The Carbon Cub (empty) has a 5 Lb/HP weight to power ratio.....
But hey, I'll be the first to admit I'm biased.

Same ratio as a Bearhawk

But again, I'm biased too!

Wow, what a tough crowd! I'm kinda surprised at the harsh reviews!

I don't think any of the Highlander SuperStol pilots plan on routinely plopping into a volley ball sized rocky area, the demo was obviously just to show what it COULD do suspensionwise, not as a way to actually land off airport. When Steve H. gets his going, we'll get to see it in action and using it's capabilities more appropiately I'm sure. Sure the gear isn't a new concept, but coupled with the other innovative features it makes for an interesting aircraft. I like the 30 gallon tanks plus header, in a airplane with 4 gph consumption it should have some good legs.

And least we forget, it has folding wings! Faced with the need design wise to keep the wing chord narrow enough to still be road legal when folded, they seem to have gotten good low speed performance with the somewhat busier slatted wing and still have the folding feature. Just Aircraft doesn't seem to push this feature at all in their presentations, (when's the last time you've seen a Highlander with the wings folded?) and I don't know why. As a past Kitfox 1 owner, I can tell you it has many practical applications, other then the obvious trailering to the airport, not much of interest there for those of us with our own strips, but here is how I used mine:

On a xc once I got stuck once in Cheyenne, right in front of an approaching thunderstorm with forecast hail. I was told the FBO hangars were all full, advised the wings folded, room was found for me, and yeah the hail did hit so good thing!

Another time, I broke a prop flying off a gravel bar and had to leave the plane for the night (and swim to shore). The tie downs were not really working....but with the wings folded I felt pretty good about still having an airplane when I got back the next day. It was real stable even in high winds, folded.

Then the time I was heading to S. Arizona, but it was totally overcast in SE Idaho, wanting to keep to my schedule I just loaded the trailer and headed S on I-15 and drove until it cleared. Then I stashed the truck at the nearest small airport and took to the air. Quick folding wings is a huge feature, and if I was Troy at these airshow type presentations I'd do the drop and plop and then fold one wing back, that's the way Denny used to show off the Kitfox anyway. I look forward to seeing one do it's thing, Steve will show us what it can do at JC hopefully.

CG, I think you and I are the only two that "got" it.

I agree on the folding wing part too! I love the folding wings on my Avid! Hangars in the area are north of 800 a month for an open ended roof so that precludes me from getting one. I leave the plane at the airport when I am home, but its very nice to take 30 minutes, put it on the trailer and fold the wings and bring it home to put in the garage when I leave for a month to come up here to work. I left mine out at the airport ONE time in the winter and sweated the snowloads.

So far, I have not heard anybody talk about the "fun factor" of flying the Highlander super stol airplane in the way it allows one to fly. The regular old "how short and rough of a gravel bar can I land on" will/has run it's course for some and this "new" type of flying looks like a lot of fun.

I was not much of a believer in a slatted wing until I got the chance to go chase Randy Goza around in his modified SQ-2 on the Knik. I would land a spot, and then watch Randy come in and do the duck and jibe, stand it up on its tail, and stop ACROSS the "cub" strip or ridge I had just landed. My wife and I just sat and giggled in our headsets, it really was a lot of FUN to watch and he and his daughter seemed to be having a good time doing it. He would then just depart from the "parking spot". Once again, there was absolutely no reason to be flying like this, other than for fun, but that was the reason we were flying also.

How many on here actually "Work" their off airport airplane.....?

As was mentioned, the folding wings may not be a big deal to most, but it is really a neat feature for some. My dad puts his kitfox in the hangar under the other airplanes, or he tows it on vacation with us so we have something to fly, or he tows it home to work on it in his shop.

The super stol may be underpowered with the 912S compared to some airplanes, but then again, there are several options out there for more power. The Carbon Cub can be powered by an O-200 or the stroked 340 so I don't see much of a difference.

And from what I have seen, they advertise the gear as a safety feature, although we all know that if we had the chance to fly the airplane, we would use that gear for more than just the occasional engine out into an unknown field below.

I think it is really intriguing to see a company stepping out and trying something new, like the gear. Anybody that comes from the offroad world, can't help but be drawn to what they are trying to do with that gear, using shocks, valving etc. Somebody on the scub.org sight mentioned that it seemed to lean a lot on the ground when taxying. I'm sure that with some valving work, or the option to use a double/triple bypass shock, that can all be tuned out......or how about a sway bar.......or is it even an issue?

I guess my point is, when you compare off airport aviation to any other form of motorsport, it is still in it's infancy, using mostly old technology. It is good to see companies trying to be innovative and further the SPORT of off airport flying.

courierguy wrote:Wow, what a tough crowd! I'm kinda surprised at the harsh reviews!

Interesting observation.... I didn't think anyone was being harsh or critical, just weighing in opinions (and you know how much those are worth ) on the merits based on their particular mission....

I have always maintained that the best way to be happy with an airplane ( or airplane part for that matter ) is first match the mission, then match your flying style / habit, then match your budget... Pretty simple really... For some it's floats, for others ... Folding wings...


Slats are cool... A good friend has a set of carbon fibre slats on his hot rod, 600#, J3. We fly for fun, and we know how to have fun flying ... At the end of the day, he is not offended that I can honestly say his airplane doesn't fit me, nor am offended that he doesn't drool over my cub. He routinely does complete stop and goes in half the distance I need just to go! Yet I am not offended, and I routinely out haul, out cruise, and out last him in the air, and oddly enough, he is not offended by that either...

And the coolest part of all this... We both dig each others airplanes, even though they don't fit 'our' personal mission profile...

Freedom of choice, freedom of opinion ... Ain't it grand....

By the way... That really is a cool little airplane, but I like Blu's better


Oh and one more 'factoid' for the record, if you cut that cool little airplane apart, you could put it in Randy Goza's SQ2 and haul it away (the whole thing in a single load) and it would still get off the ground shorter than most anything out there.... Now that's my idea of an airplane...

I've been too busy building my new SuperSTOL to be on here much. I'm trying to have it done before the JC events this June.
I fly for fun and the "fun factor" in this plane is off the chart! It can be landed any way you want, not just chop and plop, although that is a really fun way to land it. I can hardly wait to discover it's potential! It is incredibly forgiving and that is a good thing no matter what your skill level.
I totally agree with Greg about three point landing in really rough places, it's a real quick way to destroy the back end of an airplane. I almost never do a three point landing for several good reasons. This airplane also has a shock on the tailwheel and it makes a huge difference in reducing impacts thru the TW. As much as I dislike three point landings I'm sure I will choose to do some in this cool plane.
This new SuperSTOL is not new ideas but it is a really good job of putting some cool old ideas in a new package.
I should be giving demo flights in mine in a couple of months.

Steve Henry
Wild West Aircraft