The Piper J-3 Cub is a familiar classic, and this one looks great! Sport Aviator has reviewed so many J-3 Cub models over the last few years that I have to wonder if it is now part of the Piper Company! (Ed Note: We still belong to AMA unless Piper makes a really great offer.) That is because the venerable Cub, with its large wing, gentle handling characteristics and very light wing loading is a most practicable second airplane.

The Hobbico version has a wingspan of 36 inches and a fuselage length of 26 inches. Its weight and semi-symmetrical wing make it a pleasant cruiser for a reasonably experienced newer pilot. Its size allows it to be carried in even small cars in one piece and its foam construction is rugged – a good feature for newer pilots. If you have a good grip on a trainer, and want a scale Park Pilot airplane, this could be a good choice. It looks great on the ground and in the air. Flight characteristics are scale-like.

Even better, The Piper J-3 Cub meets all the aircraft requirements of the Academy of Model Aeronautics’ (AMA) Park Pilot Program. The aircraft weighs less than 2 pounds (the Program’s upper weight limit) and has a level top speed under 60 mph (the Program’s upper speed limit). For complete Park Pilot aircraft details, follow this link.

The AMA Park Pilot Program offers non-AMA members the opportunity to become AMA members at a much reduced cost. Park Pilot membership includes a great magazine “Park Pilot”, $500,000 personal liability insurance, $2.5 million liability insurance for the flying field owner (see insurance details) and membership in the world’s largest sport aviation association – the AMA. For complete information and details about Park Pilot membership, just click here.

The FlyZone J-3 Cub, unlike most other Cubs offered in this class, has ailerons for roll control. Having all four channels operating, aileron, elevator, rudder and throttle, is unusual for an airplane this size and makes this Cub as maneuverable as any glow-powered sport airplane. Having both ailerons and rudder control opens this aircraft’s flight options to the maximum.

The FlyZone J-3 Cub is a true Ready-To-Fly (RTF) system. Packed in the box are the completed airframe, a “380-size” electric motor, a 15-amp Electronic Speed Controller (ESC), on-off switch, an 1100 mAh 7-cell Ni-MH battery, a 12-volt peak detection charger, and a 4-channel radio system on a 72 MHz frequency. All hardware is also included. It’s really complete including an extra 7 x 3 in. propeller!

(Photos courtesy of Hobbico)

The Tactic transmitter is equipped with a trainer switch and a space for a Futaba trainer cord. The trainer cord is the Futaba Micro to Micro Plug Trainer cord (FUTM4415). This cord is only compatible with Futaba or Tactic transmitters. The Tactic micro-servos have no published specifications I could find but performed well even under high speed use.

The airplane goes together easily in an evening. When packaged, the wheels of the Cub are supposed to be tie-wrapped to the bottom of the box to secure the Cub fuselage. Upon opening the box, I saw that both wheels had come loose from the ties, allowing the fuselage to flop around in the box. I was pleasantly surprised (and lucky) to find no damage. Everything else was packed securely and in good condition. The Instruction Booklet is excellent, has good photos, and lots of worthwhile information.

Assembly

The Instruction Booklet covers all the construction steps very well (such as they are in an RTF) with photos and text. It doesn’t have many pages, because there isn’t much for you to do. (Nice). All the parts are built, painted and decaled right out of the box. The motor, speed controller, and switch are already installed. The rudder and elevator servos and linkage are also factory installed. The wing has the aileron servo and linkage already installed. The metal landing gear assembly, with wheels mounted, is installed. There is just a bit of work left.

The stabilizer/elevator and the fin/rudder units are both assembled, using a wide, U-shaped bolt, into a single unit. That assembly then bolts on to the fuselage as a single unit with the same U shape bolt. A wrench is supplied for the two 4mm nuts that secure the tail assembly to the fuselage.

The supplied 1 1/4-inch wheels will be fine on paved runways, but are way too small for typical grass fields. I think most landings on a grass runway would result in a flip over using the small wheels. I replaced them with Dave Brown’s Electric Fly 1 3/4-inch wheels. All the photos are with the larger wheels.

Clip eight AA batteries into the back of the transmitter. (An optional rechargeable transmitter battery is available, FUTM1450 Transmitter NiCd 9.6V 500MAh.) This option might be a good one if you plan to be flying the Cub a lot.

Upon trying to mount the wing into the fuselage on my model, the aileron horns hit the rear wing hold down block. There are notches in the block to provide clearance, but they are not large enough.

I used a high-speed rotary tool to enlarge the notches. A razor saw would also work. The paper towel is to keep plastic shavings out of the fuselage. The trailing edge of the wing needed a bit of sanding to fit. Photo 7 shows the enlarged notches and the wing ready to fit. The white area is the sanded part of the wing trailing edge. Once the notches and sanding are done, install the wing bolts on properly. Then add the wing struts. The small arrow marks molded into the plastic struts must point forward.

Ed Note: Hobbico has informed us that they have fixed this problem at the factory. Ron's J-Cub sample was one of the first produced. The problem has since been fixed and all production models have wings that fit without modifications.

As seen in photo 8, the wings, stabilizer and fin lined up nicely. It is important to insure that the stabilizer and wing are parallel. If not, the airplane will try to roll each time the elevator is moved.

Adjust each control surface travel using the specifications noted in the Instruction Booklet. I had to increase throw on all surfaces to get the amount specified. The specified throws proved about right for the scale character of this model. Check and double check that all surfaces move in the correct direction.