Hello There,
Our Dad was an EAA member for many years and loved flying and flew since the 1950s.
We have a Piper J-3 with a 90hp engine and also the original 65hp engine in storage. (Both Continentals)
It has a wing tank, lights for night flying, wind generator and skis. Great condition. Kept in hanger.
He passed in December of 2013 and flew it about 3 months before he passed. Was wondering if anyone could
give us a ballpark figure on what it is worth?
$20k-$40k???Originally Posted by JimTurcovsky
If you are planning to dispose of the property for your father's estate, an appraiser can look at the plane and give you an accurate valuation. Well worth it in this case. Sorry for you loss.
Value could be in the range of $18K-70K subject to condition of the airframe and the engine and prop. That's a very wide setting so you will need to determine a number of variables that can be accessed via the logbooks and the mechanics and shops that worked on the plane. Most of the things you will need to know before assigning a value are as follows:
Total time on airframe-
Total time on each of engine and prop-
Total time on engine since major overhaul or top overhaul or other as applicable-
Has the aircraft been restored or rebuilt-if yes then when and what new parts?
Do you have original logbooks or how far back?
Has the fabric been recovered?
Starter, electrics and avionics?
Has the spar been changed?-Metal or wood?
Condition of interior-
A C-90 means it can be very suitable as a seaplane-are there float fittings attached?
Is the prop metal or wood and type?
Amount of new or newish parts: e.g., cowling, boot cowl, glass including windscreen, new an/or sealed struts, mags, hardware, carburetor, control surfaces, main wheels and brakes, tail wheel, bungees, etc, etc.
Date of last annual-
How long did your dad own it; how many other owners since factory new?
It's a lot of time consuming work but it will be worth it in terms of giving the plane a proper evaluation. You don't want to sell it for 20K when it's worth 35K and vice-versa.
A heck of a lot more than $20 K if it is complete and flying. Maybe upwards of $40K especially since a Cub is also an LSA. I have the same year model and engine for mine. A gerat first trainer, great for short strips, and fun to fly.
Have you tried looking up Cubs on Barnstormers.com? That might help too.
List it on ebay with an extremely high reserve and see what the bids come in at. Maybe list it there twice to get a good average offer. Its not worth any more than someone is willing to pay for it. Just an idea.
I'm not sure, but equipped as it is, I would be worried that it wouldn't meet the weight requirements for the LSA class a/c. And if you do manage to operate it as an LSA, you just as well pull the lights and generator because you aren't supposed to fly it at night. As far as what it's worth, in the past few months, I've seen prices ranging from $18,000 to $85,000. The only advise I would give is to have a pre-purchase inspection done - it can save you a bunch of problems in the long run.
LSA gross is 1320#. A 1946 J-3C max gross is 1220# per TCDS. I'm unaware of any weight increase STC other than pre-war Cubs with 1100 and 1170# gross which brings them up to 1220#. All the added lights and wing tank will make empty weight increase but not increase the gross consequently it will still be eligible for operations under LSA rules. Now, it may well have such limited useful load remaining that it cannot carry but one person. Even that is doubtful unless one is really large.
Jim Rice
Wolf River Airport (54M)
Collierville, TN
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