What an interesting craigslist posting for a 1954 Piper Super Cub out of Boise, Idaho: the seller claims this plane was used by its previous owner – the proverbial little old lady – to fly to church on the weekends! He goes on to note it was “….never flown in turbulence,” as one would hope if flying a vintage airplane like this. The wings have already removed for easy transport, but I’m far more interested in chatting with the previous owner than the plane itself. Find it here on craigslist for $35,000 or go here if the ad disappears.
Oh, the stories this plane could tell. I’ve always been fascinated by the solitary wind sock out on the high plains, where owning a plane made more sense as a necessity than a luxury. If you’re handy with an aircraft and have the appropriate licenses, it may actually make more sense to wing to and fro then it would be to pile into a vehicle and drive for hours on end. Case in point: if you want to get to church, it’s easier to fly!
The seller doesn’t elaborate on the story beyond the church route and the wings have been removed, other than to say that the Piper Super Cub hasn’t flown in the last five years. He also notes it’s been in the last owners’ care for 47 years! That’s a seriously long time and paints an even more interesting picture as to who the previous owners were and what their lifestyles were like. Not being nosy – just curious.
In general, I think we can all agree it’s always a good story when an individual holds onto a vehicle for decades upon decades. Not just throwing it away when a new model comes out, or flipping it to make a quick buck. This Piper Super Cub was an investment, and seemingly, a practical one at that for the missus to get to the church on time. Now, the bigger question is this: which church near Boise has a landing strip?
Dad is almost 81 now and still owns a 46 Piper Cub . Doesn’t fly it any more but my nephew does occasionally. It’s completely restored and has a current certificate.He bought it in 63 and I vividly remember seeing him land it the first time in the pasture west of the house. Used it mostly for pleasure,checking cows,and such. He’s thought about letting it go a few times and had some real good offers but just couldn’t pull the trigger. Maybe he has a plan or me and my siblings will have to figure it out eventually.Made me think about what to do with my junk but thats a whole nother can of worms as they say.Wish i could post a picture of it but not that savy with this thing.
There is alot of info missing if he wants anywhere near his asking price. The five years out of service leave a lot of questions about deferred maintenance. I would be very suspect about the condition of the airframe.
Not really. This is a basic plane. Basic gauges, probably no avionics. FAA shows info up to date. 35k is a deal. These are selling at 100k+ mark with full avionics. I browsed one in pieces on the floor for 38k had no fabric on it literally down to its truss frame.
A $100K J3 would be need to be perfect in every way AND include roughly $50 grand worth of avionics. Have seen a few custom jobs that fit the bill, but not stock J3s.
There are plenty of VERY nice Cubs, full restos with good gear and no stories available in the $35-50K range.
Review all of the records on this one, the seller is dreaming.
Cubs are fun little planes. But for this one’s asking price, I’d buy back my old Stinson 108 instead. Room for 4, just as rugged, better performance, great on short strips, etc., etc.
I agree with Nrg8. I’ve seen a lot worse sell for a lot more. On the otherhand, I would go to any number of homebuilt planes for a bit more performance and a lot cheaper maintenance.
New annual all around, punch test, log books up to date?? and the list goes on…Too much money without all the above…..
Another cool find. I hope the naysayers don’t rip on this “it’s not a car barn find”. I recently went up in a friends small plane, a bottom wing, and quite frankly, it kind of sucked. Vision down was severely restricted, but the thrill of flying in a small plane was worth it. It always amazes me, the years these things are. The one I went up in was a 1962, I think. Costs a fortune to restore and update one, I heard, but I’m sure these cost hundred’s of thousands new ( which is why so many older lanes still fly) so you’d be way ahead of the game with this.
Faa n number registry shows it registered to an airport address in Murphy idaho, which makes a lot of sense, given the remote location.
My first flight was in one of these. I think it was in 1950 or 51. I was about 5 at the time.
My first airplane ride was in a J-3 Cub, and I was hooked. I did go on to get to fly, and get a commercial pilot certificate, and then no jobs , too many pilots, life, family, etc. So I was able to kick the habit, because it really is like a drug if you like it. Point being this little Super Cub could really get me back, and I would have to start over in re-hab, I love it!
My dad had a guy that always wanted to trade him the plane for a 1963 GMC dump truck that we had. Mom told him that if he traded, she’d divorce him cause she knew that he would get tipsy drinking with his buddies and try to fly it. Lol. We never did get that Piper cub. Nice memories…
@Joseph Wayne Haddock – I hope she didn’t let him have a car or motorcycle, either.
I see this ending up here in Alaska. There are literally hundreds of Pipers up here that fly deep into the bush. Reliable, easy to fly and pretty tough little planes.
Not a bad price, FAA shows to be certified. As long as the log books are in order this would be a good buy.
A couple of interesting notes on this plane: The CARFAX for planes? NTSB PLANEFAX?
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/NTSB.Aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001213X27359&key=1
https://www.ntsb.gov/about/employment/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=61546&key=0
Owning one of these is not like owning a vintage automobile. Expensive endeavor! Mandatory maintenance, hourly checkups, insurance, storage, more expensive fuel, and of course a pilot’s license to fly the plane, etc….
Ag model, expensive engine repairs (not many 0-290 out there), good potential for corrosion along the entire bottom of the fuselage. Idaho is a hotbed of Supercubs, if this were as good as it appears, it would never have even needed to hit craigslist for this price. It is a good restoration project, with logbooks and a complete appearance, other than the tip bow rash. Tough to come out even on this, but you would have a known plane after the rebuild and that is always worth something. These are fun planes and not difficult to rebuild, just expensive. If it had a 150 horse with 250 hours SMOH, it would be a bargain. 10 years ago I would have taken it on, even at that price.
So….Little old lady, huh? Funny thing about aircraft, there are records which tell the REAL story…
https://www.ntsb.gov/about/employment/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=61546&key=0
and there’s
https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/NTSB.Aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001213X27359&key=1
I guess you don’t work in aviation. Yep it happened, means nothing. It has been fixed and fixed properly. I do a repair and hit the paperwork with my stamp, and said plane falls out of sky due to shotty repair. I’m on the hook. Big trouble. Why do you think log books are book cases? Traceability. One was a stall a 7000 ft, probably didn’t bounce well when it landed, pilot/owner had 50hrs under his belt, the second was 6 inch drift on the runway on a landing and he tipped the nose. So really a long time ago, all public, all fixed without issue. It’s not like a carfax, accessible free info. It would have failed a long time ago. And old lady to church is code for cartel business.
Speaking of log books. TT SMOH, STOH, TTAF, ETC.
Steve, thank you – helpful to get facts, they speak for themselves. So many unsupported claims in so many ads, its great to get help on facts and where to find info. This is one of the reasons I enjoy reading barnfinds, I get to learn and maybe, just maybe – avoid a pitfall.
Yup..don’t work in aviation. Any more. Retired flight test engineer. I dont wear a parachute to work anymore. No disrespect. My point was that the typical “history” provided with a vintage car is hearsay. Aircraft have a lot more public documentation. A super cub that HASN’T been banged up doesnt exist unless its parked next to a Cessna 152 that never had a student pilot on board. Little old ladies do things like tape over the N numbers on some flights. I’ve run my hand over the numbers and found residual stickum….
I live 2 blocks from a from a grass turf public airstrip, W56 and see these on occasion. Kind of fun watching the planes as my BIL has a plane and a private grass turf airstrip on his 4,000 acre farm in Saskatchewan. All I know that they are expensive to own and operate. The best one I heard was his trying to explain to his insurance adjuster the time one of sisters horses chewed up the wings on his plane.
You nailed it. There are no virgins. And yes, I have seen old ladies moor down, peel off the adjusted number sans “stickum”. Funny thing is dust from the neighboring farmer field magically collects on it and well yep them old ladies. I know I’m being optimistic that it’s just looking muddy. But like you say, probably not. This is why I only fix em, not flying or flipping. I tip my hat to your years of experience and variety you have seen.
Nice old airplane! I never flew one of these but I flew IN one. The local IH dealer in my home town used to put skis on his Cub and use it every Christmas to fly Santa Claus in from the north pole. They’d land right on Main Street and all of us rug rats would race to be the first to see Santa. Amazing that no one got hit by the prop. That same J-3 is still in the home town. The owner sprayed crops with it for years. When we learned to fly we had to practice ‘Forced Approaches,’ which are simulated engine failures. Ol’ Scotty had no less than TWO, both after the engine received a full rebuild and inspection by the FAA….
to the 2 “too expensive” comments.
Only way this po bo ever got to fly was thru a “syndicate”. Had 1 for the 40 ft sloop too. A buncha us chip in together can afford nice stuff if we share. (eventually bought the sailboat’n rented it out for cruses. 3 or 4 rentals = free boat 10 mo/yr.)
My dad did the same thing, except his dodge was a “pilot’s club”. What it really was was a kind of a timeshare – Dad would schedule his times to fly and his dues went to pay for maintenance and such on the club’s Cessna 172. Had some good family trips in that airplane, even though it wasn’t that much faster than driving.
Hi MSG. I was in a partnership on a 172. It worked out OK until we had to replace the navcoms. That was a nice $12K touch. I sold my share and within two years the 172 had just one owner, who still owns it today. Airplanes are a lot of fun but it costs a bundle, just to take them off the ground….
Too awesome! That was my ad!!! Sold it in less than 4 hours!!! Long time barnfinds follower!!!!
Assuming the logbooks are good, this is a good price for a PA18. A lot of money for a car, even for many airplanes, but not for what Cubs go for. Even with the accident history and potential for chemical corrosion from a long-past history of ag work. Little old lady? No turbulence? Wasted/untrue words that just detract from the credibility of the seller.
He should be listing how many hours are left on the engine and prop etc. It may well be in need of a full engine overhaul.
Yeah I dunno why you need a full avionics package anyway on a plane like this. Lets pretend that an old lady really did own this plane. She flew the same trip coming and going usually weekly. There is a chance she is a former WAVE. Those ladies during the war would ferry planes from the factories to bases where crews were assigned to fly them to europe and fight in the war, some women actually took them to england. If she did all that she could afford a plane like that with all the flight pay she earned during the war. Maybe she even married a WWII pilot and that is where they ended up together. Yeah I have a great imagination. LOL. That story would sell that plane a lot better. Even with crash repairs completed IAW FAA Regs.
Tell me, please, why are so many people getting hung up on the obviously humorous “little old lady” story? Actually, I laughed when I saw that in the write-up, along with the “never in turbulence” touch.
I agree with Ward and a few others–lots of questions about engine and airframe condition are far more important. And I’d want to know WHY it hasn’t flown in so long.
Airplanes are like yachts. It’s better to have a good friend who owns one rather than own one yourself.
The correct term is FARS as in Federal Aviation Regulations. And a A&P could operate this quite affordably, but still, parts are not cheap.
Theres still some old codgers flying, and still some remote areas where people dont worry about FARS or the FAA,, its just Bob or Sue down at the airstrip but those days are fading.
I know several old pilots and some now RIP who didnt even HAVE a pilots license and flew around just fine. But those days are drawing to a close. Several local airparks were taken over by the govt agencies (Port of Portland) and an edict came down no more unlicensed shenanigans.
My grandfather graduated from Berkeley military air school in 1918 and still have his pilots wings, as well as my dads to remember them both. (WW1 & WW2). Yes, most hippies would be amazed to find out that school started out as a military educational training facility.
(Carpet bombing is 100% effective, The bombs hit the ground every time. It is generally a poor decision to bail out over an area you just unloaded ordinance on, Take offs are optional but landings are mandatory.)
Great barnfind!!! love to see a few planes in the mix.