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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 CubCrafters Carbon Cub UL introduces a new Rotax 916 iS engine to meet international ultralight (UL) category requirements and enable multifuel (autogas) capability for global markets where avgas is scarce.
  • The aircraft showcases exceptional short-field and bush flying capabilities, easily managing challenging takeoffs and landings on steep terrain, thanks to its powerful 160 hp turbocharged engine and significant weight reduction efforts.
  • Despite modern innovations, the Carbon Cub UL retains classic "Cub-like" handling, strong stability, and short-field prowess, with CubCrafters continuing to refine the design based on customer feedback for its worldwide potential.
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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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