Piper PA-18 Super Cub

Piper · United States · first flew 1949 · light aircraft

The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a rag-and-tube high-wing taildragger and one of the most capable bush and STOL light aircraft ever built.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, straight
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	6.88 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Fabric-covered high wing with lift struts
Tandem two-seat cabin, narrow and single-file
Taildragger gear, often on oversized tundra tyres

Spot the slim fabric fuselage, the strut-braced high wing and the single-file tandem cockpit. The classic tailwheel stance, frequently on balloon tyres, seals it.

Specifications

The Piper PA-18 Super Cub has a length of 6.88 m (23 ft).
It has a wingspan of 10.7 m (35 ft).
Its maximum speed is 209 km/h (130 mph).
Typical crew: 1 pilot + 1 pax.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Introduced in 1949 as a more powerful, flapped development of the J-3 Cub and PA-11, the Super Cub stayed in production for nearly forty years. More than 10,000 were built, serving as bush planes, glider and banner tugs and military liaison aircraft.

Variants

Engines grew from 90 to 180 hp across the run; the PA-18A was an agricultural sprayer, floatplane and ski versions extended its reach, and military L-18C and L-21 marks served abroad. Kit and replica builds keep the design alive today.

Where you'll see it

A firm favourite on the UK glider-towing and banner-towing scene and on rough farm strips, the Super Cub is also popular with the vintage and tailwheel-conversion crowd, though numbers are smaller than the ubiquitous Cessnas.

Related aircraft

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