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Latest CubCrafters Design Looks Back and Ahead

Manufacturer melds traditional bushplane values with tomorrow's engine technology.

What the Carbon Cub UL shows is that innovation can keep an airplane style so rooted in our history that it might as well have been conceived by the Wright brothers. [Jon Bliss]
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • The new CubCrafters Carbon Cub UL is a high-performance bushplane designed for extreme short-field takeoffs and landings, demonstrated by its ability to operate from unconventional, steeply sloped "runways."
  • It features a significant departure from previous models by incorporating a Rotax 916 iS engine, chosen for its multifuel capability (autogas) and lighter weight, crucial for international markets where avgas is scarce and for meeting global ultralight (UL) category weight limits.
  • Extensive engineering efforts and the use of lightweight materials like titanium and composites were employed to achieve an empty weight that allows for a substantial useful load within the 1,320-pound maximum gross weight, maintaining "Cub-like" handling and adaptability for worldwide appeal.
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CubCrafters vice president Brad Damm pointed vaguely to a sprawling ranch in the bare hills that surround Yakima, Washington. “We’re going over there,” he said, “and you can practice some takeoffs and landings.”

Although Damm gave me a heading, I still wasn’t seeing the airport. “Keep going. You see that house and workshop on the top of the hill?” Yes, I do. “OK, the dirt strip is just to the west of that, aligned roughly east-west.” I kept looking to where the elevation appeared to flatten slightly, trying my best to pick out anything that looked like an airport. No luck.

Marc Cook

Marc Cook is a veteran special-interest journalist who started as a staffer at AOPA Pilot in the late 1980s. Marc has built two airplanes, an Aero Designs Pulsar XP and a Glasair Aviation Sportsman, and now owns a 180-hp, recently modernized GlaStar based in western Oregon. Marc has 5000 hours spread over 200-plus types and four decades of flying.

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