THE PIPER CUB FORUM

Here's a great photo of a 1955 fly-in at Sikei, Swaziland, a tiny kingdom between South Africa and Mozambique. It was sent to me by a gent who hopes to restore his father's J-3 to flying condition. Two Piper Cub Cruisers are on the left, then a Tiger Moth biplane, and finally a Cessna C-140. The photographer was a Mr. Auldwinkel, the founder of Swazi Air, the first air carrier to be established in the kingdom.

It's an ill wind, etc.: with an eye toward the Great Recession, the base price of a Legend Cub has been dropped to $95,000, complete with electric starter but no alternator, meaning that you need a solar panel or plug-in charger to keep the battery happy. See the spec sheet here.

I'm having a great time with the Aeronca Champ recently acquired by Hampton Airfield. From three Cubs last year, we were down to gallant old Zero Six Hotel this summer, and it was getting hard to book an hour on the Cub in sunny weather. (No recession when it comes to flight training, evidently!) So the Champ got a second look by default. Those hydraulic struts are something else, like making love on an innerspring mattress. But I love the idea of having 18 gallons of fuel aboard: yesterday I flew around Lake Winnipesaukee without worrying about who'd prop the plane when I stopped to refuel. (I figure that the Champ gives me 4.3GPH.) Anyhow, the Piper ferry pilot Leah Jones points out that it's not what plane you're flying, as long as you are flying. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford