Pirep: Carbon Cub SS #107

[glickle]

Hi guys YES! I am back home as of Friday ( having left Yakima Monday with -8 degrees ) after 3000 miles and now 40 hours on the new Carbon Cub SS. Lots to tell about the whole simply wonderful and inspiring experience thansk to all the gang at CC who are just great at making airplanes and helping you enjoy them to the max.

Geo is right this is one hell of a flyer and I am putting together a full report for this site and further was asked by AOPA to write an article on the experience so I will get the summary out as soon as I can. But considering that I am now in deep trouble for being away a full week before Xmas and have accomplished no Xmas shopping and need to play cattch up it may be a bit.

One particularly fun anecdote was in Gainesville Texas where the girl at the FBO came running out to the plane breathless and excited to take a picture of "Is this that smiley plane in the Amercan Express Commercial?" I could not properly explain the evolution from the real S2 as she just wanted a picture so Jon you still have the bragging rights which I explained. Seems people actually see that add and paid attention. Ha. In the interim here is the picass link.

And thanks to Geo and Brian I learned some new flying tricks which were new to me as a flat lander but paid off well not only for increasing the utility of this plane for mountain flying but also opening up canyons and high mounatain strips . This is a real winner. When we asked each other at the end of the trip would we do it again? Easy yes from both and would have jumped on a plane back to Yakima to bring aother one over the Rockies if we did not have to go back to work and pay for all this fun. Darn. Best to all Gary

http://picasaweb.google.com/glickle/...eat=directlink

[glickle]

Hi all sorry for the delay in my report on my new , now called the Carbon Cub SS. This is one VERY cool and pwerful airplane and I now have 55hrs on it and more than delighted. It has exceeded my expectations and below is a summary of my experience and my cross country trip in the plane from Yakima WA to West Palm Beach Florida in Dec 2009. ( i may not get all of my story on here in one sitting so see the eand and stay tuned as I edit and add to this post)

I arrived in Yakima Thrusday night Dec 9th at about 1am ( flew commercially to Seattle then drove in a rental car to Yakima) and yes it was cold, VERY cold at -8 degrees and recent snow. I was ready for cold WAR and had a duffle loaded with all sorts of cold clothes fearing that at altitude over the Rockies I would freeze and yes, had plenty of doubters advising me that such a trip in December was silly. This advise proved to be wrong and as with any adventure there are plenty of opinions out there and free advise, but you quickly find out who knows what they are talking about and who merely has opinions not backed by fact.

The trip was magical, relatively easy, took 4 days ( extra 1/2 day due to poor wether in Florida) and with good planning and ability to divert as needed, one that anyone can and should make. After a couple of days of flying and sealing the winds leaks in the cockpit I mailed home most of my extra clothes as only long underwear , ligt colves and typical layers proved more than comfortable even at altitude and -20 dergee temps. In fact although not needed my pal John Dougherty who later joined me for the cross only used those chemical hand warmers 2xs and they truly took what chill we had out and made us quite comfotable.

I arrived at Cub Crafters friday morning excited to see my new Carbon Cub SS N711 and also see the warm and friendly gang at Cub Crafters. After a quick tour and review of the plane, YAHOO! we closed and I immedialty broke out my rolls of weather striipping to begins ealing up the cockpit in anticipation of the cold weather. It worked and I also eventually used blue masking tape enroute to seal off any leaks not remedied by the weather stripping. I then rolled the plane out of the hangar and began 2.5 days of flying locally to insure all was well and to break in the engine.

Geo arrived Friday and treated me as my back seat to Canyon flying and tours of the area which included low level pictures of the wild mustangs and learing canyon turns and my first landing in snow. ( See my link above to the pictures) The flights were amazing and Geo was a wonderful friend to show me the ropes of the Yakima area. The plane's power and performance is intoxicationg as it made all our high altitude take offs, canyon climbs ridge clearancesetc very easy and there is simply plenty of reserve power always available. I ordered this plane with a fuel computer in place of the VSI and while I was wondering if I would miss the visusl reference to the VSI, it has proven to be the right thing to do and I do not miss the VSI. Becuase this engine has such a broad range of power settings and fuel consumtion, the fuel computer allows you to plan better and keep accurate check on your fuel consumption especialy when running up and down the ridges and mountains with varying throttle settings.

By Sunday I had racked up about 10 hours flying and 6 more hours a great hanagar talk and advise from Brian about mountain flying and how to plan a route through the Rockies as this was to be my firt time flying the big ones. Turns out Brian's advise was simple to the point and spot on. I had planned at least three routes betwen Yakima and Florida and due to the cold had planned to head South West first, along California till we got to warmer wether then turn East. When I asked Brian, based on the weather forecast what route he would advise, Brian corectly ( as I learned later) stated that he never decides what route to take until 15 min before departing and then be flexible due to weather changes. He was right! I was ready to leave Monday am to head east. I had planned an open day Monday in case I needed more exstensive Squawk attention but that was not needed thanks to Stan and Pete taking care of my minor Squaks on Saturday. The rest of my flight time was flawless all the way to Florida.

My co pilot and friend John arrived commercially in Yakima Sunday afternoon and we immedialtey jumped into N711 for a local flight to show him the wild mustangs landing on a high ridge and to get a feel for the plane before taking off early Monday am. I had 9 pals sign up for this trip! John won the slot after a delay in delivery caused Brian to not be able to make the trip. John actually earned his tail dragger rating just before heading west to make this trip and was juiced, me too.

After a quick but warm goodbye to all the terrific folks at CC Monday am, John and I headed South West according to plan and after a low cieling and some minor flurries we flew by Mt Hood sadly where we had just heard about the search and rescue mission that was going on for the lost couple. The pictures of the mountain are posted and the weather was clear and blue yet the top of the mountian was covered with its own cloud and hence weather obviously interfering with the abilty of the rescuers to find those missing. It was an earie feeling. Our first fuel stop was SUn River OR S21, a beautiful resort strip buried in snow and pine trees. This was the beginig of Brians lesson, after a look at the weather building on the 496 it was clear we would probably get trapped by tomorrow in SOuthern CA as a snow storm was about to hit the CA coast. Time to adpat and improvise so we heade South East immediately to out run the weather. Th next 3 stops were Burns OR, KBNO then Gooding ID KGNG and a final landing for the night at Burley ID KBYI home of the inventor of the french fryer. We stopped more than we needed to as were were stil dialing in the fule computer and despit the 4 hour range abilty I was running the engine hard and varied RPM for break in and thus tracking fuel became a worry but later after mastering the K factor and the fuel computer we were able to plan fuel stops properly. Also we found that 3 hours is about the limit for bladders and leg stretches .

Wonderful service at the FBO in Burns put us in a hangar and we monitored the snow storm that was headed our way that night. Due to its early arrival, John and I were at the airport before sun up and departed Burns with a VERY back slyline behind us ( the 496 showed snow only 20 miles west and a coming) lifting off into one of the most beautiful sunrises peeking through the jagged Rockies. ( see pictures) Due to the push from this storm we saw and took a picture ofour 496 showing 172 mph GS!!!!!!!!!! This was the day for measuring the performance of N711 as we had high passes to negotiate and a long day a flying.

Several notes here. The Carbon Cub at altitude leaned at 2200 rpm burns less fuel at the same IAS as my S2. Jim was correct and we saw 5gph at 10,000 ft. The plane also will achieve IAS 130 at 2700 rpm and leaned to 11gph. Thus the power and fuel burn range is significant and this is where the fuel computer comes in handy as it will show fue needed to reach a waypint in the GPS and yu can throttle up or down and lean accordingly to insure making your destination with a proper reserve. I could not do this in my S2 as usually flew at 2500-2600 rpm always.

Ogden at Salt Lake area was next fuel stop and we skinnied along the eastern side of Salt Lake International and were treated to some very beautiful jagged and high mountian range views. There had been a pretty heavy snow dump there earlier and thus the plowed drifts and snow banks were 4-5ft high. The scenery proved to only be the beginning of the wildest and most magestic scenes of the trip. The Moab area which is the Northern end of the Grand Canyon area is not to be missed. With some fresh snow on the ridges and river valleys are a place to go back to and explore. http://picasaweb.google.com/glickle/...eat=directlink

More to come...............

[randylervold]

Great report Gary, can't wait for the rest of it!

[Rich]

Gary

Thanks for all the advice......! It was good to see you again in Sebring. I can't wait to receive my Carbon Cub in April.

Regards,

Richard E.

[Ccater]

Gary, it sure was nice to hear your storys down at Sebring, and even nicer to meet you. I was just on your post and had a chance to see the wonderl photo log of your flight back home form KYKM. I think any one who looks at all the great shots you took would want to do the same flight. Enjoy the new SS.

Chris Cater