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Working CarbonCub

Scouter

Scouter

SPONSOR
Exeter Maine
One of the old scuffers at a local field who hasnt flown for more than 20 years was looking over my Sport Cub last week and proclaimed these planes arent built strong enough to be a working cub. Normally I listen to the old boys, and I should have let it lay instead of questioning the way he was dressed, but it got me thinking--
Is anyone working a Carbon Cub somewhere? Guide, Fish & Wildlife? How is it standing up?

jim
 
Great question, one I asked when shopping. Price point a factor and most working cubs live outside. Hard to overcome those and insurance costs. Avemco and others quote for CC pretty brutal.
 
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Would depend on your definition of "working" I suppose. Remember, those 50's and 60's Super Cubs were brand new also at one point (and quite expensive for the day) and it was probably hard to leave them outside initially as well.

sj
 
Joe doesn't work his, but it's got to be one of the higher or highest carbon cubs, and its holding up better than i expected
 
Joe may not have to use it to haul groceries, but it sure hauls you know what .
good example Tom. He gets every ounce from it and it comes back for more

jim
 
Carbon Cubs are not type certified so it is my understanding that they cannot be used commercially unless it is still certified SLSA and is used for flight instruction.

In my opinion after rebuilding and maintaining old worn out Super Cubs and doing some work on Carbon Cubs I do not see a Carbon Cub holding up like a Super Cub after 60 years and 10K hours. The Carbon Cub is built lighter and we all know everything in aviation is a compromise. I think the Carbon Cub is a good airplane but it is not a Super Cub.

Sent from my SM-N900V using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
I wouldn't expect to see commercial operators lining up to buy a $200K plus experimental Cubs. If they did I'd bet on a Mackey variant getting the nod over a Carbon Cub. I don't expect many will buy $300K plus X Cubs, either. Expensive new planes don't offer a revenue advantage that justifies the investment.
 
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But if the new expensive plane will carry the payload...

The reason cubs were exchanged for huskys by the Government was a weight issue, not having the useful load on cubs. MTV, can you confirm?

I do know of a CC being used for instruction, replaced the J-3
 
aktango58 said:
But if the new expensive plane will carry the payload...

The reason cubs were exchanged for huskys by the Government was a weight issue, not having the useful load on cubs. MTV, can you confirm?

I do know of a CC being used for instruction, replaced the J-3
Click to expand...
The government is the main buyer of the Top Cub.

Sent from my SM-N900V using SuperCub.Org mobile app
 
aktango58 said:
Which was designed with a much higher useful load than the original cub, and I believe it is higher than the husky?
Click to expand...

And the factory says that the Carbon Cub is stronger than the Top Cub. Can anyone point out where the Carbon Cub is weaker than a 1960's Super Cub? I'm building a Carbon Cub EX now and am just starting to cover, so there's still time to add some tweaks if needed.

Gregg
 
aktango58 said:
But if the new expensive plane will carry the payload...

The reason cubs were exchanged for huskys by the Government was a weight issue, not having the useful load on cubs. MTV, can you confirm?

I do know of a CC being used for instruction, replaced the J-3
Click to expand...

No, that was really not the reason at all.

MTV
 
After flying and working on the Carbon Cub, I would agree with Steve's assessment. They perform well but not made for the rough and tough world.
 
stewartb said:
....Expensive new planes don't offer a revenue advantage that justifies the investment.
Click to expand...

This same conclusion was arrived at in a discussion here not long ago,
about the price of new C206's vs the price of old legacy ones.
I don't expect CC is aiming the X Cub (or the Carbon Cub) at the working-airplane market.
 
I was thinking more of a guy who works it for himself. A farmer or rancher, or a mining guy maybe. I use mine for my work most weeks in summer, but it usually just hauls my lunch, cellphone and the paychecks. I thought I read on Cubcrafters they had one towing gliders in AUS., and one in fish and wildlife work somewhere.
I hadnt considered the TC issue Steve P, makes sense

jim
 
nanook said:
After flying and working on the Carbon Cub, I would agree with Steve's assessment. They perform well but not made for the rough and tough world.
Click to expand...

This was meant for a nanook.

Why? What is different on a Carbon Cub that makes them not suitable for the rough and tough world? Nobody seems to be able to answer this question.
 
If a piece of rough cargo puts a scratch or spiderweb into those prissy carbon panels, not the same as a gear leg coming off. What would keep a CC from getting home? Or requiring more maint?
 
If somebody knows of a Carbon Cub being used heavier than Carbon Cub Joe in Sullivan, NY, please come forward. I think his is used as hard as any I have seen. Maybe Joe will comment here and share with you what he has done and where he has been with his CC. His capabilities and that of the CC show what it can do.
 
A Super Cub is somewhat over built maybe. I have seen the top longerons under the headliner rusted out so bad I could stick 4 fingers in them, the rear door post the same. Cub Crafters lightened up everything to get their empty weight as low as possible. They until recently using light weight fabric on the Carbon Cubs, doesn't last and starts wearing through along stringers etc. They didn't gusset a reinforcement in the stabilizer like Piper did and they started cracking. Jury strut attach brackets are cracking. Shrink wrap intake hoses blow off. How many times can you remove, scrape and reinstall interior panels that are held in with double sided tape. There are quite a few service bulletins of issues that have been found thus far and the problems addressed and I am sure more that have yet to be found since the fleet is so young. I have had to address worn lift strut attach fittings at the fuselage on the two Carbon Cubs that I maintain with less than 200 hours on them. These airplanes are being flown off grass strips and not pounding around in Tundra on 35" Bushwheels at gross weight plus. I am not saying this isn't normal for a new design just that building something light has a trade off.

 
Skywalker said:
If a piece of rough cargo puts a scratch or spiderweb into those prissy carbon panels, not the same as a gear leg coming off. What would keep a CC from getting home? Or requiring more maint?
Click to expand...

All of the fuel draining out of a broken plastic fuel fitting overnight! That's right, plastic fuel lines and fittings.
 
AdirondackCub said:
If somebody knows of a Carbon Cub being used heavier than Carbon Cub Joe in Sullivan, NY, please come forward. I think his is used as hard as any I have seen. Maybe Joe will comment here and share with you what he has done and where he has been with his CC. His capabilities and that of the CC show what it can do.
Click to expand...

Not to pick on Mark's comment, but so much of this is entirely subjective to the perspective of the viewer.

When I think of a common aircraft working something hard, I think of loading fertilizer or the like in the back of a cabin with the rear seats removed and shuttling it to an unimproved orchard strip so the dusters can keep working. Not once, but every day, or twice a day, all week.
I think about stuffing an IO520 in the back of a 206 and running it a few states over so someone else can get back off the ground. Then going back and doing it again for someone else.

When I think about a true working aircraft, I think back about every crop duster in the country had Ag-Wagon's or a few Thrush's, all of which labored off the runway praying for good air, because there was never such a thing as a balanced field length. And doing this everyday, at gross or higher, for the entire season.

In the northeast I just don't see "working supercubs".... so I don't think I truly understand what that is. And I can't imagine Joe "working" his cub, unless that means throughly enjoying it. :)

pb
 
The "working Cub" anology won't apply to 95% of Cub owners. The other 5% that do "work" their Cubs aren't immune to maintenance and repairs.

Enjoy your Carbon Cub. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
stewartb said:
The "working Cub" anology won't apply to 95% of Cub owners. The other 5% that do "work" their Cubs aren't immune to maintenance and repairs.

Enjoy your Carbon Cub. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Click to expand...

Ya - no kidding! Have you guys ever looked at an Alaskan hunting guides Super Cub - especially at the end of the season?? Hell, Super Cubs don't hold up to that kind of "working" abuse!
 
68Papa said:
Ya - no kidding! Have you guys ever looked at an Alaskan hunting guides Super Cub - especially at the end of the season?? Hell, Super Cubs don't hold up to that kind of "working" abuse!
Click to expand...

I thought this was patina.
101_9293.JPG
 

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