Just in time for spring, Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters has added Wipline floats to the XCub type certificate, allowing the highly capable Part 23-certified taildragger to play on water.
The certification includes Wipair Inc’s Wipline 2100 floats, which are available in both amphibious and straight float versions.
“The XCub’s impressive useful load makes it an ideal platform for float operations, which was a design objective from the outset,” said CubCrafters’ president Randy Lervold. “Add its slow stall, fast cruise and extended range, the XCub promises unmatched floatplane versatility."
The XCub has a useful load of 1,084 pounds, a stall speed of 34 knots and a top speed of 133 knots. The total amphibian float system weighs in at 429 pounds, while the straight floats weigh 282 pounds.
Lervold says the flight characteristics of the floatplane version of the XCub are “impressive.”
“The airplane’s handling on water was smooth and predictable, even in wind and chop,” he said. “Pilots of other floatplanes will be impressed with the takeoffs, which are usually half as long as they might be used to.”
The amphibious version of the floats includes Wipair’s gear advisory system, which provides a “check gear” alert at around 40 feet AGL if the surface doesn’t agree with the landing gear configuration. The system uses laser to detect whether the surface below is ground or water and compares it to whether the gear is up or down.
The cost for the installation of the float version is around $40,000 whereas the amphibs run about $65,000. The installation is available for both new and existing airframes.
