cjensen

cjensen

Well Known Member
Fellow RV builder (and VAF user), Rob Johnson, and I started our tailwheel endorsements yesterday. We are flying a restored 1946 J3 Cub that a friend of ours has.

We had a blast, and can't wait to go back next weekend for more!!

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That's great, Chad!!
I'm still trying to get the ball rolling on my PPL training. Weather sucks around here this time of year. But when the time comes, (Hopefully within my 40 hrs) I'll spend some time in my instructors Citabria. That way I'll have my tailwheel endorsement when I get my PPL.

What's it like flying a Cub? I think the whole flying really slow and really low with the doors open thing is awesome! :D
 
It was awesome...

Chad and I definitely had a great time on Sunday flying this thing. I am SOOOOOOOO happy that I decided to build a conventional geared airplane -- there really is nothing like them. It is not some crazy, untamed beast -- just a bit different and a configuration that must be respected.

Flying the Cub is an experience that every pilot should have, in my opinion. This little airplane has so much history associated with it, and bottom line...it is a blast to fly! Bare bones stick and rudder flying --- no electrical system, no whiz bang gadgets, very simplistic. I think it simplicity is part of what makes it so much fun!!!
 
I flew the PA-11 Cub which can be soloed from the front seat. It was a true time machine...I felt like I had been taken back over 50 years in time. Those big goofy tires don't like paved runways, though!
I had a smile on my face for a week afterwards...
Don
 
Me too...

Started building my 7 without having a minute of tailwheel time, so started tailwheel training in a Supercub. It is fun! The drag is amazing. With full flaps and a forward slip, it comes down like an elevator. Still getting used to having to use my feet all the time after 100+ hours in Cessnas and low wing "modern" Pipers.

Hmmm... maybe when I have a bunch of hours on my 7, I'll look into a Cub type kit for the low and slow :rolleyes:
 
Ah, the Joy of Cubbing....

I learned to fly in a J-3 Cub....the wind of a Minnesota October whistling in through the cracks in the door.....the crunch of snow as skis touch down on a frozen lake....oh, wait a minute, fond memories?! :p

There is nothing like touching down on a green grass runway on a summer evening as the tires go swish - the mains and tailwheel touching at the same time as the wing sighs and gives up that last bit of lift. If the runway is new mown, you even get the smell of grass as the tires kick up the clippings. How can you quit now? The sun hasn't quite set, so add some power and take it around again to experience another perfect touchdown. I think my love of landings goes back to those early days with a Cub - it is almost sensual.

I didn't fly a taildragger for a decade or so, and then renewed my love when I partnered with a couple of friends on another J-3 in the 90's. The airframe was getting long in the tooth, but we just used it for knocking around the local grass strips anyway - we each had traveling airplanes in our hangars. I must have put another 300 hours on in a few years, and enjoyed chasing the airport dog with my shadow at the end of the day. Alas, we wore that plane out to the point it needed new fabric, so we took it apart, found other things to do, and it still sits in an ex-partners hangar, waiting for someone to come along and give it a little love...

When it came time to fly the -8 for the first time, Danny King gave me some good advice. "Paul, go find a J-3, get in the front seat (with someone in back, of course), and when you feel current, you'll be ready to land the -8". He was right - the view was good, and both airplanes are honest and true.

Recently, a friend and fellow -8 owner here in the south Houston area bought a Legend Cub, and invited me to go fly it any time I want. While it's a bit odd to see both left and right wheels at the same time (it has a door on each side), it also enhances that touchdown experience - the smells and sounds waft through the cockpit from both sides. It feels like home.

Yup, if you've never had any Cub time, go and get a little - even if you already have hundreds or thousands of hours in your own taildragger. Your soul will thank you for it! ;)

Paul
 
Good show, Chad!

As was simply stated by a good instructor, keep the nose pointed down the runway and you'll be OK.

By the way, it may interest you in that I am returning the GEN2 PSRU to the EGG factory via a road trip to SNF after couple flight tests. The thing was running too warm so something is not right. With any luck at all I will return with the GEN3 by Sunday. dd
 
Chemicals!!

The enjoyment factor doubles without doors and yes, when you land you want more....kinda like white chocolate...can't have just one bite. The bare bones dash is just so WW11 and looks like it was borrowed from a 56 Pontiac... :p

The many hot Georgia days I spent spraying Clark's Hill reservoir for mosquitoes in the Super Cub are re-lived watching you guys and the yello Cub...memory lane days. The smell of malathion mixed with diesel fuel is almost here too!

A good friend has returned to the good old days with his new Zenith 701 after he sold the RV8....

Enjoy,
 
I got my PPL in a C-150, then learned to fly about 2 years later in a J-3. Learning the true purpose of the little pedal thingies in the floor improved all of my flying.

Rob and Chad, stick with it. Sometimes it can get a bit frustrating, but you WILL catch on.

Miles
2000+ Total
1800+ "Conventional" (I love that word!)
 
Got PPL in 1967 in C-150. Bought a T-Craft in 1968 and learned to fly.
BTW, you guys are making tail dragging sound simple. Keep this up and we will loose out Macho image.
Real Pilots Drag Their Tails!
 
You guys rock...

It really is amazing to hear all of your stories about this little airplane. Being someone that hadn't flow a Cub until last weekend, I thought they were kind of cool and figured I would fly in one sometime before I stop flying. My first words after the first takeoff and 3-pointer were "I gotta get one of these things!" If you haven't flown one, believe the hype -- I can almost guarantee that if you are on the fence for tricycle or conventional gear, this will push you over the edge to a taildragger. It is THAT much FUN! I honestly can say that even though I liked it before, and I now have such a greater appreciation for Cub scenes in the movie "16-Right".

Thanks for the stories, words of inspiration, and community.
 
Oh yeah?

Mel said:
Keep this up and we will loose out Macho image.
Real Pilots Drag Their Tails!
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This is for business:

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This is for pleasure:

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Reckon I'm just an old taildragging nosegear pilot, huh? :D

See ya at LAL,
 
Luscombes,etc.

Although the Cub is a Classic, I prefer the Luscombe 8 series. Like the side by side RV's, it has sticks and a middle throttle. It also has much better performance than a J-3. The Sales brochures and ads used to claim "No wood, no nails, no glue!"

I once flew my 1939 Luscombe 8-A (even has an RV sounding name!) over Pikes Peak at 16,500' on a Continental A-65.

I paid $950 for my first Luscombe and $450 for my second one. Of course,I was a big spender when I paid $1,500 for my 1956 Cessna 172! Those were the days! Back in about 1970 or so, a friend was in the market for a light plane. We found a newly recovered J-3 for $1,800 and passed on it as too much!

My first airplane ride as a child was when Dad returned from the Korean War in about 1952. I sat in his lap as we flew Bob Day's J-3. This year a friend brought his Cub over to use my water hose at the hanger to wash his J-3. As I talked to him I found out he had bought this Cub from Bob Day's widow. Yes, right there in front of my hanger was the very airplane I had my first ride in over fifty years ago!

By the way,on Bob's tombstone is an etched drawing of that Cub. Mrs Day has a Cessna 120 on hers. They were early crop dusters and FBO operators in middle and South Georgia.Bob used to do airshows in his Waco UPF-7.

I got my seaplane rating in an 85 horse Cub. I instructed in Supercubs for a while. My favorite of the old Pipers is the three seat PA-12. A fine airplane!
 
See it for yourself!

As chance would have it, I was there when Chad made his first landing, and I was able to capture it on video. ;)

Looks pretty good Chad, but you may want to go easy on the brakes. :D
 
ME, Too!

Finished my Tailwheel endorsement today. Yippee! My insurance required 10hrs dual, which I completed a few weeks ago. Today was solo day. I actually feel as part of the plane. Wheel landings or 3 pointers, no problem hitting my mark within 10-20' and full stop 500-700'. I plan on flying tailwheel as much as possible until I get done building my -7. :D

It's no Cub, but Citabria N50476 was taught me how to fly. After doing this training, I think it ought to be mandatory primary training.
 
There is nothing like Cub!

15 years ago a friend taught me to fly his J-3 and I never looked back. What a great plane!

Put it on the grass (or beach), or any place you can find with a clearing, have lunch, and blast off again. That is what cub flying is all about!

The wind through the cockpit, the smell of all 65 HP trying to lift two off the grass on a warm summer day, the long blond hair of the girl in the front seat going in all directions when flaring to land because the door and window are open. Yep, nothing like a Cub.

Flying over to the "other" airport with a guy in the front seat mooning the locals having breakfast as we did a "high" speed pass. Yep, nothing like a Cub.

Flying over the nude beach, low and slow, with an air horn to get the attention of some hottie. Yep, nothing like a Cub.

Taking it up as high as she will go, reach up with your right hand and pull the carb heat on, throttle back, ease back on the stick and just as she stalls giver her all the left rudder she has and ride the spin down a few thousand feet, forward stick, right rudder, and recover. Yep, nothing like a Cub.

Tell me again why I'm building an RV?
 
RV7Factory said:
As chance would have it, I was there when Chad made his first landing, and I was able to capture it on video. ;)

Looks pretty good Chad, but you may want to go easy on the brakes. :D
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:D :D :D

HA!! That was funny!! Though, I think that was Rob... ;)

Thanks everyone for the stories!!

Flying a tailwheel airplane has such a nostalgic appeal for me. I can't wait to get back in it!!
 
vintage taildraggers

You have to love those old tail draggers. I am building and 8A. The plane that I am now flying is a 1941 Taylorcraft L2. I don't think that I will be able to part with it when the 8A is finished.

Gilbert Taylor and Bill Piper were partners in the Piper Aircraft company for a while. The J2 was a Taylor cub, and the J3 was a Piper cub. Only the memory of the J3 remains. It is the classic vintage aircraft.

Taylor and Piper split and went their seperate ways. Taylor started the Taylorcraft line which many believe (at least I do) that made improvements on the Piper J3 design. It flys faster and higher with the same C65 engine. My favorite "improvement" is that the Taylorcraft is soloed from the front seat, giving it much better visibility.

My T craft lives on a grass strip outside Orlando, along with other aircraft of its era. You can fly low and smell the orange blossoms, or climb a couple of thousand feet and dance in the clouds. Then you 3 point her onto the freshly mowed grass and smell it, as mentioned in an ealier post. She has short legs and is not suitable for traveling, but is a kind of aviating that is a lost pleasure to most.

I am looking forward to my 8A, but I love flying my L2. The fact that she served in the Army in WWII is a bonus, but not an insignificant one. She still wears her uniform, and I am very proud of her and honored to fly her.

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/4958/tonyplane10sa5.jpg

(Doug, I may need a little IT help here in posting the image. I only managed to post the link)
 
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It was like I was transported back to the days these things were the newest, greatest thing. Low, slow, no radio (though we did have a battery powered intercom), and those long yellow wings.

I really got that feeling of forgetting about the rush of everyday life when flying that airplane.

Sure beats flying the King Air!!! :rolleyes: :)
 
J3 in Minnesota

If any of VAF guys in Minn are interested, we have a ten member J3 Cub club called Wally's Flyers. And there are 2 or more members who are close to finishing projects and are ready to sell their share. Each share includes ownership in a hangar at MIC (Crystal airport - Crystal MN). Shares go for around $3,500/$4,000.(10% ownership). - Everyone loves a Cub - a great way to build time.
 
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