Familiar...Yellow...Tandem...FUN! Many light-sport aircraft (LSA) aspire to a futuristic look, using exotic materials like carbon fiber with shapes that are sleek and finely contoured. Other designers chose another niche. American Legend Aircraft Company of Sulphur Springs, Texas, is one of three companies that have recreated the venerable Piper Cub, which has so captured the imagination of the general public that the words "Piper Cub" are used by the unknowing to describe almost any airplane without a jet engine. Pilots know better. Yet among the immense range of aircraft available, the Piper Cub maintains a favorable, nostalgic image. Doesn't every pilot have a warm, fuzzy feeling for the little yellow tandem-seater? Three companies now target this interest under the new LSA category. (We're featuring the Legend Cub but will describe the other two-the North American Sport Aviation Savage and Cub Crafters' Sport Cub-in sidebars.) American Legend's Cub was the first of the three to earn special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA) certification under the ASTM consensus standards. I had a chance to fly the Legend Cub with the exposed O-200 engine with company pilot Danny Goggans during this spring's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In to compare it to the original. (American Legend also offers a PA-11-like enclosed cowl version.) What's Different in 2005? "The Piper Cub J-2 model was first introduced in 1936," writes aviation historian Charles Spence, "|the name 'Cub' is commonly used to describe a number of aircraft models-most notably the Piper J-2 and J-3." The first Cub actually came from the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Company, and yes, that's the same Taylor name still associated with Taylorcraft. The two brothers created a small, highwing, two-seat monoplane named the Chummy. Their work broke new ground, but partly owing to its toosmall 20-hp engine, the Chummy never climbed more than 5 feet above the ground. In 1931, following Charles Lindbergh's attention-getting flight across the Atlantic, an oilman named William T. Piper purchased the assets of the bankrupt Taylor Aircraft Corporation for $761 (less than the selling price of a single airplane at the time!), and became known as the "Henry Ford of aviation." Piper believed that a simple- to-operate, low-cost aircraft would flourish. As we leap forward to 2005, that same logic is guiding the redevelopment of Cubs as LSA More than 14,000 Cubs were built between 1939 and 1947 as beginning trainers for the military, and the airplanes remained basic. Today, those spartan features define the original Cub, and some designers are loath to change them. Others have longed for the same look and in-flight characteristics but prefer more modern amenities. Enter the Legend Cub. Upgraded Legend Cub When Tim Elliott and Darin Hart partnered to establish American Legend Aircraft Company, they aimed to deliver the Cub many pilots wanted. They retained the familiar Cub yellow with simple black accents paint scheme, but they added several features J-3 fans had been requesting for many years. A laundry list of desired equipment was apparent, and Legend responded. For starters, everyone asks about electric start, Goggans said, and the Legend Cub has it, eliminating hand propping. A battery is mounted on the aft side of the firewall. A full electrical system with an alternator powers a new generation of instruments and gauges unlike those found in an original Piper Cub. The Legend Cub also has a left-hand door, and both doors are split front to rear with half windows/doors opening up and half down. Regardless of which door you enter, nearly every pilot will appreciate the added 3 inches of cabin width Legend provides. The width can easily be seen by looking at the aft seat. The original Cub's aft seat did not reach side to side, making the Legend seat appear all the wider. Perhaps most importantly, you can fly the Legend Cub from either seat; original Piper Cubs can be soloed only from the rear seat where visibility is not as good. Yet another change that helps weight and balance-and the ability to solo from either seat-is the relocation of fuel tanks from aft of the engine to reservoirs in each wing. Our test Legend Cub had tanks holding 11.5 gallons per side. Legend's PA-11-type model uses a full-pressure cowling to draw air inside the engine compartment rather than merely exposing the cylinders to air passing by the fuselage as in the exposed-engine cowl Cub version. The exposed cylinder model Goggans and I flew used a 72- by 48-inch wood Sensenich prop with a metal finish to the leading edge. The PA-11 model first displayed on floats swung a 69- by 44- inch metal prop that is more versatile in a water spray environment. Many aspects of the original Piper Cub have been retained. For example, the trim wheel moves the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer through a jackscrew system. And, some of the simple qualities of the original Cub are used in new ways. A step that is used to get into the front seat can also be used for fueling. With Legend Cub's wing tanks, you step on the tire first, then to the step on the front side of the landing gear, at which point you can likely reach the fuel tank opening on top of the wing. This holds true on both sides. For those keen on the floatplane potential for the Legend Cub, float attachment points can be added as a no-cost option, letting customers add floats when desired. A lifting bracket is also placed on top of the wing to assist in mounting the floats. Legend Aircraft will add all these elements without charge if they are ordered at the time of manufacture. However, these parts do add modestly to the aircraft's empty weight. Customers who want the lightest Legend Cub could skip these parts if no float flying is envisioned. Piper Cub wings use a Clark Y airfoil variant that performs particularly well at slower speeds. The carbon-fiber LSA from Europe will fly faster than the Legend Cub, but much of the joy found in sport flying is at "human speeds," where you can view the scenery more comfortably. The wing area on the Legend Cub is a surprisingly large 178 square feet. (By comparison, the Flight Design CT is 107 square feet; the StingSport is 116 square feet; and the IndUS Aviation Thorpedo is 105 square feet.) A wing the size of the Legend Cub's delivers buoyancy some pilots will love. Others may prefer a smaller wing that takes out the bumps of the day. Contrarily, smaller wings aren't as comfortable when flying low, even with flaps deployed. The Clark Y airfoil and float operations are natural companions. American Legend Aircraft offers both straight and amphibious floats. My guess is this plane will perform even better than the original in this application. Piper Cubs are widely used as basic seaplane trainers. Now, the Legend Cub can fill the need for a new plane for such applications, which is permitted under the new LSA regulations, though the operational procedures for amphibious flying by sport pilots is still being finalized. Setting themselves apart from the other two LSA Cub builders, Legend plans to evaluate and perhaps offer the 120-hp Jabiru 3300 engine. Besides improved performance from the six-cylinder engine, the Jabiru should offer weight savings over the Continental. This will improve the payload of the Legend Cub while maintaining electric start. Nice New Cub American Legend hit the high points of refinement with its either-seat solo, dual doors, wider cockpit, electric start, and more, but it didn't stop with these enhancements. The interior is modernized with a nicely detailed baggage compartment (40-pound capacity) with a carpeted lower area and a fiberglass headliner on top. Four-point seat belts are provided for both seats, including recoil shoulder straps. The leather seats in our test Legend Cub are an option and come with memory foam in the seat cushion. For those who want to stay as light as possible, the standard cloth seats and regular foam add a few pounds to your useful load. Above, a full skylight replaces the original Cub's two smaller rectangular windows. This offers much improved visibility, especially in steeper turns and when checking traffic before takeoff. Below, a wood laminate gives the floorboard an authentic look. Discreet heel brakes are installed front and rear. Legend designers also provided full dual controls in both pilot positions; however, the rear-seat throttle was moved aft to accommodate a door on the aircraft's left side. Original Cubs put the aft throttle about where Legend Cub's left side door is. Headphone jacks are located near the throttle for each seat. Legend Cub's carb heat control was moved from the Piper Cub's right side to the left-side control console (where the throttle and headphone jacks are located). Forward and down from the front-seat throttle is the fuel shutoff lever, which is placarded to show 23 gallons of usable fuel, though this figure may change, Goggans advised. You can reach the carb heat control from the rear seat. At the front seat occupant's left hip is a large trim wheel. After my flight, Legend went back to a window-crank style trim in the same location, which also can be accessed from the rear seat. In the same thinking, the ignition switch is located on the left wing root near a professionally fashioned fuel sight gauge featuring a clear tube in a small aluminum housing. Again, the starter switch is located here to permit operation from the front or back. Hydraulic disk brakes by Grove are used in conjunction with large 800-by- 6 tires, and they provided an excellent slowdown on either turf or hard surface runways. The brakes are quite strong, though most pilots' smoothness and finesse are not as good with heel brakes as with toe brakes. Goggans warned that if you get on the brakes hard while taxiing fairly fast, it is possible to stick the nose into the ground. The main gear suspension is hidden under vinyl covers that again preserve the original look, but steel springs replace the old-style bungee cords. Flying the Yellow Legend Virtually no one would argue that Legend's staff achieved the look of the Cub and incorporated all the right changes to the venerable design. However, the proof of an airplane remains in its flying, and the Legend Cub offered plenty of airborne fun. Just remember, you have dual doors to secure. As Goggans and I launched the Legend Cub, the lower half of the left door tended to lift up as we accelerated, the result of slipstream effect, I speculated. Goggans said Legend will add a latch to prevent this from happening. A latch is already provided to hold the upper window up. You can open and fly with the door(s) open in flight; a down latch is primarily needed during takeoff operations. With the O-200 opened to flat out and with the doors closed, the tach showed 2500 rpm, and we indicated 96-97 mph. According to the factory 75-percent power should produce 95 mph, while a 65-percent power cruise yields 90 mph. When I closed the right window, which we had open on takeoff, to begin higher speed evaluations, I found Legend Cub's cabin to be dramatically quieter than the original. Still, for those like myself who enjoy the sensation of an open cockpit, Legend offers you a choice: closed up, more efficient, and quieter; or partly open (a window or two); or wide open (both window and door panels on each side). Flying around with the doors open reduces your cruise speed, but you won't want to fly fast if your goal is to enjoy opencockpit flying. The "spirit" of this Legend Cub flying may be best shown through this story. After I had done my Dutch roll control coordination exercises, performed steep turns and a regime of stalls, plus checked climbs, glides, fast and slow flight, I asked Goggans if he minded some low-over-the-ground flying. He agreed quickly-I learned later he also enjoys such flying-and we throttled back over some large open fields I've become familiar with after years of flying around the area south of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. The Legend Cub offered great fun below the treetops. We were throttled back to about 50 mph so noise was lower. We had the windows and doors open, and you could smell nature and feel the warmth of the air on your shoulders. (For those who question my judgment about flying low, the fields in question are easily landable, and I've deliberately done so before. Therefore, flying below the treetops is no different than descending below the treetops when landing at your home field.) To get back to the airport for some takeoffs and landings, Goggans and I pulled up the lower door halves and lowered and latched the windows. With power set at 2400 rpm, cruise was about 90 mph, at which the Continental O-200 reportedly burns 5.7 gph. We quickly and comfortably made the short cross-country back home. In addition to other changes from the original Cub, Legend's engineers added 3 degrees more dihedral to the Legend Cub wings. In my view this was highly effective; after using coordinated control to enter a turn, that dihedral stability will maintain the ball in the center once bank is established. All turns to headings were precise. Control pressures were good at all speeds, and harmony was quite good. You need a bit more rudder than most general aviation (GA) pilots may be accustomed to, but coordinating stick and rudder won't take but an hour's flying time for most aviators. Overall, I found the landing characteristics of Legend Cub to be good. I had two greased-on landings; the third and the last was the smoothest, but I retained a bit too much energy, and we floated back into the air a few inches. I had let the speed creep up just a bit, and this changes the performance characteristics. Like most airplanes, an optimal approach speed makes the flare and touchdown easier. Though I have quite a bit of tailwheel experience, I don't think the Legend Cub is too challenging for new taildragger pilots. Like all standard-gear designs, you must have "happy feet" and keep your rudder pedals in motion with many small inputs. Most pilots who find taildraggers challenging make too few and too coarse movements at too high a speed. Usually the problem is limited to a series of over corrections, but if you let the tail get too far out of line, you risk the dreaded ground loop. You should also slow the plane down with only aerodynamic controls as long as possible, at least until you get used to the heel brakes. (Again, most pilots have better tactile connection with toe brakes.) In time, you'll become comfortable; as noted above, the brakes work well. Good approaches are made at 55 mph, Goggans advised. As it turns out, this is also the best rate for sink performance. A two-minute timed test showed 550 feet lost. The day provided some buoyancy so a 275-fpm sink rate might be optimistic, but that big, fat Clark Y wing helps the Legend Cub give up altitude slowly. Goggans said that 55 mph is important to this performance. He reported that at 70 mph, the sink rate will nearly double, so watch your speed on landing approach. All the stalls I performed exhibited mild characteristics and broke modestly below 40 mph indicated. This is well within LSA limits, though not quite as low as the company brochures state. Power-off stalls required no power and little forward stick to recover normal flight with minimal altitude loss. Power-on stalls never stalled. The climb became sluggish and a burbling action could be felt, but no break occurred, and I easily regained normal flight by merely relaxing the stick. On accelerated stalls performed at 35-degree to 45-degree banks, the airplane tended to level out on stall break. Overall, I found no evil characteristics in any stalls. Longitudinal stability was also good. The Legend Cub returned to level flight after only a few oscillations when the stick was disturbed and released. When power was added or removed, the nose went where you'd expect with no exaggerated pitch change. The Legend Cub may be used in a training environment to prepare a new batch of taildragger-loving pilots. However, the schools will have to prove their insurability for such operations. If the business details can be worked out, the Legend Cub would make a good training aircraft. For float operations, it should be an ideal choice when (and if) paired with the more potent Jabiru 3300 engine. Your Own (New!) Yellow Cub Legend Aircraft set its Cub's base price at $74,000 and offers a lengthy list of options. Radio packages run $6,000-$10,000 including dual radios, an intercom system, and an encoder. The optional Dynon engine monitoring system costs about $3,500 with two models available. Amenities like a leather interior add $1,800, while wingtip strobes and position lights add $800. A wood-to-metal prop upgrade costs $1,400, and you may choose a cruise or climb version. (Remember, no in-flight adjustable props for LSA.) Straight floats will add a significant $23,500, but Legend is offering amphibious floats for the same price, which is a bargain. American Legend asks for an initial 10-percent deposit with another 40 percent due prior to the start of production of your Cub. Given all the features and components, you could price your Legend Cub beyond $100,000; an amazing development considering original Cubs sold for only $1,325 in the 1930s. But even without doing an inflation calculation since then, the planes simply aren't the same. American Legend has done a good job of making its Cub something pilots want in the 2000s, yet the company has carefully maintained the original value of the pretty yellow Cub. If that look and feel appeals to you, Legend may have the Cub you want, and it's available now with special LSA certification.