CubCrafters NXCub: World's Best Flying Ugly Airplane
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2021
- Five years ago, CubCrafters introduced the most sophisticated taildragger ever, the XCub. Now they've followed it up with a nosewheel version of the airplane called the NXCub and although AVweb's Paul Bertorelli is a tailwheel kinda guy, in this detailed video review he explains the not-so-obvious reason why the the NX could be a better back country airplane.
For a review of the XCub, see this previous AVweb video. • Cub Crafters' New XCub - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Excellent vid and excellent presentation as always from Paul. Witty and full of knowledge. This is a great little plane. Look at the quality of the workmanship. Also a big shout out to the video editor, I love how theyve added those annotations pointing out things. If I had cash to splash and lived in Alaska this is what I would get. I think the next version should have 850shp PT6 with 5 bladed prop.
Thanks for the kind words. I'll have Paul tell Paul that you appreciated the graphic point outs.
@@AVweb Oh it is Paul who did the editing also! :-) For a moment my brain got fried reading the reply but then I realized and the bulb came on haha!
Thank you Paul for your fantastic videos please keep them coming thick and fast. My favorite aviation presenter on YT!
Yes, have Paul tell Paul that he is an excellent presenter as well as editor 🙂
I like your sarcasm too. I've been known for a bit of that too.
Close to a half million for a Cub... never thought I would see the day.
@YaBoiRyan Well of course, and if you read that forbes article I posted, its a great overview of the situation in GA. The bad news is new sales prices. The good news is my (well maintained) aircraft has tripled in value. There are a lot of good airplanes out there to be had. It means you are better off getting an older aircraft and improving it. Judging by my large city airfield, there are a lot of aircraft riding down to eventual death by lack of proper maintenance. Their not hard to spot: the aircraft sit on flat tires, which screams "nobody flies me". Sure it is expensive to fix up aircraft. I probably invested $50k in my 1977 172 bought for $55k, but the aircraft values out at $150k on AOPA site and has every capability that the $432k brand new 172 has (save fuel injection). I am happy, but it does indicate GA is a slowly shrinking pool, which is sad. But then, aviation has changed. I used to walk to school through the airport and look at the planes. Try that now: its fenced off with spikes and security guards.
@@scottfranco1962 you have no issue flying the older stuff from a safety perspective?
@@robdc4829 Its a good question, but the maintenence standards for aircraft seem to be sufficient for the job. My engine got overhauled at 2,000 hours, and I have personally been over every inch of the aircraft.There are aircraft still flying much older than mine, including WWII with bullet holes. Much farther back than that, probably termites are the major failure mode. That airplane will last longer than I will.
@@scottfranco1962 Thanks Scott. I have a '50's Cessna 150. I do worry about it....but my mechanic says the same thing you do - the airplane will outlast me.
My AME likes the fact it's old but certified - he says he knows everything that can go wrong because it that would have happened 25 years ago. He went over it for corrosion a while ago and said it's fine...and that he thought it was unsafe, he'd tell me. He's had customers try and push him to sign stuff he's not comfortable with - he chooses to not have these folks as customers.
@@robdc4829 Amen... hold on to that guy.
I'm only here to listen to Paul, because of his straight up honesty. I'd love to hear him talk without the professional filter
You mean opinionated sarcastic jerk.... ha ha. Yep he is something.
Paul, I love listening to you! Humor, sarcasm, wisdom, knowledge delivered in style.
Yup. “I’d hire a guy to do it for me so I don’t break a nail”. Love it. Basically that sums it up…it’s for super rich dudes that can’t bother mastering the skills necessary for a tail dragged.
I loved that outro
Agreed! He's funny but you have to pay attention. Maybe that's the point.
@@davidoickle1778 trust me, I hang on his every word!
The over-the-nose visibility at the beginning of a takeoff run from a rough field is a great advantage. It’s also a great advantage taxing around a busy airport.
Or you can simply lift the tail at a dead stop…..
@@akomara1 and risk banging the prop on the dirt....
@@fantabuloussnuffaluffagus Maybe there is a fix for this, Beechcraft Starship used a huge and thin inverted "fin" to avoid this.
Maybe a better shock absorber on the rear wheel for other typical problems.
@@akomara1 "Simply"
That's actually not a very smart thing to do. At all. Don't do that. Unless you don't value your engine and prop.
Tail-up taxi is all fun and games until you have to stop for the airport tug that started driving out in front of you without a call to ground.
@@philconey11 not many tugs screaming by on the gravel bars, or any off airport landing have done. Over 2k hours of tailweel time and I’ve never had a propstrike, or ground loop. Simply, yes…. For everyone, no. Especially those flying l4’s to Oshkosh in flight suits. Gravel and many other surfaces are hard on landing gear. The tailwheel is often a weaker link and lifting the tail to turn around safely eliminates stress to the tire, spring, and mount, during a turn on rough terrain where the tire does not have as much flotation as a larger tire. (Mainly on rocks) there is no need to do this on grass pavement, or gravel/dirt runways.
th-cam.com/video/ZeS64IAsLtI/w-d-xo.html
This plane does by far not look ugly. More like practical. Beauty is within the eyes of the spectator 🤙
Two gravitationally consequential guys 😀! Paul... you're the best 👍👍
Going to be using that one the next time I'm doing a lecture
Apparently I'm not gravitationally consequential, yet 🙂
CubCrafters moving further and further up the price brackets and leaving little hope to get in the door. They really are great to fly but lordy are they expensive, even the kits.
As my father used to say, boy that could be out of your league, but if you set your goals to achieve it someday you could reach it. He forgot to mention what my wife would say. 😂 $454,740 for a toy for you, I don’t think so hubby! 😂 but I agree with you Paul I’d go for the nose wheel option too! Gotta love a Cub rag wing!
Yep, its a bit sad to see. The LSA and experimental markets were to help lower the bar of entry. It's simply out of hand...
I got to start testing hardware store materials and hope to someday struggle upon a good combination for an inexpensive build.
wasn't low cost the whole idea behind the cub in the first place?
Yep. Couple years till retirement, then the proverbial duct tapes, million year old C150. Probably still have to find a hangar with a shitty apartment upstairs since they aren't cheap either. (taped) And no, flew quite a bit of duct tape years ago at the bargain rent-a-cessna.
Ch701
I'm not a fan of the NX cub but I appreciate the engineering & it's capabilities. As usual Paul made it interesting. Whatever AVWeb is paying Paul, he has earned a raise.
Have not seen anyone land AND full stop on the numbers like that. Whoa. Very nice plane.
The flight envelope graphic had me cracking up. Great job, Paul!
I think that airplane is actually quite esthetic.
I like the look of it 😉👍
Also looks very practical and nice to fly !
You can't see how ugly it is when you're sitting inside. I am surprised not to see the Maule nosedragger mentioned even incidentally; as long as we're talking ugly transnosewheel airplanes. A comparison would have been handy, especially since I believe the 4 seat Maule can be bought new for less and deliver at least respectably comparable performance. But either way a great video. Your style is what makes it worthwhile. Keep being you.
I have the nosewheel Maule MT7 and love it. Like a 4 seat cubcrafters, and my insurance is half what the tailwheel guys pay.
The NXCub is my favorite GA plane in MS Flight Simulator. To be clear, I'm not a "real world" pilot - I never had the wherewithal to pay for training and flight time in a 172 to get a license when I was young - paying off my mortgage and staying out of debt were higher priorities - and now that I am finally retired, I have too many health problems for the FAA to allow me to fly anything other than an RC model. But I have thousands of hours in sims (mainly FSX), and now closing in on 300 hours in MSFS 2020, and after just 30 minutes in the NXCub and a few landings in it, I love this little bird. It's a joy to fly, and absurdly easy to land. As a trike, it's easier to taxi than any taildragger, and it can be braked hard on touchdown without fear of smacking the prop or ground-looping it. As equipped in the sum, the Garmin avionics suite and autopilot are easy to use and so intuitive that setting up a flight plan in the NXCub is easier than planning a route in the Nav system in my Toyota Prius. If I ever could get a real license, and could afford to own a small plane for recreational flying, this would be what I'd own.
I agree with you on all of this. The only thing to watch out for, on rough ground, is the taxiing. It has a tendency to flip over if you use it at taildraggers speeds.
@@QBziZ - Rolling them sideways and smacking a wingtip into the ground is always a risk on high-wing airplanes like the Cub, the Zlin Shock Ultra, or the Cessna 152/172 - the landing gear "stance" isn't nearly as wide as it can be on a low-wing plane like the Beechcrafts, Citation, or TBM. You have to pay more attention to not let taxi speed get too high or make turns that are too sharp. Something I didn't realize about the NXCub until I saw this video, is that the nose gear is just a caster that swivels wherever it wants to, and isn't connected to the rudder pedals for ground steering! No wonder the steering while taxiing felt so sloppy!
420K! lol looks like I'm flying it in MSFS 2020 for the foreseeable future.
My favorite plane in the sim, so far. 🖖😀
... the short field performance is impressive , however I was reminded that in a previous safety video Paul proffered the very sage advice - "on takeoff, never leave unused runway behind you" !
I'm not even a pilot (perhaps someday) but I love watching these just for Paul's wit
And I only fly helicopters, so none of this is relevant, but ditto!
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
She may not be beauty pageant winner, she may not even be a runner up,
but to me she’s the perfect picture of love.💕
Is no-one going to talk about its adorable happy face??
Mr. Bertorelli, you are one funny guy! I really enjoing your videos and reports. Excellent presentation with humor, a bit of sarcasm, and knowledge. Absoluteley perfect. Keep it up, and welcome to Norway Sir! Best, the Norwegian.
Im a first time watcher, love your review of the plane. Really enjoyed learning something new from you and your humor.
Love the feel of your videos - super chiller way of presenting. Lovely aircraft 😍
That plane just looks so happy. I absolutely love it.
What really impresses me is that the finance department has determined there are enough people out there with the money and desire to fly a tricycle bush plane. Kudos to whoever at the engineering department for getting the gear options across the line. Maybe it was the other way around. I dunno.
Baby boomers who want to keep their insurance costs down. Taildraggers are getting very expensive to insure, especially for low time pilots.
Intellectually I know small CoG changes have big effects, but seeing how little you have to move the main gear back/ forth to change between tail & nose dragged really brings it home.
It helps that the conventional gear is not unduley far forward.
Many aircraft have it located far forward for reduced chance of nose-over and prop strikes from hard braking.
But having the main gear far forward of the CoG causes much more severe ground looping tendencies, and take more discipline to keep straight on rollout.
The Pitts Special with it's original bungee gear is a good example of gear that's a little too far forward, they are not know for prop strikes, in spite of being stubby little planes, but many countless hundreds of ground loops even by experienced pilots.
The Citabria is a good example for well placed main gear. They almost track on their own if you touch down going straight there is little need for rudder on rollout. But, I've known several cases of prop strikes that are borderline freak accidents. One was two large guys, and a very far aft CG, back taxied on a paved runway with a moderate breeze, the pilot held back-stick instead of "diving away from" the wind. The breeze might have been 10-12 knots. Propwash usually cancels the light tailwind, and with the elevator near the ground the earths boundary layer usually reduces the wind speed at the surface to near zero. But, this plane went over on it's nose in a slowmo nose over that took like a full two seconds. He was pulling hard back, but as the tail came up the tailwind really got under it and sent it over. Only full throttle could have saved him, but it's not natural to do that when your nose is pointing at the ground and the prop about to strike... Citabria gear is in the ideal placement, but you gotta manage the fore-aft stick placement as much as the side-side, when taxiing in wind.
Most conventional gear is located at a 15° angle forward and down from the CG location. Any more than that becomes squirrelly and ground loop prone, and much less that that noses over. Because it's nearly under the CG for conventional gear, you only have to move it aft a foot, foot and a half or so to be behind the CG at all loading scenarios. Because the CG range is usually only 20-30% of the wings mean chord, and light airplanes have a mean chord of aproximatly 4'-5' giving a CG range of anywhere from 9.6" - 18".
@@TheJustinJ very interesting, thank you!
Always enjoy your camera(s) working & factual reporting...mixed with bit of humor!👍👍👍🍷
That, “sexy perverse kind of way” just nailed it. Great review, wish I could afford it but that’s what TH-cam is about, living vicariously through your great reviews.
most underrated pilot on youtube
i hope you have smoothed out the audio though, the sound effects on older videos would blast my eardrums
Ugly is subjective: I love the look! Loved it first time I saw it revealed.
😀
It looks so happy with that upturned air scoop under the prop shaft and the two big googly eyes for the side intakes.
The best pilot report I've seen in a long time. I am an experienced tailwheel pilot, but also have lots of trigear time. Before watching this, I was thinking, "Why would anyone want one of these?" Paul makes a very good argument that it is because it would be FUN!
First time watching a video from Paul…. Well done. I love the straight forward talk. I couldn’t help notice how the nose wheel version seems to run out of elevator a bit at full flair near touch down.
Outstanding review Paul!
Chip is wonderful too.
I am Yakima proud!
Great review, thoroughly enjoyed it!
4 hu-hu-hundred thousand??!! Are you serious? It's all tube frame and dacron!! It probably cost them no more than $10,000 in parts, $10,000 avionics, plus the engine and whatever labor it takes to put one together in 3-5 days... Outrageous.
Same thoughts. Crazy price.
TRUE for sure BUT it was the accident chasing attorneys long ago that drove the costs into space.... my '78 172 cost $39,500. OTD,.. a handful at the time but thats the name of the game now..... It's CYA with lots of cash to cover the law suits.
@@robertlafnear4865 I think experimental bush planes are a fraction of the price, but you have to assemble them, it triggers the big government, ...
I am feeling really good now my Tri-Pacer 160 hp weighs 1057 lbs and can carry 1000 Lb with big volume and under $40,000. I do not want to land on big rocks, grass and dirt is what it was designed for.
Add a demi-brigade of engineers and lawyers to get it certified.
Such an excellent review. What a great little plane! 400 seems like a crazy number though!
Great report Paul.
Reminds me of the Tri-Pacer.:)
Paul is so fun and informative and fun to watch
THAT was superb!! Really enjoyed your report, your opinion, your honesty. Thanks for sharing this. Some of my best "encounters" have been butt ugly!! Loved em all././
I'm guessing the price tag is the ugliest part.
Even though I have little interest in ever owning a back country airplane, I couldn't pass up a chance to watch one of Paul's excellent videos.
I've always said I'd never get rid of my Maule for a expensive tarted up cub. But now that my daughter wants to learn to fly this plane makes a lot of sense. I love that the gear is switchable and think it's a great option to get into the back country for lower time pilots. Granted when I had a 206 I rarely got left behind and usually carried gear for the others. But I was always worried that I was going to bend the firewall and this fixes that and much more.
Glasair's Sportsman has the same Tail/Trike/float conversion.
My favorite thing about the EX and NX cubs is that they can be fantastic IFR airplanes. That can help get me home
Thx Paul.....another great vid!
Nicely done Paul 😃👍🏻👍🏾
Enjoyable, informative review; still wouldn't have one but it's a great aeroplane for its mission !
Wish I could afford one! My first flight was in a Cub with a classmate's plane while we were waiting to start AOC class 44-67 in Pensacola Florida. Those were the days my friend!
Great video.... Keep on keeping on top of the clouds 👍 👍
Excellent stuff bro
Love you PAUL!! Best voice in GA!! Thanks
You had me at "this thing is butt ugly"
Nice plane I really like the flap adjustment location!
This video made my finally subscribe! :-D Paul is hilarious as well as professional. Thumbs up!
Good report!
Saw an NXCub at our local airport on Flightradar today. I wondered what it was, and this appears tonight! Amazing coincidence.
8:09 - “gravitationally consequential guys” … Thank you for that phrase.
Ugly? UGLY?! It's freaking gorgeous! 😍
I love your style!
I love your Post’s Paul! Thank you :). Best part of of $0.5m…. Ouch!
I’d be so scared to leave the nose gear pin out and prop strike on the wheel.
Ya, same!
There’s a light on the panel when the nose gear pin is out.
@@blainelv1 Yay! I Know that I would have forgotten to reinsert that Pin unless I were reminded.
@@blainelv1 not good enough, never take it out.
@@blainelv1 correction. There's a light on the
panel that lets you know you just had a prop strike.
Paul is the best of the best. And yes, I watched to the very end. :)
I own 1 and this is the most forgiving, slow flying Cadillac ever made. Power is amazing but the way it balloons with flap deployment is kinda jarring when not used to it lol
Nice job!
As a low time guy who learned on Cessnas, this is very appealing!
Looks like a lot of fun.
I'm not a pilot, but I pretend to be one in Microsoft Flight Simulator. I did have some training in a few tricycle gear planes (mainly152) many years ago, but never flew a taildragger. The NXCub is my absolute favorite plane in flight simulator. If I had the money, I'd buy a real one in a heartbeat.
look at that short field perf!
Looks like a happy plane 🙂
Really neat idea having a tail dragger and nose wheel in the same plane. Btw, am I the only person who got a bit worried when he started manhandling the plane by the propeller? It's not exactly the weak spot of a plane but I had never seen anyone do that.
I just made a comment about that and immediately replied to myself: that’s where the force goes when the plane’s flying anyways. Now my question is if that’s specific engineering. If I swap a car engine into a plane, will it rip itself apart since the crankshaft isn’t designed to be pulled like that? Is that where the forces end up in a car (ultimately pushed through motor mounts)?
@@andrewahern3730 Just have to hope the electronic mag does not kick the engine over.
Very impressive 👍
Tail draggers look great, but
I like the look of this tri gear, it
fits the plane. I also like the visibility
available because of it.
There's only 1 Paul Bertorelli - love your work Paul. Made it all the way to the end. Mike Patey's got nothing on your on your work. Keep well.
I actually really like this thing in MSFS2020. It's slow af but flies great AND has AP. Lots of fun!
Between the XCUB, Zenith and Freedom Fox, the NXCUB feels like a plane you would feel comfortable to fly in real life.
@@QBziZ Definitely!
I don’t think it’s ugly. Plus, beauty is on the inside!
I am a frustrated aviator, that has never made my dream of being a pilot. However, I have made over 100 skydives. This plane, and the Camair are 2 planes I'd love to have. They are like my old Jeep. It has no top or doors, so I can enjoy the out doors. I'd love to just cruise along slow and low, and still be safe. I remember an old black and white add for a plane, that said "it is so safe, it can just barely kill you.' Even on my skydives, I opened at 3,000 feet, to enjoy my canopy time. I'm a long way short, for the price of the planes I desire.
paul is a gem!
My dream aircraft. Such pretty birds.
Most fun plane I’ve ever flown. Wish I could afford one.
What if I want the mains from both the tailwheel and tricycle configurations at the same time...? Can I get a Cub in a quadricycle configuration...?
Say...you could be on to something. (:
as long as the FAA is not involved ... yes.
It's been done...
Mount the mains in the middle and use both nose and tail wheels. You could then titter totter your way down the runway. Heck you could pretend you're riding a galloping dragon as it's about to take off.
Yes you can! It’s called an R22!
Fantastic aircraft
5:35 happiest plane I've ever seen
"Lock 'em up!!!" ;-)
(Imagine a motorcycle abs system on this....hmmm)
These are outstanding little aircraft. The tricycle landing gear configuration doesn’t really bother me, maybe because I’m younger, (in my 40s) and don’t have much time in tail draggers. From a sales prospective, being able to offer both tail and tri landing gear options just makes good business sense IMO.
You’re the man. I want one.
It always trips me out to see video of the Cub flying around the Yakima/Central Washington area. It's one of the great products that comes out of our little town but it's an amazing airplane and worth every penny.
I WISH I could fly like you Paul.
That is one cool looking plane.
$400k+? looks like general aviation is giving the health care sector a run for king of inflation
Paul very nice flight report !! I kept looking at the field and runway along with the roadways. Did you shoot this video at the South Lakeland Airstrip ? I used to skydive out of that field. Also noticed your bottle of water in the side pocket holder had a " P " on it which I think is Publix supermarket ?? Did I guess right ?
9 months late, but yeah that's definitely from Publix.
Looks like a Tripacer. Or an airplane from a Pixar movie. I love your senseless humor. lol.
Heck I like it. I’ve got about 5000 hours mostly crop dusting tail wheel in a c188. And my personal plane is a Zenith 750. I have no desire to have my crusing plane be a tail wheel.
fun- - thanks
I’m too cheap to buy a rooftop camper to take to Idaho. It’s crazy that there are people out there who are like.. let’s get a plane..
The closest description I can come up with is a rat rod Tri-pacer. Given the resources, I'd opt for the amphib setup. I hear the fish calling.
More planes need that glass cockpit too. It's SOOOO much easier to use than the standard G1000.
I went to one of the EARLY Sonex builders workshop during Oshkosh. The airplane was just introduced a year earlier. One of the Aussies in the crowd pressed John Monnet to know the difference in speed between the new tri-gear and the tail dragger. John replied that it wouldn't be quite as fast in as the taildragger. When the Aussie pushed for the exact numbers, John snapped "nobody ever put a nose wheel on an airplane to make it go faster!" You gotta love John!
The NXCub is an AMAZING STOL plane if you don't mind stalled landings :P lol. Wonder if you can just pull that fuse out and not worry about it, lmao. Also, I think they look great.
Ugly? Ugly?! It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. 😍
Are we ever going to see retractable leading edge slats on a production cub? They dont have to be as intense as Scrappy’s, but it seems like just a little would increase the critical aoa substantially
nice