I'm building a Goldberg Cub as a 2nd airplane. Question is: to clip, or not to clip? Seems like the full span scale wing area is a bit excessive, but then again the Goldberg construction seems pretty heavy.

Opinions?

Clip the wing!
Clip the wing!
Clip the wing!
Clip the wing!
Clip the wing!
Did I mention that you should Clip the wing?

Ok, here's the deal...

When the Cub was designed back in the dark ages, it had a squrrel on a treadmill for an engine. It needed a HUGE wing to generate enough lift to get off the ground.

This was not seen as a drawback since the original conception was that the cub would become the "Volkswagon" of airplanes - meaning that anyone could afford to fly such a cheap plane, and that it would only be used for flying from point "A" to point "B" without much maneuvering in between.

Well, most people prefered not to fly to work, so that idea went bust.

But then some Cub owners discovered that buy putting a real engine on it and clipping the wing to a more appropriate size, they had one heluva nice airplane!

A common misconcepton of clipping the Cub's wing is that it will make it fast and hairy -Not true! With a Full Wing, it is slow and cumbersome (And has a LOT of Adverse Yaw - not a desirable thing)

With the Clipped wing, the cub still floats like a dream, but now it is capable of being wrung out like a pro!

All in all, it's a much more fun plane to fly

So if you want to use a small engine and just Putt-Putt around the sky with an original scale apperance, go with the full wing.

But if you want what is one of MY All-Time favorite airplanes, put a 70 4-stroke (or a Good 46 2-stroke) in it and clip the wing.

Enjoy!

Mike B. is correct, the Cub is a floater and if you overpower the full wing version you will be forever trimming it up as it just keeps developing more lift as you increase the speed. []

If (as Mike says) all you want to do is put put around - go for the full wing, if you are planing to use floats - the full wing will get you off of the water easier etc.

Acrobatics will require the Clip wing.

- SO... why not make TWO wings and you can pick and choose as your day progresses?

Here's a little history on the clipped wing Cub. 10 years ago, give or take a couple, I used to go to a lot of giant meets in the Florida-Alabama area. I ran into a man, Ed Stone I think his name was, who told me he worked for Piper as a young man when Bevo Howard had them build the first clipped wing Cub.

The wing is clipped at the root so the ailerons didn't have to be changed. The struts were shortened and the forward one replaced with a second rear strut. The rear strut was larger and stronger than the forward one.

Bevo's plane is still flying, although with a different wing. Last time I noticed it on a web site, the original fuselage had a 300 hp engine and a clipped Taylorcraft wing.

Thanks for the info Ed.

BTW, all of the Goldberg Cubs I've had take off from water easily with a clipped wing and an OS 70

CLIP IT CLIP ITCLIP IT CLIP IT you will not regret it[>:]

well i guess im a purist. i say leave it. a cub is meant to have a big wing. its meant to float, and its meant to be a put around town type of plane. if you wanted a high wing golden age wring it out plane then the citabria might have been a better choice.

adverse yaw is very easily over come by *gasp* using rudder.

but i am outnumbered here so i will go find the 'should i clip my 4*' thread and say don't do it there too

good day gentlemen

I agree with superflea, a Cub is a Cub and my Citabria knows the difference and how to show it. That's why I also built it.

I have built and flown 2 Goldberg Cubs, one with the full wing and one with the clipped wing. Both planes flew great but I did prefer flying the clipped wing. The main difference was the aerobatics, both planes would float in on landing. I now fly a Sig 1/4 scale Clipped Wing Cub
Anthony

I think the full wings look better, but if you want to do some aerobatics it sounds like the clipped version is the way to go. Clipped wing with .70/.72 4-stroke, or full wing with .52/.56 4-stroke sounds ideal for best match.

Cubnut, about how heavy did your Goldberg Cubs come out? The kit box says 7-1/2 lbs which sounds like a lot for 68" span / 650 sq in.

Clip the wing for more aerobatics and stick an O.S. 70 Surpass 4 stroke on it. Since the cub looks more real, it should sound more real!

Besides, it will also fit in the back of your pickup!

I currently have an O.S. 46AX 2stroke on mine and it flies nice. It will soon have the 4 stroke on it for a better sound.

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