Aircraft model
TAYLORCRAFT BC12D-4-85
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The BC12D-4-85 is the 85 hp Taylorcraft: a BC12-D with the 85 hp Continental C-85 and 1,280 lb gross, in the equipment variant the type certificate lists as BC12D-4-85 alongside the plain BC12D-85 and their two seaplane counterparts. The extra twenty horsepower over the 65 hp A-65 of the ordinary BC12-D is what makes these worth looking for.
Everything about ownership is small: small engine, small bills, small hangar. The airframe is steel tube and fabric with wooden wing spars on the early aircraft, so the recover and the spar condition are the two things that decide what a particular aeroplane is worth. A tailwheel endorsement is required and the aeroplane is light enough that wind is a real planning factor. Univair and the type community keep the parts supply healthy.
Compare with…
Put TAYLORCRAFT BC12D-4-85 side by side with up to two other models.
- TAYLORCRAFT BC12D-4-85
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental C-85-12 |
| Horsepower | 85 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1946 |
| Production end | 1950 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 92 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 400 nm |
| Service ceiling | 14,980 ft |
| Climb rate | 654 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 38 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 580 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 472 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,280 lb |
| Empty weight | 700 lb |
| Usable fuel | 18 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 4.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $14,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $45,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $22,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $32,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 17 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 6 |
| Median year built | 1949.0 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 2 |
| 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 | 2.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- 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.