My WWII Civil Air Patrol Project is on the bench...

I put a 115 hp Lycoming in the L-18c I built , it flies nice even at gross weight at an dencity alt of round 9500'

I putter round at 80 mph, open doors , great fun.

I have actually though about getting the 1/32 Revell PA-18 and doing it in my US ARMY colors.

Looking forward to see yours being built up :-)

Theuns

As a cadet, I covered the Mesquite Air show in 86 or 87 I believe. There was a 90 PLUS year old pilot their still flying his monoplane. I don't know what size engine that was on it, but it couldn't have been more than about 20 Hp. We would call it an ultra-light today, but I'm surprised the FAA would even certify the thing. It was built in the early 1920s, had a whicker seat, and the ONLY instrument was a string that, when in flight, pointed towards a metal circle. Kind of a poor man's artificial horizon. I got to talk to him for a bit, then it was time for him to show off. He started her up, hopped in, and I'll be dog gone if he didn't take off and putter around at about 15 mph!!!  Darndest thing I've ever seen!!! I may still have pictures of that one, Ill have to look....

I know the J-2 flew with a 40 hp engine......maybe Lockhaven PA is allot flatter and not as high AMSL as we have here in the central highlands of SA, with an A-65 e had to slopesoar to get over mountains LOL

Theuns

Theuns

Will mail you pix today, BTW, the dihedral angle on Don's plane is aout perfect ......as they say about a J-3 "it is the safest plane there is....it can JUST barely kill you"

How these things ever flew on a 65 hp Conti I have no idea, here we retrofit them with 90 Hp's and then they are just fine :-)

Theuns

Some of the J-3's competitors used 36 or 40 hp engines!

No worries :-)

Theuns

No, this helps. You actually got some angles on the engine that I couldn't find. Yeah, I think I did myself a favor by breaking down and getting the J-4. We flew them, it'd be easy to convert to a J-3 if need be, and I'm not reinventing the wheel, as I said earlier. You helped me out my friend!  Thanks, Raymond

Here are a few pix, I highlighted the monkey bars in white for you.

This plane has a C-90 in it

Thers a great Cub story about a couple of brothers who flew a cross country flight. I have to find it before I say much more, but it involved flying back and forth along the Continental Divide looking for the El Cajon Pass.

Yeah, it seems like I read somewhere that the later Cubs went to 90 or 95 Hp engines. I could be wrong though. It's been a long day, with little sleep, and CAP meeting thrown it to boot. I may be thinking about the Hp on an F-15 :P

Will mail you pix today, BTW, the dihedral angle on Don's plane is aout perfect ......as they say about a J-3 "it is the safest plane there is....it can JUST barely kill you"

How these things ever flew on a 65 hp Conti I have no idea, here we retrofit them with 90 Hp's and then they are just fine :-)

Theuns

Well, I actually broke down and just bought the Hobby Craft L-4. I probably could have retrofitted the Super Cub, but why reinvent the wheel if the kit falls within your price range. I'll actually make the Super Cub into a 50s-60s version of a CAP plane. Who knows, if I can get them both done in time we can present them both. The later to represent the "benevolent" mission that the organization has taken on over the years. Only problem is, I've burned two of my 1:48 pilots, and the third is spoken for... I'll cross that hurdle later. Kit should be here on Thursday.  Thanks for the push Don/Theuns.... Raymond

Only visual difference between the J-3 and the L-4 would be the rear and top cabin glazing, rest of the airframe would be the same.

I like the flamingo on the jury strut ;-)

I must say I want to be over that flat open farmland if I ever have a "donkey" quit on me....

Theuns

Not specifically a J-3, but Bronco also has or had a 1/35 L-4.

Don Stauffer

The Hobbycraft cub is a fairly nice kit.  Here is a shot of mine.

I made a few mods, including cockpit floor and rudder pedals, and cut the door away so I could show it open (cubs could fly with door open).

Ray, pm me your email so I can send the pix.

Theuns

The Hobbycraft cub is a fairly nice kit.  Here is a shot of mine.

I made a few mods, including cockpit floor and rudder pedals, and cut the door away so I could show it open (cubs could fly with door open).

Shoot yes! Any pics you can give me would be helpful! Especially of the engine/cowling area. And a look at the framing (monkey bars) would be helpful as well. As far as the dihedral angle, at 1:48, things are so small on this bird I don't know that anyone, but the most critical, would notice it. Like I said, I'm finding I'm really limited with what I've got to work with unless I want to do a scratch build. I'm not sure I trust my skills on a project of this magnitude to do that. Though, I thought about chopping this Super cub up and using it for parts!  Raymond

Do you want to turn it into a J-3?

I will send you some pix of the J-3/L-4's cowl and engin, I need to go inspect one today :-). It was totally different to the PA-18.

The J-3 also did not have the flight counter weights on the elevator's, the rudder's trailing edge was also straight rather than curved, no flaps.

The "monkey bars" just infront of the pilot's face on the J-3 go from the bottom of the instrument pannel's side to the centre of the top carry through spar. On the PA-18 they go from the centre of the pannel's glare shield to the front wing root attatch points.

Just for interest sake, cha\eck the kit's dihedral angle....from some of the reviews it seem it is to steep. You should have an angle of about 1-1.5 degs per wing.

Theuns

Ray/Don: I'm happy to hear these stories about a part of history I wasn't even remotely aware of.  It certainly makes my day.

Here's a couple of period pictures of CAP planes. Both are Stinson Voyagers, I believe. The black trim is actually a dark blue. BTW, look under the aircraft in flight. Yes, she is armed for bear...

Stinson Base 3 by raymondgathright, on Flickr

Stinson Bar Harbor Maine D by raymondgathright, on Flickr

Here's one that shows both "official" color schemes used by the CAP.

Base 20 by raymondgathright, on Flickr

Again, I'll be going with the yellow with blue trim, most likely. Actual model pictures coming soon. I'm working on the pilot and observer now, along with the sparse office of the J-3. I am going to have to do some retro fitting to bring the kit back to a cub, but it looks like it's the best I'm going to be able to do. Raymond

Ray, here is a cool scheme for you....the one I built and fly hare in SA ;-)

www.google.co.za/search

Theuns

=]

Very cool subject,not often seen on this forum . Looking  forward to see  your build

Don, that's exactly why Gill Robb Wilson formed the CAP. After going to Germany in the late 30s to witness Germany's glider program first hand, he "saw the writing on the wall." He knew that he and many others would be to old, or for some other reason unable to go to war (4F), but would still want to help. So, he began slowly putting together the beginnings of what would become the Civil Air Patrol. It was officially formed on 01 Dec. 1941 under the Office of Civil Defense... Six days before the attack on Pearl Harbor!

People like your father, Don, are heroes to those of us in Civil Air Patrol today. They raised the bar high... By the way! Did you know, that the members of the Civil Air Patrol who served during World War Two were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal last December? I will see if I can send you the official write up.  

I'm actually probably going with the yellow scheme. I'm still doing some research, and would like to do a plane that actually went down if possible. I've reached out to the Texas Wing historian to see if Base 10 lost any pilots, if so, what in. If possible I'd like to do a plane from their simply because of the Texas connection. Base 10 was out of Beaumont Texas, my Squadron and the Lady Lex are in Texas.

Very nice project.  I was a CAP cadet in high school.  A great organization.

Mike

I fondly remember the CAP.  My dad joined during the war (he was 4-F due to previous injuries).  I was too young to join as a Cadet, so I became sort of the squadron mascot.  They had a variety of lightplanes until in 1945 the AAF declared a lot of PT-17s surplus and the squadron got one.  I flew with Dad a lot in that thing.  I have already done the new Revell kit as AAF trainer, will do another as CAP plane.

Yes, Hobby Craft has a 1/48 one that was available at one point if not now.

GMorrison

Kind of weird that there's no plastic J-3 models, isn't it?

Thats a very good deed there, Raymond.

There are;  Hobby Craft