We have made the decision to sale this wonderful airplane! We aren’t flying it as much these days and would love for someone else to enjoy this fantastic aircraft. We have owned this aircraft for a few years and have had plenty of fun adventures! This airplane has always been hangared and has been extremely well taken care of. The Engine doesn’t have many hours on it and should provide someone with many years of great flying. Completely restored by Wright Aircraft Technology in 2004, this Maule is in great shape and you’ll be hard pressed to find an M4 Maule in this condition. Logs are complete, going back to the very first entry of the Production Test Flight on January 15, 1973. Need transition training for an M4 Maule? Fortunately, my co-owner Trent is a CFI and can assist with this! Aircraft is located in Gadsden, Alabama at the Northeast Alabama Regional Airport, KGAD. Previous Annual Compressions: 78​/​80, 79​/​80, 79​/​80, 78​/​80, 79​/​80,79​/​80 McCauley PTT: 280.46 Garmin GTN650 Dual Garmin G5 Instruments Garmin GTX330 (ADS-B Out) Garmin GMA340 Audio Panel Bendix King KX 125 TSO Secondary Radio JPI EDM830 Engine Monitor - MP & RPM - EGT​/​CHT all 6 cylinders - Fuel Flow​/​Used​/​Remaining - Oil Temp - Battery Voltage - OAT - Carb Temp AeroLogic Digital Tachometer AeroLogic Digital Oil Pressure​/​Oil Temp AeroLogic Digital Fuel Gauge (New CIES fuel sending units installed 10-2025) GA Plugs for all 4 seats Powered LEMO for both pilot seats Audio​/​Music input located front and rear Whelen LED Landing Lights with Wig-Wag (L​/​R​/​Steady​/​Different Flash Patterns) 31” Alaskan Bushwheel Tires Larger ABI​/​Cleveland Brake Calipers from Alaska Gear installed Custom Brake Chocks Included More photos and information can be found at www.propflier.com​/​n19wx

Manufacturer year

1973

Registration Number

N19WX

Make/Model

Maule m4 220c

Engine Details (e.g. Total Engine Time; Suggested TBO; Hours Remaining)

Franklin PZL 6A-350-C1R Horsepower: 220 SMOH: 166.5 ACTT: 1,846.03

Aircraft Model Overview (Reference only)

The Maule M-4-220C Strata Rocket is a four-seat, single-engine conventional-gear STOL aircraft produced by Maule Air Inc. of Moultrie, Georgia, during the early 1970s. The "220C" designation identifies a specific variant in Maule's M-4 family powered by the Franklin 6A-335-B1 engine producing 220 horsepower — the "Strata Rocket" name reflecting the 220 HP installation's performance step above the base M-4 Rocket variants. Founded by Belford Maule and produced continuously from 1961 to the present day across successive model generations, Maule Aircraft occupies a unique position in the certified aircraft market as the primary American producer of fabric-and-metal STOL taildraggers, with a devoted following among bush pilots, Alaska operators, float plane enthusiasts, and back-country aviators worldwide. The M-4-220C is powered by a Franklin 6A-335-B1 six-cylinder horizontally-opposed engine producing 220 horsepower — a powerplant that delivers strong performance for the Maule's light airframe but presents the most significant ownership challenge associated with the type. The Franklin Engine Company ceased production of new engines and most replacement parts decades ago, and the maintenance and overhaul ecosystem for Franklin-powered aircraft has contracted substantially over the intervening years. A small number of specialist shops maintain Franklin overhaul capability, and parts must often be sourced from existing inventory, salvage, or reproduction suppliers. Many M-4-220C owners have addressed this reality through STC-approved engine conversions — most commonly to the Lycoming O-540 or IO-540 series — which resolves the parts availability issue while typically improving fuel efficiency and maintenance accessibility. Any prospective buyer must treat the engine situation as a primary due diligence priority. The M-4 airframe employs welded steel tube fuselage construction with fabric covering on the fuselage sides and a metal-skinned wing — a hybrid construction approach that delivers structural integrity, light weight, and the repair-anywhere simplicity that field operators in remote locations require. The wide-chord wing with full-span flaps provides the high-lift characteristics that underpin the Maule's exceptional STOL performance, and the castering tailwheel undercarriage — with its distinctive bungee-cord suspension — gives the aircraft a supple and forgiving ground manner on rough and uneven surfaces. The airframe is designed and built for high-cycle utility operations rather than refined aerodynamic efficiency, and surviving M-4 examples with complete maintenance histories and documented fabric condition are the most valuable in the current market. The four-seat cabin accommodates a pilot and three passengers in a practical utility configuration — narrow by the standards of certificated four-seat singles, with a high seating position that provides good ground and forward visibility characteristic of the Maule family. The large forward-hinged door on each side of the aircraft provides practical access, and the rear bench seat folds down to create a usable cargo platform — a configuration that bush operators frequently employ for equipment, gear, and supply loads on remote strip operations. The panel is a simple VFR-oriented analog layout on most surviving M-4 examples, with avionics updates of varying scope accumulated across individual airframes' operational lives. The Maule's handling character is distinctive among certificated four-seat singles — light, responsive, and somewhat sensitive in pitch compared to Cessna or Piper contemporaries, with the short-coupled fuselage and tailwheel requiring active and deliberate technique during takeoff and landing rollout. In experienced hands the M-4 rewards the pilot with access to terrain and strips unavailable to any tricycle-gear certified aircraft of comparable payload, and the type's reputation in Alaska and the Canadian bus

Additional Notes

This Maule was built for Paul Frank out of Naples, Florida in 1973, and came off the assembly line with the tail number of N40649. Paul’s father, Edward H Frank purchased 420 acres of land in the 1940’s as farm land. This article quotes, “Ed’s son Paul, who owned a single engine Maule airplane built for short landings and takeoffs, would land his plane in the pasture that is now the 18th fairway at Wilderness Country Club.” It also talks about Ed’s creation of what we know today as a Swamp Buggy, and how he helped organize the swamp buggy races that continue today. This Maule was initially registered to Paul and ED Frank until Edward’s death. In February of 1982, the airplane transferred ownership to Paul Frank alone, until it was sold in 1999. In 2004 the tail number was changed to its current “N19WX,” after it was fully restored by Wright Aircraft Technology in Moultrie, GA. The airplane remained in a partnership until it was again sold in 2011 to a good friend, and the person we purchased the airplane from in 2024.