For a few years I flew my friend's borrowed 7AC to every fly-in breakfast, airport pot luck, and other social event I could find within about 75 miles of home base. I never failed to get positive comments from onlookers, and sometimes got marshalled to a featured spot. I think only Cub pilots find the Cub more exciting.

In the 65hp Cub I flew, 75 miles would be an overnight trip. I liked flying it but I'm not sure I would pay the premium that Cubs seem to command just to own one. I'd like to try a clipped wing Cub if ever I can get my hands on one.

I would fly one first. I did not like the way they handle. I flew one (as I recall a 7AC) with the smaller conti engine with no electrical system and rate of climb was very poor. Controls are heavy for a light airplane but it is also very stable. People always claim they are docile tail wheel airplanes but in my experience not always. In three point landings they are okay but wheel landings are hard to master and it will go sideways on you quickly with little warning. The Decathlon is much nicer flying airplane. All of them will be in poor condition and recovering them is expensive.

That's what I was thinking. Does the 115 HP mod include a GW increase?

I had a 160HP 7GCBC with flaps. Loved loved loved it. After 100 hrs or so I had it so dialed I could practically do a wheel landing all the way to the hangar. Super fun and docile tail dragger.

I learned to fly TW in a 65HP Champ when I was eleven. I still remember that first flight. I had been flying a 172 and when we came off the runway, I pitched the nose up to about where I would with the 172. I was flying with a "new" instructor, not my regular. He started hollering that I was trying to stall the airplane. Seems like he could have told me something about pitch before we left the ground. I learned to spin and recover in that Champ and flew it, on and off, until I was 25 years old. I ran into that instructor the other day. He is an OLD man now. We are still friends though.

I have owned a J-3 modified to a PA-11 with an O-200 for 28 years and don't know why. I bought it to teach my boys to fly and did. The Champ is a more pleasant airplane in every way and faster than a similarly powered Cub. Any of the more modern Citabria models are extremely easy to fly IMO. I have also owned a GCBC and two Decathlons.

If there weren't so many memories wrapped up in the Cub, I would probably sell it and buy a Champ. I'm starting lessons with my ten year old grandson this summer. There is nothing I want more in this life right now than for him to remember me as the guy that taught him to fly.

Jg

People often say the teddy bear on the tail is why cubs go for a premium compared to champs. I’m not sure.

I think a cub is easier to maintain than a champ. There’s more cubs. Cub parts are really easy to get. The gear on a champ is more complicated. Wood spar ADs on the champ. Might be a spar ad for wood spar cubs, I don’t know. The later J3 cubs have metal spars. The cub trim mechanism can be a source of problems. If it doesn’t work good, it could be many things. Lots of places for it to bind.

The door on the cub is a great feature. Propping a cub is easier than a champ. With the cub, you can do it from behind the prop next to an open door. Easy to get to the primer and throttle. Flying the cub door open is excellent.

Capability wise, they might as well be the same. Champs are a little faster, not enough to make a difference. For me the only important thing is useful load.

Best feature for the champ is flying is from the front and good visibility over the nose. The cub is supposed to be flown from the back seat. The back seat is roomier and more comfortable anyway. Passengers like the front.

I’d be proud to own or fly a nice example of either of them.

I’m not a champ guy but I think you can get a gw increase by converting a 7AC to a 7DC, gets you to 1320 lbs. Which is probably to best way to put more HP into it. Then you could use Bill Pancake’s STC to put in a C-90. It doesn’t get you to 115 hp and I’m not aware of how that could be done legally today. I also think you end up with about the same cruise speed and useful load after the conversion but you climb real good.


That's what I was thinking. Does the 115 HP mod include a GW increase?

My 2 cents.

The Cub has much more harmonized controls.

The Champ is slightly easier to get into.

The Champ has massive adverse yaw and will teach you to lead with the rudder, and you will be flying it all the time.

I own a Cub, which I am having a harder time every year getting in to.

Consider a Chief (I’ve owned two), same as a Champ but side to side seating.

Much easier to get into than either a Cub or a Champ, and cheaper.

But what do I know.