cashflyer
Well-Known Member
Looking at a 1946 J-3. It has 4" wheels and expander-tube brakes.
It has a standard tank plus a wing tank. 17 gallon, the seller says.
Serial # 19xxx.
A fellow at the airport, he's an L4 owner, he tells me that the expander tube brakes are difficult/impossible to get parts for, and that I should expect to upgrade them when they go bad.
So now I have been on the internet and finding all sorts of stuff that I need a simple breakdown explanation of, if you guys don't mind. I have about 400 hours in Cubs flying banners, but have never been on the ownership or parts-buying side of the equation.
I guess this cub has "light" gear, and that I need "heavy" gear for the full gross weight of 1220?
And I see Airframes Alaska offers gear with 1.25" axles and gear with 1.5" axles.
And I see that PA-18 gear will bolt right in. Heck, Spruce even sells gear that is "J-3/PA11/PA18" all under one part number.
And there are long shock struts / short shock struts.... So much to try and make sense of.
It looks like I need to change the shock strut, based on some Univair document I found, and my neighbor says I will need to change something pertaining to the shock cabane. And it looks like the landing gear attach fittings on the frame will need to be modified.
Starting to sound very intrusive and like the cub would be down for some time just to mod and change the gear.
I don't anticipate stump-jumping with the plane. Pavement, grass, and gravel strips.
I would like to have the full gross weight capability since I plan on flying my wife and myself along with a picnic lunch.
Based on real world experience from you owners out there - what do I realistically need to do? Anything?
It has a standard tank plus a wing tank. 17 gallon, the seller says.
Serial # 19xxx.
A fellow at the airport, he's an L4 owner, he tells me that the expander tube brakes are difficult/impossible to get parts for, and that I should expect to upgrade them when they go bad.
So now I have been on the internet and finding all sorts of stuff that I need a simple breakdown explanation of, if you guys don't mind. I have about 400 hours in Cubs flying banners, but have never been on the ownership or parts-buying side of the equation.
I guess this cub has "light" gear, and that I need "heavy" gear for the full gross weight of 1220?
And I see Airframes Alaska offers gear with 1.25" axles and gear with 1.5" axles.
And I see that PA-18 gear will bolt right in. Heck, Spruce even sells gear that is "J-3/PA11/PA18" all under one part number.
And there are long shock struts / short shock struts.... So much to try and make sense of.
It looks like I need to change the shock strut, based on some Univair document I found, and my neighbor says I will need to change something pertaining to the shock cabane. And it looks like the landing gear attach fittings on the frame will need to be modified.
Starting to sound very intrusive and like the cub would be down for some time just to mod and change the gear.
I don't anticipate stump-jumping with the plane. Pavement, grass, and gravel strips.
I would like to have the full gross weight capability since I plan on flying my wife and myself along with a picnic lunch.
Based on real world experience from you owners out there - what do I realistically need to do? Anything?
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