Objects in the Mirror…

Jeffrey Butts

OK, I’m stoked. I saw a sneak preview of a new model last weekend and it was positively, absolutely bitchin’. Bad ass fine. Carbon fiber. Exquisite castings. Great paint. Great paint? I have never seen a flame paint job as nice as this. Not on a Rod. Not on a bike. It reminded me of the way the real flames looked during fire department training exercises when they crept along the ceiling above my head; deadly but beautiful.

All this happened last weekend when I rode the Milwaukee Vibrator down for the monthly pancake breakfast “fly-in” at the Twin Oaks Airpark. You will recall that is where I have the Seagrave parked. And Ken David has the 356 parked. And where Tim David has his 2002 parked. So, all in all, GTS is well invested in the place.

It would seem that this particular month there were a lot of Piper Cubs on hand. Almost every month has something unique to see. Last summer there was that gazillion dollar amphibious plane that had just been restored. This time there were half a dozen Cubs with those big 26-inch Goodyear “tundra” tires that allow you to land on just about any surface. Don’t know what I mean? Think back to the photos of the WWII C-47 Gooney Birds. Big honkin’ tires. Think bush pilots.

Piper first made the Cub in the late 1930’s with the famous (and often yellow) Piper J3 Cub. There are two of these at Twin Oaks; one is a 125hp restored 1941 J5 Cub available for rent at $85/hour. The Cubs eventually evolved into the Super Cub, a 150HP plane favored by bush pilots and stick and rudder fans everywhere (photo left). Piper continued to build one variation or another right up until about 15 years ago. Quoting from Northern Pilot magazine in April of 2000, “The new Piper Aircraft Company does not currently produce the aircraft, but the pilot population has refused to abandon it.” The stories I’ve heard generally are along the lines of the “old Piper” being sued out of business by idiots (or families of idiots) killed or injured in a decades old aircraft. Shark lawyers. This would be similar to Scott Stewart suing Austin-Healey or BMC because the lever action front suspension on his 1960 Sprite had failed. Except Austin-Healey is no longer in business. Neither is BMC. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be similar since the 1950’s suspension design survived the company that made it. Anyway, the point is that if you have something that old that there should be some statute of limitations for design flaws. But, because there isn’t, there is a ready market for people who rebuild British cars, wooden Chris Craft speedboats, and bare bones designs like the venerable Piper Cub.

Raise the curtain now because about 1980, pilot Jim Richmond decided to go into business rebuilding and restoring Cubs. He began by going to Alaska and finding all the people who were FAA licensed to modify or restore the aircraft. He then selected the best modifications and provided a business where they could all be done in one place. Over time his company, Cub Crafters, kept the good ideas, discarded the bad ones, and eventually developed many of their own. They expanded and now have a top notch restoration and modification business. They do things right. Their concepts are well engineered and tested in house by their own staff of 25 based in Yakima. A few years ago they introduced the Top Cub. Not the Super Cub but an accumulation of all the modifications they had perfected up to this point. For example, they re-engineered an 180HP Lycoming powerplant to within 1 pound of the weight of the 150HP unit. Modifications to the wing allowed the flaps to be enlarged and provided more extension. With the “tundra” tires the angle of attack gets the tailwheel off the ground as soon as the plane begins it’s takeoff roll and it can get airborne in as little as 150 feet! Other performance specs include max gross weight of 2000 pounds (about the same as the 914 but with more than twice the horsepower), rate of climb at 1500 feet per minute, and it will cruise at 125 MPH. Costs are close to $140K.

OK, that is all impressive enough but back to the pancake breakfast. Now I didn’t actually meet the guy who flew it there but Cub Crafters had their newest model on hand. Called the Carbon Cub, the black carbon fiber plane looked awesome. Powered by a 220HP Lycoming, this was some kinda’ cool. Although not yet certified for sale, this was a real peach. Early publicity says that this plane is even lighter than its predecessors. The wing design is high lift (don’t ask me what that means, Adam or Kelly or Joe can tell you) and I watched this baby take off after the breakfast. It was off the ground nearly as soon as it got rolling down the runway and I mean right NOW, kiddo. The pitch at which it was climbing was awesome. Not fast like an F-15 or anything but definitely a carnival ride.

It was really great to have seen something like this before it made it to the magazines or to the airports in real time. I’ve not been able to find anything out about pricing but I would imagine that, based on the Super Cub’s price tag, this one will be way up there. I think that this is likely more a play plane than a work plane. I dunno, really. Maybe someone would fly it up there in Alaska but I suspect it is more like a great toy for a great stick. I’m no pilot and I don’t know jack about planes other than what I’ve heard or read but if I had to make a parallel that most of us in the club could relate to, this is a trials bike for the air…or maybe a trials bike with motocross capabilities. Bitchin.