It was a blustery, partially overcast and slightly turbulent day when I had a chance to fly the Carbon Cub out of Santa Maria, California, with CubCrafters representative Ben Hodges. But that didn't mean we couldn't have a good time in the modern taildragger. With about a 10-knot crosswind, adding full flaps at rotation, it took less than 75 feet to get off the ground. I know that because the runway at KSMX is 150 feet wide and, taking off from a taxiway, we were off before the centerline mark.
Introduced in 2007, the Carbon Cub has a strong relationship with the Piper Cub. Jim Richmond started CubCrafters in 1980, rebuilding Super Cubs. In 1997, CubCrafters started building its own Cubs, and, with their superior performance, the company's experimental, LSA and certified taildragger airplanes have been very successful.
Aside from the cowl, which sports large air inlets to help with cooling, CubCrafters' Carbon Cub may look very similar to the Super Cub. But this Cub is from a completely different species. The Carbon Cub's fuselage is constructed of carbon fiber and is a full 4 inches wider than the Super Cub's. The wings, the shape of which is essentially identical to Piper's, are covered with Poly-Fiber. The airplane has been tested to and is available with a gross weight of 1,865 pounds as an experimental kit and in limited numbers as a factory assisted amateur-built airplane; however, most Carbon Cubs are in the LSA category.
The tight 1,320-pound weight restriction (1,430 pounds for the float version), challenged the engineers to make all parts as light as possible. CubCrafters managed to reduce the empty weight by around 300 pounds compared with the Super Cub's weight. The airplane is powered by a 180 hp Titan 340CC engine — an LSA certified, four-cylinder horizontally opposed, carbureted engine with electronic ignition. The Titan spins a lightweight Catto composite propeller. Solutions such as electric trim, LED lights and perforated rudder pedals and brake rotors also help keep the weight down. With minimal equipment you can get the empty weight down below 900 pounds and the price tag to $184,990. However, loaded, like Hodges' airplane, the Carbon Cub SS weighs 950 pounds empty and costs around $240,000.
With 24 gallons of usable fuel there is not a whole lot to play with to stay within the legal limits. However, since the airplane burns about 6 gph, you can limit your fuel load and still get to where you want to go.
The airplane is easy to fly while maintaining all the fun characteristics of the Cub. The name of the game is low and slow, and speed is measured in miles per hour rather than knots. Maintaining control, I flew the airplane at 40 mph without flaps, and with power at idle we descended at a benign 500 fpm. With full flaps the airplane was still controllable at 30 mph, and we didn't stall until the airspeed indicator was showing 27 mph.
Most modern airplanes today offer glass panel avionics, a gigantic departure from the bare-bones round gauge offering of the Cubs rolling out of the Piper factory. The top of the line is Garmin's recently introduced G3X Touch, a highly capable system designed for the experimental market. The airplane also offers an optional Garmin autopilot, which I found to be just as smooth in operation as the certified GFC 700. There is a long list of other avionics options as well.
While the standard gear in the Carbon Cub SS is similar to that of the Super Cub, CubCrafters offers several extra options for gear. Hodges' demonstrator has 3-inch extended landing gear along with 29-inch tundra tires, providing terrific shock absorption on rough surfaces, as I found out.
There are half a dozen tire options from the standard 6-inch tires to massive 29-inch Airstreak tundra tires. Aside from the added weight, there is another consequence as the wheels get thicker and landing gear rises. I looked at the fuel gauges, located inside the wing attachments, and queried Hodges on whether we would have enough fuel. It appeared that we had less than a quarter-tank's worth on each side. It turned out that the tanks were more than half full. The fuel gauges are only accurate in level flight.
With a cruise speed around 115 mph and limited cargo space, the Carbon Cub SS is not built as a long-distance traveler, but it will take you places most airplanes can not. Hodges has taken off from a mountain strip at around 10,000 feet on a hot day. With a density altitude around 12,500 feet, the trusty airplane still climbed at around 1,000 fpm, he said. At sea level we saw climb rates beyond 2,000 fpm. Runway? Who needs it? As long as you have permission, you can take the Carbon Cub SS almost anywhere. We took the airplane into a landing strip on a farm that can't have been wider than 20 feet and then to a beautiful remote beach only accessible by aircraft, boat or foot — recreational flying at its best. —Pia Bergqvist
According: flyingmag.com
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