A nurse at work just called me and says she has a chance to buy a 1940s vintage J5 Cub. She claims it has 2600 hours on it. She IS having a prebuy done on it as we speak. She says that it is "pretty" and in good shape. The guy inspecting it is gonna check the fabric and such. It has been sitting for a couple three years.

$20K sound fair? One assumes it runs...Hell, how much does a 75 horse Lyc cost anyway?

Jim

Love the j-5 price sounds fair if all checks out.

If it has the original O-145 (75Hp), a good used engine averages 2K to 5K, the biggest problem with the older O-145 engines is parts availability. I know a lot of the Piper J series owners will upgrade to a Lycoming 0-235 or 0-320 for cheaper operation.

it's a fun plane but it's got to be checked by a expert in old planes, contact the cub club first about the got yas. problems can be a spar crack(10k), engine ovhl(15K), fabric(15+k), rusted longerins and tubing(5-10k), it can go on and on.
gary

Fabric is the big killer as far as value goes. Recovering costs are crazy.

The Lycoming is not very well liked. It's kind of weird how the cylinders are part of the case and only the heads come off. I'm not even certain that it has dual ignition. I would certainly budget for switching to a Continental or more modern Lycoming. A 320 would make it into a widebody Super Cub, but that may require an STC and some relatively big bucks.

Jim,

Total time is meaningless to an airplane like this. Every "rebuild" pretty much takes it back to new. As Gary and Craig indicate, infinite number of variables. Value? How long is a piece of string? I'm having mine rebuilt as we speak. Not cheap, but I have a father/son team who fly ag planes in the summer and recover in the winter. Should she need "assistance" they are at least reasonable and reliable.

Jgreen

Thanks, gents! I'll let you know what she does. I don't know her all that well, but I sure want to see what she has...if she has it.

Jim