17 February 2021
I need to start this month’s column with an apology. It is completely my fault that we are in another lockdown. You see, the moment I get anywhere near being able to fly my little Super Cub, something always seems to get in the way. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting it to affect anyone other than the three chaps I share the aircraft with, so I’m really sorry about that…
The Cub came into my life three years ago when a former colleague took me for a flight in his lovely L18-C Super Cub from a local private farm strip. It was a warm May afternoon and the little green aeroplane looked fantastic in its US military paint scheme. The fact that it was based at a small grass strip only added to my envy. If you haven’t flown a Cub, have a go in one. Piper surely struck gold with it in the 1930s, and even today, it can make some modern designs feel mediocre.
A year later, I found myself the proud owner of a quarter share of the same machine. I had a wonderful summer flying 10 flights, including taking both my mum and dad up, both of whom loved it – high praise considering neither of them are especially fussed on flying – especially mum!
“The engine was a Continental O-200 and not a C-90 as it was thought to be…”
With summer over, the Cub was due its annual, and on account of issues with the old maintenance organisation, we decided to take the Cub elsewhere – to somewhere that was both known to a couple of the members, and well respected. That was just over two-and-a-half years ago. The Cub finally came out of its annual late last year, so what went wrong?
It began when the new maintenance organisation questioned the engine’s missing data plate. No biggie we all thought, but as our Cub is on the N reg, the process for getting a replacement data plate is rather involved, requiring an FAA DAR (Designated Airworthiness Designee) to inspect the engine and approve the paperwork for the application to the FAA for the replacement data plate. He wasn’t happy and noticed various historic discrepancies with the engine, the worst of which was that the engine was in fact a Continental O-200 and not a C-90 as it was thought to be! That type of engine is not permitted in a certified L-18C aircraft under FAA regulations. Bugger.
It took us many months of trying various avenues to find a solution from complex paperwork trails to a multitude of different replacement engine options, but at the end of the day, it came down to the fact the engine in the aircraft was not certified to be there and there was no way to make it right. We needed a new engine. And not just any engine, it had to be a Continental C-90 as that is the only engine type certified for use on our aircraft. If our Cub was on an LAA Permit, it would have been pretty easy to use an O-200 engine in a Cub, sadly it was not possible to transfer our aircraft over.
It turns out that C-90 engines are pretty rare. So rare in fact that there were at least a couple of times when we, as a group, were debating just selling the aircraft for spares. We finally found a C-90 in the US which was prop-strike damaged but looked good for a rebuild. Unfortunately, upon arriving in the UK and being stripped down for overhaul, the crankshaft was found to be bent and no good. If we thought a C-90 was rare, the crankshaft for them was even rarer! It took months to source one that wasn’t stupidly expensive, and again we nearly gave up on it. Eventually though, we had all the bits to build up a C-90. Then the chap doing the rebuild injured himself working on his new workshop roof…
After many more months we got our working engine, as well as a fully inspected and sorted aircraft, so it was time to get the FAA inspector in to sign off all the work. But then he spotted another issue, this time with the paperwork for the seatbelts. This Cub seemed to be 90% finished with 90% to go… This took another few months to sort out as various lockdowns were causing supply issues for a replacement set. When they eventually arrived, it became apparent that they’d need an STC to allow them to be legally used in the Cub. Yet another hurdle!
Finally though, everything was done and we flew the aircraft back home to its new hangar where it’s been sitting patiently ever since because within a week or so of it getting home, the UK went into lockdown – again. I like to think our Cub is a testament to the passion that our group has for GA flying and not giving up, which would have been so easy to do given all the hurdles (and expense!) that we faced over the last two and a half years.
But I apologise for this latest lockdown, as it’s definitely our fault I reckon…
Currently dividing his time between a Cub, a Catalina… oh, and a PC-12
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