Aircraft model
STINSON 108
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Stinson 108 of 1946, the first of a four-seat, high-wing, fabric-over-steel-tube tailwheel family built for the postwar private market. It has a roomy cabin, big windows and a solid feel that its lighter competitors lack, and at 100 knots with four seats it was a genuine family aeroplane when a Cub was not.
The engine is the whole issue. Stinson used Franklin six-cylinder engines, and Franklin's subsequent history — sold, moved to Poland, intermittently supported — has left parts scarce and overhauls difficult and expensive. A Stinson with a tired Franklin can be worth less than the cost of making it airworthy. A great many have been converted to Lycoming O-360 power under supplemental type certificate, and those aircraft are worth substantially more and are much easier to own; establish which you are looking at before anything else. The fabric covering is the other major lifetime cost, and the steel tube structure underneath needs inspecting for corrosion.
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- STINSON 108
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What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Franklin 6A4-150-B3 |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1946 |
| Production end | 1946 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 100 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 450 nm |
| Service ceiling | 14,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 700 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 45 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 950 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 710 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,150 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,200 lb |
| Usable fuel | 40 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $38,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $55,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 813 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 213 |
| Median year built | 1946.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 12 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 56.341 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 56.342 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 40 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 18.783 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 213 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 213 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 213 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 0.9 of 101 |
| Severity | 7 of 102 |
| Access | 7.3 of 103 |
| Support | 5.7 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.6 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 24.5 out of 506 |
These record scores treat STINSON 108 as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 19 aircraft registered under UNIVERSAL STINSON; includes 2 aircraft registered under CONSOLIDATEDVULTEE ACFT CORP. 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.