Student Pilot,

I have been in the market for an 80" ARF J-3 Cub in the $200 range, too, and I finally settled on the Thunder Tiger J-3 Cub. It's on its way from Tower right now. Why did I choose the TT over the GP or the Goldberg or the Hangar 9? Several small little things that all added up with the TT Cub on top.

First, I like the Ultracote covering. The GP Cub has pre-painted fabric covering. I have used 21st Century pre-painted fabric on other airplanes, and while it looks nice, it is heavy and it bubbles up in the hot sun (much more than Ultracote) and the seams tend to lift, so that was a negative for the Great Planes Cub. Plus they got the dummy engine wrong (doesn't look like the full-scale). The Hangar 9 is a really lovely model, but I don't care for all the nuts and bolts in the wing struts and the stab mount-- too "erector set" looking for my taste. The H9 Cub does have two-piece, plug-in wings (big plus). The Goldberg Cub has strip ailerons, which is very un-Cub-like, and the model is heavy, with lots of plywood. The Thunder Tiger seemed to have the lightest construction of all of them. While the Thunder Tiger Cub has a one-piece wing, I plan on leaving the wings two-piece by gluing the joiner into just one side, and plugging the wings together before bolting them down. I have no fear of failing the wings, especially with the struts installed properly (functional struts). I will also make up little jury struts to go on the main struts, for a better scale appearance.

In the end, it was all a matter of personal taste. The Thunder Tiger Cub just "looks" better to me. These are all nice kits, and I'd love to wind up with one of each, but being forced to choose, I leaned more toward the TT Cub than the others.

BTW, I fly a big 1/4-scale Sig Cub, with a Saito 91, but I wanted a smaller Cub for another flying site I use, where the runway is small and the approach is tight. I will be powering my new TT Cub with an old OS FS40 that I have lying around. I could put my new Saito 56 in it, which is almost too much engine for the Cub, but the FS40 Surpass needs a good home, and the Cub will be the perfect fit. With the 30 dollar discount, I got the ARF kit for $155. A real bargain.