I have flown all the L- birds, and owned a 1943 J-3, admitted mine had the 65hp, and the only way I could get it anywhere near the red line was coming out of a loop, or in a dive. Now I did fly a Supercruiser that was a solid 110 cruise. The Taylorcraft was the fastest of all L-birds, due to it's laminar flow type of wing, it was a fun plane to fly just never enjoyed landing it. One mph over and you float, 1 mph under and you drop like a rock. The Aeronica champ was a good plane a knot or 2 faster than the J-3 but it was hard to get in because of how the door is hinged, and it had olio strut gears and were soft. I have flown at least 10 different J-3 and never have see one go above the 85-90 mph range.