The Piper Super Cub is essentially a J-3 Cub airframe equipped with a few space-age refinements like flaps and an electrical system, and powered by a 150 hp Lycoming — in some cases a 160 or 180 — in place of the original’s 40 hp Continental. Piper produced nearly 3,000 of them, many of which now live in Alaska. One of those came to grief in 2013 at the remote Tatitna Airport (8KA) in a way that incidentally sheds some light on how differently airplanes are used in Alaska than in the “Lower 48.”
In a summer 2009 photograph on the site airport-data.com, the airplane appears showroom clean. A row of aftermarket vortex generators is visible on the upper surface of the wings, which have squared-off Dakota Cub tips. The tires are normal 600s, and skis are installed between them.
