Neighbor just bought a float plane - Please tell me about it - Thanks

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PositiveMaybe5017@reddit

Pretty sweet! Aviation goals right here

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CaveManta@reddit

That's a nice Skimmer. They're good for dropping off pamphlets.

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orbit99za@reddit

We had a J3 growing up, this must be a newer or upgraded range model, not sure how hand swing the prop with water.

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opieself@reddit

Man as soon as I saw the yellow I was excited. Love a cub.

It's a super cub, the enclosed cowl let's you know that. From there it would be hard to find the specific year as super cubs were in production for around 40 years. The yellow with the lightning bolt and bear cub would lead me to believe it is either an older model or someone who loves the original nal styling.

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Nkechinyerembi@reddit

Actually... You seem to know your way around Piper Cubs... Can you toss me a line here? There is a farmer near me that has what I think is a cub (cartoon bear and all, very tiny tail numvers) with... The best way I can describe it is a "biplane" modification. The lower wings are much shorter than the upper ones, and don't seem to have control surfaces, but I can't be sure. Is this some sort of known mod? The thing Flys so slow that it legitimately seems to stand still over his fields at times.

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E2TheCustodian@reddit

There was an STC for adding lower wings to PA18s……yep: STC SA683SW. Something called the ‘Aeromod 100’ for a metal lower wings for Cubs?

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Nkechinyerembi@reddit

That's awesome actually... I wonder if that is what it is

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opieself@reddit

Unfortunately I have never heard of that. The cubs airfoil was pretty popular in slow biplane. Stearmans used the same airfoil for instance.

And then there was the remarkable Sunshine Clipper that uses a pair of clipped wing cub wings. But I have never heard of nor seen a biplane cub.

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Nkechinyerembi@reddit

wild, I'll have to keep looking in to this. I wish I could get a good solid pic of it, it is a very interesting setup. great big tires

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Grimol1@reddit

If you like Cubs, I highly recommend a book called Fight of Passage by Rinker Buck. It’s a true story of two kids from New Jersey (one of whom is the author writing about it 30 years later) in 1963 who rebuilt their J6 and flew it from New Jersey to California and back. It’s my favorite book ever. I’ve bought it at least 15 times because I keep giving it away.

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TheOriginalJBones@reddit

Rinker’s book about traveling the route of the old Oregon Trail as an adult in a mule-driven wagon with yet another brother is also fantastic.

So is his book about navigating the Ohio and Mississippi rivers all the way to New Orleans in a 1840s-style flatboat with a revolving cast of crew members, including another brother.

By the time you’ve read all three, you might qualify as an honorary Rinky’s brother yourself.

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Any_Purchase_3880@reddit

If you can see the tail # then you can look it up and it will tell you

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Cleve_eddie@reddit (OP)

So I took the boat out today and got a few closeup photos. It is absolutely beautiful!

https://imgur.com/a/ykb8vzQ

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EmotionalBrontosaur@reddit

From additional photos, N11EN, but…registration for that still points to a Maule M-4-220C that was in Texas (and damaged), and has its registration expire in 2019.

Nothing else comes up!

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TheVoicesSpeakToMe@reddit

Yeah I was looking for it in the video… Where the fuck is it? Doesn’t seem legal…

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Any_Purchase_3880@reddit

Some planes manufactured before a certain time can get away with tiny markings. Now they have to be 12" high numbers if I remember correctly. It's probably an old airframe and perfectly legal

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_Gizmo_@reddit

The irony of this is that my (1941) cub has tiny letters for the registration on the tail but 3ft tall ones on both wings lol

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magnumfan89@reddit

Looks to be in small letters on the rudder

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Potential_Wish4943@reddit

Some variety of piper cub. There are a billion different companies that make these, but this looks like an authentic piper-made one. (Little cartoon bear on the tail)

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Cleve_eddie@reddit (OP)

So I took the boat out today and got a few closeup photos. It is absolutely beautiful.

https://imgur.com/a/ykb8vzQ

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LibrarianOk6732@reddit

We had a super cub growing up my dad used it to spot sword fish for boats was a cool gig

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Cleve_eddie@reddit (OP)

Any idea what year?

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blatantdanno@reddit

I have no clue if this is correct but I tried to screenshot and reverse image the plane, came up with a wiki page that was a Piper and it said this model (possibly) was made between 1943 and 1946 I think it said?

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pattern_altitude@reddit

Very likely a later model than that.

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Potential_Wish4943@reddit

I would imagine a later one (or even a more modern reproduction) becuase the engine is enclosed inside the bodywork. Super old ones have exposed engines, but they've had literally nearly 90 years to me tweaked and modified by long-dead owners.

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Maleficent_Beyond_95@reddit

Well....it's a plane...and it floats.

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The_Cosmic_Coyote@reddit

A lovely PA-18 Super Cub. Love those aircraft, though I’ve never gotten the opportunity to fly one of floats (yet)

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Potential_Wish4943@reddit

This would make sense, the original cub might be a little weak to make a float version viable.

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south-shore0@reddit

The original cub is the ultimate float plane for pure enjoyment. I’ve flown multiple versions of j3, pa11, pa12, pa14 and pa-18 cubs on floats.

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The_Cosmic_Coyote@reddit

Off the 65 horse or something bigger?

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south-shore0@reddit

C-85 or c-90, I never did fly a j3 with a c-65 on floats. All the other models I flew 135-260hp

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Potential_Wish4943@reddit

Is it not annoyingly slow? Lol. Like at that point save $20,000 and get an ultralight floatplane.

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Cleve_eddie@reddit (OP)

Come down to Orlando and you might be able to talk my neighbor into it. I’ll even put you up in my house for free!

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The_Cosmic_Coyote@reddit

I know a guy with a Beaver that I’ve been trying to convince to give me some seaplane time but he’s not taking the bait lmao

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poemdirection@reddit

I know a guy with a Beaver

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

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slayer_f-150@reddit

That's not a guy.

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Zavier13@reddit

According to new US executives mandates it isn't.

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HornetGaming110@reddit

fr?

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south-shore0@reddit

That’s not a pa-18

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AppleSubstantial1033@reddit

Very good chance that this is YouTuber Cleetus McFarland. And that is his carbon cub with floats. Should go check out his channel.

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netarchaeology@reddit

We'll be making a water landing, but that's okay because this is a seaplane

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Alternative_Focus958@reddit

I have a question how are these monitored with no airport or atc or clearances etc .... ?

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JesusIsCaesar33@reddit

Is your neighbor Professor Henry Jones?

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davihar@reddit

Next time you see your neighbor, just tell him, “Nice Fireboss”.

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CommuterType@reddit

That’s the float plane you buy when you can’t afford a float plane

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Whitweldz@reddit

It’s still a plane? 🤷‍♂️😂 what kind of plane do you fly?

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Nikablah1884@reddit

He's practicing with his new plane, landing and taking off, it's a safety thing. He'll probably do it for a few months until he gets acquainted, after which, definitely ask him for a ride. If you're a hunter or into that sort of thing ask him if he's down to wipe out some pigs. Farmers and ranchers in the south pay good money to air strike their wild hog infestations.

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sampsontscott@reddit

He is a plane guy. If you want to be his friend, knock on his door and ask him about his plane, it’s that simple 👍

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benbalooky@reddit

Did you know that you're allowed to meet your neighbor and ask about it? It's not even illegal.

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MunitionGuyMike@reddit

Let me tell ya. If you go to your neighbor’s door with your kid, and tell them that your kid likes the plane, I bet ya the owner will let the kid sit up in it

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SewBro@reddit

That’s definitely a 1950-ish Piper J3 cub with the classic lighting bolt paint job. Looks too small to be a super cub pa-18. Too many comments to go through though

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lanky_and_stanky@reddit

Unpopular opinion, don't post your kid on the internet.

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Baizuo88@reddit

Yeah. People don't realize they are showing their kid's face to dozen of thousands of strangers at once.

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Real_Ice_Mage@reddit

Idk why this is getting downvoted, simply a fact of the Internet

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MaligatorMom2@reddit

Just go ask your neighbor, he will be MORE than happy to tell you about it. He’s a pilot, IYKYK 😂

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CeznaFL30@reddit

Because it both a boat in the plane do you need to B ust O ut A nother 2 T housand.

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East_Seaworthiness44@reddit

Looks like a pa-18 on amphibs. Probably 150- 180 horse engine. A lot of pilots prefer the 180 hp engine on amphibious float due to the increased weight of the floats. Looks like a nice plane, you should ask for a ride. 👍

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nicspace101@reddit

That's the noise I want at my lake house. Awesome.

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dc_builder@reddit

So my childhood neighbor was a professional pilot, and one of my favorite human beings.

He was an Army Air Core instructor in WWII and then flew “close to a million of miles” as a private pilot until his late 60’s.

He was very proud of the fact that he “never crashed an airplane owned by someone else”…..He did in fact crash his own Cub into the Chesapeake Bay while showing off for a lady friend.

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Agattu@reddit

As others have said it’s a Piper cub. Looks authentic too.

If your interested in details of the aircraft, next time it flies over or you are close enough, see what the registration is and look it up. Should tell you year and other information about it.

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Bits2LiveBy@reddit

Corrosion, money money.

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Cleve_eddie@reddit (OP)

Fresh water lake. Aren’t they designed for this or should they be pulled out of the water when not in use?

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rabidantidentyte@reddit

The floats are designed for fresh water. No problem there. He was correct in saying that corrosion will always follow moisture, but it's an odd thing to point out in a float plane, where exposure to moisture is the intention.

We keep our planes on the water all summer (in fresh water) and charter them twice a day during peak season. The corrosion is only evident when you strip the paint, and it's easily dealt with (albeit expensive). Hardly an issue. If you have the money to buy one of these, then maintenance is not going to be prohibitively expensive.

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Bits2LiveBy@reddit

Moisture of any kind causes dmg over time. It maybe years but when it needs a fixing ittll cost

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KinksAreForKeds@reddit

Huh? Other than the floats, there's hardly a difference between parking a seaplane on calm water and parking a landlubber on a tarmac. Both are going to get hit with the same amount of moisture, and require pretty much the same amount of maintenance.

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Potential_Wish4943@reddit

The air has moisture in it. Just keep inspecting and swapping out floats. Also arent they fabric planes?

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Bits2LiveBy@reddit

Composite aircrafts are even more expensive if it is. I doubt the entire plane is. Theres a whole chapter about corrosion in the faa 8083 30b that talks about it. Its best to just not unless you really need to like in emergancies or in accessible area near water for logistics. Not for fun though. But hey. Its their money.

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