Airframe materials · register of October 5, 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.

30 of the model families on this list are built this way, 26,998 aircraft on the register between them; the largest is the Piper J-3 Cub with 3,806, then the Piper PA-18 Super Cub (3,621).

Biggest model families aircraft on the register

Piper J-3 Cub3,806Piper PA-18 Super Cub3,621Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt2,940Aeronca 7 Champion (Champ)2,355Champion 7 Citabria and Champ1,452Stinson 108 Voyager and Station Wagon1,270Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser1,247Bellanca 7 Citabria1,226Taylorcraft BC12 BC-12D1,225Aviat Aircraft Inc A-1 Husky896Aeronca 11 Chief740American Champion Aircraft 8 Decathlon and Scout668

All 30 families with notes where the construction changed

3,806Piper J-3 Cub

3,621Piper PA-18 Super Cub

2,940Piper 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

1,226Bellanca 7 Citabria · Wooden wing spars on most Bellanca-built Citabrias.

1,225Taylorcraft BC12 BC-12D

896Aviat Aircraft Inc A-1 Husky

740Aeronca 11 Chief

668American Champion Aircraft 8 Decathlon and Scout · Metal wing spars on American Champion production.

555Bellanca 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.

376Aeronca 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

192Maule MX-7 · Welded steel-tube fuselage under fabric; metal wing structure.

165Piper PA-15

162Aeronca 15

Connections how this material links to the rest of the register

Model families

Piper J-3 Cub 3,806 registered
Piper PA-18 Super Cub 3,621 registered
Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer and Colt 2,940 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 1,226 registered · Wooden wing spars on most Bellanca-built Citabrias.
Taylorcraft BC12 BC-12D 1,225 registered
Aviat Aircraft Inc A-1 Husky 896 registered
Aeronca 11 Chief 740 registered
American Champion Aircraft 8 Decathlon and Scout 668 registered · Metal wing spars on American Champion production.

Makers

Piper 44,838 aircraft on the register
Aeronca 3,951 aircraft on the register
Bellanca 2,699 aircraft on the register
Champion 1,604 aircraft on the register
Taylorcraft 1,898 aircraft on the register
Stinson 1,730 aircraft on the register
American Champion Aircraft 1,097 aircraft on the register
Maule 1,344 aircraft on the register

Other materials

Aluminium 137 model families
Aluminium with composite parts 30 model families
Composite 21 model families
Carbon fibre and plastic 21 model families
Steel tube and aluminium 15 model families
Steel tube, wood and fabric 9 model families
Fabric and wicker 3 model families
Fabric wing and steel frame 1 model families

These connections as data: /graph/material/steel-fabric.json · about the eFlight graph.

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.