cubcrafters - search results

As applied to airplanes, the word "performance" has a multi-tiered meaning. Wed guess most pilots think of speed first, then payload or climb and then maybe short or rough field capability. The light sport segment bollixes up the usual logic because none of them are very fast, although they vary in payload and runway capability. On that last point, a new LSA offering from CubCrafters promises to reset the scale on what short takeoff and landing capability means, so much so that there are going to be some envious Super Cub pilots in Alaska drooling over this thing. The airplane is called the Super SportCub and it was unveiled just prior to Sun n Fun. Had it not been for an item in the press announcement, we would have said that this airplane is simply another entry in what is turning out to be just way too many LSAs than the market will ever support. But that one thing was the engine: a 180-HP O-340 four-banger loosely based on Lycomings O-320, but stroked and modified as an experimental engine by Engine Components, Inc. But wait a minute…doesnt the airplane still have to meet the 1320-pound LSA gross weight limit and can it do that with that big engine? It does and, evidently, it can.

There’s a certain mystique attached to tailwheel airplanes, as in only real pilots fly airplanes with the third wheel where it’s supposed to be....

Steve Jobs once said of Apple that the genius of business success was to invent products would-be buyers didnt know they needed. Apple succeeds brilliantly at this, but the advice applies equally to airplanes. He who stands still and treads water will soon wither. Even small companies must innovate and move forward and our editors choice for the top company doing that this year is CubCrafters, the scrappy taildragger manufacturer based in Yakima, Washington.

For people who fish, hunt and camp, and who also fly, float flying is an inevitable career checkpoint. If such pilots don't eventually own floatplanes, theyre likely to hire pilots who do. Thats why Beavers and 185s keep busy in Alaska and why a portion of light sport sales include floats. Now, one of the most popular float rigs, CubCrafters hot rod Carbon Cub, is re-entering the market.

Hows this for the ultimate incongruity: Bose headset, full glass panel, electric trim and a Garmin GPSmap 496 with NEXRAD and TIS traffic, all slipped into the front end of a Cub with quite a lot of room to spare. Although were sure William T. Piper could never have imagined it, thats exactly where we are in the brave new world of emerging light sport aircraft. If the original LSA concept included as much as a passing nod to simple and unsophisticated, the reality may be anything but. Not that were complaining.

Two decades ago, when the light sport aircraft idea was being hatched, skeptics worried that lighter, cheaper airplanes flown by pilots without medical certs would lead to a spike in the accident rate. After all, without FAA oversight of design, manufacturing and pilot health, how could it not? The reality, while challenging to pin down, is mixed. According to our review, the light sport segment definitely has a higher overall accident rate than that of legacy certified aircraft. The fatal accident rate, by our calculation, is also higher at 1.6/100,000 hour compared to 0.93 for all of GA, but this varies by aircraft model and is a marginal difference because of such small numbers.

Lets face it, compared to a Piper Cherokee or Cessna 152, many LSAs have complex systems and specialized parts. Imported models are often tainted by concerns of less-than-acceptable field support when they break.

A brief query to the WABAC machine unearthed this gem on light sport aircraft from the Aviation Consumer archive: "Some think the combination of lighter, cheaper airframes and simpler pilot certification will yield a boom in private flying." We think its reasonable to say that almost everyone thought this, but if you now think the boom sounds more like a faint squeak, you arent alone. The LSA groundswell has yet to form and judging by comments from our readers and video viewers, the cost of the airplanes has something to do with it. Maybe a lot to do with it.

Airplanes anyone would recognize as a “Cub” are not always at the forefront of technology. The tube-and-fabric taildraggers seem to be glancing over their...

Want to start a fight at a gathering of pilots? Just innocently ask, “Hey, what’s the best backcountry airplane?” Go hide. Then come back...

A decade ago, when the FAA and ASTM were dickering over what became the light sport aircraft rule, limitations on weight and performance-but not power-bubbled to the top of the discussion. The airplanes were supposed to be less expensive, light and simple, but the rule didnt say they couldnt have neck-snapping power-to-weight ratios and thus the era of the 180-HP LSA is upon us.

Its hard not to pass judgment on the health of the industry by what companies unveil at AirVenture. Still, as weve witnessed before, major manufacturers may show up with more new product announcements than we can cover in a week, but that doesnt mean the industry is rolling along fat, dumb and happy. This year, vendors did seem happy, and while many werent fat with record sales, everyone seemed to agree that the show simply had a positive vibe, perhaps signaling the stability weve been looking for in previous years.