Show off your HZ Super Cub!

[earthsciteach]

AK, I wish I had been smart enough to think of your method of wing straightening. I did it the hard way! But, with the 0.405" woven carbon fiber tube as the spar, the wing could literally support my weight (if it wasn't for the crushing of the foam).

 

[Ak Flyer]

That's cool. I would love to see pictures of everyone's different methods of wing mods. I stared at mine for a while and shear laziness prevented me from cutting into it lol. I figured that the least amount of cutting would yield the strongest wing since I didn't have any access to carbon or fiberglass. I would also like to see more detail of your ailerons. Did I read that right that you made them from wood? I hadn't thought of that. I just used the pieces I cut out. I tapered them, taped all the edges of the aileron and the mating surface of the wing and put it back in. Worked pretty well. I didn't have hinge tape either so packing tape is my tool of choice.

 

[Ak Flyer]

Earthsciteach,
What type of hinges did you use for your balsa ailerons? I'm planning another wing mod and after looking at yours I'm considering using wood.

 

[jetpackninja]

jetpack,
Is that a fiberglass cowl on yours? I got tired of buying cowls so I made a cast of mine using plaster of paris, made a small vacuum form table and now can make my own. I was pretty proud of myself for that, but the reality is, the cowls are so cheap it isn't worth the trouble!

Hahahaha- no. I'm probably the biggest cheapskate around. The plane was given to me with a cracked cowl. Instead of paying the three dollars for a new one I put it back together with Extreme Tape. I figured I would just crack a new one anyway. I've nosed in a bunch of times now and the Extreme Tape repaired/reinforced cowl holds up really well. If I do replace the cowl I'm gonna cover it with the Extreme Tape too. Extreme Tape doesn't hold up well to UV so it actually has a coat of clear packing tape on it too.

 

[ananas1301]

Does that clear tape really reflect the UV waves from the sunlight? That is new to me. I mean as the name says, clear tape is clear, but I can imagine it reflecting a few of the waves because it has some kind of glossy surface.

 

[jetpackninja]

Refelects or filters. We use extreme tape a lot in our combat planes. The laminate that we use is also clear but is UV resistant, we have learned to either cover any extreme tape repairs with laminate or the clear packing tape to make it last longer, left alone in the sunlight the Extreme Tape begins to degrade within a matter of a few months.

 

[ananas1301]

Yeah I was thinkin of that probably being the reason for that

How advantagous little things can be.

 

[Fishbonez]

Ok I was not going to show my Cubs cuz one is getting ugly
Teach and I started this hobby at the same time and started with the same plane. I am not afraid to say the SC is a blast. I lkike it so much I own 2 One is purely stock and stikll a three channel with floats. I call her Ole Reliable (OR) because I can seem to mess her up no matter how much I try. The other has been upgraded to 4 channel and an eflite 450 brushless, a 20 Amp ESC, I think She is called Flirting with Disaster (FWD) because it has its own tempermant and loves to create new ways for me to crash, she was also my first plane and love it to death. My pics are not so good due to a recent computer crash but here they are. and a couple of vids of thenm in action.

(FWD)

and

(OR)

 

[Ak Flyer]

Finally got some of my pictures from my Dad from last summer. He's big into photography so any time I'm in town I get him to take pictures for us.

My brushless 480 powered Super Cub with ailerons and floats, running a 2200mah Turnigy.

 

[Fishbonez]

Very Cool. Especially the dunk

 

[Ak Flyer]

Thanks It takes real talent to dunk a cub like that lol. It was flying great. I was in way too much wind but was having too much fun to quit. Then I was coming in for a landing at a snails pace when the wind quit and it dropped a wing and nosed in. I've got a nice sequence of pictures of it going in, coming back up and laying on it's back until I went to get it.

 

[jetpackninja]

Nice pics!
Very inspiring.
I think I need a set of floats (maybe two, one for snow!)
Had a great time flying the Supercub in the wind on Christmas Eve.
I love this plane

 

[earthsciteach]

So, I went into the LHS last Friday with a shopping list. The thing that excited me most was buying floats for my Super Cub. Guess what I totally forgot to look for when I was there? Arrgh!!!

 

[Ak Flyer]

Here's a video from summer. This is the first couple flights after I put the 480 brushless on it. It was a super windy day. I pointed it across the wind and hit the throttle and it almost levitated out of the water. Took it right into a hover too. Then it shows me trying a few different landings with various results. The down wind landing was horrible, the down wind scale takeoff attempt was really fun, the slow landing into the wind when it suddenly stopped resulted in a nice drop, stall, wing over and bath. I got tired of drying out the speed controller so I took it to the grass and it lifted off in less than ten feet. Totally transformed the cub into my favorite plane again. Enjoy.

 

[earthsciteach]

Nice video, AK! This may be a silly question, but how do the motor and electronics hold up to the water?

 

[Ak Flyer]

Nice video, AK! This may be a silly question, but how do the motor and electronics hold up to the water?

Really really well, until you get them wet lol Seriously though, I've flown on floats a lot and had zero problems until I went there. Then I started crashing in the high winds. I normally would not have flown but I don't get to fly with my brother very often as we live hundreds of miles away and I simply had to show off. I had the brushless set up for another plane I had not yet received and after the original receiver fried I just transplanted the brushless motor, ESC and used an Orange RX. I had to scratch build a motor mount and firewall out of balsa that night to have it ready for the next day. I mounted the ESC out on the motor mount so it would stay cool. I ended up getting it wet too but was able to save it by removing the heat shrink and getting rid of the water with WD40.

In summary, the little bit of spray from the prop doesn't hurt anything but you really don't want to imitate my video and dunk her. I was pretty much looking for an excuse to do the mod because I was getting bored with the plane. That was all I needed. Now it's a blast again. I can literally hover it with the floats on and then accelerate straight up. Tons of power.

Later that day with the wheels on it I plowed into the ground and bent the motor shaft. I traded the motor for some heli parts and ordered another motor. I just need to reassemble it now with a new mount and I have some new wing mods in store. I need to do something to make it fly slower, it drops the right wing way too often. I might not make the wing as straight as this one. Maybe some leading edge mods.

 

[earthsciteach]

I am about to take the plunge. This weekend, I am away at a staff retreat for a summer camp for children with kidney disease that my wife and I are involved with. The facility that we are at this weekend has a nice pond. I picked up a pair of floats for the Super Cub this afternoon. I'll be taking a dip tomorrow!

 

[Fishbonez]

I am about to take the plunge. This weekend, I am away at a staff retreat for a summer camp for children with kidney disease that my wife and I are involved with. The facility that we are at this weekend has a nice pond. I picked up a pair of floats for the Super Cub this afternoon. I'll be taking a dip tomorrow!

Sweet Teach let us know how it goes in water I have no thawed out lakes her in the Ole Wyomin

 

[Ak Flyer]

Cool. Take lots of pictures and videos.

 

[earthsciteach]

Bonez and AK, you are not alone in dwelling within the lands of the frozen water. I hiked back to the pond this morning. It actually may have been early afternoon, but it was morning as far as I was concerned after a very late last night. By the way, Whitney in Lewistown, PA, is the greatest bar waitress of all time! $17.50 for 4 people and at least 3 rounds... God Bless!

Attached the floats to the Cub this morning. Hiked back to fly off the pond with an entourage in tow. As we approached the pond, at least 15 deer crossed the path ahead of us. Truly beautiful! They would have tasted great...

The pond was frozen. Not "walk on the pond without trepidation" frozen (as it was last year). It was more, "if I hadn't stopped running and had consumed less beer over the last 9 months I could walk on this," frozen. But, it was fine for the Super Cub, floats or wheels. I tried both.

First flight was with floats. Now, as you may see, if you don't mind the video, is that this is a VERY tight spot to fly in. And the wind was completely crappy. The pond is surrounded by hills and trees. The wind varies from none to East, to West, to straight down-crazy turbulence. Once above the tree line, the wind was very powerful. But, on the ground, it varied from 0 to probably 15 mph gusts.

The floats definitely add surface area for the wind to catch. I found myself in the position of doubting if I could get the Cub back to me. But, I kept my cool and did manage to bring her back over the pond. But, after I managed to bring her back and had her low over the ice, the wind kicked up and blew her into a tree. She fell into the muddy muck below. The prop looked like something roto rooter had extracted from the toilet. But, other than a lost control arm to a flaperon, she was fine.

I fashioned a control rod and control horn, as I had an audience who were anticipating RC aerial entertainment. Pulled off the floats and put the wheels back on. A few seconds into the next flight, the wind randomly came up. I found myself in the position to drop her hard onto the ice or as gently as possible into a small tree. I chose the tree. It was a good choice. I had a freakishly tall friend available to pluck it out of the tree.

Put her back up into the air. Flew nicely. Landed on the ice. Tried a downwind takeoff - Well, there was no wind until I pulled back on the elevator. She climbed momentarily, then stalled. I kicked full left rudder and pulled the nose up. She landed pretty decently on the ice, but did bread a prop tip. Its all on video, but it may make you vomit if I post it up.