -- the recover is the big periodic bill and corrosion under the fabric is what ends airframes -- plus whatever the operating environment adds. Tailwheel time is required and insurers will want a great deal of it. Add the float trade's own concerns on top: float condition and leaks, corrosion at every fitting, and a salt-water history that is worth a great deal of inspection. Values for float-capable Super Cubs are the highest in the light aircraft market and have been for years.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-18S side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-18S
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental C-90-8F |
| Horsepower | 90 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1950 |
| Production end | 1994 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 75 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 270 nm |
| Service ceiling | 13,570 ft |
| Climb rate | 561 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 37 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 524 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 416 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,474 lb |
| Empty weight | 950 lb |
| Usable fuel | 18 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 5 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $120,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $350,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $23,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $33,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 25 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 4 |
| Median year built | 1950.5 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 1.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
These record scores treat PIPER PA-18S as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 1 aircraft registered under JOSEPH F SALOMONE. Prices are not combined.
- 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.