December 2005- It was the last of the old-time bush and utility planes. It was in production longer than it takes for a human to go from birth to embarrassing 40th birthday presents and parties. It first flew shortly after the Greatest Generation won the “big one,” and is still flying today during a much different but equally important conflict.
The Piper Super Cub, an apt name when comparing it to its forbears the J-2 and J-3, has appeared in more guises and configurations over the years than Liz Taylor or Prince. I don’t think you can name a realm of flight, except perhaps space flight, that the Super Cub hasn’t taken part in.
It has operated on floats, skis, enormously huge tires as well as the more mundane 6.00 x 6 stock wheels. It has operated in jungles, deserts, oceans, lakes, glaciers, rivers, backyards, cattle farms, mountain strips, war zones, disaster areas and even the confines of your local friendly General Aviation airport.
History of a Legend
The PA-18 Super Cub was the ultimate end design of the original J-3 cub. Other than the obvious engine differences, there are quite a few design changes in the Super Cub versus the J-3 but most of them aren’t cosmetic in nature so there is no denying the common DNA between the two aircraft.
It wasn’t really the J-3 that inspired the Piper family to begin design and production on the PA-18; believe it or not, it was the now almost-unknown PA-14 “Family Cruiser”—a four seat design that was the basis for the universally known Super Cub.
Differences between the old Family Cruiser and the newer Super Cub? For one thing, the Super Cub had only two seats and they were in tandem. Also, the Super Cub had all metal wings.
When the Super Cub first took to the skies in 1949 it was powered by a 90 hp Continental C-90 engine. Its certification was awarded on Nov. 18, 1949.
In order to live another aircraft had to die. The PA-18’s original factory production line, beginning in late 1949 replaced the production line of the PA-11 Cub Special. When most pilots think of a Super Cub, they think of an aircraft that really is “super,” meaning it has some power. They must be thinking of the 150 hp version.
The Lycoming O-290 with 135 hp was preceded first, in 1952, while the powerplant we all think of, the Lycoming O-320 with its 150 horsepower, hit the production line in 1954 and was delivered to a waiting public for the 1955 model year.
The Super Cub had an amazing 32-year uninterrupted production run, but like disco dancing, credit card interest tax deductions, and the original Grateful Dead, all good things eventually pass. In 1981 when the PA-18 ceased production, almost 7,500 of them had been produced, making it a ubiquitous part of our skies.
But Wait…
You might think that is the end of the PA-18’s production run. You would be wrong. Piper continued to produce the PA-18 on behalf of Texas Based WTA who held the manufacturing and marketing rights from 1981 through 1988.
Money woes led to shutting down the line in 1992 and slightly better financial conditions led to its resurgence in 1992. Finally, like a bad B-movie plot about a monster that just won’t die, the Super Cub’s production line was shut down for good by Piper in late 1994.
Muncie Aviation took delivery of the last 24 Super Cubs produced in 1995. Today, various companies offer complete, zero time rebuilds of the Super Cub. This aircraft may outlive us all.
Why a Super Cub?
Because it is tough, simple in design and construction, and cost-effective. For the utility jobs that abound in aviation you just can’t beat a Super Cub. Granted, they are a little slow when compared to the glassy, television bedecked new design aircraft, but when was the last time you saw a Cirrus carrying bales of hay to stranded cattle in the snow?
Unlike the earlier cubs, the Super Cub can be flown solo from the front seat leading to all sorts of advantages. For example, a properly equipped PA-18 can be flown on instruments through the soup.
The wing spar no longer cuts across the cockpit like it does in the J-3. In the J-3 the wing fittings join in a central truss right in the middle of the cabin roof. The PA-18’s wings are hung on a set of fittings which are welded to the outside of the fuselage truss.
A huge set of simple, hinged flaps, which cover half the length of the wing add to the lift, slow flight characteristics and STOL capability of the aircraft. The flaps, like most systems on this bird, are simple to operate: a lever on the pilot’s left extend and retract them.
With its heftier horsepower, the Super Cub makes an ideal banner-towing aircraft and a more than capable bush aircraft. When military pilots think of cruising at 90 knots they usually think “helicopter” or “sitting duck.” Various military people around the world have thought “liaison, training, transport and target tugs” when they bought more than 1,800 Super Cubs over the years and called them L-18Cs and L-21s.
We General Aviation pilots might best think of the Super Cub as a cost effective STOL aircraft that maintains its value and protects its pilot with an inbred toughness and simple strength.
Kevin Garrison’s aviation career began at age 15 as a lineboy in Lakeland, Fla. He came up through General Aviation and is currently a senior 767 captain. When not frightening passengers, Kevin plays tennis and lives on a horse farm in Kentucky, where he writes unsold humor projects and believes professional wrestling is real and all else is bogus. Send questions or comments to editor@www.piperflyer.com.
