Experimental SuperCub building

[Michael Tracy]

Hello everyone,
I'm building a cub. It's sort of a Wag Supersport with a few modifications.
Supercub tail feathers, supercub elevator control, extended baggage.
I have a Lycoming 0-320 to bolt on. I read a thread here somewhere about the Husky and problems with the elevator trim. I don't know what kind of trim system a Husky uses. I would like to know if a trim tab is adequate or is the jackscrew the best way to go? A trim tab is cheaper easier and the front of the horizontal stabilizer is mounted better.

thanks,
Mike

 

[Bugs66]

Hello everyone,
I'm building a cub. It's sort of a Wag Supersport with a few modifications.
Supercub tail feathers, supercub elevator control, extended baggage.
I have a Lycoming 0-320 to bolt on. I read a thread here somewhere about the Husky and problems with the elevator trim. I don't know what kind of trim system a Husky uses. I would like to know if a trim tab is adequate or is the jackscrew the best way to go? A trim tab is cheaper easier and the front of the horizontal stabilizer is mounted better.

thanks,
Mike

Mike,
I will have a PA-18 fuselage. I want to use the Super Sport balanced tail group, which is supposed to be the same as PA-18 (except rudder profile). Are you using this tail group also or did you get them elsewhere?

 

[Michael Tracy]

I have the supersport balanced tail group on order. Tom at wag-aero said it is the same as the pa-18. My airframe is down to floorboard tabs and landing gear attach fittings. My landing gear fittings arrived Saturday and came from Airframes inc. I talked to Earnie at D&E aircraft Last year and plan on using his wing kit. I enjoyed the recent post on the subject. I'm welding my landing gear this month with 1 1/2 inch axles. I have a set of 850/6 tires and tubes and plan on using grove wheels and brakes. I still don't know if I will use a trim tab or a jack screw. I also have Northlands pa-18 cd. I have over 19,000 hours in helicopters flying all over the world but only a handfull of cub hours. Need all the good advice I can get.

thanks
Mike

 

[CptKelly]

Trim System....

Mikey,
The Husky trim system uses a spring loaded elevator cable. The trim system mearly loads or unloads the spring. Bad. Eliminates control feel.
Go with the jackscrew system.

Mike too.

 

[Crash]

Trim

The best thing about a Cub is the jack screw trim system. Nothing will take weight like a Cub. Crash

 

[T.J.]

Yep,
Crash has correctly accessed the situation. The Cub jack screw is hard to beat. I think its the best so far.

 

[Michael Tracy]

I've been reading the posts on different subjects from thrustline to airfoil
and exaust system to tire size. I figure if I use all of these mods my cub will cruise at 280 knots have a usfull load in excess of 2000lbs drink 3 gls per hour and takeoff and land in 27 feet. What an airplane. OK maybe not.
I am getting a lot of good information to think about and I do have a few decisions to make. The tailwheel for one. The best advice I was given for my Maule tailwheel was to tie a rope around it, dip it in a bucket of cement,and when it hardens use it for a boat anchor. It's worn out anyway
but I can still make a better boat anchor than that. Getting back to reality there must be a tailwheel that works and costs less than a Scott 3200.
Any ideas would be helpfull.

Mike

 

[Steve Pierce]

Scott 3200 is the best I have found for rough stuff. I prefer the solid Maule on a light plane like a J-3 but they are still made by farmers in GA and the quality reflects it. Not saying anything bad about farmers in GA but most probaly farm better than they machine parts for tailwheels.

I have a question about the jackscrew. Why can't you get a new aircraft certified with the jackscrew trim system?

 

[Todd C]

I ordered plans for the "Bob Wheel" designed by Bob Barrows for the Bearhawk and am probably going to build one for my project, unless I find a Scott 3200 at a garage sale for cheap.

 

[Cub junkie]

Re: Trim

The best thing about a Cub is the jack screw trim system. Nothing will take weight like a Cub. Crash

The cub jack screw system is one of the many reasons its a more versitile aircraft than others in its catagory. Clyde Smith jr. told me Piper engineers told him the Cub has a greater CG range because of the jack screw system. This is a big help to the guys that load it heavy and take off. Its a pain to build from scratch but its worth it to you guys just getting started in new construction, dont leave it out. Kevin

 

[Bugs66]

I have the supersport balanced tail group on order. Tom at wag-aero said it is the same as the pa-18. ...

Mike, I will be doing the same. What did they charge for shipping on the tail group kit? I will probably swap out the rudder for a Super Cub rudder. Use the Wag Aero rudder for practice welding. Even with the swap you save around $1000 vs buying all the tail parts from Airframes or Univair.

If you learn of other things we can use from Wag Aero that works with PA-18 let me know. I was wondering about the door assembly.

Bugs

 

[Cub junkie]

I ordered plans for the "Bob Wheel" designed by Bob Barrows for the Bearhawk and am probably going to build one for my project, unless I find a Scott 3200 at a garage sale for cheap.

I just finished the fork portion of the "Bob" wheel. The wheels are cheap and the tire was 19 bucks from aircraft spruce. Im leaving the heavy machine work to a professional but I will still have less than 200 bucks in a dam good tail wheel, of course its for Exp. catagory only. I just cant stomach the price of a Scott anymore, especially since I had a lot of trouble with one on my Dad's Citabria.

 

[Michael Tracy]

I have the supersport balanced tail group on order. Tom at wag-aero said it is the same as the pa-18. ...

Mike, I will be doing the same. What did they charge for shipping on the tail group kit? I will probably swap out the rudder for a Super Cub rudder. Use the Wag Aero rudder for practice welding. Even with the swap you save around $1000 vs buying all the tail parts from Airframes or Univair.

If you learn of other things we can use from Wag Aero that works with PA-18 let me know. I was wondering about the door assembly.

Bugs

Bugs, I got the folks at Wag-aero to breakdown the elevator rudder kit. I already have a rudder so I ordered the balanced elevator and stabilizer kit for $600. The leading edges are on back order so it has not been shipped. They said maybe 2 weeks and that was a week ago. I don't know what the shipping charges will be. After some thought and reading the replies I,m going to use a jack screw trim system. I also looked at the Bob Wheel. I wish they had a kit. I may buy the plans and build one.
Mike

 

[Bugs66]

I started a seperate discussion on the Bob tailwheel:
http://www.supercub.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=38675#38675