Here's my "Cub"
'n Papa's on the tarmac at Owens Field.....
Shades of the Andrews
Sisters!! Hit the "PLAY" (>) button and enjoy...
"Honey, I Shrunk the
Cub!"
"Honey,
I Shrunk the Cub!"
"Honey,
I Shrunk the Cub!"
"Honey,
I Shrunk the Cub!"
"Honey,
I Shrunk the Cub!"
"Honey,
I Shrunk the Cub!"
By Jeff Cargile
Did anyone notice something very interesting about Papa Cargile's Cub on June 20th...lt shrunk! Or at least it looked like it shrunk, to about l/5 scale. What really happened was little Cub NC29043 finally met full size Cub NC29043.
This story started when Bill Fulmer, an avid Radio Control (R/C) modeler, from Houma, Louisiana saw the story of Papa's Cub in the June 1991 issue of Vintage Airplane. Bill was thinking about building an authentic scale RC Cub. After reading the article and finding Papa through John Baker (Chapter 242, Macon, GA connection), Bill was convinced that he would make it a look alike. He and Papa exchanged letters and photos, detailing all the finer points of his Cub. Papa took photos of the instrument panel, the data plate, aileron horns, rudder horns, N-numbers, lightning bolt, cub caps, struts, control surfaces, landing gear, etc. etc. I said Bill wanted a real look alike.
After several months of work, photos from Houma, LA began to arrive...the little Cub was taking shape. Then Papa got the call...the little Cub was flying the skies of Houma, LA. Well after getting little NC29043 off the ground Bill set his sights on coming to Columbia to see Papa's Cub and take a few photos. Apparently it doesn't matter how big or small airplanes are when they get in your blood, they make you do some unusual things. Bill and his wife Martha, along with his friend Carroll Ledet and his wife Mildred, took a 1300 mile (round trip) road trip to Columbia to take a couple hundred pictures and a lot of video. Bill did all this, knowing that Papa's Cub was temporarily out of service (something to do with an airworthiness certificate, but that's another story).
When Bill and company arrived, they were impressed with everything they saw, Owens Field, the Sport Aviation Group, and Papa's Cub, of course. Papa was equally impressed with the little Cub. The detail on little NC29043 was amazing, right down to the pilot with salt 'n pepper hair and a leather jacket with "Papa" on the pocket. Just because Papa's Cub wasn't flying didn't mean that the little Cub couldn't. So from Owens the group was off to the Jackson Flyers Mini Port, the radio control field at Fort Jackson, and Papa's turn to fly the little Cub, on a buddy box. Bill and his gang were impressed that Papa could fly the R/C model so well, especially since he had never before flown an RC model. Must be that not only does the R/C Cub look like the big Cub...it flies like it, too!!!
If you still don't believe that Bill has duplicated Papa's Cub in miniature, just get Papa to show you some of the pictures. Needless to say, Bill and crew are coming back soon, this time for a longer visit and a flight in the full size Cub. So, if you see a Cub in the pattern that looks a bit smaller than normal, look around for a koonass named Bill Fulmer from Houma, deep in the swamps of Louisiana....
Here's my "Cub"
'n Papa's on the tarmac at Owens Field.....