Aces High Cuby Explained

The Aces High Cuby is a family of Canadian single engine, high wing, strut-braced, light sports planes with conventional landing gear that was marketed for homebuilding by Aces High Light Aircraft of London, Ontario.[1] [2] [3]

The aircraft design was available in two versions, the single-seat Cuby I and side-by-side two-seat Cuby II. Aces High went out of business in the 1990s and the kits are no longer available.

Development

The Cuby fuselage is constructed from welded 4130 steel tubing, covered with aircraft fabric. The wings are built around an aluminum spar and D-cell and also fabric-covered. The conventional landing gear includes bungee-suspended main wheels and a steerable tail wheel.

The controls are conventional three-axis, with no flaps fitted to the wing. The aircraft were available as kits or as completed aircraft and were designed to look and fly similarly to a Piper J-3 Cub. The kit price for the Cuby I was US$11,350, including the propeller and 280NaN0 Rotax 277 engine.

The Cuby II features a 380NaN0 wide cabin and a large baggage compartment behind the side-by-side seats. The aircraft was certified and put into production in Hungary for sale in Europe. In North America the Cuby II was sold for US$15,662.76, complete with propeller, 500NaN0 Rotax 503 powerplant, paint and fabric in 1988. Available options included folding wings, floats and an agricultural spray kit.

Reviewer Ken Armstrong, flying the Cuby II prototype with the 420NaN0 single carburetor version of the Rotax 503 said:

Variants

Cuby I
  • Single seat, standard engine 280NaN0 Rotax 277, qualified as a US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicle with an empty weight of 2500NaN0 and as Canadian basic ultra-light, advanced ultra-light or amateur-built aircraft[4]
    Cuby II
  • Two seat, standard engine 500NaN0 Rotax 503, qualified as a US amateur-built and Canadian basic ultra-light, advanced ultra-light or amateur-built aircraft. More than 200 completed and flying.

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Cliche, Andre: Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide 8th Edition, page B-13. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001.
    2. Armstrong, Kenneth: Choosing Your Homebuilt – the one you will finish and fly! Second Edition, pages 163–165. Butterfield Press, 1993.
    3. Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter – Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, page 89. BAI Communications.
    4. Web site: Listing of Models Eligible to be Registered as Advanced Ultra-Light Aeroplanes (AULA) . 2009-10-01 . . September 2009 . dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090429055829/http://home.att.net/~jbaugher1/f4_41.html . 2009-04-29 .