[Note: In the SIM, whether we like to fly the heaviest iron or the lightest bushplane, it's easy to love the Piper "Cub" (or, at least, to have a soft corner for it). Imagine an aircraft that was built for a period of only 9 years (1938-1947), but the demand for it was so high (as a trainer for new pilots) that, at one point, one Cub was being built every 20 minutes, and a total of more than 20,000 were built during this short period! So, here below, is a bit of my notes about this plane including 20 (SIM) images of it. Hope you enjoy.]

The origin of the "Cub" (J-3 Cub implied here) is somewhat curious with its forefather being the Taylor Cub which was built by the Taylor Aircraft Corporation, in Bradford, PA. In 1936, a company employee, Walter Jamouneau, modified one such (earlier model) Taylor Cub (that would become the Taylor J-2 Cub - see the 1st image below) while, president and founder, C. G. Taylor, was on sick leave. When Taylor returned and saw the redesign, he was so furious that he fired Jamouneau. However, the company sponsor, William Piper, approved of Jamouneau's changes and hired him back. Piper then bought out Taylor's share in the company. The Piper J-3 Cub is the direct descendant of the Taylor J-2 Cub which was thus the starting point of the enduring (Cub) legacy. The Taylor aircraft were originally powered by a 20 hp "Tiger Kitten" engine. Since the young offspring of the tiger is called a cub, Taylor's accountant, Gilbert Hadrel, was inspired to name the little airplane "The Cub", a name that stuck for future.

There are a few other variants of J-3 Cub, that are worthy of note e.g. (1) L-4 Grasshopper (the military variant) - see the 2nd image below (2) PA-11 Cub Special (3) PA-18 Super Cub (subject flight of this post - 3rd image onward).

Here, I've flown Flight Replica (FR)'s Super Cub (PA-18) Amphibian, in the "fictional" color of Lufthansa (just happened to like the livery!). The flight tracks Orbx's Germany (South) from Stuttgart (EDDS) directly southward to Lake Constance (Side Note: Three countries (Germany, Switzerland, and Austria) meet on this Lake, and River Rhine flows into the lake from the south.). I couldn't resist a touch-and-go while overflying the Lake...then the flight detours (further east) towards the Bavarian Alps mountain range (few images of it below), and finally back to the historic city of Friedrichshafen (EDNY) located on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance. (Side Note: Friedrichshafen is the site of Ferdinand von Zeppelin's famous dirigible factory that had produced Hindenburg.)

And, of course, the Piper Cub, a (timeless) icon of the early era and of American general aviation in general, still continues to be highly prized as the quintessential bush aircraft. It has long been loved by pilots and non-pilots alike, with thousands of them continuing to fly today! Thanks for reading and viewing. Comments are welcome. [FR(Super-Cub),Orbx(Germany-South),REX]

13 hours ago, P_7878 said:

Here, I've flown Flight Replica (FR)'s Super Cub (PA-18) Amphibian, in the "fictional" color of Lufthansa (just happened to like the livery!).

Beside the fact that these are superb pictures of classic VFR flying, I like the livery, too; and surely it's better than the real new Lufthansa livery.

By the way, which town is your destination in the four last pictures?

Many thanks for the comments, Harald!

The approach and landing shots are into Friedrichshafen (EDNY) Airport, Rwy 06, so from the Lake Side. And, yes, the Yellow/Blue color combination, used by the livery painter, here, looks nice, and would surely remind one of the earlier (long-standing) LH livery!

BTW, I was curious, if, in RL, you have ever visited any of the ORIG/DEST cities here (Stuttgart/Friedrichshafen)? These screenshots, here, are all "artificial", so I was just wondering if there are any similarities at all to their RL appearance...?

P_7878, I have visited Stuttgart (though not the airport) and Friedrichshafen. The landscape at your shots does look like Germany or Middle Europe for sure. Regarding Friedrichshafen, it looks more like a coastal city. This may be caused by the fact that if you come to Lake Bodan from... let's say... northern Germany, you always have the Swiss and Austrian mountains in the background. At your shots, one rather looks to the opposite direction and this is when I say to myself, just coming from my holidays: "Sh..., still 600 km to go at the nerving Autobahn and tomorrow I'm at work again." Conclusion: Approach to EDFH from north with the mountains in the background, and the viewer will feel as if holidays begin.

Love the floating Lufty!

Very Versatile Aircraft ,Amazing Shots 

Very Versatile Aircraft ,Amazing Shots