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News & Media CubCrafters delivers

CubCrafters delivers

The company’s first XCub is ready for action

August 2, 2016 By Ian J. Twombly
Backcountry airplane manufacturer CubCrafters is full of surprises. Its new XCub was unveiled the day it was certified, and the airplane was developed entirely with existing company resources. And at EAA AirVenture another surprise: Despite taking no pre-orders for the airplane, they announced that more than 20 have been sold, the first of which was delivered at the show.
CubCrafters Direct Sales Manager Brad Damm (left) and President Randy Lervold (right) deliver the first XCub to TacAero's Jeremy Young. Photo by Jim Moore.
CubCrafters Direct Sales Manager Brad Damm (left) and President Randy Lervold (right) deliver the first XCub to TacAero's Jeremy Young. Photo by Jim Moore.

TacAero, the company’s authorized training provider, accepted the first aircraft at the show. Instructor Jeremy Young said the airplane will complement the current fleet, which now includes one of every airplane CubCrafters makes. It’s all part of TacAero’s five-day transition course, which includes 20 hours of ground instruction and 18 hours of flight instruction. Young said they start at the preflight and go through advanced backcountry operations.

TacAero’s airplane is one of 20 special Launch Edition XCubs, all of which had been sold before AirVenture began. In other words, the company sold in fewer than two months almost half as many airplanes as it delivered all of last year. A representative said positions are sold out through next April. The Launch Edition includes all the options at the base price.

CubCrafters calls the XCub a clean-sheet design, which is somewhat of a disconnect when you see it. Although the airplane retains the lines of a Cub, the design more or less started from scratch. Chief engineer Pat Horgan said it’s like designing an aircraft from two directions. You know what you want to end with, but you start at the beginning in order to wring out the best performance.

For more on the XCub, see AOPA’s full coverage from the July issue of AOPA Pilot.

Ian J. Twombly
Ian J. Twombly
Ian J. Twombly is senior content producer for AOPA Media.
Go to Ian J. Twombly's Profile
Topics: EAA AirVenture, Taildragger, Buying and Selling an Aircraft

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