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Reports of a Carbon Cub Rookie

Farmboy

SPONSOR
Fort Edward, NY - Fairview, OK
If you’ve spent a bunch of time in J3’s and low powered SuperCubs in particular, and even traditional 150/160hp PA-18’s, you’ll find that one flight in a Carbon Cub doesn’t allow your brain to even come up to V1 speeds. It’s not until you have spent some time, and I mean some meaningful time in the front seat of an SS, FX/EX or XCub, that you begin to actually understand them.


As an 18-95 driver, I was pretty comfortable trudging along with the door open at 85-90 mph on little 29’s and plopping in and out of all sorts of off-airport spots. But when you climb into a Carbon Cub for the third time, you begin to understand the knee-jerk reaction of wanting to slide the seat more forward. Although you’re already in the perfect position for stick, rudder, throttle and panel, you’ve got space.

It’s wide, it’s long, and it’s about to get your adrenaline on.



A SuperCub driver isn’t used to having air space between them and the panel, or maybe I should say, the sheer volume of space around you. In a PA-18, typical leanback cushion-to-panel distance is about 30”, and width is 24-25”. As you strap into an EX/FX, you’ll find a full 30” of elbow room and looking out over the slope of the curved top cowl you’ll being to see that this animal is not wearing the same color spots as the one you’re used to. Add in a little more headroom, and we are talking about some air volume again. If you’ve ever thrown a leg up over a muscular horse that stood a few hands taller, or straddled a big harley loaded for the road, you begin to get a sense that this machine is maybe a little bit greater than you are, so are you a cowboy, or just a rider?


This interior spaciousness, along with the 3x3 gear on 31’s contributes to the overall sense of this being a massive machine, as if the wingspan was perhaps longer, or fuselage behind you stretched out a few feet more. ( Both of which are very similar to a PA-18 ) The CC363i doesn’t slowly breathe to life, it snorts alive as if to turn it’s head and say “are you ready to go or what!?”.


This recent flight was in an particular FX3, known among social media circles as Red 1, and sitting in front of the slapping hand of Cubcrafter dealer Mike Sasser trying to communicate his bronc riding Texas mindset to that of a mere Ethan Allen Boy. Once I determined just exactly which “blue button” to push off (otherwise known as shut off the dang heater), we taxied out into the south lakeland sunshine and launched. In contrast to the delicious display of airmanship we witnessed the day before when Mark Patey rode Southern Cubs’s SS in Pro Rodeo form, I’m pretty sure Mr. Sasser was now wondering what sort of dog and pony show he was now complicit to. Needless to say, he couldn’t see much past me anyhow, so unless there were more blue buttons to push, we were up and flying.


You’ve all seen the performance displays in the online videos, and as mentioned before, not until you get a good hour or two of flight time do you start catching up with the ability of this thoroughbred. Carbon Cubs just want to run. 2200 seems to be a nice easy rpm for basic cub maneuvers, so I pulled it back to there and started grinning again. Probably the undisclosed but widely known secret in Yakima, WA is that the G series ailerons was named for size of the grin it creates on pilots. The EX/FX 3 series has a stronger wing to allow a GW increase, and the CC363 offering ramps up the power, but it’s the G that matters.


And trust me, you’ll like the G.


The G, like the lasting grin on your face, is what transforms an airplane derived from a Supercub into a flying machine. A little pedal, a little stick, and in the blink of an eye you’re suddenly rolling your own personal F-15 down towards the grassland. Like the automotive cliches “as if it’s on rails”, this baby rolls. As you try to suppress the giggle it evokes, you wonder how a cable driven rag wing airplane can do this. The control feel has the response of a push-tube controlled jet. Crisp. Precise. And then you remember the G. With the ailerons every so slightly thickened to protrude into the boundary layer, and the trailing edge chopped to a 3/16” flat to hold the air on the airfoil, at no point is the aileron not placing the wing where you want it.


And place the wing it does. It’s not the unstable feeling of a Pitts, Christen Eagle, or other aerobatic ready to snap roll, this is the hard, fast and rock solid handling that the F-15 jockey’s talk about at the bar. Real controls, real flight control surfaces, no computer interfaces. You put it in, and the G puts it out. I banked and yanked, pulled it up and dropped it down, slow to fast with not a hint of any imprecision. How an owner stops short of basic aerobatic routines is a testament to the owners discipline as a pilot in an airplane thats not approved for spins or aerobatics. You need aileron control to help rudder behind the curve at high AOA? You got it. You need precise roll control on a windy blind approach, you got it.


The G matters.


With my grin still large, I fumbled with more buttons on the G3X panel and set a quick 20 mile course for friend’s ranch. Word was he had a section of driveway that was landable and he served lunch. Leaned it out a touch to conserve a bit of fuel and a quick cruise found the spot. The word was right, a bit rutted but even with two left feet the Acme Aero shocks stuck like Mr. Sasser’s bubble gum and it was easy to keep it out of the ditch.


A quick lunch with Southern Cubs’s own Chuck Kinberger and Mike climbed in the front to reaffirm how gently I’d been treating his baby. The power of the CC363 leaps at the chance to run unleashed and Mike knows how to release the reins. Even in the back you have a sense of the massiveness of this maneuverable machine, and Red 1 proves it’s worth. If you’ve been around the Part 23 Certified XCub you’ve learned about the increased stability from the dorsal fin. Like teaching a J3, you can feel the sashay in the back seat of an FX with some wind, but it’s totally eliminated in the front seat.


And that’s where you want to be, at the center of the FX Machine.


 
You silly Farmboy, you will never be happy in a 40 to 50k airplane again. You might as well buy a motor home to get around now. Your screwed and you did it to yourself

Glenn
 
That’s a fact Glenn. But I’m not one to keep blinders on. Life is to short not to smell all the roses.

Once you get some time in one, the value becomes more apparent than it is otherwise.

And if the right guy upgrades, maybe he has some old ratty SuperCub for me. :)


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
That’s a fact Glenn. But I’m not one to keep blinders on. Life is to short not to smell all the roses.

Once you get some time in one, the value becomes more apparent than it is otherwise.

And if the right guy upgrades, maybe he has some old ratty SuperCub for me. :)



Some rumor that there is a red and white 160 hp cub coming out of rebuild near you that will be up for sale soon as his girlfriend's goats don't fit in it, so he is getting a 172!:lol:8)
 
No deliveries scheduled for me Lou, just hot dates.


Sent from my iPhone using SuperCub.Org
 
That’s a fact Glenn. But I’m not one to keep blinders on. Life is to short not to smell all the roses.

Once you get some time in one, the value becomes more apparent than it is otherwise.

And if the right guy upgrades, maybe he has some old ratty SuperCub for me. :)



Some rumor that there is a red and white 160 hp cub coming out of rebuild near you that will be up for sale soon as his girlfriend's goats don't fit in it, so he is getting a 172!:lol:8)

For the right price, everything is for sale. My dad got chickens and she’s happy with those. We only have 20 or so. I’ll have plenty of eggs to drop while flying.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
your pulling my leg? pierce help me out with this one.

I found number of oold posts on SuperCub.Org so I’m guessing that people stretch them out for better y-axis stability?

I also found the stretched out pacer.
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I knew we sent the right man to the sun to report back on the good stuff. We all know you spent your nights at Hooters and Twin Peaks drinking beer and eating chicken wings. We should be ready now for Hooters girls in FX3 Carbon Cubs.

You were not the only one with the CC smile going yesterday. We had to load out potatoes all morning to Frito Lay on Sunday, because the plant is open Monday. Its a fact of life around here, your Sunday mornings belong to Frito Lay.
After lunch our respective wives had big plans for both son Andy and I, one involved raking lawns, the other with spring cleaning and putting stuff away.
No mention of bushwheels and 100LL
I drove by Andy with the rake in his hand, and proclaimed that today is flight check day for him in the Carbon Cub. He has been secretly lusting for the front seat since the new girl took up residence. Rake is tossed aside
So ditching our responsibilties, we dissapeared for a couple hours much to the dismay of aforementioned plans

I know a lot of you have sons that fly, and it has sure been a lot of fun and satisfaction to watch him fly. I also appreciate all my friends in the Northeast who are also like dads to him, and a lot have given him some fatherly advice. And a few times he has needed it. Youthful exuberance in his Citabria on a couple occasions lets say. He would much rather spend time with my friends than his.
It was a great experience to see his face when I "Soloed him" Fact is he and the carboncub are a real match, he was really smooth and competent in my airplane. Good Job Andy and congrats on the occasion. Now give me the keys back8)
So Pete, it will be great to see your new transformed face, and thanks for the man on the street reports and pix. Top shelf

Jim

The first landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TJow4WPEIQ
 
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Sounds like there’s going to be another Red Airplane for sale as soon as dad steps up to the plate. [emoji41]


Sent from my iPad using SuperCub.Org
 
I knew we sent the right man to the sun to report back on the good stuff. We all know you spent your nights at Hooters and Twin Peaks drinking beer and eating chicken wings. We should be ready now for Hooters girls in FX3 Carbon Cubs.

You were not the only one with the CC smile going yesterday. We had to load out potatoes all morning to Frito Lay on Sunday, because the plant is open Monday. Its a fact of life around here, your Sunday mornings belong to Frito Lay.
After lunch our respective wives had big plans for both son Andy and I, one involved raking lawns, the other with spring cleaning and putting stuff away.
No mention of bushwheels and 100LL
I drove by Andy with the rake in his hand, and proclaimed that today is flight check day for him in the Carbon Cub. He has been secretly lusting for the front seat since the new girl took up residence. Rake is tossed aside
So ditching our responsibilties, we dissapeared for a couple hours much to the dismay of aforementioned plans

I know a lot of you have sons that fly, and it has sure been a lot of fun and satisfaction to watch him fly. I also appreciate all my friends in the Northeast who are also like dads to him, and a lot have given him some fatherly advice. And a few times he has needed it. Youthful exuberance in his Citabria on a couple occasions lets say. He would much rather spend time with my friends than his.
It was a great experience to see his face when I "Soloed him" Fact is he and the carboncub are a real match, he was really smooth and competent in my airplane. Good Job Andy and congrats on the occasion. Now give me the keys back8)
So Pete, it will be great to see your new transformed face, and thanks for the man on the street reports and pix. Top shelf

Jim

The first landing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TJow4WPEIQ

That's Awesome! Congrats on the up (down) grade to the red citabria.
 
Great. Now you've done it. I bet Scouter is now gonna need one of those, too. With the blinky lights in the wing. I bet it even has that "Alimony Surveillance Device-Busted!" built right in to the panel.

Maybe I need a second airplane..... Bet that thing would go great on floats.
 
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Maybe I need a second airplane..... Bet that thing would go great on floats.

I’m sure you do. We all do!

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Transmitted from my FlightPhone
 

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