Super Cub Photo Gallery - Plane & Pilot Magazine

The J-3 Cub is a classic. The PA-18 Super Cub is downright iconic.

Wednesday, June 27, 2018 at 11:44 AM ET

Verified

The Piper PA-18 Super Cub has been around for almost 70 years, and while it's the current darling of a new set of backcountry flyers, it's been a staple of bush flying pretty much since the get got. Photo by Bill Brine - CC by 2.0: Flickr

Key Takeaways:

The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a legendary aircraft with nearly 70 years of history, renowned for its ruggedness and exceptional capabilities in bush flying and backcountry operations.
Its superb short-field performance is enhanced by adaptable features like oversized tundra tires, floats, and skis, allowing it to access extremely remote and challenging terrains.
Evolving from the J-3 with more power and added features, the Super Cub's pioneering utilitarian design continues to inspire modern aircraft, cementing its lasting influence in aviation.

See a mistake? Contact us.

The Super Cub came about as a program evolved not into a single product but through a series of intermediate designs that feautred many of the Super’s powers. The end result, the PA-18, was a long way numerically from the J-3, but it wasn’t quite finished when it debuted in 1949. There were a few additions, including flaps and more fuel, but the big change was more power.

Public Domain