PlaneFox tracks 1 Corby CJ-1 Starlet aircraft for sale and re-reads every one of them from the broker and dealer sites it watches, so the figures below move when the market moves. Every number on this page is measured from those live listings, not taken from a published price guide.
A Corby CJ-1 Starlet flies about 425 nm, roughly 787 km, which is about 3 h 46 min in still air at typical cruise.
A Corby CJ-1 Starlet costs about EUR 616 a month to run, or about EUR 77 for every flight hour when it is flown 150 hours a year.
The Corby CJ-1 Starlet is an Australian single-seat, low-wing sport aircraft designed by John Corby for amateur construction. The prototype first flew in 1966, and the design was subsequently offered to builders as a plans-built homebuilt rather than a factory production aircraft. Its role is personal recreational flying, local touring and hands-on sport aviation. The CJ-1 Starlet matters in the used market because it represents a compact, efficient wooden aircraft with a long-established builder community and a clear identity: simple systems, light weight and a pilot-focused flying experience.
Performance depends strongly on engine choice, propeller, build quality and aircraft weight. Many CJ-1 Starlet examples use Volkswagen-based air-cooled conversions in the roughly 50 to 70 hp class, although individual aircraft may have different approved installations under their experimental or amateur-built operating basis. Typical cruise figures are around 95 to 105 knots, with reported range commonly in the region of 300 to 375 nautical miles when equipped and operated for cross-country flying. Gross weight is typically around 950 lb, with useful load varying by individual build, often in the 350 to 400 lb range. Published service ceiling figures are commonly around 13,000 feet. The aircraft is usually configured with fixed conventional landing gear and a wooden airframe structure.
The CJ-1 Starlet has one seat, a compact cockpit and limited baggage capacity, so buyer expectations should be closer to a sport aircraft than a touring airplane. Cockpit fit, canopy style, ventilation and ergonomics can vary because the aircraft is plans-built. Avionics are normally simple VFR installations: analog flight instruments, engine gauges, a VHF com radio, transponder and portable or panel-mounted GPS. Modern glass suites such as Garmin Perspective or G1000 are not typical for this type. Some aircraft may have compact experimental EFIS displays, ADS-B equipment or updated engine monitoring, but installations should be evaluated individually for workmanship, documentation and electrical reliability.
Used CJ-1 Starlet buyers should focus less on model year and more on build quality, logbook continuity, airframe condition and weight. Key inspection areas include wooden structure, glue joints, moisture history, fabric or paint condition, control rigging, landing gear attachment points and engine installation details. Because many aircraft use automotive-derived powerplants, maintenance history, cooling, carburetion, ignition and propeller matching deserve careful review. Common upgrades include newer radios, transponders, GPS, electronic engine instruments, improved canopies and alternative lightweight engines. In the used market, the Corby CJ-1 Starlet typically sits as an affordable single-seat experimental aircraft for owners who value low operating costs and traditional stick-and-rudder flying over payload, speed or instrument capability.