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N9460D 'A' model Super Cub

Made a lot of progress in the last 2 weeks:
Flap pulleys and cables installed
Floorboards complete and installed
Rudder and brake pedals installed
Interior panels trimmed and prepped for lightweight leather covering
Extended baggage nearly completed
New trim cable, new jackscrew and yoke installed
Fabricated new rudder and elevator cables
Flat top stringers back in place
Various misc projects

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(help! what's the trick to get tall pix to orient properly?)

Hoping to keep the pace up to finish fuselage work and then get the wings prepped for cover soon as well so I can move on to fabric work.

Martt
Warsaw, Indiana
N9460D
1959 PA-18A
 

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Why is one hook on the Atlee baggage facing the opposite way? Might make it fun if you ever need to pull it out...

That's the way the attach brackets were installed (they are the one part of the kit that's pre-built) and I assumed that's how they were supposed to be, but doing a Google search shows them installed pointing the same direction. I also just checked the associated paperwork and I see that it shows them pointing the same direction too.

As it turns out, it doesn't change anything ultimately because I simply pivoted the entire box to get one bracket over the tube and then the other, and that same procedure would be used if it ever needs removed.

Martt
 
The Fuselage of N9460D is about 2 days of work away from being ready for the fabric work to start, but I'm gonna move to the wings now to install the 2,000# gross weight rear spar pieces next. Hopefully I'll be onto all the fabric work by mid April.

A few days back I carefully cleaned the master brake cylinders which had black paint and decades of ick on them... they cleaned up really nice!

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Brakes 3.jpg

Brakes 2.jpg

And here's a pic I found on the internet at the beginning of the project that shows a British registered Super Cub with essentially the same factory paint scheme that the project airplane had on it, and it's what I'll be painting it in once covered. The end goal is to have a pretty clean and very vintage looking flat top Super Cub.

Super Cub Paint British.jpg

Martt
Warsaw, Indiana
N9460D
1959 PA-18A
 

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That's a great paint scheme. Cub Crafters, take notes.

I sure like it. After looking at a boatload of Super Cub pix in the last 8 months I haven't seen any that I like as much as that old factory scheme.

Plus, I'm be adding the flattener to the Stewart Systems EkoPoly paint, and that'll give it a great vintage look. It won't be 'flat', it'll just have a great satin look. I used it on the EkoCrylic on the fuselage tubing and the sheen is very rich and classy looking to me.

Martt
 
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A few days back I carefully cleaned the master brake cylinders which had black paint and decades of ick on them... they cleaned up really nice!

View attachment 30762

Did you disassemble the master cylinders to inspect or replace the rubber bladders? Old ones can fail suddenly without notice. By your description they haven't been apart for years. When they do there is no brake NONE. And if you happen to be in a tight spot at the time you could learn a few new four letter words along with a further emptying of your wallet and a hat from sj.
 
Did you disassemble the master cylinders to inspect or replace the rubber bladders? Old ones can fail suddenly without notice. By your description they haven't been apart for years. When they do there is no brake NONE. And if you happen to be in a tight spot at the time you could learn a few new four letter words along with a further emptying of your wallet and a hat from sj.

I haven't yet, but it's on the list.

Martt
 

Looking at this photo your front brake pedals are twisted / bent... The two arms are supposed to be parallel... The way they are now you will have less than half your brake travel before the pedal end contacts your floorboards and not give you full brake pressure...

You need to go from this
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To this
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Inner sleeve the tube when done for more strength.

Brian.
 
New O'rings in the parking brake valves as well. I use NAS Allen head screws on the brake cylinder diaphragms, makes it way easier to replace later on down the road when everything is installed and covered.
 
Looking at this photo your front brake pedals are twisted / bent... The two arms are supposed to be parallel... The way they are now you will have less than half your brake travel before the pedal end contacts your floorboards and not give you full brake pressure...

Thank you for this info. I never considered that the brake pedal tube could/would twist that much over time. Thanx for the pictures too.

I might have come to that conclusion once I got everything rigged up, but much easier to deal with now : )

Martt
 
New O'rings in the parking brake valves as well. I use NAS Allen head screws on the brake cylinder diaphragms, makes it way easier to replace later on down the road when everything is installed and covered.

Sounds like good advice on both counts... thank you.

Martt
 
And here's a pic I found on the internet at the beginning of the project that shows a British registered Super Cub with essentially the same factory paint scheme that the project airplane had on it, and it's what I'll be painting it in once covered. The end goal is to have a pretty clean and very vintage looking flat top Super Cub.

View attachment 30763

Martt
Warsaw, Indiana
N9460D
1959 PA-18A

Yeah, I like that scheme too. I masked this from the Piper drawing available from the Cub Club. I changed it a bit by reducing the size of the registration letters, carrying the stripe past the rego and leaving the scribble off the fin and rudder. This one is a PA-18A too.

Andrew.
 

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And here's a pic of my brake pedal jig. Might give you some ideas.

Andrew.
 

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Yeah, I like that scheme too. I masked this from the Piper drawing available from the Cub Club. I changed it a bit by reducing the size of the registration letters, carrying the stripe past the rego and leaving the scribble off the fin and rudder. This one is a PA-18A too.

Andrew.

ZK-BOX looks really nice. I like the idea of reducing the size of the registration numbers like you did... just enough to soften their impact some but not so much that it's obvious that they've been changed. I might do the same.

I'm considering taking that small stripe and carrying it around the rear window rather than flying it on past the window. I haven't done any drawing yet to prove that it looks good but it seems like a good idea. It will essentially just outline all the glass that way.

And for me, I really like the scribble on the tail, but was considering giving it a slight design change to make it a little more dynamic. The changes would be small enough that you won't realize it's different than original, but hopefully it would look more impressive.

Thanx again for the brake pedal info!

Martt
 
I built a simple jig for putting the set in some leading edge skins today. Worked great!

It's just some 3/4" OSB cut 11.75" high by 58", supported by some 2x4 braces that put the OSB at a slight angle. I used 2" schedule 40 pvc pipe, which is 2.375" in outside diameter. The OSB is spaced right at the pipe diameter at the bottom of the trough (floor level) and about 1-1/2" wider at the top where the aluminum first enters. I'm working in a loft area of a hangar that has an OSB subfloor, so I simply screwed the braces directly to the floor and then the OSB trough walls are just laying against the braces with no fasteners so there's no risk of damaging the aluminum as it slides down.

Takes just a few seconds for a person at each end of the pipe to carefully push down, watching a few marks on the aluminum and working carefully, to put the bend in the nose.

The whole thing went far better than I expected... in fact, couldn't have gone any better. I got one section of the new leading edge installed then, and the nose radius seemed to be just perfect.

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Martt Clupper
Warsaw, Indiana
1959 PA-18A
N9460D
 

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Aileron hinge question:

I pulled the old fabric off the right wing and hope to blast on thru it fairly quickly now that I've got one behind me. The left wing got 3 new leading edge sections, new tip ribs (full and nose) along with new tip bow, new cables, and the Wip 2,000# mods.

On the right wing, the middle aileron hinge (with the horn) has an issue and it needs removed and repaired/replaced. Does anyone have experience with removing the 4 rivets that attach it thru the spar and to the horn? Is there a legal way to do that and re-install it with Cherry Max rivets?

I appreciate any input -

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Martt Clupper
Warsaw, Indiana
1959 PA-18A
N9460D

 

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Those are steel rivets. I drill them out , make my repairs, blast, prime paint and shoot four new rivets in. Univair has them.
 
I drill out the rivets in the upper and lower gusset, remove the trailing edge and spread out the two ribs to gain access to the 4 steel rivets attaching the aileron bellcrank/hinge to the aileron spar. Note that these are AN455 rivets and they are 3/32" not 1/8" like they appear from the head.
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I drill out the rivets in the upper and lower gusset, remove the trailing edge and spread out the two ribs to gain access to the 4 steel rivets attaching the aileron bellcrank/hinge to the aileron spar. Note that these are AN455 rivets and they are 3/32" not 1/8" like they appear from the head.
View attachment 31056

Thanx for the help... makes sense : )

Martt
 
[/QUOTE]


My -18 "A" was rebuilt by Pete Sanders in Helena, MT. after a wreck and I flew it back to Fairbanks in September 1987. I did the following: Light electricals and battery; bare panel and interior; Atlee Dodge simple baggage; stock 150 engine and 80/40 prop; stock fuel; Hendricks squared tips and ailerons at stock Cub span; flap gap seals over flaps and ailerons; flaps extended into fuselage; VG's on wings; stock Cub wing rigging. Weighed 1087# but could have been lighter with a lighter fabric job and stock wings. Would fly down to 28 GPS under cruise power in level flight. Next time I'd leave the wing stock but did like the aileron seals, and VG's especially on floats.

[/QUOTE]

Interesting to hear about Pete Sanders, he just passed away last summer at around 92 y.o. up until a few years ago he's come out to the airport everyday and sit and watch the goings on. I bought the pa-12 project I am about to finish up from Pete and just bought a PA-18A project from his estate, N9935D. Small world (but I'd hate to paint it.
 
Pete was an airplane enthusiast and fine gentleman. I'm saddened to hear of his passing. His life and work will continue in the planes and people he knew.

Gary
 
Pete was an airplane enthusiast and fine gentleman. I'm saddened to hear of his passing. His life and work will continue in the planes and people he knew.

Gary
Yes a good guy for sure and enthusiast doesn't quite capture his passion. I wasn't aware of his 18A I do know he did a 12 that ended up in AK as well.
 
Does anyone know for certain what year this version of the Piper logo was first used?

InShot_20170526_170050501-1.jpg

Btw, started fabric last Friday and got both stabs, both flaps, both ailerons, both gear legs and the rudder covered (and stitched where applicable) but still have the tapes to install. Using the Stewart System and all is going well so far.

Martt
1959 PA-18A
N9460D
 

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Ok, so I have it confirmed that the Piper name in that style of script was in use in 1959, so I have taken that as a base and built up 'Super Cub' in that letter style to put on the project airplane. I don't think the airplanes came out of the factory with this specific graphic on the airplane, but that's ok... not looking to be 100% authentic, just authentic to the age.

I was unable to locate a version of "Super Cub' that was using this exact style. There's one close, but it's clearly not the exact style as the 'Piper', so I made my own last night and this morning.

This pic shows what I came up with. Still a little rough on the edges, but I'll clean that up and eventually have some vinyl stencils made.

Logo Super Cub Black and Red.png

Let me know what ya think...

Martt
N9460D
 

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Martt, I like your ideas. Aerographics has most if not all of the Piper logos as stock items, either as high quality vinyl stick-ons in just about any colour, or as paint masks. They can also do custom stuff if that matters. Many folks on here have dealt with them, I'm a very satisfied customer.

www.aergraphics.com

Please show us how it comes out, looking forward to this.

Thanks. cubscout
 
Martt, I like your ideas. Aerographics has most if not all of the Piper logos as stock items, either as high quality vinyl stick-ons in just about any colour, or as paint masks. They can also do custom stuff if that matters. Many folks on here have dealt with them, I'm a very satisfied customer.

www.aerographics.com

Please show us how it comes out, looking forward to this.

Thanks. cubscout

I checked out their website and I see they do have this type of Super Cub graphic... I'll look closer on a computer later and see if I like it as well as what I've done. There are a few details on mine that I might like better... might check in to having my version made by them. I appreciate the info, and I'll be sure to show what I wind up doing : )
 
DANG! That's purty. Looks like I need to try to stretch my fuel range out to Roggen . But what's that funny-lookin thing with the odd windows in the back of the hangar....

Thanks. cubscout
 
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