(photo by Sherry Finney)
For 6 years I talked about airplanes on AirPigz, largely because I couldn't afford to actually fly, and I didn't have any direct aviation connections... but for 13 months of the last 2 years I was doing a complete restoration of a 1959 Piper Super Cub. And now, she's complete and flying! First flight was on June 24, 2018.
AirPigz has been hibernating for several years, but obviously I have not. If you don't know, a restoration of this magnitude, especially when done alone, is a HUGE project!
This Super Cub is owned by a half-brother I have in California, and he hired me to do a complete restoration of this unique PA-18A. The 'A' here means that this airplane had the capability of being a light-duty crop duster, and had an unusual hopper door mounted on the top of the fuselage near the wing trailing edge. The airplane has a removable rear seat where the actual hopper (which we don't have) would be mounted.
In an effort to capture a strong vintage feel, we decided to keep the hopper door assembly and the 'flat top' fuselage that the 'A' models have. I also added 8 STC mods including the Wipaire 2.000# gross weight upgrade. And I did some really nice interior upgrades that still capture a very vintage feel. I'll share detailed pix in the future.
I had planned to blog the restoration here, but with supercub.org out there, and facebook, I decided to just cover the process on those sites. But now seems like a good time to show that this project is complete, and this ole flat top Super Cub is back in the air! I'll have the airplane up at Oshkosh where my brother will meet up with me, and then I'll be flying us out to the west coast. He soloed a Citabria 40 years ago, but never got a private License. This vintage Super Cub, which was built the same year he was born, will be his entry back into aviation.
#lovetofly