I saw a post come up at my local club today. A Cub owner was looking for a pilot to fly his Cub from Northern California near Sacramento to his place somewhere in Minnesota.
I got the crazy idea in my head that it might be fun. Well, maybe at least for the first 3 hours.
I know nothing about Cubs, other than having had a look inside one and read a little about them. I learnt to fly in a Citabria last year.
Anyway, I am curious from Cub owners. First some basic questions:
- Does a Cub generally fly at about 65kts? Or is that the max speed rather than the all day cruising speed? And is this at 75%? Or what altitude is the Cub best cruising at?
- With, say, 300lbs of passenger and gear, plus fuel, what is the Cub's practical range in time and distance?
- At what altitude does the rate of climb and performance really peeter out to the point where you are better off taking a lower and longer route?
Next, has anyone flown a low powered plane from the Northwest to the other side of the mountains and what route should be taken? I am gathering the Sierras and the Rocky's are just too much for a Cub, or can someone offer a safe means of getting through them. The alternative of going way down South looks like a LONG diversion.
Someone has already suggested that although the direct distance is 1300nm, it is really around 2000nm and 30 hours of flying.
Just trying to get a handle on how realistic a week long jaunt across the country would be.
Cheers,
Simon
I got the crazy idea in my head that it might be fun. Well, maybe at least for the first 3 hours.
I know nothing about Cubs, other than having had a look inside one and read a little about them. I learnt to fly in a Citabria last year.
Anyway, I am curious from Cub owners. First some basic questions:
- Does a Cub generally fly at about 65kts? Or is that the max speed rather than the all day cruising speed? And is this at 75%? Or what altitude is the Cub best cruising at?
- With, say, 300lbs of passenger and gear, plus fuel, what is the Cub's practical range in time and distance?
- At what altitude does the rate of climb and performance really peeter out to the point where you are better off taking a lower and longer route?
Next, has anyone flown a low powered plane from the Northwest to the other side of the mountains and what route should be taken? I am gathering the Sierras and the Rocky's are just too much for a Cub, or can someone offer a safe means of getting through them. The alternative of going way down South looks like a LONG diversion.
Someone has already suggested that although the direct distance is 1300nm, it is really around 2000nm and 30 hours of flying.
Just trying to get a handle on how realistic a week long jaunt across the country would be.
Cheers,
Simon
