World Models Mfg. Piper J-3 Cub, The

Model Airplane News, May 2003 by Onorato, Jim

MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS

FLIGHT TEST

An all-time

favorite in scale

The Piper J-3 Cub is probably the most recognizable airplane ever built. It first appeared in 1935, and by the beginning of WW 11, more than 5,000 had been produced! This enormously popular, twoman trainer is said to have introduced nearly 75 percent of WW II aviators to flight. It also helped prove to the public that airplanes could be economical and safe. This 1/4-scale version is one of many well-made ARFs manufactured by The World Models Mfg. Co., and it's distributed exclusively by AirBorne Models.

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

I'm amazed at how far the industry has come in the development of ARFs. This 104-inch-span plane comes in a single box and is nearly complete. I was pleased by the excellent quality of materials and workmanship that went into this model. It's constructed mainly of balsa and expertly covered with Oracover. There were very few wrinkles in the covering, and the seams were almost invisible. The one-piece fiberglass cowl has been expertly spray-painted to match the covering. The included, clear plastic dummy half cowl makes positioning the cutouts for the engine very easy. The wing panels and the tail feathers are built up, and all the control surfaces have been installed with glued hinges and almost no gap. I was particularly impressed with the fully assembled landing gear; it had the best-looking wrapped solder joints I've ever seen. Vacuumformed windows and canopy, scale wheels with Cub hubcaps, tailwheel, engine mount, push-rods, hinged wing struts and a complete hardware package (with metric nuts and bolts) are included. To finish the model, you'll need a 4-channel radio with five servos, a .90 2-stroke engine or 1.20 to 1.60 4stroke engine and a fuel tank.

An 11-page instruction booklet guides you through assembly without the need for full-size plans. The booklet has only 26 steps and includes a lot of symbols and drawings with very few words. Most dimensions are given in millimeters and inches.

WING ASSEMBLY

The Cub wing requires almost no work because the ailerons have been installed with the glued hinges. You only have to remove the covering from the aileron servo wells and install one servo in each wing panel, control horns and linkages. A factory-installed piece of string in each wing half allows you to easily route the servo leads through the wing ribs to the center. Nice touch!

I attached the preassembled wing struts and braces to the wing with bolts through blind nuts that were already installed in the wing. The bolt-hole positions are shown in the instructions, so you can easily find them to remove their coverings. The left and right struts must be straight before you bolt them into place. Try each brace in both directions; you'll know when you've got it positioned correctly because it will fit in only one way. Although the struts are sturdy, I didn't like the metal hinge at the fuselage end. It's quite long, and it holds the strut too far from the fuselage.

ENGINE INSTALLATION

I always check the firewall installation on an ARE This one was well reinforced with triangle stock and had been adequately glued in place; it was also fiberglassed to make it stronger and fuelproof. I installed the twopiece, composite engine mount using the provided bolts and blind nuts. I decided to use a Saito FA 1.50 4-stroke engine; it turned out to provide a lot more power than the Cub required, but, as they say, you can always throttle back! I then wrapped a Sullivan 16-ounce tank in foam rubber and installed it directly behind the firewall, with the two fuel lines and a stopper protruding through a factory-drilled hole in the firewall.

It's always nerve-wracking to take a Dremel tool (or another device) to a beautifully finished cowl to make the engine and muffler openings. To eliminate your anxiety, The World Models provides a clear plastic dummy half cowl to temporarily attach to the fuselage so you can precisely trace on the dummy the locations of the cutouts. Then remove the dummy and cut out the openings. After making sure they are all in the right places, place the clear dummy over the painted cowl and transfer the cutout locations. Really slick! After I had made the cutouts, I attached the cowl using four small, sheet-metal screws. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't a dummy engine head to attach to the left side of the cowl. The manufacturer informs me that later versions of the kit include the dummy engine head.

Next, I attached the strut-attachment plates, the landing gear, the landing-gear covers, the wheels and the Cub hubcaps using the provided hardware.

TAIL FEATHERS

Before I installed the tail feathers, I attached the wing to make sure that everything lined up properly. The wing panels are plugged onto two aluminum tubes and are held in place by four small sheetmetal screws that are threaded into the tubes through the bottom of the wing. If things didn't line up, I figured it would be a lot easier to adjust the tail feathers than the wing, but as it turned out, when I installed the tail feathers, everything lined up perfectly without any need to cut or shim. I was really impressed by how precisely this ARF was manufactured.