yiippiieeeee!! i finally did it!!

HI all,

i am just writing this from my first flying vacation. GSM cards and a loptop are really great fun toys sometimes . I flew my first cub today! i just got my license this year and have only 41 hours total. A kind person from this board gave me the adress of an CFI in northern germany who instructs on a cub. So i added another 2.5 hours today, and that was CUB TIME! what a great way of flying compared to the PA-28 i am used to. I have to admit, that today was one of the most fun time i had so far in a plane. After 18 landings, my CFI let me loose and i got my first 5 touch-and-goes solo with a cub.

the cub was a PA-18 95 hp without flaps. But i think it used to be a L-4, it had these all around windows.

But now the problem starts......i have to start saving money.....Now i want a cub too.......


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Mirko "Psychonaut"

Congratulations on your first flight without the 'training wheel'.
Where in Germany are you based?

Best
Bent

Sounds like you were flying an L18C. They are basically a 90 hp Super Cub with the greenhouse glass built for several foreign militaries. Mine came from Denmark and I have a friend with one that came from Italy. They are sweet flying planes.

i am actually from Duesseldorf (1/2 hour from cologne) but got my licence in Moenchengladbach. Right now i am in Heide-Buesum, north of Hamburg and very close to Denmark. That was the only place except Munich area and Berlin area, where there is a SC für charter and instruction......(THX again Ullrich for fritz' number and all the info)

the flying club over here has 5 X PA-18 95, all painted white/red and they fly formation!!! http://www.flying-pipercub.de/

Today i got to fly at 12kts x-wind.


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Mirko "Psychonaut"

well, now i am sitting in my office again and my holiday is over....so here is a more detailed report of my first impressions with a cub:

My CFI was an old WWII veteran who flew ME 109, Tante Ju (Junkers Trimotor) and Fieseler Storchs. The first thing unusual to me was the "casual" way of flying as i was only used to my controlled home base and all the procedures in my commercial flight school. Radio use was more like some small talk and everybody seemed to know everybody in the area. Not quite what it should be and how i learned, but in small remote areas it seems quite reasonable to me....

When he opend the hangar there were 3 identical cubs and the first thought was how ridiculously small a cub really is compared to all the pictures i have seen on the internet...But as i am only 120 lbs and about 1,72 m height the cub fits me like a custom glove

Now the worst nightmare: the heel brakes ! Are the drumbrakes always that weak??? run-up was at 1500 rpm as any more thrust was not held by the brakes! Do you switch pedals or do you really use the heels all the time? I could not get as much force on the small pedals with my heels as with my toes...And believe me, all force was needded with that week brakes!

Take-off was actually not very difficult or harder than what i was used to with the nosedraggers i have flown. Not very much rudder was necessary. Just keeping the "update-rate" of my "eyes-brain-feet-connection" up all the time...

But climb was exhilerating! The little 90hp went up like an elevator! Now i want to experience a 150hp SC. And what struck me most was the sight. I felt like i could see 270° around. That was flying like i wanted it

The landings were also very straight forward. We did most landings on tarmac and some on grass. Thinking ahead and always keeping the feet alive did the trick. One weird thing though; i have always thought the stick forces were lighter. Not that they are high, but i thought they are extremly light.

My main problem was actually to land right on the threshold. I have the feeling that without flaps the flare is quite long (for a cub). My CFI told me to fly final with 65 mph. But i lowered that considerably during my circuits after discussion with my CFI. I still did not achive a landing right on the threshold. Shure, i could have aproached low and drag the plane on the prop to the place were i want do drop it, but my 1. CFI told me that was like cheating . He always wanted to see a correct speed and glidepath. And furthermore there were some bushes right before the runway and i wanted to have at least some distance to them

The cub i flew was actually a L-18C wich was used by the belgian military as a trainer. After asking around, the prices for a SC 95 here in germany are somewhere between 30.000 and 40.000 euro, thats about 35-45 K$. If i don't find a place where i can charter a SC in my area soon, i will have to start thinking about buying one. ....

THX for all the written input on this board..i have a lot of fun reading and browsing here...

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Mirko "Psychonaut" Morschheuser

Psychonaut,

All of the things you don't like about the cub are improved on the supercub, so you should probably just buy a supercub and get it over with.

Still, sounds like a great trip!

sj

rehi,

i new that the newer SC's have toe brakes. Does anybody know since what year they are standard? But are the stick forces on a 150hp SC with flaps lighter than on a 90hp Cub without flaps? If so, i actually have no idea why that should be....

I can imagine that the added drag of flaps should reduce the flare distance and glidepath control and "hitting" the desired spot will be a lot easier...

Do i understand correctly that all 90hp Super Cubs have no flaps and only the 150 hp models has them?

How about the the price difference between 90hp and 150hp? Especially in regard of maintanance and yearly costs. According to POH fuel flow will be exactly the same when flying at the same speed wich sounds kind a cool. Flying slow and haveing the same costs for fuel (quite a lot in germany), but still having the extra power when needed.

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Mirko "Psychonaut"

The big engine and flaps are nice, but you may find that they can easily double the price from a nonflaped 90. If the 90 is light (like it should be), it will do fine without flaps.

The only Cubs that had toe brakes were the 105 Specials built for the military in the early 50's, and many of these have been converted to heel brakes. Heel brakes work fine, you will just need some time to get used to them.

Many instructors who rent Cubs will intentionally leave the brakes very weak, it saves a lot of propellers, and this may be the case with yours. What a wonderful oportunity you have to fly with someone that experienced. Maybe you could post his info somewhere on this web site to help get him some more business?

the link i posted in my previous post refers to the website of the PA-18 Staffel. The Name of the CFI is Fritz Yung and his telephone number is on the above mentioned website. I highly recommend him if somebody wishes to get SC instruction in northern germany at the beutiful islands of the north sea.....just tell him greetings from Mirko

As i had a few beers with these "old timers" on their club evening they had indeed some stories to tell. Especially as i am a big Fieseler Storch fan and Fritz also flew the Storch occasionally on rescue missions. I have never seen a real Storch but now i have talked with a real Storch Pilot

unfortunatly Storche are a lot more expensive to buy and to operate as a SC....

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Mirko "Psychonaut"

Psychonaut, I had flown PA-28's for a long time before getting my SC, and the heel brakes were a big concern for me. I quickly got used to them, and don't even think about whether they are heel or toe brakes. It's as easy as getting used to a stick instead of a yoke.

Anne.

Psychonaut
An Australian offers a kit Storch, uses a Rotax engine. http://storch.com.au/

There is one just about to fly in the UK. http://www.littlegransden.flyer.co.uk/pfa/jashby.htm

Steve

All of the things you don't like about the cub are improved on the supercub, so you should probably just buy a supercub and get it over with.

Click to expand...

The L18c/Pa18-95 is a Supercub.. the original. Just doesn't have any of this new fangled stuff like flaps, 'lectrics, balanced elevators, starter, generator, battery, Lycoming..........

We should start a World database of places that speak Cub, and hire aircraft.


Pete

rehi,

i like the idea of a cub rental database. It took me a long time to find my CFI. Something like:

Continent / country/ City / CFI / Type of Cub / price / short description /contact

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Mirko

P.S. i can't log into the ftp server in order to upload a picture. Anomymous login doesn't work....any hints for me?

Pychonaut,

Look under "web site Q & A" it tells you how to access the FTP server in there.

sj

the RTFM thing....

i have read the the "web site Q & A". It says there is no need for a login, and just in case an anonymous login will work. But both variants don't work for me....:-(

Could it be that the use of a ftp client instead of a browser would be better?

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Mirko

I'm sure it is in there, but here it is again.

login: supercub

password: cub

The photo gallery is the prefered place for depositing pictures.

sj

oops,

shame on me. must have overseen the thread with login/passord the.... ;-)

THX

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Mirko

Mirko Congrats on you flying now you are bitten and smitten.
What does it cost to rent a cub over there? And can an american come over there and rent ? Is there some special membership that you need to belong to before you can take out a plane and cruise around?

Hi Jerry,

as i have written here http://www.supercub.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=606&start=30 , flying is very expensive in europe and especially in Germany. Therefore flying is mostly done in local flying clubs. Usually you pay a one time entry fee to become a member and then there is an annual member fee. For that you get company, funny club evenings and low hourly costs (but still, not everybody likes the clubs...they have some disadvantages for some people). You can also rent if you are not a member, but the rate will be a lot higher (15-35%).

I paid 115$/h for a PA-18 "95" without being a member in the club i rented from.

If the club doesn't know you, a club CFI will check you out on a flight before handing the plane over to you, in order to make shure you don't wreck the club's plane

You are only allowed to fly N-registered planes with your FAA licence. In order to fly german registered planes you have to get your licence validated. I have no idea what is necessary for that, but if you are interested i can find out.

I have only informations about 3 places in Germany where there is a SC for rent: Munich Area, Berlin Area and at the north coast. I have no info on N-registered cubs in Germany.

If you are a very experienced cub driver it could be very interesting for you to drive down to switzerland and visit swisscubpilot at www.gletscherflug.ch and check out some glacier mountain flying.

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Mirko "Psychonaut"