What better place to experience a modern-day incarnation of the classic Piper Cub than on the grass runway at William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania — the site of the original J-3 factory — during the annual Sentimental Journey Cub fly-in?
This wasn't just any contemporary Cub, mind you. It was American Legend Aircraft's new AL-18 Super Legend HP, a tube-and-rag rocket ship powered by a 180-horsepower Titan Stroker O-340 engine and weighing in at just a shade over 900 pounds empty for a superb power-to-weight ratio.
Introduced last year with the 115 hp Lycoming O-233 engine, the light-sport Super Legend is the latest in a family of Cub clones that American Legend has been building at its factory in Sulphur Springs, Texas, for the last decade. Now, with the Titan engine option unveiled this spring at Sun 'n Fun, the Super Legend boasts truly legendary performance.
Sitting pretty on 29-inch Alaskan Bushwheels, the Super Legend HP was the star of the Cub fly-in in its attractive silver and black paint scheme with classic Cub yellow accents. I hopped aboard with the airplane's owner, Dick Parsons, a retired Delta 777 captain who was on hand on behalf of American Legend to help answer questions from the abundance of tire kickers in attendance.
Parsons knows about as much as anybody about the Legend Cub family of airplanes. This is the fifth one he's owned, starting with an 80 hp Legend, a 100 hp model, another 100 hp model on floats, a 115 hp Super Legend and now the Super Legend HP — easily his favorite of the bunch, he says.
I soon learned why. We trundled out past the rows of J-3s and PA-18s to Lock Haven's Runway 9R, which was a hive of flight activity with about a half dozen taildraggers in the pattern, where Dick demonstrated the first takeoff. Swinging the Super Legend onto the grass when it was our turn, he gave it full power. I was sucked into my seat as the airplane surged forward, its 84-inch Catto climb prop providing ample thrust. In seconds flat the tail was up and Dick was easing back on the stick. We soared into the air and climbed steeply after a ground roll of maybe 75 feet.
Climbing out over the Ridge and Valley Appalachians west of Lock Haven, Dick handed over the controls, which I found were as balanced and satisfying as any Cub fan could hope for. It took me all of about 30 seconds to decide the Super Legend flies beautifully. Its cabin is 3 inches wider than a Super Cub's, giving it a comfortable, roomy feel. Nice additions are the doors and windows on both sides, which can be unlatched in flight for that open-cockpit feel.
After a while we headed back to Lock Haven for touch-and-goes. Dick demonstrated the first landing, easy as pie to a soft touchdown on the lush green grass. Then it was my turn. The Super Legend is typically soloed from the front seat, affording a good view ahead. I was in the rear, so the sight picture was more tried-and-true J-3. Placing my feet on the rudder pedals in the back required quite a wide stance with each pedal positioned on either side of the seat ahead. The sensation was similar to sliding my feet into a horse's stirrups. Lining up on the grass runway for takeoff, it occurred to me that this was one powerful steed indeed.
I pushed the throttle forward and got ready to perform the "taildragger shuffle" on the rudder pedals, a dance that J-3 pilots know well. But the tail came up so quickly — signaling that the Super Legend was ready to go flying — that I simply eased the stick back with gentle pressure, and we were climbing at almost 2,000 feet per minute. I barely touched the rudder.
The landing involved powering back to idle when abeam the runway end, adding a notch of flaps and slowing to 60 mph indicated on base and 55 mph on final. We floated in over the grass and I pulled the stick back in a smooth, gradual motion to put us down in a gentle three-pointer. Now I was totally blind to what was ahead, glancing left and right at the runway edge markers to keep us more or less straight. I would have preferred the front seat view.
The base Legend Cub, available with open or closed cowl, is powered by a 100 hp Continental O-200D. It's a fun airplane, but nothing compared with the adrenaline-fueled experience in the Super Legend HP. Swapping out the stock Sensenich 76-inch ground-adjustable propeller for the Catto carbon-fiber prop enhances the performance even further. Once you've tasted that raw extra power for yourself, there's a good chance you'll want to own a Super Legend too. —Stephen Pope
According: flyingmag.com
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