We Fly: CubCrafters NXCub

Kitbuilt airplane offers performance and adventure at your fingertips.

Rick Durden

Monday, June 30, 2025 at 07:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

A nosewheel bushplane like the ClubCrafters NXCub safely opens the door to backcountry flying for more pilots. [Credit: Jon Bliss]

Key Takeaways:

The CubCrafters NXCub impressed pilots of all skill levels with its exceptional Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) performance, delightful handling, and overall fun flying experience in backcountry conditions.
Its innovative and robust nosewheel design, a departure from traditional tailwheel bushplanes, proved highly effective for ground handling and short-field operations, even surpassing the tailwheel variant in some metrics, and significantly enhancing safety and accessibility for backcountry flying.
Equipped with a powerful 215 hp engine, modern glass panel avionics, and a comfortable, spacious cabin, the NXCub offers a substantial useful load for extended adventures, though careful attention to weight and balance is crucial for optimal performance.

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It was too good to pass up. CubCrafters offered to bring FLYING the first of the kitbuilt NXCubs to north Idaho and turn us loose with it for two weeks to fly into the backcountry—introducing pilots of all experience and skill levels to the airplane. They told us to get it muddy and grass stained. We did.

The adventure began with a checkout with CubCrafters pilot David Blake, along with orientation around its STOL capabilities. Over the next two weeks we made one long cross-country, several short ones, and had some 19 pilots of all skill and experience levels fly it.