If you’re in the market for a used STOL (short takeoff and landing) taildragger, a Maule M-series model should certainly be on the short list of machines to consider. For years, tailwheel Maules have offered an impressive balance of utility and performance. On wheels, floats and skis, you can do a lot with a Maule—especially models with big engines.
In general, these airplanes are easy and forgiving to fly when in the air, but as our recent NTSB report scan revealed, the runway loss of control accident rate is distressingly high. Still, they’re relatively simple to fix and good at going slow but capable of decent cruise speeds, although the published speeds for many in the model line are considered humorously optimistic.