Cubs Unlimited Serial #001 Takes Flight

Well folks a good e mail companion with plenty of good info posts goes monumental this Thursday Tomorrow. John W at Cubs Unlimited starts the test flights of CU serial #001. I have my fingers crossed as I know many of you do. In e mailing Jeff Russell today he also has a thumbs up for John. Good luck to the small builder who is keeping our beloved Cub alive and well. Well JW in the words of "Mr Spock" live long and prosper. John M still flying miss daisy.

Thanks John and all,
Flight tests were completed late today and we will be issued a Standard Airworthiness Cert. tomorrow morning at the local FSDO office. Everything went super well and my ASI was a big help in this process.
Thanks to all that encouraged us in this endevour.

John

Congratulations, quite an accomplishment.Someday i am gonna come down to see your operation. Do you ever get to maine? Looks like you do nice work, i would like to see your cubs.

Hey Phil I have been trying to get JR to jump in the back of Miss Daisy for a road trip. I figured we could go down through Andover NJ and see Damian at Bushflying (Andover Aero) and then on to see John W It sounds like the last of Feb or Mid March beyond Daytona Bike week. Are you interested to go down in formation. We can stay overnight in PYM at my place in Mass. and then on to Finleyville. JR has half committed as long as he can work out Kid Duty. John

I might be,depends on the weather.If it isnt too cold the wreckers may be able to be shut off for more than an hour.I would know closer to that time. Phil

John, Congratlations! After seeing your fine work there was no doubt anything you build would be certified. Keep up the great work. Rick

Thanks again, I'm looking forward to seeing you guys. Everyone is and will be welcome to visit. Now that it's cert. the real fun testing begins, short takeoffs, landings etc.
Mike,(owner of the aircraft) doesn't have any supercub time so it's my duty to fly with him often and teach him the ins and outs of supercub performance.(someone has to do it). I suggested that he learn to fly his PA18 without vortex generators for a while and get used to it. Then we will add the vortex generators so he could see for himself what the difference is.
For pics of the green PA18 see my website;
cubsunlimited.com

John

Why did the FAA have to flight test?

Steve,
This PA18 is the first Cubs Unlimited certified (Standard Airworthiness) PA18-150 s/n 001. Just like C.C. is doing.

John

Congrats John to both you and Mike. Hope to get to see one of your Cubs someday. Best of luck to you. Website looking good also.
http://www.cubsunlimited.com/

Mark

Can anyone tell me who won the pool on this? :lol: Jusy kidding, we all knew it would fly. Crash

Great John. Congrads.

John: Congratulations!
I know what a problem it is screwing with the faa.
What is the empty weight?
Thanks.

TJ,
Actually, my ASI and the local FSDO were very helpful in this process. This is the first time they have ever done this at this FSDO, so it was a learning curve for all of us. All in all everything went well. Normally this type of certification would be done by a MIDO office, which is in Harrisburg, PA. My ASI recieved a letter (which I have a copy of) from MIDO saying that since he knows me real well and due to my experience, there was no reason why the local FSDO couldn't do it.
The empty weight turned out to be a little heavier than I like, but considering that the Univair fuselage is heavier than a stock fuselage and Mike (the owner) wanted some extra goodies, I guess its not too bad. Empty weight is 1175 lbs.
We have a Leading Edge exhaust system on it and a K&N air filter coupled to a 160 hp Lycoming. 8244 Borer prop. During the test flights I was getting 1300-1400 fpm climbs. No wind, temp. was 42 degrees, half tanks. I believe the exhaust system and the air filter made a noticeable increase in hp. No absolute figures yet, but I've flown several 160 hp PA18's and there is definitely a difference. Rough measurement takeoff rolls were 170-180 ft. without trying hard. We will be doing more accurate testing later after the thrill wears off. We will be posting more pics on my website shortly.

John

Cubunltd, what tires did you have on the plane during the weight and balance check? Thanks! Crash

Crash, we had the Goodyear 26" tires.


John

1175 lbs sounds like an honest weight using today's heavy duty parts. With 31" Bushwheels you would be around 1210 to 1215 lbs EW. Crash

Yep. I agree. With all the extra stuff on it, thats a good weight.

Congratulations to Cubs Unlimited!!!!

Does anybody know how easy or difficult is it to get insurance for this type of built cub under the AC 21.? rules as the Mfg. is not Piper? I guess its still a PA-18-150 under the same TC so does that make it fall into the same category even though it has a different Mfg.? Does it cost the same?

David...

Captfox,
To answer your question, the insurance is the same. It's still a Certified aircraft. It's not experimental.