Just ordered the World Models Piper J-3 Cub – 48. Any experiences with this model? Building tips? I’m going with the OS 46FX.

Cheers.

Keep us posted on this one will you. Been trying to decide between that one and the GP ARF

I have the Clipped Wing 48 which is basically the same. ALso there is another member with a J-3 in our club. I have a TT54 FS in mine. It is touchy to get off on grass, because it wants to nose over. I put a block behind the rear gear wire to move the wheels forward a little. You have to be ready on the elevator to keep the nose level. It will jump into the air early if too much is used. This causes a tip stall and cartwheel. I let it run on the ground to build speed as long as I can. Bigger wheels might help the takeoff run on grass. The wingis tilted up when starting the takeoff, because it is short from wing to tail. With the high angle of attack at the start of the run it wants to get in the air too soon. Holding up elev. to keep the tail down can cause it to jump early. Better to roll on the power and stay on the rudder to let it run. Flies OK in the air, but it will tip stall if too much elevator input is used in a loop or hard turn. I like flying it because it is never boring. If they all flew like trainers, it wouldn't be fun. Does a good knife edge for a high wing. The other Cub in our club also has the same tendencies. The aspect ratio of the wing is high, and that will help cause the stalling. It lands fine as long as a little speed is carried into final. Don't try to float it in like a trainer. Use some power and/or keep the nose down.

I have a Cub from The World Models. It's about 3 years old and fly's great on a 17 year old O,S, 40 FP a O,S, 46 will really pull it around. One problem with mine was the pins in the fuselage for the wing mount were aluminum and after several flights they vibrated loose fell out and the wing having no forward support lifted up until it broke off the fuselage. Much to my surprise the only damage was the struts from wing to fuse were broken / the wing hold down bolt locations torn out of the wing. The fuselage was so lite that when it hit "mud" the cowl was broke and no other damage was done. I did my repairs and replaced the aluminum pins with epoxied in 1/4" dowels. Hope this is of some help.

Does the WM Cub have a 1 peice wing also ?. The GP one does as I understand it. 80" could be cumbersom to haul to the field. I think my PU bed is only 72"... Has a shell though so I guess I could probably jam it in somehow.

Just got the ARF. Looks good, the directions are all pictures, not many words.

Looks like good product, looking forward to the build.

The WM Cub has a metal rod(about .375" dia.) for a wing joiner with a metal alignment pin near the trailing edge. One of the guys in the club has a WM Intruder and never glued it together. Uses the holddown bolts to retain the wing. It would be possible to do the same with the WM Cub and have two halves to make it easier to carry. I have also read that the fuel tank stopper will shrink after some time and let the fuel leak. Hasn't happened to me yet, but I'm watching for it. I carry one of my 84" planes in my Honda Civic with no trouble.

How that I have the ARF I can see how you could keep the wing in two pieces, the mounting mechanism is very solid. However, I would be a bit nervous that the wing could come apart in flight. I guess I have to make a decision, I don’t have an issue with transport, and I have a big truck.

On thing I did notice, while there is a pre-drilled hole (under the cover) for the aileron servo wires on one wing, there does not seem to be one on the other (See Pic). I’m assuming this is a factory defect so I’m going to drill the hole myself. The instructions are so vague; I just want to make sure I’m not missing something.

EC121
Your right about that fuel tank stopper. I have several of the WM ARFS and they all seem to use the same style tank. Just the size varies. Anyway the metal disk on the back of the stopper will viberate loose after awhile. I replaced those with a plastic one and that took care of that. Next problem is the stopper shrinks/loosens up and leaks around the tubes. I finally gave up on these and just automaticaly replace them with Hayes tank now. I use the Dremal to get it in and also leaves a little room for some foam around the tank,,

Since I'm just building this bird, perhaps I should begin with another tank. Does anyone know what's a good fit for this model?

What model Hayes tank will work? Thx.

Depends on what size goes with that ARF.. If you go to Tower and do a search for fuel tanks it will bring you a list of differents sizes and brands. It also gives the dimensions on the tanks themselves which is really helpful.

I have the WM cub 48... flying on an old OS 48FS... very scale like flying on this engine... I had trouble with the "wing tube"... After a few times flying with the two piece wing, my joiner bent... so I went to Walmart bought a wooden dowl the same size, cut it to length... and expoxied my wing halves together... It flies much much better... rolls, loops, snaps (be carefull), and flies inverted very well... Takeoffs are smooth, into a slight wind... mine is flying after about 30 feet... she lands very slow... I have flown the .40 and .60 GP Cub, and they are good models, but the WM is my favorite... It's very smooth in the air... and I used the tank and all the hardware included... I have had zero problems.

So far, so good with the build. The directions do not provide much detail, but it seems to be going together. Did the wing tonight.

Hate to bring up an old post, but wanted to stated I just received this World Model Cub and must say for this price I am amazed at the quality.

I can't believe everything is included, even the pieces of fuel tube to go over the servo clasps.

And for the price, you can't beat it.

Been flying my WM 48 cub for about 6 week and just love how it flys on a old Satio 50. The building was the quickest on any arf I have build and the wood,glue joints were excellent and the covering was flawless.

The only building tips I could give are I used about 1 1/2 sticks of triangle stock to brace up the fire wall, landing gear block and the plywood bulk heads along with the servo tray.

The only other Mod I did was after attaching the wing the first time the bolts were to close to the fuse side(well for my big fingers anyway) so I made longer aluminum strut attachment strips and drilled holes farther up the struts arms.

This ARF model get a 9 out of 10 in my book.