Hangar 9 PA-18 Super Cub
The ply firewall template is a good snug fit on the firewall (above left) and has guides for the G26, a Power 110 brushless, or a Saito 182. Tygon tubing was used for the fuel lines (above center). Standoffs come with the kit to mount the
G26 (above right). Blown up 300% the paper template (below left) approximates the cutouts needed in the cowl and help in a rough drawing (below center) on the cowl. The spinner nut (below right) helps locks the prop nut.
setup is the flexible brass tubing used with Sullivan Products fuel tanks.
It’s time to set the wings up on the fuse- lage. The scale strut system works great and is pretty easy to set up and adjust. Part of the setup relies on short lengths of silicone tubing that prevent the down struts from sliding back and forth on the clevis attach- ment. The diameter of the silicone tubing provided is tight and it’s too long to fit inside the struts. Regular silicone fuel tubing is a better choice for its diameter, and if cut to slightly less than ¹⁄₁₆ inch works just right to dampen the side to side movement. After the struts are set, the tail surfaces are set up. Everything goes smoothly and af- ter that the next big item is installation of the powerplant. The manual documents three, the Zenoah G26 used with mine, the Saito 1.82 4-stroke twin, and the E-flite Power 110. Any of these powerplants will provide the correct 158 mm distance from
firewall to the back of the thrust powerplant thrust washer. If any other powerplant is used that critical distance will have to be setup with the chosen powerplant. The one thing that makes the setup of any of the three powerplants so very easy is the laser-cut ply template that fits accurately over the firewall. There are markings for precisely drilling the required holes for any of the three powerplants mentioned above. And when I say accurate, they were right on. That was absolutely reassuring. One of the pictures will show the template while a hole is being drilled for mounting the Zenoah G26.
Incorporating the optional lighting sys- tem that was provided was pretty easy, with a minor exception. The 2-light landing lights are very easy to install with the Spektrum 6- inch Y-connector lighting cables. I didn’t have them but was able to jury rig a cable system using some of the male and female
connectors cut from the other light setups. One of the pictures should show how it’s rigged. All it needs is some careful soldering, and once it was complete it had the required length and worked great.
From the lights the next item is the op- tional cockpit interior. The manual is pretty limited about how it goes together and in this case it will require some dry fitting of the parts until they are all identified and their relative positions determined. It’s like an easy jig saw puzzle. It didn’t take all that long to figure out where the parts went. All of them were glued in place, with the exception of the cockpit floor. Reason for that is that underneath the plastic floor are a number of access holes in the ply floor that make it easier for any maintenance or repo- sitioning of the radio gear underneath it. It fits really well so it won’t be a problem to just let it lay there and lift it up and out if the need arises to get below it. If more secu-
There are a lot of plastic pieces and a few wooden ones in the optional interior kit for the Super Cub(above left) and figuring out where each goes is a bit of a puzzle, but not hard. The top and rear panels close up the back of the fuselage
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(above center) but are screwed in so access is maintained to the back. 3M’s blue Painter’s Tape for delicate surfaces (above right) was an indispensable tool as shown here “clamping” the windshield while canopy glue cures.
APRIL 2013
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