| The Piper J-3 Cub is my first "sport-scale" aircraft. Built from a Tower Hobbies kit that was manufactured by Great Planes Model company, I must admit that it's one of the best kits I've ever seen! All the parts fit just perfectly - the quality of the kit is beyond compare. My compliments to the Great Planes people! |
APRIL 2, 2002: Finally finished! Everything is installed and working just fine so far. Tomorrow I start the engine for the first
time. The paperwork that came with the plane makes mention of the fact that the full wing makes this quite a "floater" - I can
believe it! When I took this picture (above) I brought the plane outside and went in to get the camera. When I came back out, it
had moved 3 feet back because of the 15 mph wind. This is definitely going to be a "no wind" aircraft - it's got a huge wing and is
a very light aircraft.
APRIL 7, 2002: First Flight!! WOW! This is the plane I've looked for all my life. Plenty of power for anything and still gentle
as a lamb. First take-off was at 3/4 power, she did a climb-out at about half power. After several wing-overs and full rolls,
figure-8's and a couple split-S's at little over half power I did a loop & inverted loop at about 3/4 power. All went perfectly!!
Never did get her to full power. Landing was "classic textbook" at full idle, soft as a feather.
MAY 12, 2002: Great airplane - can't say anything more than that! She's flying every weekend now, does fabulous aerobatics at
little more than half-throttle and lands like a glider, long and slow. Love it!
AUGUST 19, 2002: Really, that last entry says it all - Great Airplane!!!! I've been flying her all summer now and she's gained a
few nicks and dings (of course) but not so much as a less than perfect landing -- with the exception of one time that I got carried
away with an afternoon of "touch and go's" and managed to run out of fuel right after she lifted off one time. Even then, I got her
half turned around and finally set her down in tall grass (nearly waist-high). She came down gently, settled into the grass and was
sitting there, pretty as you please, when I got out to her. Re-fueled, she spent the rest of the afternoon doing light aerobatics
(light - RIGHT). Gotta tell y'all, if you don't fly a Cub, you aren't flying!
NOVEMBER 23, 2002: What can I say, a full season of flying and not even one major mishap. She's still flying every weekend
and going strong. The more I fly her the better I like her, especially the take-offs. At first, like most Cubs, she was a bit
squirrelly on take-off - liked to yaw from side to side. As I've worked with her the T.O.'s have become a lot smoother, a lot
better. Great Plane!
OCTOBER 29, 2003: Another season pretty much history - can't add much to last year's comments. She flies constantly and the
aerobatics are actually getting better, if that's possible. Planning to put a computer radio on her this winter which will make her a
bit easier to fly, will probably improve the aerobatics too. Love this plane!
July 29, 2006: Well, it's finally happened - the Cub actually crashed. While gliding down for a dead-stick landing she slowed too
much and the wing stalled. It was a very nice "peel" that she did, except that an airplane isn't supposed to peel-off when she's 30
feet off the ground with no engine running. Fortunately, damage isn't all that bad - the cockpit area window frames (which also
just happen to be the wing mounting area) took the worst of it and there's going to be a bit of re-building involved to put it all
back together again. No real problem, should be back in the air in a month or so.
May 27, 2007: FINALLY! The Cub's ready to go back in the air again after nearly a year. Actual repairs didn't take all that
long to do, getting around to it did. Had to re-enforce all of the cockpit area a lot so I'd be sure the wing mounts would hold her
like they should - no problem at all with that. Also got a new windshield and cowling to replace the broken ones. While I was at it,
I added an outside link to the fuel-feed line to the engine so I can now drain the fuel tank without turning her on her nose
(something I've had to do every time I wanted to drain fuel at the end of a flying day). I also added 4.5 ounces of lead to the nose
to help with the tail-heavy problems she's always had.
June 9, 2007: She went up today for the first time and all went extremely well. That extra lead in the nose makes a huge
difference in the way she flies - nice and stable. Landings are very smooth and easy too. Brought her in "dead-stick" twice, very
slow, and she works just fine - even with fairly sharp turns. This is going to work out just fine.
time. The paperwork that came with the plane makes mention of the fact that the full wing makes this quite a "floater" - I can
believe it! When I took this picture (above) I brought the plane outside and went in to get the camera. When I came back out, it
had moved 3 feet back because of the 15 mph wind. This is definitely going to be a "no wind" aircraft - it's got a huge wing and is
a very light aircraft.
APRIL 7, 2002: First Flight!! WOW! This is the plane I've looked for all my life. Plenty of power for anything and still gentle
as a lamb. First take-off was at 3/4 power, she did a climb-out at about half power. After several wing-overs and full rolls,
figure-8's and a couple split-S's at little over half power I did a loop & inverted loop at about 3/4 power. All went perfectly!!
Never did get her to full power. Landing was "classic textbook" at full idle, soft as a feather.
MAY 12, 2002: Great airplane - can't say anything more than that! She's flying every weekend now, does fabulous aerobatics at
little more than half-throttle and lands like a glider, long and slow. Love it!
AUGUST 19, 2002: Really, that last entry says it all - Great Airplane!!!! I've been flying her all summer now and she's gained a
few nicks and dings (of course) but not so much as a less than perfect landing -- with the exception of one time that I got carried
away with an afternoon of "touch and go's" and managed to run out of fuel right after she lifted off one time. Even then, I got her
half turned around and finally set her down in tall grass (nearly waist-high). She came down gently, settled into the grass and was
sitting there, pretty as you please, when I got out to her. Re-fueled, she spent the rest of the afternoon doing light aerobatics
(light - RIGHT). Gotta tell y'all, if you don't fly a Cub, you aren't flying!
NOVEMBER 23, 2002: What can I say, a full season of flying and not even one major mishap. She's still flying every weekend
and going strong. The more I fly her the better I like her, especially the take-offs. At first, like most Cubs, she was a bit
squirrelly on take-off - liked to yaw from side to side. As I've worked with her the T.O.'s have become a lot smoother, a lot
better. Great Plane!
OCTOBER 29, 2003: Another season pretty much history - can't add much to last year's comments. She flies constantly and the
aerobatics are actually getting better, if that's possible. Planning to put a computer radio on her this winter which will make her a
bit easier to fly, will probably improve the aerobatics too. Love this plane!
July 29, 2006: Well, it's finally happened - the Cub actually crashed. While gliding down for a dead-stick landing she slowed too
much and the wing stalled. It was a very nice "peel" that she did, except that an airplane isn't supposed to peel-off when she's 30
feet off the ground with no engine running. Fortunately, damage isn't all that bad - the cockpit area window frames (which also
just happen to be the wing mounting area) took the worst of it and there's going to be a bit of re-building involved to put it all
back together again. No real problem, should be back in the air in a month or so.
May 27, 2007: FINALLY! The Cub's ready to go back in the air again after nearly a year. Actual repairs didn't take all that
long to do, getting around to it did. Had to re-enforce all of the cockpit area a lot so I'd be sure the wing mounts would hold her
like they should - no problem at all with that. Also got a new windshield and cowling to replace the broken ones. While I was at it,
I added an outside link to the fuel-feed line to the engine so I can now drain the fuel tank without turning her on her nose
(something I've had to do every time I wanted to drain fuel at the end of a flying day). I also added 4.5 ounces of lead to the nose
to help with the tail-heavy problems she's always had.
June 9, 2007: She went up today for the first time and all went extremely well. That extra lead in the nose makes a huge
difference in the way she flies - nice and stable. Landings are very smooth and easy too. Brought her in "dead-stick" twice, very
slow, and she works just fine - even with fairly sharp turns. This is going to work out just fine.
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