If you were a dedicated Cub aficionado and wanted to build yourself the ultra version of the essential Cub idea, what would you do? You’d start with the basic planform, update it with edge-of-tech materials and build methods—carbon fiber, CNC-cut parts, modern avionics—all buttressed with an aerodynamic makeover to tweak performance. Then you’d send the airplane to the place that designs and builds seats for Bentleys and Ferraris and tell them to go wild.
And that, conceding a bit of editorial license, is the idea behind Cub Crafters’ new XCub, a full-up new Part 23 airplane that the company claims will raise the bar on the stalwart utility airplane. In fact, Cub Crafters, with the XCub, is borrowing from the automotive world and christening the new aircraft as a sport utility airplane.