Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters has sold the type certificate for its Part 23-certified CC18-180 Top Cub to Liaoning Cub Aircraft Corporation (LCA) of Yingkou, China, providing the company the ability to manufacture the airplane there. But the sale does not mean that U.S. customers are out of luck when it comes to buying a Top Cub manufactured by CubCrafters as the company retained a license agreement with LCA to continue building the two-seat taildragger for markets outside China.
In addition to continuing the manufacturing and marketing of the Top Cub for non-Chinese markets, CubCrafters will continue to manage the FAA-required Continued Operational Safety (COS) and fleet support as part of the LCA contract.
The company also produces experimental and LSA versions of its high-performance carbon fiber Carbon Cub taildraggers. "This new agreement helps position CubCrafters for the future, both in terms of expansion into international markets, and funding current and future development projects," said Jim Richmond, CubCrafters' founder and CEO. These projects include both improvements to the current product line as well as new aircraft models, a CubCrafters representative said.
In addition to the taildragger configuration, the Top Cub can be flown with skis, straight floats or amphibious floats. There are two 180-hp power plant options for the airplane: a Lycoming O-360 C4P or a Superior Vantage O-360 A3A2. The base price for the Top Cub is $239,990.
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