Piper Cub J-3 (oz5160)

About this Plan

Piper Cub J-3. Radio control scale model. Fpr .19 - .25 engines.

Quote: "Construction of the fuselage, wing and tail surfaces is easily accomplished. The fuselage framework can be accurately by inserting the longitudinal fuselage members and bulkheads into the notches in the plywood pieces. Use your favourite epoxy glue to adhere the members individually as you assemble the component parts.

The wing and stab are similarly constructed using the plan as full size plan. Install the radio system as indicated on the full size fuselage drawings and the instructions provided with your radio. Spruce pushrods are included in the kit as is the piano wire for servo and control surface attachment. Clevis are not provided in the kit and must be purchased separately.

FUSELAGE ASSEMBLY: Glue fuselage doubler F-2 to the inside of fuselage side F-1. Glue F-3 between the jail ends of fuselage sides F-1s. Insert fuselage bulkheads F-4 through F-13 into the appropriate notches in tie fuselage side F-1 in place. Insert and glue F-14 tapered balsa. 5x mm and 3x6mm balsa stringers into the notches of bulkheads. Glue main gear mount F-16 and F-17 in position. Glue F-15 into the position and plank top and bottom of nose with 3mm balsa sheets.

Glue 3mm balsa sheets to the bottom of the fuselage as shown. Glue F-21 to the front of fuselage and then shape the fuselage corners as follow the F-15. Insert and glue the engien mount F-22 into the holes of firewall F-21 and bulkhead F-11. Glue F-23 to the front of F-21. Glue F-24 to the tail. Glue F-18 through F-20 into the fuselage. Fit the plastic cowling to the fuselage with self tapping screws. Sand the entire fuselage assembly smooth prior to covering. Glue the wind-shield and windows to the fuselage with vinyl cement

STABILIZER AND FIN ASSEMBLY: Glue S-2. S-3 and both S-4 to the S-1 as shown. Glue the 3x6mm balsa stab ribs into the notches in the leading edge and trailing edge members. Round the edges of the stab. and elevator and then sand entire assembly. Attach the elevators to the horizon-tal stab. with hinges and glue the H Stab assembly to fuselage. Glue R-1 and R-2 together, and smooth the stab assembly and rudder with fine sand paper. Place and glue the vertical stab on the center of horizontal stabilizer. Glue F-25 to the root of the V stab. Fit the tail gear to the rudder as shown in the plan. Attach the rudder to the traizing edge of V stab with hinges.

MAIN WING ASSEMBLY: Glue ribs W-1 and eight W-2s in 10 notches in the trailing edge W-3 and ,ading edgy W-4. Place the 5x6mm spruce spar and the 3x3mm sub spar into the notches in the ribs and t en glue each spar webbing W-5 between each rib. Glue wing tip W-13 to the outside rib W-2 and reinforce it with W-14, W-15, W-16 and 6x6rnm balsa stock. Join the wing halves together by gluing W-6 and then glue center -lb W-7 and W-1 (divide front and rear before gluing) to the center of wing. Reinforce the center rib with W-8. Cover the center section as shown in the drawing with 1.5mm balsa. Glue wing tip W-13 to the outside rib W-2 and reinforce with W-14 through W-16. Glue W-17 to the trailing edge. Attach the aileron W-19 and aileron horn assembly. Glue W-18 into place. Glue aileron servo mount W-21 through W-23 into place. Glue W-10 through W-12 to the front cf sub spar. Glue strut holder W-9 to the place. Shape and sand the completed wing assembly prior to covering.

This model can best be finished the heat shrink (iron-on) plastic films such as Solar Film Dr Monokote. The following instructions may be of help when covering your model. The film can easily be applied to your model using a household iron preferably a travel iron, a hair dryer, and an X-Acto knife. Sand the entire model with fine sandpaper to eliminate all surface roughness and any projections. Cover the center section of the wing first then the left and right panels. Cut a piece of film about one inch larger all the way around that the section being covered. Peel the backing sheet and place the film, adhesive side toward structure. Tack the edge of the film all the way around the section being covered. You are now ready to shrink the film. Using a dryer or heat gun, shrink from the center to the outer eases until all wrinkles disappear. Cut away excessive film and seal the edge down with the iron. Glue stabilizer arm fin to the fuselage after trimming the film from the wood areas to be joined... "

Quote: "Here is the smallest (?) Pilot kit for the Piper J3 Cub. I got this kit 1/2 built and plans at a local swap meet. About right for a .30 four stroke engine I reckon. Span 1400mm - 55.1in; Length 880mm - 34.6in; Area 29dm - 440 Sq in; Weight 1500-1600g; 53-57 oz 3.3-3.6 lbs; Load ~18oz per sq ft. Power 19-25 2 cycle glow."

Direct submission to Outerzone.

Update 21/01/2020: Added landing gear drawing as a supplement file, thanks to AntonioPereira.

Quote: "Dear Sir, Enclosed you will find an A3 pdf file with the landing gear details for plans #oz5160. This information is not included in the drawings, so I hacked it myself. I feel that it makes a good supplement to the plans, and I hope it can help others.
Keep up the excellent work. All the best to you, Antonio, Portugal"

Update 27/01/2020: Added decals, thanks to AntonioPereira.

Update 25/3/2023: Added kit review from MAN, June 1982, thanks to RFJ.

Quote: "Field & Bench Review: Hobby Shack's Pilot J-3 Cub. By Donald R Raab.

Our kit reviewer took a slightly different tack, he turned Pilot's J-3 into a true family project and found it easy to build and fly.

As a result of Paul Bender's personal involvement in modeling, Hobby Shack has had success in retailing model aircraft. I recall flying in the Los Angeles area and seeing Paul at the field many times, so I knew right from the beginning that good flyable products were uppermost in Paul's mind.

Recently, Hobby Shack has been importing kits from Japan made by Pilot. The Pilot kits are known worldwide for quality, so I really became enthusiastic when one of them was offered to me to prepare a Field & Bench article. Soon after my discussions with the editor of MAN, a Pilot Quick-Built J-3 Cub arrived at my door, along with an OS 20. Hobby Shack also sent their Aero Sport 4 radio. This radio is offered with models in the Quick-Built Series as a package deal.

My first impressions of the kit were mixed. The packaging was outstanding (everything in baggies, etc), but I took one look at all the parts and thought if they think I can build this quickly, they are out in left field. Because I was skeptical about the quick building claims, I felt this article should take the 'worst case' approach. I asked my 3 sons (ages 12, 10 and 8) to build the plane for me, and to make it more interesting, I told them to build it out of the box.

We all remember our first airplane; we were lucky to have the kit at all and certainly didn't have enough funds to buy a board or other device to ensure a straight airplane. Well, the plane does build quickly, as my sons had the basic framework completed in 9 hours. As can be seen from the photos, the wing was built in my son's lap. I would like to have a wing built that straight on my jig!

Since my sons did most of the work, let them tell you about the parts they each built:

Hi, My name is Philip Raab, and I am 12. My job on the airplane was to build the wing. It was pretty easy. I started out by taking the wing ribs and putting them in the notches where they were supposed to go, then I took rubber bands and put them around the wing while my Dad held it. Next, I took Hot Stuff and put dots of it on the joints, and let them dry. I did the same with the other half of the wing.

After the two parts of the wing were done, my Dad and I put them together at the center. My Dad installed the ailerons while I sheeted the wing. Then, I took Balsarite and twice coated the outside edges of the wing and the center. I sanded the whole thing lightly and my Mom and I MonoKoted the wing. That's how easy it was. This model is for people who dislike hard to put together airplanes..."

Supplementary file notes

Decals.
Instructions sheet, with photos.
Landing gear drawing.
Review.

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