My L4 Super Cub

[iandhunt]

My Super Cub last week was yellow.....until I got an urge to paint. I blame it on the weather, since I am sick of freezing my butt off every time I go outside. Six months of winter is starting to wear on me a bit. Anyways, I just completed my L4 version...I think it came out alright. What does everyone else think???





Also, to make removing the struts easier, I added paddle head screws....just a simple twist and they are easily on or off....



This is what keeps my Cub company....fittingly it is another Cub. This is the 55" J3 from HobbyKing.



I apologize for photobucket, it is being a bit of a pain today.....hope everyone has a good week!!!!

[superfly]

Iandhunt, You and the rest of the Gents are all incredible with your collective wealth of knowledge. What a great idea with the paddle head screws..and if i might ask...what is it that you have hung between the wheels..would like to request a pic. Thanks

Why is it always Pilot error?

[Crazy Horse]

Good paint job. I really like the amount of tape you have on the wings, just like the amount on one I am repairing and painting at the moment. Weather here is a pain as well, either windy, raining or snow and I am nowhere near Alaska. Roll on Summer. Paddle head screws, nice touch, I just love innovation.

[SussexFlyer]

Wow - six months of winter! And I thought it was bad here. Spring has supposedly sprung but this week we have had snow and 25mph winds.

[iandhunt]

The mod you are asking about is my "suspension". Its original intention was to look nice. After a while I strengthened the battery box and thought it (the Cub) was strong enough to support a more functional suspension system....once I put a larger tire on that is.



After adding the tires I realized the fairings were a little too long, but I trimmed them back to right before the indent where the rubber bands attach. This prevents rubbing against the tires. The type of tires were the DuBro 3 1/4 lightweights.

Now, onto the springs. The springs in this photo are simple door springs for a screen door or other type of lightweight door. The intention was not to build a car suspension but simply to provide a little resistance to help control the bouncing that occurs when landing on rough surfaces with LARGER tires. I took the springs and covered them in heat shrink tubing to provide some realism without going over board. In the middle is a rubber o-ring that would take the impact without being too stiff. Maybe it is a 3/4 " O-ring at most. I also reinforced the little plastic tunnel for the aerial x-port thing-a-ma-jigger with glue for my own piece of mind. Then I used spring number 3 and ran it through, this prevents the suspension from wiggling too much yet avoids placing tension on the lower structure since its only purpose is to prevent forward and backwards motion.



The most important mod is yet to be mentioned. These are threaded couplers from DuBro. They slide on and use a set screw to hold themselves in place. I think they are 1/4 inch or smaller. These prevent the springs from sliding upwards. Without them the addition of suspension is not possible.

Remember, this is not off-roading suspension, but merely a way for me to absorb heavy landing shocks so I can minimize bouncing and stop sooner. You still need to be able to land adequately (i.e. right-side up) to make use of these suspension ideas.

As for winter.....may I present to you Exhibit 1.

Frozen lake landing strip....



Have a great week!!!!

[SussexFlyer]

Very nice. Excellent compromise between scale looks, effectiveness and light weight.

[Crazy Horse]

Love it! Lateral thinking, using "to hand" items, trial and error, magic. Did you clear the runway yourself, if so, we could use you in Sussex next time it snows.

[iandhunt]

LOL, my neighbor has a snow-blower so we lowered it down onto the ice from about a 12 foot decent and began the snow removal slowly at first. I was tricked into doing this as we were simply going out to "scout a better surface".....1 hour later however....

Snow in Sussex? I thought it was "Sunny Sussex?"

As for the trial and error.....yes there was a lot of trial and error....but after a few bumps, my cub has enough to land like a real Alaskan bush plane. As for the real bush pilots up here, I was wondering if either of you have heard of Shaun Lunt? He was from the lower 48 U.S. and came to Alaska to practice his photography. He was unfortunaltey killed when his Super Cub crashed. But, he left behind beautiful photos of where I live... The link is as follows.... shaunlunt.typepad.com/

Enjoy the photos gents....and prepare for warmer weather!!!

[superfly]

Iandhunt..thank you for the photos. I suspect that I may need to try this mod out as when (on frequent occasions) my landings turn into what appear to be JATO assist demonstrations with stealth 'bottles'. And your lake looks like an ideal 'float' testing range..maybe you could rig up an RC rescue monster truck just in case of an unscheduled mishap! Thanks and Cheers...

[Crazy Horse]

Regarding Shaun Lunt, I have really enjoyed watching his video's and viewing his photographs. Only found his stuff about a month ago. Such a tragic thing to happen and a terrible loss for his family. Those real bush pilots are amazing, skill beyond words.

Just one thing iandhunt, what is lower 48 U.S. Is that a state or area of America? Sorry if that is a thick question, but I am sure you will put me right., I don't get out much. ;D

[Vulpes]

The lower 48 refers to the states in America that all touch one another - the continental USA. This excludes Alaska and Hawaii.
Great paint job, and I love the landing gear mod!

[toff]

Iandhunt, images removed or deleted, so I can't see the new scheme.
Be warned, painting and repainting can adversely affect the CG, as I found out to my cost, as the paint on the tail outweighed the paint on the front by a big margin ( 3 AA batteries worth! on the nose.) Pretty doesn't always mean flyable!

[iandhunt]

Good info Toff, I have a CG machine and still have it dead on balanced at 2 5/16"...give or take a millimeter.....

Photos have been re-uploaded.....apparently my account was deleted......ah, the joys of Photobucket........by joys I mean ills.

I used tape as a reinforcement and also to help me balance the plane. In the nose I have added an aluminum brush-less mount which counter-acted the amount of weight the tape and paint added to the back. I learned a long time ago that you only fly an un-balanced plane ONCE.

[vicssc]

Beauty of a plane, very innovative on the suspension. Ever try flying with the super cub floats? Thy work perfect on snow!{might save some runway work!} Ilive in northern MN.still have 3ft.of snow and was 12- last night.BUURRR!

[iandhunt]

I tried the skis for a while...I'm used to flying in -12 or even colder.....they would snap like twigs. I never got the floats primarily because I liked the "more accurate" look from skis and also I have large tundra tires which help me navigate deeper snow. It was -18 this morning without the wind. But the aurora was out last night, which made freezing my butt off worth it! Thanks for the compliments.