Best Cub: Hangar 9, great planes , or thunder tiger

[dusmmdb34]

I am looking to pick up a 80" cub, and I found three ARFs in this sze. One by Hangar 9 which has two piece wing for transport, and the other two are single piece wing designs by Great planes and Thunder tiger.

Anyone have a preference??

Mike

[Cubber]

I love my H9 cub. It's light, an excellent flyer, more than sturdy enough... my wing built, joined rather, as one piece, I fly it most often without the struts. It carries a one and a half pound camera without a sweat.

I look at the others too, for when the times come. The Great Planes I would think would be a good flyer. All my other GP's are except but one. Covering is fabric. It's a plus considering the scale old-timer nature of the plane, but a con when comes time for repairs if you don't use much cub yellow fabric covering. At worse, it'll cost you a roll of the stuff. On the down side, the stab has an odd looking shape. I don't know which of which is more scale, but I prefer the looks of the H9 stab.

Thunder Tiger, never seen it from up close. I had the low wing sporty 40. Very light, an excellent flyer, fast, almost too fast and very responsive. One of the very few planes that left me with sweaty hands after a 10 minutes flight. On the down side, none of the two cowls in the box was a good fit for my engine. I flew it without any. If pricing or availabilty were deciding factors (or others), I would buy one (TT Cub) with confidence.

At this time, I lean toward another H9.

[F1 Rocket]

I had a Dave Patrick Models (DPM) Clipped wing Cub that was fantastic.

Thread here:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4527032&highlight=DPM+Clipped+wing+cub#post4527032

[mcharles13]

I have the H9 Cub and love it. No complaints...other than the time it takes to setup the wings at the field.

,mike

[No Step]

I have an H9 cub. I don't have alot of stick time on it but, I like it so far. The only thing that really bothered me was the wing struts and fittings. They were heavy and seemed like overkill, I replaced them. But then I can't leave well enough alone. I added flaps to the model too.

[TRP]

Best cub - hands down? It's such a great cub - it's a Super Cub!

All kidding aside - the Adrian Page Super cub is a fantastic kit - I've built two (one for me and one for a buddy) they build quick and both came in under 7lbs (one was 6lbs the other was 7, as it has the scale Robart gear on it)

If you're looking to build a kit - talk with Adrian.

Ted

[Lynxman]

Have you seen the new CMP cub? It looks pretty good. It has a scale looking landing gear. And doors on both sides turns out to be scale after all because a version with doos on both sides does exist. :) CMP always recommend serious overpower with their planes.

http://cmpairplane.com/scale/Piper%20J-3%20Cub%20120%20Size.html

[dusmmdb34]

thanks for the info. Looks like I have a decision to make!!

[Michael Heer]

I saw the Hanger 9 model fly this past weekend with the 46 brushless motor. It was flown by club member Dave Alchin and the plane looked great in the air and on the ground. For $300.00 with brushless motor it looked to be a very good buy. Wingspan was given by Dave as 81 inches. Mike Heer

[dgliderguy]

I own the Thunder Tiger J-3 Cub, and I am very pleased with it. I left the wing as a two-piece, for transportability, so I just have two caphead screws at the strut base to remove, and the nylong wing bolts, then slip the halves apart. Not a problem.

Sure is a good looking ARF. Mine flies with a Saito 56. Got it for $155 from Tower, with a $30 discount coupon.

[TRP]

Good lookin ARF! FOR WHAT!? 155.00? - 80" span? THAT is a great price!

What's the AUW?

[dgliderguy]

AUW is right at 7.5lbs. Nice and light, a real floater!

[staggerwing]

GP 81" fabric covered Cub---I purchased one of these & was a bit dissapointed at a couple of design aspects---no hard points for wing strut attach (wood screws into CA'd balsa) ---totally unacceptable; & the lower portion of the gear farings are held by rubber bands ???????? I will change all of this poor design but for the average person building the kit, the wing strut attach is what I would consider structually unsafe due to assembly & disasembly of the recommended CA'd thread integrity.

[ElectRick]

I haven't seen anyone mention the Hobby Lobby/Blackhorse Cub, so I thought I would.

Hobby Lobby J3 Cub (http://www.hobby-lobby.com/j3cub.htm)

I built one last fall, and it is a very nicely done ARF. There are a couple of fairly minor changes I made, like modifying the rudder outline to be scale, using better looking wheels than supplied, and making my own wing struts. But, I cannot fault the build or covering quality. All control surfaces come pre-hinged and pinned, which is a nice touch. The woodwork is extremely neat, glue joints are tight, and it's one of the few ARFs I've ever done that needed no covering touch up work with a heat gun.

I used a Hextronik 42-50 outrunner with 4S2P LiPo on mine. Flies really nicely.

It's only 72" in span, but at $145 when not on sale (I got mine for 20% off during a sale), it represents probably the best deal here.

Rick

[jrb]

H9's "new" (they did a 110" B4) 1/4 scale: http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=HAN4550

[hermperez]

http://www.nitroplanes.com/j3picub120en.html

90" but very nice landing gear..and they are accepting back orders..

[Cub Fan]

Don't forget the World Models Cubs- They come in lots of sizes- clipped wing and standard versions
Good quality and reasonably priced
Jay

[mediq]

I just finished building a GP cub great kit the frabric is first rate No problem with finding hard points on the wing for struts.
Four screws and the wing is off the fuse and the struts fold in for ease of transport.

motor
E-flite 60
cchv45
15x8 prop
6s3850 20c

[Eplane65]

I like the H9 Cub because it has the best scale appearance and quality construction. Many of the others have done poorly on the scale cowl and engine detail. I have about 30 flights on mine. It has an AXI 4120/18 motor and a 5 cell 5000 Tanic Lipo. All up weight is 8.5 pounds. Max watts is around 1000 with 13X10 Zinger wood prop.

[staggerwing]

I just finished building a GP cub great kit the frabric is first rate No problem with finding hard points on the wing for struts.
Four screws and the wing is off the fuse and the struts fold in for ease of transport.

motor
E-flite 60
cchv45
15x8 prop
6s3850 20c

Just curious, what were the hard points you found ?
Using self tapping screws in Ca'd wood holes for a structural assembly/dissasembly fastening point such as a wing strut is not exactly a safe design & would probably generate from a designer who doesn't have a clue about what he or she is doing.
Sure, it will take the stresses-----for awhile

[davecee]

Don't forget the World Models Cubs- They come in lots of sizes- clipped wing and standard versions
Good quality and reasonably priced
Jay

I'll second that. Here's a link to a video of my 1/4 scale World Models Clipped Wing Cub. About 13 pounds and 900 watts on that flight.
Dave


http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=568240

[Tram]

Looks like the GSP is in stock at Nitroplanes.com..

Anyone flying one yet?

Jeff
www.CommonSenseRC.com

[realtimerecon]

My moneys on H9 .Put a E60 in it ,bigger tires,8600mah , and a canon TX-1H.D. cam. inside.Total wt.8lb.8oz.seeya up there .

[Unterhausen]

I'm finishing up an Adrian Page Cub. It's a really nice plane, too bad Mr. Page has given up on making kits.

[rtn9105]

dgliderguy, great looking TT Cub. Where did you get the landing gear that's on your plane. I have the same plane but my gear doesn't look nearly as good as your's.

[dgliderguy]

dgliderguy, great looking TT Cub. Where did you get the landing gear that's on your plane. I have the same plane but my gear doesn't look nearly as good as yours.

rtn,

Good catch. I replaced the cheesy TT gear with the Hangar 9 gear, available from Horizon for a mere eight bucks. It was a bit too wide for the TT fuselage, though, so I had to cut the transverse portion of the wire gear and sleeve it with brass tubing. Notice the bent diagonal brace wires, to accommodate the foreshortened length. Works great, and every bit worth the swap out.

dgliderguy.

[rtn9105]

Hey thanks for the info, Horrizon still has the gear but the price is up to 15 bucks now but still not a bad price. I've got a few more questions if you don't mind.
Did you add a piece of hardwood inside the fuse at the rear of the gear?
How much did you have to narrow the gear?
Did you have to add any length to the ends of the diagonal brace wires where they're not painted or are they just bent there?
Are the sides of the gear covered with ultracoat?

Thanks again for the info

[dgliderguy]

Did you add a piece of hardwood inside the fuse at the rear of the gear?
How much did you have to narrow the gear?
Did you have to add any length to the ends of the diagonal brace wires where they're not painted or are they just bent there?
Are the sides of the gear covered with ultracoat?

Thanks again for the info

I added a transverse hardwood strip for the rear mounting screws (a no-brainer), and countersunk the gear wire, like the front wire.
Narrowed gear to match fuse width-- maybe 1/2"? Don't know.
Diagonal brace wires- paint flaked off when bent, too lazy to repaint.
Gear triangle is covered in Ultracote-- needed to remove covering and add balsa inserts, then re-cover, as the covering wrinkled here and it bugged me.

BTW, the Thunder Tiger J-3 Cub is one of the smartest looking Cubs out there imo, with excellent scale fidelity and superb structural design. Mine just keeps going and going-- a relentlessly faithful workhorse in a world of junky and short-lived ARFs.

[Ed Couch]

Flown many hours in various J2 and J3 Piper Products and never seen a tandem seated configuration with "doors" (split upper/lower panels) on both sides. If possible, please show picture of actual configuration. Elevator trims and throttles are on left side panels front and rear. I would really like to see this configuration. The Piper Vagabond (PA-15) is also a side by side varient with an actual door on right side as well and elevator trim is on left side panel. I could be wrong on the trim on the Vagabond but is seems it was a lot larger trim lever than the J series which used a jack screw on the leading edge of the stabilizer for trim. The 2 seat J4 Coupe and 3 seat J5 (tandem) also had a real door on the right side as well. To many years and to many air vehicles to play with. All used to rent for about 7 to 8 bucks an hours wet. ed

[AmpAce]

Ed, I agree with you. I've looked a a lot of Cubs, both J-3s and PA-18s, and have never seen one with doors on the right side. Structurally, and logistically, with the throttle, and pitch trim controls located on the left side, it wouldn't seem worthwhile to go to all of the trouble to modify one in this manner.

AmpAce

[Ed Couch]

Entry on most older piper products with tandem seating was always on the right side including the J5. Throttle was on left wall above and forward of the trim lever. I can remember starting the J2 and J3 Cub up by turning the switch on and cracking the throttle a little then propping the engine from the rear with my back against the strut to hold her down. I utilized this method when I was by myself at the field. I would only do that when I forgot the rope to tie her to a fence post or T-hanger. The early Cubs had no way to set the brakes and one I used to love to fly only had one brake anyway. Checking the mags before takeoff was always a challange but you learned to takeoff down the hill and land up the hill and to hell with the wind. ed

[rtn9105]

Does anyone have a set of side windows for the Thunder Tiger Cub?