Piper Cub?

Great, now I'm wondering again if I should take flying lessons while I'm trying to figure out what to do re motorsports.

You guys aren't helping, I tell you.

I wonder how they’d do with a BMW motorcycle engine.  I doubt it’s any heavier.  Half the cylinders and up around 100 hp.  No redundant ignition though.

In reply to A 401 CJ :

Around the mid-2000s they went to dual plug engines on the oilhead boxers. Might make it a lot easier to retrofit redundant ignition.

A 401 CJ said:

I wonder how they’d do with a BMW motorcycle engine.  I doubt it’s any heavier.  Half the cylinders and up around 100 hp.  No redundant ignition though.

Aircraft engines generally run at around 2500 rpms at a pretty constant 75%+ power.  They are basically torque monster motors.  A bike motor is likely optimized for much higher rpms (requiring a reduction box) and would be very strained.  Air cooled aircraft motors, in general, have very basic designs which makes them very reliable.

Car motor conversions have been tried many times.  They tend to require so many modifications to make them come up to the standards of a Lycoming / Continental that they end up being almost as expensive.

In reply to Cousin_Eddie :

Do not wear a ring when hand popping.   I have proof.

I once saw a pilot having trouble getting the Cub to stay on the ground when landing in a strong headwind.

I took some early flying lessons in a cub, never got to fly one on my own.

In reply to Woody :

I think you need to take this Cub, a derelict Europa, and build something awesome from them. Even if it’s just garage/yard art. 

My Grandpa was Pan Am's #1 most senior pilot when they closed their doors.  he flew 747s all over the world.  His favorite personal plane was a Piper Cub.  He took me on many flights in it and I loved it!  He wrote this book about his adventures flying with his friends and camping on grass runways.  He passed away last year :(

In reply to aircooled :

The main reason for the low RPM is to keep the propellor tips from going supersonic.  Bad things happen when they do.

Here's a good display of what they can do in the right hands:

Woodman, my friend recently replaced his 65hp Continental (Cub) with an 85hp.  He said he would sell me the 65 for $300.  ($2k value)  I can help-show you how to recover the wings and fuse.

I have flown it a few times, kinda nice on nice days.  If you're out and the wind picks up or a front rolls in, Oy.  My problem, because I don't have  a hangar, is it has to sleep inside.  A heavy rain or hail storm beats it to death, literally.

Iceracer:  Never wrap your fingers around the prop.  Fingertips on front surface.  Oh, and, don't lean forward a lot......

In reply to Lof8 :

Just bought a copy of the book on Amazon. 

I have never flown a cub but I do have about 10 hours in a citabria and a little bit in an Aeronca Champ which are both very similar to a cub. It's a Wonderful flying experience flying around with the door open looking at things from low altitude. They citabria was pretty darn spry it had a 150 horsepower engine in it more like a Super Cub but aerobatic.   I did not realize we had this many pilots on this forum.  as far as propping airplanes to start them a 65 horse Continental or Lycoming is pretty easy. You get up into the Continental io-520 and it gets pretty interesting.

In reply to Lof8 :

Are you kidding me ? Ive read that book. 

In reply to 914Driver :

Wasn't me. I always did like you said

I got my floatplane rating in a J3 Cub in Florida.  It was slow and fun.  We never shut the door on that airplane.  Funny story, the lower half of the door starts to lift up as you approach stall speed, therefore we called it the stall indicator.  I don't remember any stall horn.  I wouldn't personally bother owning one.  For the cost of owning an airplane, it's too slow to be useful enough.  

I've flown the CubCrafter's Top Cub on floats and Alaskan bushwheels however, and that is an amazing machine that I would certainly consider owning.  

For those of you thinking about aircraft ownership, there’s an airplane out there for just about any budget— but they are all 15% more than you can afford. 

Appleseed said:

In reply to Lof8 :

Are you kidding me ? Ive read that book. 

Awesome! :) he was a really neat guy and a great Grandpa!

mad_machine said:

yes, if flying single, you sit in the back seat to balance it. They are that light that even a minor amount of weight transfer can alter their flight characteristics

One of the earliest bullE36 M3 lawsuit about product liability with aircraft came from a numb nuts that put an aerial camera in the back seat and flew from the front seat.  He crashed due to the out of balance state and of course sued Piper for negligence.  

A 401 CJ said:

I wonder how they’d do with a BMW motorcycle engine.  I doubt it’s any heavier.  Half the cylinders and up around 100 hp.  No redundant ignition though.

Some BMWs already have twin plugs.  

It was one of my dreams to take flying lessons in a Cub or Champ.  But I went and got old.  

aircooled said:

A 401 CJ said:

I wonder how they’d do with a BMW motorcycle engine.  I doubt it’s any heavier.  Half the cylinders and up around 100 hp.  No redundant ignition though.

Aircraft engines generally run at around 2500 rpms at a pretty constant 75%+ power.  They are basically torque monster motors.  A bike motor is likely optimized for much higher rpms (requiring a reduction box) and would be very strained.  Air cooled aircraft motors, in general, have very basic designs which makes them very reliable.

Car motor conversions have been tried many times.  They tend to require so many modifications to make them come up to the standards of a Lycoming / Continental that they end up being almost as expensive.

I have heard of ACVW engines being used in some experimental planes.

One of the beauties of the J3 Cub, I think it qualifies for "light sport" licensing?

In reply to mad_machine :

The J3 qualifies as an LSA as it's under weight, stall, seating and speed regulations.

There's some talk from the FAA that they're planning on upping the weight limit to 3600 lbs, 4 seats, and 150 knots.

That would open up the ubiquitous Cessna 172 to LSA as well.

I always thought the Aeronca Champ and Luscombe 8A (I'm very biased towards the Luscombe Silvaire) were more interesting airplanes than the Cub, but the Cub is far more recognizable.

Dad owned one before I was born. He always wanted another one but got a family instead. Took my A&P test on a SuperCub in Alaska. Sometimes think about getting one needing restoring and restore it myself.

Should go to a Cub Fly-In. Pretty fun experience. They have bombing contests with a bag of flour that the pilot drops by hand at a target.

Petrolburner said:

I got my floatplane rating in a J3 Cub in Florida. 

Was that by chance in Polk County at Brown's Seaplane Base?