Fun J3 Piper Cub Stuff

Fun Things Others Have Done With Their J-3 Piper Cubs

These images are of our older obsolete Piper J-3 Cub model but included in the Piper J3 CUB folder.

Enlarging is easy.... Just take it to your local copy shop and tell them what you want. Be sure to print on card stock. A lot of times, however, the copy kop will refuse to print it with our copyright on it so be sure to block it out and add YOUR name instead..That covers HIS sweet little rear end	That's me "standing" on the J-3's floats.......Miles...Some shrink their models others shrink themselves... (yea . . . right)
Quite a few of our visitors will download the thumbnail and build tiny versions like this. We really don't mind and will, most often, post their little treasures for all to see.	Thanks to Bob Martin

		This camo hunters version is included in the Piper Cub folder.. Jordan Alegant took our Piper cub and made a Hunter's Camo Cub out of it..If you look closely you'll see about 12 deer kills stenciled to the door of the plane.. He's added an optional gun rack as well..
Jordan is our youngest Fiddlers Green designer and this is his first presentable model... He's done a few others the were more for practice (read: not quite yet good enough :-).. Notice he didn't quit ! He's 14 and sure shows a lot of promise and we're understandably pretty proud of him. He's passed the FG wacky test with flying colors! If you'd like to email him with a comment or two, we'll be happy to forward it... This version is in the obsolete Piper Cub folder. Available on the DVD.

What People Say...

Thanks for the mini-cub . . . gave me a nice relaxing afternoon (and I needed one!). Jim
My first try at the Cub was a bit sloppy as I learned the tricks, but the second almost seemed to assemble itself. The optional floats really call to mind the Alaskan bush pilot, and add a neat feature not often found for plastic models. I have already printed a few more of the downloads, and am debating whether to simply order more model downloads individually, or to buck up and get the whole CD. Hmmm, decisions, decisions!

I found a trick to apply a simple spinner propeller to the model that, while not quite spinning in the slightest breeze, provides at least a "posable" prop option. A simple large straight-pin, with the head clipped off with a pair of wire cutters and the end 1/4" or so bent at 90 degrees, can be pushed through one side of the propeller hub. The propeller then can be folded over and glued around the short bent end, with the blades obviously twisted slightly to give the appropriate air screw shape. This pin is then pushed through the engine block of the Cub, allowing the prop to be positioned as desired for display. Future developments might include a Piper-spinning shaft of some sort, but those ideas will come, I'm sure....Marty

Well, I finally got her put together. Started out with Duro Gel super glue, then finally figured out that hot glue works better on poster board. Anyway, yes, that is a string on the left wing, and yes, she has flown, in circles. My friend John, who is a micro light modeler, suggested that a balsa stick inside the fuselage might work for rubber band powered flight, but we decided that the prop would have to be bigger than the ground clearance, and that the plane would be too heavy made out of poster board to fly that way. Not to mention better landing gear. I found that about 4 oz of lead rigger's seals in th Piper Cub on floats by John e nose puts the CG just right. A few tips for those wanting to "scale up" your models: 1. print in high res. 2. tolerances are quite loose. I had to make a lot up as I went along, especially when it came to the wing struts vs dihedral. I actually gave this one a bit more dihedral than it was designed for, so it would fly better. 3. Cheerios don't work for wheels on this scale! I used the wheel strips. Tim Web

I wanted to add that the suggestion to use a colored paper to enhance the colors is right on. I have printed and am building the Piper Cub on a manila file folder, heavily coated with a clear lacquer and it is stunning. Manila folders prove to be a good choice. Thanks again. John D

Thanks for all you do! Here is a shot of my early Cub paper project, converted to a PA-11 on floats. Didn't float but sealed up the floats so that it could sit in the water for the pictures. Model is currently at the EAA Museum at Oshkosh, with many other paper projects. John


The J-3 Piper Cub is the very first Card Model I ever built It's the one that got me hooked on card modeling Now I have a whole fleet of them and have built over a dozen for Family & Friends. Bob. Thanks for the great images Bob!

Back around WW II, Piper donated a Cub to Girl Scouts for their new "Wing Scout" program. It was the first aircraft donated by a major manufacturer to a youth group.

I recently made a set of "Wing Scout" edition Barbie dolls to commemorate this, and made up 3 of your card size Piper Cubs (all Barbie's must accessorize!!).

Merana Cadorette (10/03)

Magnets 'Fly' this little Cub..
Great cub model (I've built 3 already)

Have a look at my little modification to it (I've attached some photos). I got a BIG magnet and a little one, glued the little one to the cub, (on future flying models i will put it inside, this was a retrofit) and put them so they repelled each other, then stuck 3 bits of fishing line to a piece of card, and attached the other ends to the wings and tail.

With loads of adjustment on line length and the position of the card (I might put a picture on it sometime) It flies! It never seems to stay still, just a little tap and it moves around like a Cub in a storm! (kinda creepy) The magnets came from a Revell kit, but the little plane broke, and a plastic spitfire was too heavy, so I used a Card Cub instead.
It is also a good idea to reinforce the wing struts as well. Helier Heath

$10 straw rocket launcher plans and activities book are available free from the Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center e-gift shop (http://jleslie48.com ) at the bottom of the miscellaneous downloads page. My contribution for all the help Jon has provided for our local AF Association education efforts. They make good Christmas presents (or donations to your local schools). I certainly appreciate what you've done - must be a labor of love at 35 cents an hour. John

FG models are certainly not static. Attached is the Cub you released with the Civil Air Patrol (plain paper, printed two sheets per page - say 70% of the large, two page version) modified for launch from a straw rocket launcher. Sorry, don't have one of it on the tube - and it's currently living in a local elementary school classroom (survival assumed despite "little hands" since they haven't asked for a replacement).

You run out of gas? Just land at your local gas station and fill her up!	A stuntman picked up from a car and hoisted on to a Piper Cub at an airshow in Texas.
One of the goofiest Cub variations ever -- the famous J-3 Cub named "Mr. Bones" known for airshow work by the late Cliff Winters.	We're not sure what the heck this guy is doing, with his Super Cub.
Mike Murphy startled the crows a the National Air Races in 1938 with this rebuild E-2 Cub. He took and landed inverted from the bottom cockpit. Murphy said it was the most difficult flying he had ever done, because every maneuver was opposite to what was normal.	Al Bennett was one of several pilots who proved that a Cub on floats could be landed safely on grass landing fields. The plane slid along to a normal and gentle stop.
Proof that a modified Cub could be flown safely by an experience pilot upside down is demonstrated by Beverly "Bevo" Howard's famous low altitude inverted fly-by.	Pilots Danny Fowlie and Don Berent used two Cubs, one mounted on top of the other; for there act during pre-World War II airshows. They would take off, perform aerobatics, and then land separately.

Worlds Smallest Aircraft Carrier

My father's name is William Dare. (He was a naval aviator and flight instructor). Flew Hellcats, and was an LSO on the San Jacinto aircraft Carrier during WWII. After the war he and two other flight instructors from Glenview NAS did this trick. Dressed up a truck to look like an Aircraft Carrier and drove the truck down an airport runway, and then with one driving the truck, one acting as the LSO, and one flying the Piper J-3 cub,,, would land the cub on the moving truck. No margin for error.
My father told me that they performed this stunt at the opening of O'Hare field in Chicago. Submitted by Gary Dare-

Best Duct Tape Story Ever

During a private "fly-in" fishing excursion in the Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler and bait in the plane. And a bear smelled it. This is what he did to the plane.

The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him 2 new tires, 3 cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic. He patched the plane together, and FLEW IT HOME ! Duct Tape? Never Leave Home Without It! This story was kindly submitted by Steve Schmidt

Piper CUb cardmodel in corner of FG studio
There's an abundance of beauty right here in our Apache Junction Az, studio. (left) Our Westie with one of her new puppies and the Cub catching the late afternoon light

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