FIRST EASA APPROVED XCUB HEADED TO THE UNITED KINGDOM

The first new European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certified CC19 XCub has now been shipped to Europe from the CubCrafters’ company headquarters in Yakima, Washington. The aircraft, to be placed on the United Kingdom registry as G-OBTO, is the first e

The inaugural customer, Gerhard Oberholzer, who intends to base the aircraft at Fowlmere Airfield north of London states that: “A key purpose of having an aircraft like this is to be able to travel across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland on business, enabling very efficient access to often remote parts of the islands; using the aircraft as a working tool. The XCub, with its higher cruising speed and modern avionics, coupled with an advanced autopilot, made a lot of sense. I am very pleased with where we have ended up.”

CubCrafters was awarded EASA certification for the XCub in 2018 after showing full compliance with all European airworthiness, safety and environmental requirements. The company then followed up the initial EASA certification with a ground-breaking effort to offer Garmin’s non-TSO’d touch screen glass panel avionics to European customers, the only OEM manufacturer to do so in a certified aircraft.

Like all CubCrafters aircraft, XCub delivers superb short take-off and landing (STOL) performance with a larger payload and greater range than other similar aircraft. Combined, these attributes fulfill a much wider mission profile than any other aircraft in this class. The XCub is certified in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and Kenya, with more international certifications planned. CubCrafters’ roots are in the 90-year history of classic Cub-type STOL aircraft but offers products and services that are innovative and completely modern. CubCrafters designs and manufactures Certified, Light Sport and Experimental aircraft that have each redefined expectation of ‘backcountry aircraft’ with light weight, powerful engine options, and breath-taking performance.

For readers’ interest, RAF Fowlmere is a former Royal Air Force station located 4.2 miles northeast of Royston, Hertfordshire and 8.8 miles southwest of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. With the eruption of the Second World War, Fowlmere was intended to be a satellite for nearby RAF Duxford and was used by 19 Sqn with Supermarine Spitfires along with:

• No. 2 Squadron RAF.

• No. 15 Squadron RAF.

• No. 16 Squadron RAF.

My proof-reader Gordon Dyne hired a Piper Archer from there in 2002 for a tour of the Cambridgeshire countryside.