GP Cub 60
 

Hi all;
I guess my first Cub will be the GP 60 size. What's the fuse made out of? Will it take the occasional rough landing? I've owned a number of Goldbergs and they are rugged with their ply fuse construction, so I was wondering about the GP, as I really want something a bit bigger.
I want to go 4 stroke & clip wing, any suggestions as to engine?
Thanks!

RE: GP Cub 60
 

CB-

Sorry it took awhile to get you a reply. I built the GP .60 Cub as my first kit. I built the full span, but wish I had built the clipped wing. The fuse is made primarily of sheet balsa, with lite ply doublers for reinforcement. The contour of the side is made by adding 1/4 inch square balsa to the sheet balsa sides. The rear deck from the cockpit down to the tail is made by 3 dowels glued to balsa formers on top of the sheet balsa fuse.

It is VERY durable. I have had two pretty hairy crashes. One was on floats where I dove into the water from about 30 feet. It ripped out one of the pieces of plywood that the floats mounted to, but no other damage. Another when I was taking off from land. I pulled up too soon without enough airspeed. Stalled and hit hard from about 15 feet up. Bent the gear up and ripped out the plywood gear mount, but no othe damage. The wing and the fuse are both built like a tank.

It is big plane, much bigger than the typical .40 size Cub. I think you will be happy with it. I fly with a Saito .91, which is more than enough power. I fly at less than half throttle when I'm on wheels. When I have the floats on, I have to fly at about 3/4 throttle because of the extra weight and drag. If you are thinking of using floats, I would go with a .91 4-stroke. Anything more is a waste of money. The Saito is a great engine. The Magnum .91 is also a pretty good deal. I mounted my engine to the side, sticking out of the cowl, with the dummy engine to the other side. I ditched the plastic cowl that came with the kit and ordered a one-piece fiberglass cowl from Stan's Fibertech.

Have fun and let me know if you have any questions.

-Scott

RE: GP Cub 60
 

I also built the great planes 60 kit about seven years ago. i built it with the clipped wing and a saito 91. The second year i had it an 81 year old fell on it and crushed the tail. I fixed that and hit a tree. Then i got into a midair with it in it's fifth year. Not to mention a couple of times upside down in a lake on floats when the wind got under it. But and i find this really hard to beleive i have never had to fix the fuselage. when i hit the tree i hit close enough to the fuse to break the prop but not hit the fuse. so i only had to repair the wing. it was caved in but no damage made it to the main spar so an easy fix. the midair i went thru a hanger 9 pizazz and it put a small hole in the wing covering and broke a little bit of sheeting. another easy fix. when the elevator and stab and rudder got crushed that took some thought to fix and was probably the hardest to fix. This plane is tough. I used the stock cowl. which was three piece abs plastic. in all honesty going to a fiberglass cowl would have saved me a lot of thought not to mention sanding and filling. Sometimes with the floats i wish i had a 120. But i like doing aerobatics. On wheels the saito 91 is plenty of power. And with the floats i can still do aerobatics but am closer to full throttle most of the time. Any other questions i will try and help you out if need be.
Dennis