Airframe materials · register of November 6, 2026

Built of steel tube and fabric

The fuselage is a welded steel-tube frame covered in fabric, with metal or wooden wing spars under fabric-covered wings; the fabric is replaced every few decades.

145 of the model families on this list are built this way, 30,857 aircraft on the register between them; the largest is the Piper J-3 Cub with 3,804, then the Piper PA-18 Super Cub (3,620).

Biggest model families aircraft on the register

The biggest families, as a table

	aircraft
Piper J-3 Cub	3,804
Piper PA-18 Super Cub	3,620
Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt	2,943
Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ)	2,355
Champion 7 Citabria and Champ	1,452
Stinson 108 Voyager and Station Wagon	1,270
Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser	1,247
Bellanca 7 Citabria	1,227
Taylorcraft BC12 BC-12D	1,224
Aviat Aircraft Inc A-1 Husky	896
Aeronca 11 Chief	741
American Champion Aircraft 8 Decathlon and Scout	674

All 145 families with notes where the construction changed

3,804Piper J-3 Cub

3,620Piper PA-18 Super Cub

2,943Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt

2,355Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ) · Wooden wing spars on older Champs; metal spars since the 1990s rebuilds.

1,452Champion 7 Citabria and Champ · Wooden wing spars on older ones; metal spars on later production.

1,270Stinson 108 Voyager and Station Wagon · Many have had the fabric replaced with metal skins under an approved modification.

1,247Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser

1,227Bellanca 7 Citabria · Wooden wing spars on most Bellanca-built Citabrias.

1,224Taylorcraft BC12 BC-12D

896Aviat Aircraft Inc A-1 Husky

741Aeronca 11 Chief

674American Champion Aircraft 8 Decathlon and Scout · Metal wing spars on American Champion production.

554Bellanca 8 Decathlon and Scout

455Piper PA-25 Pawnee · A crop sprayer; the fabric covering is easy to repair in the field.

443Piper PA-11 Cub Special

429American Champion Aircraft 7 Citabria and Champ · Metal wing spars on American Champion production.

377Aeronca 65 Chief and Super Chief

364Maule M-5 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

325Grumman Acft Eng Cor-Schweizer G-164 · The Ag Cat biplane: steel tube, aluminium wings, fabric.

323Piper PA-20 Pacer

319Cubcrafters Inc CC11 · The Carbon Cub: a steel-tube and fabric Cub design with carbon-fibre parts.

294Piper J5 Cub Cruiser

276Piper PA-16 Clipper

275Maule M-7 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

207Maule M-4 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

197Piper J4 Cub Coupe

195Taylorcraft DCO-65

193Maule MX-7 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

165Piper PA-15

162Aeronca 15

145Naval Aircraft Factory N3 · The N3N trainer: an aluminium structure under fabric.

134Champion AERONCA 7

134Maule MXT-7 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

134Taylorcraft BL-65

134Universal Stinson 108 · Many have had the fabric replaced with metal skins under an approved modification.

125Stinson L-5

121American Legend Aircraft Co AL3 · A new-production Cub: steel tube and fabric.

119Grumman G-164 · The Ag Cat biplane: steel tube, aluminium wings, fabric.

109Taylorcraft BC-65

104Interstate S-1

103Cub Crafters Inc CC19

100Piper PA-14

97Piper PA-17 Vagabond

93Aeropro Cz S R O A240 · The Eurofox: steel-tube fuselage, fabric-covered wings on an aluminium structure.

92Cub Crafters Inc CC11

89Stinson 10

88Aviat Inc A-1

85Stinson VULTEE V-77 · The Reliant built for the war: steel-tube fuselage under fabric.

85Taylorcraft Aviation Corp F19

81Christen Industries Inc A-1

81Maule M-6 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

76Maule MT-7 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

64Schweizer Aircraft Corp G-164 · The Ag Cat biplane: steel tube, aluminium wings, fabric.

61American Legend Aircraft Co AL11 · A new-production Cub: steel tube and fabric.

52Aeronca C-3

51Cub Crafters Inc CC18

49Taylorcraft DC-65

48American Legend Aircraft Co AL18 · A new-production Cub: steel tube and fabric.

48Piper J-2

46Piper/Cub Crafters PA-18

35Aeropro Cz A220 · The Eurofox: steel-tube fuselage, fabric-covered wings on an aluminium structure.

35Piper L-21 · The Army Super Cub.

33Cub Crafters CC18

33Gulfstream-Schweizer A/C Corp GULFSTREAM AM G-164B · The Ag Cat biplane: steel tube, aluminium wings, fabric.

33Piper L-4 · The Army Cub.

29Foxair Llc KITFOX LIGHT SPORT · The Kitfox: steel-tube fuselage, wooden wing ribs on aluminium spars, fabric over it.

28Taylorcraft A

25Stinson SR-9 · The Reliant: steel-tube fuselage under fabric.

24Eagle Aircraft Co EAGLE DW-1 · An agricultural biplane: steel tube and fabric.

23Aero Commander CALLAIR A-9B · The CallAir crop sprayer.

19Rans Designs Inc S-7

18Stinson SM-8

18Taylorcraft Aviation Corp 19

16Zlin Aviation Sro SAVAGE · The Savage, a modern Cub-style design: steel tube and fabric.

15Aeropro Cz EUROFOX LSA · The Eurofox: steel-tube fuselage, fabric-covered wings on an aluminium structure.

15Arctic Aircraft Co Inc S-1 · A new-production Interstate Cadet.

14Taylorcraft Aviation Corp F21

14Taylorcraft BF12

14Zlin Aviation S R O SAVAGE NORDEN · The Savage, a modern Cub-style design: steel tube and fabric.

12Callair A-9 · The CallAir crop sprayer.

12Grumman American Avn. Corp. G-164 · The Ag Cat biplane: steel tube, aluminium wings, fabric.

12Stinson JR. S

11Aeropro Cz S R O A220 · The Eurofox: steel-tube fuselage, fabric-covered wings on an aluminium structure.

9Intermountain CALLAIR A-9

9Rans Designs Inc S-20

9Stinson JR. SR

9Taylorcraft 15 · The Tourist: steel tube and fabric.

7Aero Commander CALLAIR A-9 · The CallAir crop sprayer.

7Aeronca S7

7Callair A-2

7Cassutt IIIM · A racer: steel-tube fuselage under fabric, wooden wing.

7Just Aircraft Llc HIGHLANDER

7Rans Employee Flying Club RANS S-6S

6Eagle Aircraft Co.-Bellanca EAGLE DW-1 · An agricultural biplane: steel tube and fabric.

5Aeropro Cz EUROFOX · The Eurofox: steel-tube fuselage, fabric-covered wings on an aluminium structure.

5Ag-Cat Corporation G-164 · The Ag Cat biplane: steel tube, aluminium wings, fabric.

5Busenitz Clinton Lee BADLANDS TRAVELER

5Callair A-4

5Champion 8

5Henry Steven J JUST ACFT HIGHLANDER

5Maule BEE DEE M-4-210 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

5Noorduyn UC-64 · The Norseman: steel-tube fuselage under fabric, wooden wing spars.

5Stinson SR-6

5Stinson SR-7

5Stits Skycoupe SA7

5Zlin Aviation S R O SAVAGE OUTBACK SHOCK · The Savage, a modern Cub-style design: steel tube and fabric.

Connections how this material links to the rest of the register

Model families

Piper J-3 Cub 3,804 registered
Piper PA-18 Super Cub 3,620 registered
Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt 2,943 registered
Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ) 2,355 registered · Wooden wing spars on older Champs; metal spars since the 1990s rebuilds.
Champion 7 Citabria and Champ 1,452 registered · Wooden wing spars on older ones; metal spars on later production.
Stinson 108 Voyager and Station Wagon 1,270 registered · Many have had the fabric replaced with metal skins under an approved modification.
Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser 1,247 registered
Bellanca 7 Citabria 1,227 registered · Wooden wing spars on most Bellanca-built Citabrias.
Taylorcraft BC12 BC-12D 1,224 registered
Aviat Aircraft Inc A-1 Husky 896 registered
Aeronca 11 Chief 741 registered
American Champion Aircraft 8 Decathlon and Scout 674 registered · Metal wing spars on American Champion production.

Makers

Piper 44,842 aircraft on the register
Aeronca 3,953 aircraft on the register
Taylorcraft 1,897 aircraft on the register
Bellanca 2,699 aircraft on the register
Stinson 1,730 aircraft on the register
Champion 1,604 aircraft on the register
Maule 1,345 aircraft on the register
American Champion Aircraft 1,103 aircraft on the register

Other materials

Aluminium 748 model families
Composite 231 model families
Steel tube, wood and fabric 209 model families
Fabric and wicker 176 model families
Carbon fibre and plastic 170 model families
Aluminium with composite parts 112 model families
Aluminium tube and fabric 85 model families
Steel tube and aluminium 58 model families
Fabric wing and steel frame 52 model families

The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/material/steel-fabric.json.

The FAA's register does not record construction; this list is written by hand from the makers' descriptions and the type certificate data sheets, which remain the authority for any one model. Connections as data: /graph/material/steel-fabric.json.