Engines · piston (reciprocating) · data as of October 7, 2026

Continental C85 series

4,671 aircraft on the U.S. register carry a Continental C85 series engine, rated at about 85 horsepower. The Cessna 140 is the model most often fitted with it (1,253 aircraft). The aircraft carrying it were built between 1940 and 2023.

The FAA records engines by code, usually at the level of a series ("O-320 series") rather than the exact variant; this page gathers every FAA code that reads as Continental C85 series. FAA spelling: C85 SERIES.

Fitted to model families

Cessna 1401,253Cessna 120602Piper J-3 Cub519Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ)360Luscombe 8 Silvaire321Ercoupe 415267Aeronca 11 Chief136Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415111Piper PA-11 Cub Special68Engineering & Research 41568Taylorcraft BC12 BC-12D60Commonwealth 18557

Cessna 140 · Cessna 120 · Piper J-3 Cub · Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ) · Luscombe 8 Silvaire · Ercoupe 415 · Aeronca 11 Chief · Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415 · Piper PA-11 Cub Special · Engineering & Research 415

Where they are owner's state

Texas401California397Florida267Washington191Alaska185Wisconsin167Minnesota162Ohio152Michigan149Illinois139

Kind of aircraft

Piston singles4,669 (100%)Piston twins1 (0.0%)Helicopters1 (0.0%)

When the aircraft were built by decade

What the FAA has certified, ordered and been told about the Continental C85 series the component layer

The design is held under 1 type certificate (E-233, held by Continental Aerospace Technologies, INC.). The FAA has issued 7 airworthiness directives (orders that owners must comply with) that name this engine series. Operators and repair shops have filed 12 failure reports with the FAA since 1995, 4 of them in the last ten years.

FAA orders 7 airworthiness directives · newest first

1998-10-1998-17-11 · Crankshafts · engine

1996-02-1394-05-05 R1 · Cylinder Rocker · engine

1995-11-2895-21-15 · Aviation Gasoline · engine

1993-12-1493-22-05 · Carburetor Air Intake Housing Assemblies · engine

1981-04-0181-07-06 · AC Fuel Pumps · engine

47-40-02 · Piston Pins · engine

All orders naming the Continental C85 series

Failure reports 12 since · what operators and shops told the FAA

Parts most often reported as the reports name them

Spar2Throttle Cable2Bearing1Control Unit1Downlock Switch1Elt1Exhaust Valve1Guide1Propeller1Rib1

Latest reports

2022-11-23Exhaust Valve: stuck

2022-01-07Propeller: broken

2013-09-05Throttle Cable: broken

2013-05-02Throttle Cable: broken

2008-02-29Rib: corroded

Certificates and bulletins

E-233Type certificate held by Continental Aerospace Technologies, INC. · 31 models listed · revised September 19, 2022

Safety bulletins 6 · advice, not orders

2018-09-10NE-18-27 · POWERPLANT Rocker Shaft Boss Inspection

2016-03-08NE-16-13 · Powerplant - Prohibited use of sealant

2012-10-31NE-13-04 · Continental Motors, Inc. (CMI) Connecting Rod Piston Pin Bushing Inspection

1998-06-10CE-98-21R1 ·

1997-12-31ACE-98-21 ·

Sources: the FAA's type certificate data sheets, airworthiness directives, supplemental type certificates, special conditions and special airworthiness information bulletins (Dynamic Regulatory System), and the FAA's service difficulty reports. A failure report is what an operator or repair station chose to file; the counts show reporting as much as reliability, and larger and commercial fleets report more. How the systems are grouped.

Connections how this engine series links to the rest of the register

Fitted to

Cessna 140 1,253 with this engine series
Cessna 120 602 with this engine series
Piper J-3 Cub 519 with this engine series
Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ) 360 with this engine series
Luscombe 8 Silvaire 321 with this engine series
Ercoupe 415 267 with this engine series
Aeronca 11 Chief 136 with this engine series
Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415 111 with this engine series

Where they are

Texas 401 of these aircraft
California 397 of these aircraft
Florida 267 of these aircraft
Washington 191 of these aircraft
Alaska 185 of these aircraft

Biggest operators

Plane Fun INC Tr Trustee 10 of these aircraft
Southern Aircraft Consultancy INC Trustee 8 of these aircraft
Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 5 of these aircraft
Eaa Aviation Foundation INC 5 of these aircraft
Riggin Flight Service INC 4 of these aircraft

Airworthiness

FAA orders naming the Continental C85 series 7 airworthiness directives
Failure reports on the Continental C85 series 12 reports since 1995

Analytics

These connections as data: /graph/engine/continental-c85-series.json · about the eFlight graph.

Aircraft newest certificates first · 4,671

Tail no.	Maker and model	Group	Owner and base	Certificate	Registered	Status
N1969V	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-06-19	Valid
N2225K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Virginia	Standard	2018-06-18	Valid
N2420E	Aeronca 7AC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2018-06-18	Valid
N2115N	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Illinois	Standard	2018-06-05	Valid
N4627E	Aeronca 7DC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Montana	Standard	2018-06-05	Valid
N2694K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Wisconsin	Standard	2018-06-04	Valid
N99143	Ercoupe 415-D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Shannon Air Museum LLC Fredericksburg, Virginia	Standard	2018-06-04	Valid
N6291H	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Paradigm Concepts LLC Brighton, Colorado	Standard	2018-05-31	Valid
N72853	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Florida	Standard	2018-05-24	Valid
N2661K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2018-05-22	Valid
N33389	Rearwin 185	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2018-05-22	Valid
N76573	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-05-21	Valid
N4029N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Indiana	Standard	2018-05-15	Valid
N9064E	Aeronca 11BC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2018-05-15	Valid
N1928V	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2018-05-14	Valid
N2320K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-05-10	Valid
N32996	Piper J5A	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2018-05-10	Valid
N89493	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Pennsylvania	Standard	2018-05-10	Valid
N4624M	Piper PA-11	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2018-05-09	Valid
N93977	Ercoupe 415-C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Texas	Standard	2018-05-03	Valid
N99899	Ercoupe 415-C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2018-05-01	Valid
N42658	Piper J-3C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2018-04-25	Valid
N373CS	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Florida	Standard	2018-04-24	Valid
N6820H	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2018-04-24	Valid
N72775	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2018-04-24	Valid
N4262N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oklahoma	Standard	2018-04-19	Valid
N146FT	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New Jersey	Standard	2018-04-18	Valid
N41947	Luscombe 8C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Oregon	Standard	2018-04-09	Valid
N3500K	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Illinois	Standard	2018-04-04	Valid
N72139	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New York	Standard	2018-04-03	Valid
N1661V	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2018-04-02	Valid
N4220N	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2018-03-29	Valid
N85585	Aeronca 7AC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Tennessee	Standard	2018-03-28	Valid
N546CP	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Austin Cody R Pflugerville, Texas	Standard	2018-03-27	Valid
N40910	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alabama	Standard	2018-03-21	Valid
N82730	Aeronca 7AC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-03-21	Valid
N23245	Piper J3F-60	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Oregon	Standard	2018-03-20	Valid
N3067H	Ercoupe 415-CD	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner South Carolina	Standard	2018-03-20	Valid
N8469	Glaser EVANS VPII	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Illinois	Experimental	2018-03-20	Valid
N1903	Chapman BREEZY R.L.U.-1	Fixed-wing, single engine	Wells Propane INC Wells, Nevada	Experimental	2018-03-14	Valid
N72660	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2018-03-12	Valid
N4492H	Piper PA-15	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2018-03-09	Valid
N40673	Piper J3F-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2018-03-07	Valid
N4557M	Piper PA-11	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner California	Standard	2018-03-01	Valid
N95559	Taylorcraft BC12-D	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2018-03-01	Valid
N85442	Aeronca 7AC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2018-02-28	Valid
N99543	Forney 415-C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Georgia	Standard	2018-02-26	Valid
N2162E	Aeronca 7BCM	Fixed-wing, single engine	Middletown LLC Chandler, Arizona	Standard	2018-02-14	Valid
N2481N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	C M & K Enterprises INC Brandon, Mississippi	Standard	2018-02-14	Valid
N2983N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Cmr Aviation LLC Perry, Utah	Standard	2018-02-12	Valid
N5557H	Piper PA-11	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Montana	Standard	2018-02-12	Valid
N1127N	Aeronca 7BCM	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Washington	Standard	2018-02-09	Valid
N2701K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Woelbing Aviation LLC Franksville, Wisconsin	Standard	2018-02-08	Valid
N1770K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Flip Turn LLC Washington, District of Columbia	Standard	2018-02-07	Valid
N4440E	Aeronca 11CC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Neeves Aviation and Flying LLC Sioux Falls, South Dakota	Standard	2018-02-06	Valid
N81055	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nevada	Standard	2018-02-06	Valid
N3091E	Aeronca 7DC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Cw & D Investment INC Riverview, Florida	Standard	2018-02-05	Valid
N1721K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2018-01-31	Valid
N2893N	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2018-01-31	Valid
N4516E	Aeronca 7DC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Henderson Beverly A Sharon Springs, Kansas	Standard	2018-01-30	Valid
N1346B	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2018-01-26	Valid
N90167	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2018-01-25	Valid
N76954	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner South Dakota	Standard	2018-01-19	Valid
N3005E	Aeronca 7AC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Octagon CORP Lewes, Delaware	Standard	2018-01-17	Valid
N3967E	Aeronca 11BC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2018-01-17	Valid
N8400H	Air Race Corp ARC SPECIAL	Fixed-wing, single engine	Spirit of Flight Foundation Nampa, Idaho	Experimental	2018-01-17	Valid
N2406N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Standard	2018-01-09	Valid
N4092U	Kay James F SMITH MINI-PLANE	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Vermont	Experimental	2018-01-09	Valid
N7268H	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2018-01-09	Valid
N4242M	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Kansas	Standard	2018-01-08	Valid
N6446H	Piper J3F-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Maine	Standard	2018-01-08	Valid
N31125	Piper J5A	Fixed-wing, single engine	I Fly Enterprise Lexington, North Carolina	Standard	2018-01-03	Valid
N73087	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Plane Affair LLC Miami, Florida	Standard	2018-01-03	Valid
N7001H	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2017-12-29	Valid
N32522	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arizona	Restricted	2017-12-26	Valid
N2932N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New Hampshire	Standard	2017-12-20	Valid
N24148	Funk B85C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2017-12-19	Valid
N3091N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Michigan	Standard	2017-12-19	Valid
N4257N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2017-12-18	Valid
N94809	Engineering & Research 415-E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Planes of Fame Air Museum Chino, California	Standard	2017-12-18	Valid
N2050H	Ercoupe 415-C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Copaair Maintenance Services INC Indiantown, Florida	Standard	2017-12-15	Valid
N4176N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2017-12-15	Valid
N77705	Funk B85C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Washington	Standard	2017-12-14	Valid
N1998N	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Colorado	Standard	2017-12-13	Valid
N33AM	Ercoupe E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2017-12-08	Valid
N94740	Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415-CD	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Nebraska	Restricted	2017-12-08	Valid
N30588	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Murray Robert M Los Lunas, New Mexico	Standard	2017-12-07	Valid
N73065	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Georgia	Standard	2017-12-07	Valid
N76413	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Withheld at owner's request	Standard	2017-12-06	Valid
N4982V	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner New Mexico	Standard	2017-11-29	Valid
N2294K	Luscombe 8E	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Arkansas	Standard	2017-11-28	Valid
N99761	Engineering & Research ERCOUPE 415-C	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Colorado	Standard	2017-11-28	Valid
N2938N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2017-11-27	Valid
N3439K	Piper J3C-65	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Alaska	Standard	2017-11-27	Valid
N2829N	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Texas	Standard	2017-11-21	Valid
N1728V	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Moore Edward L Hixson, Tennessee	Standard	2017-11-17	Valid
N4182E	Aeronca 11CC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Tennessee	Standard	2017-11-17	Valid
N4252N	Cessna 120	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner Ohio	Standard	2017-11-16	Valid
N76045	Cessna 140	Fixed-wing, single engine	Individual owner North Carolina	Standard	2017-11-15	Valid
N81BD	Aeronca 7AC	Fixed-wing, single engine	Co-owned owner Maine	Standard	2017-11-14	Valid

Source: FAA Civil Aviation Registry, Releasable Aircraft Database (the engine reference table and each aircraft's engine code), October 7, 2026. Horsepower and thrust are the FAA's figures for the series, not for a particular aircraft.