I finally got my s400 Super Cub in the air. This is the Pat Tritle design from Hobby Lobby. It flies great!

My question is, are the struts on this plane necessary from a structural standpoint?
They attach to aluminum tubing that is epoxied onto the fuse and the wing. It wouldn't take much stress to snap these off at the glue joints. The wing is strong enough for normal scale flight envelope w/o the struts and adding the struts is kind of a pain (although it looks better with them on).

Jack Wheeler

BTW, for anyone looking for a classic-construction (balsa stick / litespan) s400 park flyer, this plane is SWEET in the air. It wont take rough handling, but it's a great flyer and gives 10 minute flights.

Jack,

I don't think the struts are intended to be functional.

Be careful how you pull out of a dive with the Super Cub. My HL Super Cub met it's end when I pulled out of a shallow dive to attempet the Cub's first loop. The right wing failed at the root next to the cabin and the plane was totaled.

And you're right, this plane flies great. Good luck with yours.

Paul

[This message has been edited by Paul (edited 07-29-2001).]

Well, I read the warnings too late. I flew the cub this evening and as I was setting up, the wind seemed to be picking up (it had been dead calm all day). I decided to fly anyway because the wind couldn't have been more than about 6 or 7 mph. As soon as I got up around 80 ft, I started noticing what seemed to be violent turbulence. It could have been radio glitches, although I've never experienced that at this field. The plane would pull up or to the side sharply and stall. Pulling out of one of these stalls folded the wings. The plane hit the only small patch of asphalt within about 40 acres!

Oh well, I now have to decide if I can stomach a second total re-build (three builds total) or look for another project. :-(

If you are planning to build the Cub, some carbon fiber under the spar would be mandatory. I still love this plane!!

Jack

[This message has been edited by esox (edited 07-29-2001).]

Hi,
Wing folded on mine too after about 10 flights. Not doing anything exciting either.

3 week rebuild, also changed it to J3 with new cowl, dummy engine, lettering on wings etc. really cute. Bad day at field though, some glitching and generally poor flight. And to make things worse ( it was gusty) I overcontrolled with rudder on landing and snap rolled it in from about 4 ft
Autopsy revealed cap between motor terminals had been "forgotten" I think mine has a curse on it. Damage not bad, but it will wait till winter for fixing.

esox
I read all the others who say it flys great but mine flies like you describe.

Not stable, tends to pull up into stall even with cg way forward ( which is why it snapped it was coming right at me and I couldn't judge the speed) No trim/throttle combo will give a stable cruise flight.

As cute as it looks as a J3 I'm in no hurry to fix it again 'cause of its poor flying characteristics.

I fly the Super cub witout the struts. Just don't try a hard pull up. The wings will fold. I may put my struts on for appearance sake. My Super Cub will have a stronger dihederal brace with carbon fiber.

I eventually removed the struts from my Super Cub and it did just fine. It seemed that they would break every time I took the wing off so after a while I just said forget it.

On my second cub I carefully checked all the angles I could against the plans. I found a few items such wing incidence and some up thrust in the motor. The plane flys very nice. If you do slow it up to much it will get very squirlly. Yes the nose will pitch up easily. I can slow up for the landing start the flare and plop it into the grass. I also did some minor mods on structure that made a huge differance in durability.