Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Piper. Model: J-3. Nickname: Cub
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Airplane SE Piston
> FAA Category and Class: Airplane Single Engine Land
> Engine Description: Single engine
Aircraft Experience
> As of: 11/5/2024
> Number of Hours Flown: 1
> Number of Times Flown: 1
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: various “Cub” models, including PA-18
First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 86
> Date First Flown: 9/28/1996
> Location First Flown: Van Nuys Airport, CA
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: Unknown
Recollections:
Ok, first…why do I count this as a different airplane than the Super Cub, upon which I’ve also written a recollection? The answer: because I will never forget flying this J-3 from a Los Angeles area airport while conducting a “Qual Eval” as part of a USNTPS Class Field trip. I believe it had the original 65 HP engine. I do NOT remember who I flew with but I remember taking off, enroute to conducting some “high work” (test pilot stuff like stability and control tests) and listening to the “pock-it-a, pock-it-a, pock-it-a” of that little motor. What seemed like 20 minutes later, and we were climbing thru 1000 ft AGL. Needless to say and owing to the very low climb performance, I elected to truncate my high work before returning to the pattern for 5 landings. Everyone loves the CUB. Generations learned to fly on it, people praise other airplanes by saying “it flies just like a cub”. This flight in the J-3 showed me the beauty and serenity of the cub in it’s purest form…with little power available but with wonderful flying qualities.
Leave a Reply