Texas Barn Cub Resurrection

Mrs. Steingar has a friend who's father has one of those things hanging in a barn.
 
I wonder how much of the orginal plane he was able to reuse if any.

Quite a bit. The rebuilder is posting on DFWPilots.com; here's his answer to that question:

I'd say 75% was useable. For instance 3 of the 4 aluminum spars were good. 4 of the 26 ribs had to be replaced. The fuselage was in great shape once we found the pitting to be minimal. I paid a professional aircraft welder to replace maybe 4 feet of tubing total. BUT... I did but install new leading edges, bow tips, false spars, a trailing edge, and root fairings. The engine was in good condition but all parts were sent off for inspection anyway. Only two lifter bodies didn't pass.
 
"The content owner has not made this video available on mobile."

Grrrr.
 
I know this has been discussed before, but why did they use "NC" in tail numbers on many old planes? Why do we only see "N" now, and not NC?

The FBO at my airport has a Cub. I need to fly that thing soon. It looks like a BLAST.
 
C was for type certified designs
X for experimental
R for restricted
 
Thanks Tony. So why did they drop the "C", and the "X"?

So, NCC-1701 was certified, correct? :)
 
after WWII or so everything went to just N and experimental, restricted etc. had to be placed in letters big enough to read for passengers boarding.
 
Got it. Thanks again. Guess they wanted passengers knowing what they were getting into without having to decipher the code.
 
Very impressive. Quite the labor of love to get it back in the air. Was a lot of fun watching the progress.

Gary
 
Thanks Tony. So why did they drop the "C", and the "X"?

So, NCC-1701 was certified, correct? :)

In the Star Trek Universe, the hull number was assigned the contract number, or, "Naval Construction Contract".

But I'm sure the Enterprise had full certification for spaceflight operations.
 
If it was registered prior to 1950, would the N number be still in data base? applied to this cub?
 
Man...that was awesome. It's great to know there are people with enough passion to do that and get that aircraft flying again...it deserves it.
 
Got it. Thanks again. Guess they wanted passengers knowing what they were getting into without having to decipher the code.

In the case of Restricted it's more of a "Keep Out" sign to 'passengers'. Restricted is only allowed crew and workers.
 
They rebuilt it once, they can do it again.
Maybe... but the first time, it was simply neglected. Now it's wrecked. That's going to take a lot more work and money. A lot more. Really sad. :(
Sigh... well, at least he's OK.
 
"Chicken Bristle Road"... You cannot make this stuff up...

As far as the Cub - That Data Plate will buff right out... Maybe not by the current owner - likely the better half is gonna put her foot down - but by someone...

Ah yes, the old, 'I'll just turn back' routine... Lucky he survived, most don't... Betcha you could go there and look and there were backyards or garden plots basically straight ahead off the departure end where you could stuff it with with out major structural crushing... It is all in the mind set - look ahead young man...

OK, lets the experts now explain how I am all wrong and they dead sticked a 747 onto the back of a speeding pickup and changed the flat tire before soaring to a perfect landing on the beach...
 
"Chicken Bristle Road"... You cannot make this stuff up...

That is classic.

Ah yes, the old, 'I'll just turn back' routine... Lucky he survived, most don't... Betcha you could go there and look and there were backyards or garden plots basically straight ahead off the departure end where you could stuff it with with out major structural crushing... It is all in the mind set - look ahead young man...

http://www.airnav.com/airport/OH59

http://vfrmap.com/?type=vfrc&lat=39.696&lon=-84.449&zoom=12

edit: property he landed in (yes, I have too much time on my hands.)

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=14514+CHICKEN+BRISTLE+RD+45325
 
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Ever since this thread started, the video kind of went viral around here at work, and now the plane has crashed not far from me!

I Google maped the airfield, and if he was taking off to the west, there's nothing but trees, so that was probably the direction of takeoff. Off to the East PLENTY of options - nothing but farmland.
 
Ever since this thread started, the video kind of went viral around here at work, and now the plane has crashed not far from me!

I Google maped the airfield, and if he was taking off to the west, there's nothing but trees, so that was probably the direction of takeoff. Off to the East PLENTY of options - nothing but farmland.

I am not going to bother checking the winds but take-off to the west is consistent with where he ended up.
 
Ugh. I just watched the restoration video then the video from the news report. I am a manly man but if that happened to me after spending 3000 hours on the restoration I would just cry.

I have some sort of unexplainable affinity for these kinds of planes. I hate to see it go down like that.

Thankfully the pilot is OK.
 
copy/pasted from the DFW Pilots Forum Thread: http://www.dfwpilots.com/board/index.php?s=&showtopic=7818&view=findpost&p=70818

A displaced Texan now living in Ohio visited Jared in the hospital...

Okay, I drove down to the hospital just after lunch today and talked with Jared for almost an hour. Physically, he's doing better than you'd expect. Emotionally, well, that's obviously going to be a difficult road, as it would for anybody who had devoted so much of their life to rebuilding an airplane.

Yesterday afternoon, he had stopped by a local (to me) private grass runway, started chatting with a local pilot, and ended up taking his J-4 around the pattern a couple of times. He then got back into the Barn Cub J-3 to fly on to his next stop about 3:30 PM. Immediately after takeoff, he noticed that the engine was no longer producing normal takeoff power. At about 100 ft AGL he started to lose altitude and had very few options, as he was headed for a row of trees. He ended up "landing" (his word) near the top of one of the trees, and the plane fell and hit the ground upside down. He crawled out and called 911.

His injuries are fortunately light, considering the circumstances. He has 3 broken ribs and 7 fractured "transverse processes" on his spine. (I fractured two of those skiing one time - they heal fine.) No nerve damage. He does have a small hole in one of his lungs but it is not serious and is not causing any internal bleeding or other problems, and will heal. He is able to walk and may be released from the hospital tonight. Someone he met right after the accident is putting him up until he can get back home.

Understand he's on some good drugs right now, so some of the preceding may not be entirely accurate! (Nor may my transcribing of it be perfect.)

As for emotions, well, I saw the full course even just during my brief chat. As anyone who's been in an accident of any kind knows, the second-guessing and what-ifs can haunt you for a long time. Especially when you just put all the time and effort into the project that he did. I have purposely not included any details of what he thinks might have been the cause of the accident, because he's going to be doing enough second-guessing of his actions himself, without any other suggestions. And likely beating himself up for a while too - "if only I had done _____, this wouldn't have happened."

I think that's the meat of what we talked about. We also discussed his restoration and all kinds of other things.

An amazing thing this DFW forum.​
 
Thanks for the update. Best wishes to him for a speedy recovery - physically and emotionally.
 
Ah yes, the old, 'I'll just turn back' routine... Lucky he survived, most don't... Betcha you could go there and look and there were backyards or garden plots basically straight ahead off the departure end where you could stuff it with with out major structural crushing... It is all in the mind set - look ahead young man....

I do not appreciate the statement quoted. I departed to the west with a left head wind of no more than 15 knots at the time. After departing ground effect I realized a problem was developing. I glanced at fuel, carb heat, tach reading (only 2050) and mag switch. I began to plan for a 180 but initiated no turn as I realized I was too low. I am fully aware of the "death turn" and wanted no part of one. Straight ahead were trees. I picked the thinnest and shortest of the trees and aimed to climb over them. As I neared I knew there was no hope to top them. Looking back I know I was not climbing and may even been descending. I was too busy flying to get a final look at the tachometer. In the final seconds I made an abrupt turn, but no more than 20 degrees heading change, to land in a thicker batch of trees. The thicker trees I believe absorbed more energy before allowing the Cub to hit the ground. I DID NOT make the 180 turn back to the field as was stated so confidently above. I also never stalled. I once lost an engine on takeoff when I was 17. Fortunately that aircraft suffered no damage, and my point being I flew the Cub all the way to the end.

As far as recent flight time I had flown the Cub over 19 states and 5000 miles in last 60 days. It is disheartening enough to read the statements of those that were not present when I've already been notified the NTSB will likely call it pilot error due to density altitude. At departure time DA was calculated to be 2700. But I had flown the Cub recently in DA 3800 with a passenger. I also had it over the Blue Ridge Mtns at 7000 feet and flew in and out of Jackson County Airport (elev 3000) with same amount of luggage but twice as much fuel. I know something was not right other than density altitude on that final flight.

Sir, please gather all facts before discrediting the skills or decisions of other pilots in the future. I don't mind people discussing (in fact I want them to so lessons can be learned) what I did or did not do but please learn what those were first.

Thank you,

Jared
 
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I do not appreciate the statement quoted. I departed to the west with a left head wind of no more than 15 knots at the time. After departing ground effect I realized a problem was developing. I glanced at fuel, carb heat, tach reading (only 2050) and mag switch. I began to plan for a 180 but initiated no turn as I realized I was too low. I am fully aware of the "death turn" and wanted no part of one. Straight ahead were trees. I picked the thinnest and shortest of the trees and aimed to climb over them. As I neared I knew there was no hope to top them. Looking back I know I was not climbing and may even been descending. I was too busy flying to get a final look at the tachometer. In the final seconds I made an abrupt turn, but no more than 20 degrees heading change, to land in a thicker batch of trees. The thicker trees I believe absorbed more energy before allowing the Cub to hit the ground. I DID NOT make the 180 turn back to the field as was stated so confidently above. I also never stalled. I once lost an engine on takeoff when I was 17. Fortunately that aircraft suffered no damage, and my point being I flew the Cub all the way to the end.

As far as recent flight time I had flown the Cub over 19 states and 5000 miles in last 60 days. It is disheartening enough to read the statements of those that were not present when I've already been notified the NTSB will likely call it pilot error due to density altitude. At departure time DA was calculated to be 2700. But I had flown the Cub recently in DA 3800 with a passenger. I also had it over the Blue Ridge Mtns at 7000 feet and flew in and out of Jackson County Airport (elev 3000) with same amount of luggage but twice as much fuel. I know something was not right other than density altitude on that final flight.

Sir, please gather all facts before discrediting the skills or decisions of other pilots in the future. I don't mind people discussing (in fact I want them to so lessons can be learned) what I did or did not do but please learn what those were first.

Thank you,

Jared

Thanks for the update, Jared. Glad to hear you are mostly OK. Hang in there. You did a beautiful thing in that restoration. Nothing can take that away from you!
 
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