Also: Thunderbird/Blue Angel Update, Searey Ice Landing, Apache Deal, Allegiant A320, Arctic Fighters, WestJet, UK Airshow Rules

 

This is not your father’s Super Cub…that’s what CubCrafters says about their new XCub. The XCub is the FAA type certificated aircraft derived from their work with the Carbon Cub LSA and years of Cub-Crafting. CubCrafters says their new XCub is lighter, faster and stronger than any aircraft in its category, and that it provides a larger payload and greater range which results in a much wider mission profile. CubCrafters claims the XCub offers a cruising speed over 145 miles per hour at 75% power, and a useful load of up to 1,084 pounds. It is powered by a 180 horsepower Lycoming 0-360 that drives a Hartzell Trailblazer constant-speed composite propeller. On the night of June 1, someone went up and down rows of airplanes tied down at Merrill Field in Anchorage, Alaska, slashing the tires on 87 of the airplanes. General aviation travel is vital to the infrastructure in Alaska and this act of vandalism is being taken very seriously. The aircraft are grounded until new tires can be purchased and installed, and an individual named Chris Palmer has established a GoFundMe page to collect donations to help the owners of the airplanes get them flying again. The Falcon 9 booster which landed successfully on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean last Friday is back in port ... leaning somewhat but still upright on the autonomous floating landing pad. The rocket flew last Friday, delivering the THAICOM 8 commercial communications satellite into a supersynchronous transfer orbit. But the launch put the Falcon 9 near its design limit for a landing, both in terms of speed and stress on the legs used to support the booster after touchdown. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!