Super Cub – A User’s Review

A detailed look at its strengths and weaknesses, with fixes

Eons ago I used to fly gas powered model airplanes – they were fast, noisy and tolerated – another era, really.

I recently decided to get back in the game, as I found that the entry cost of radio control flying dropped dramatically and the technology for small, efficient electric motors made electric flying extremely competitive with gas. After some looking around, the first plane I bought about three months was HobbyZone’s Super Cub – an “all-in-one” for about $150.

I received a large, long package in the mail about three months ago and proceeded to first, read the brief manual, look at the enclosed video and then assemble the Super Cub – all this took about an hour – very easy and pretty goof-proof. You receive in the package:

• Super Cub
• Transmitter with “ACT”
• AC and DC battery chargers
• Two 8.4 volt batteries (HobbyZone special)
• Instruction video

You have to add 8 AA batteries to the transmitter to power it and after charging the flight batteries, you’re set to go.

WARNING: As tempted as you are to get flying ASAP, WAIT for a calm day. The single biggest mistake you can make is to start flying on a windy day. Thankfully I did wait and I am very glad I did – flying on a windy day (wind > 5 knots) takes some skill.

The Super Cub’s flight characteristics are VERY forgiving – the high, cambered wing (camber – the wing looks like a very shallow “V”) combine to make the Super Cub an excellent first plane. However, much depends on the person at the controls.

The Super Cub includes something called “ACT” – Anti-Crash Technology. This is a much touted feature that is supposed to help the novice flyer get out of trouble. It works with two sensors in the plane – one looking forward and one looking aft. The concept is that the sensors “see” the horizon – when it doesn’t, “…ACT will cut the power going to the motor and add some up elevator…”

The manual also states:

“…in order for ACT to work properly, there has to be sufficient altitude for recovery (at least 200 feet)… there may be times when [the sensors] can be fooled. This may be especially true when flying in very bright sunshine and/or when the sun is close to the horizon… WIth ACT on, never fly over water, light colored sand, ice, snow or anything that can reflect light or “fool” the sensors.”

Folks, this is a $33 transmitter – don’t expect ANYTHING like a foolproof ACT system. Based on many posts I have seen in forums, you are MUCH BETTER OFF turning ACT off – I never used it after reading the manual’s “contra-indications”.

Let me say at the outset I am not particularly gifted as a flyer – some beginners take to this like a duck to water, with no crashes, etc. I’m not spastic – let’s say “average” and leave it at that.

On a calm day, I proceeded to try flying my first radio controlled plane. Do a ground check – make sure the control surfaces are level, check the transmitter range (walk back about 100 feet and try it with the antenna down) and assuming everything checks out, you’re set to go.

I would strongly suggest the first thing you do is try the SuperCub on the ground – don’t takeoff yet, just drive it around to get used to the controls – the tail wheel is steerable, so on the ground it’s like a car. Don’t rev the engine too high – there is very little friction and the Super Cub has NO BRAKES! Give it lots of room.

After getting the feel of it, you’re ready for your first flight.

Like Charlie Brown’s kite, my initial three outings resulted in tree landings – I had to rush home and craft a pole some 40 feet long to retrieve the Super Cub. Surprisingly, this tough bird suffered some dings but nothing crippling, even though my first three flight were tree landings. You learn these lessons very quickly:

1. Altitude is your friend – 200 feet is a nice, safe height.
2. Trees are the enemy – avoid getting close at all costs.
3. The ground will jump and grab your plane.

I find that staying in the middle of my flying circle helps me to better see where the Super Cub is relative to plane-eating trees – for me a big help.

Assuming flight surfaces are level, the Super Cub will begin climbing WITHOUT any positive up elevator. The first mistake most beginners will make it to go full up elevator on take off. MISTAKE! You’ll most likely see the Super Cub point up sharply, stall and then hit the ground.

One thing you must learn is that it does not take much input to move the Super Cub up, down left and right. Easy does it must be the first rule. I found the Super Cub to climb out nicely under full power without any up elevator – this is a characteristic of its high-lift wing. Just make sure there’s lots of room in front of the plane’s flight path.

In the air, the Super Cub is a dream to fly – very forgiving, not radical by any means – in short, an excellent first plane. For first flights I would recommend gaining altitude and flying in large circles, moving the stick in small movements to see how quickly the plane responds. Assuming the Super Cub was set up right, it should fly in a straight line without any user input.

If not, there are sliders on the transmitter to make small adjustments to the tail and elevator – adjust slowly until the plane flies in a straight line (assuming no wind) without any user input.

However, at some point you have to land the Super Cub; remember – the ground will jump up and grab the plane.

Just as you have probably experienced in your travels, the approach should be long and slow. Once over the outer edge of your flying field, cut the throttle to about ¼ power and let is settle down slowly – you do not need to give it any down elevator!

Just before you touch down, cut the throttle and now give it up elevator – this will “flair” the plane up and it should land OK. If you’re on long grass, most likely it will tip forward – this happens to me a lot and assuming it’s at a low speed, nothing adverse happens.

At some point, unless you’re a REAL natural, there will be some damage to the plane. I have done the following:

• Broke the wing in half;
• Broke the front fuselage;
• Broke the aft fuselage (twice);
• Broke many props on landing;
• Loosened the battery cage due to rough landings.

Hint: Get a bunch of extra props – they don’t have to be the HobbyZone props. I use orange GWS 10 x 8s (cost about $2.50). In addition, the space for the nut on the GWS is too small – I use a lock washer to keep it from possibly free-wheeling.

Your best friend is going to be five minute epoxy – I find this to be extremely strong and a quick way to fix damage and get flying again.

One thing you learn from close encounters of the wrong kind is where the weak points are on the Super Cub. At a minimum, you should:

• Reinforce the battery cage – landings will loosen this over time;
  
• Reinforce the aft wing location on the fuselage – this will wear over time to a bevelled edge;
  
• Reinforce the wing where the rubber bands contact the leading edges – hard landings may dig the rubber bands into the wing;
  
• Protect the wing tips – some use strapping tape for this; I used epoxy and fiberglass;
  
• Protect the wing’s leading edge – while I did not do this, others have placed strapping tape on the leading edge to protect against “dings”;
• Expect the cowling to get beat up – duct tape is your friend here; also expect to scoop up dirt – I cut the bottom duct out for this reason.
  

I would also recommend that you ditch the stock wheels and get larger ones – makes landing in grass easier. I also changed the tail wheel to a larger one. Last, I would reinforce the wing by epoxying a carbon strip on the wing to limit flexing – I have done this and do not use the wing struts (IMHO PITA).

In addition, the transmitter/receiver have some weak points:

• Some have broken the throttle slider while in flight – the slider is a relatively fragile post, so go easy on it;
• The battery cover comes off very easily;
• The receiver’s antenna connection to the receiver PCB is flimsy – I placed a dollop of five minute epoxy on it to make it “yankproof” – if you had to resolder this connection – good luck!
  
• The servo connectors are not too rigid and it takes some pulling to disconnect the servo cables – if you’re going to re-use this gear in another plane, you might want to strengthen these connectors with epoxy also.
  
• The plugs that are used for the batteries are flimsy – after I pushed one pin out of the socket, I decided to epoxy the pins in place – never had a problem again. Just place a few drops of five minute epoxy into the back of the plug while it’s connected (to make sure they line up after the epoxy hardens):
  

There are really no glaring negatives – just realize that the Super Cub is a three channel, $150 RTF trainer built with foam and you get what you pay for. Some of the components, as indicated above, could use strengthening. The weakest part of this kit is the electronics – if someone else is around with a remote controlled car on the same frequency, you may be in trouble.

This is NOT high quality electronics – the transmitter costs about $33 while a quality transmitter, such as the Spektrum DX6, costs $200. You may not be immune from some stray EMI.

Some feel that this kit limits you if you want a different plane – hogwash! You are limited if:

• You don’t want to build a ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) kit (I have successfully transferred the electronics from the Super Cub to another plane);
• You want to move up to ailerons (need at least a four channel system);
• You want to change to a complete brushless/LIPO setup (IMHO cost prohibitive).

I feel that putting expensive components into a system with just OK electronics (this is the HEART of the system) is not the most cost effective approach. Having taken the plunge to upgrade to a new Spektrum setup, expect to spend something like $500 – this gets you a system that is totally flexible and will grow with you.

Accept the Super Cub for what it is – an excellent beginner’s package that, with some kit building, can be ported to other 3 channel ARF planes; don’t expect anything more than that.

After three months of Super Cub flying, I can without hesitation say this is one of the easiest radio controlled planes to fly. I now have two other planes – on biplane and one another high wing – and the Super Cub still is the easiest and most user friendly of my growing fleet. At $150, this package is worth it.

I’ll go into more detail on some mods I have made to the Super Cub to increase flying time and strengthen it. Stay tuned!

As always, I’m more than happy to add comments to this review as appropriate.

NOTE: This video is probably the best testament to the beating the Super Cub can take and still fly.

Email Joe