Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/378679
EAA Experimenter 13 I'm 6-foot-4, and there was simply no way I could fold myself up enough to get my head under the overhead cabin structure or my feet on the rudders and brakes. No way. So, J-3s were defi nitely out." No decision about buying an airplane was made that year, but Mark and his driver agreed that Mark would probably fit in a Super Cub much better. So next year they targeted those models. "When we went [to Sun 'n Fun] the next year, we spotted a Super Cub kit that not only fi xed a lot of the shortcomings of the J-3—mainly size—but also went the Super Cub one better in several areas," Mark said. "It had doors on both sides, was three inches wider, and pretty much looked as if it was made for guys my size. So I decided, yeah, I can build an airplane." The timing was good because Mark's wife, Vicki, who was very much behind him on all his ventures, had been trying to get him to give up racing for something that was a little less time consuming. So he scaled back his racing but got his crew members together and told them, "Hey, guess what! We're go- ing to build an airplane. "At first, everyone was into it, but little by little, they all dropped out except for Richard Sparks, who stuck with me through the entire ten years it took to get it flying." It's worth mentioning here that even though Mark was building an airplane in his backyard shop (not your average backyard shop), he still hadn't started taking flying lessons. "I didn't take my first flight instruction until we were at least two years into the airplane," Mark said. "I was having such a good time building that flying just didn't seem important at the time." Looking back at the project, he said, "We really built the airplane at least twice, maybe three times. For one thing, as we got deeper into the project and started networking with other HEIN CUB SPECIFICATIONS Top speed: 110 mph Cruise speed (180 hp): 95 to 100 mph Landing speed: 50 to 60 approach, 15 to 20 mph landing speed Rate of climb at gross: 1,600 to 1,800 fpm Range at 65% est.: 4 hours (400 miles) Range at 50% est.: 4.5 to 5 hours Empty weight: 1,300 pounds Gross weight: 2,200 pounds Useful load: 900 pounds Fuel capacity: 48 gallons Wingspan: 35.5 feet Wing area: 172.25 square feet Length: 23 feet Cabin width: 27 inches Cabin length: 72 inches Engine: IO-360, 180 hp Prop: McCauley 82-by-42 inches A "new age" Cub with carbon fi ber panel and "glass" instruments. This is the second panel, the fi rst was all steam gauges, but buying and fl ying a Cirrus convinced Mark that glass was good.