One Of Only Two WA-Based Planemakers To Hold A PC... Guess The Other One

Quick quiz: what does a small manufacturer of two-place light aircraft, based on the evergreen Piper Cub, have in common with the production colossus that is Boeing?

Apart from dealing with products that have wings, elevators, and a rudder... not a lot. On Monday, though, Yakima-based CubCrafters closed the gap, becoming only the second planemaker to be awarded an FAA production certificate in the state of Washington.

Wolf Caliebe, manager of the FAA's Seattle Manufacturing Inspection District Office (MIDO), Transport Airplane Directorate, presented Production Certificate 722NM to company president Jim Richmond and the entire CubCrafters staff. Also on hand were Senior Aviation Safety Inspector Gregg Ward and Steve Slagle, Aviation Safety Inspector, also of the Seattle MIDO office.

"This is a culmination of months and even years of diligent, focused effort. All CubCrafters employees, partners, and customers can be justifiably proud of this accomplishment," said Earl Barnes, Director – Quality Assurance for CubCrafters. "While we are not yet quite as large as our jet-making friends over in Seattle, we now share a common FAA standard when it comes to quality, safety, manufacturing and the FAA’s view of our ability to build new aircraft repeatedly and to type design."

With the PC firmly in hand, Richmond praised CubCrafters' partnership with the FAA.

"Unfortunately, the phrase 'I am with the FAA and I am here to help' may have come to mean something other than what it does for us here at CubCrafters," said Richmond. "For 27 years now, we certainly have had a close relationship with the FAA. But two years ago we made the specific decision to not only seek this production certificate, but to fully embrace the FAA's guidance, authority and insight into a process that we thought we understood but that in time we came to learn so much more about. The single largest contributor to today's announcement is that partnership."

"One reason Top Cub and Sport Cub are the industry leaders in their respective 'Part 23' and 'LSA' categories is because we have FAA-approved quality assurance oversight governing those programs," Barnes added. "And as exciting as today's news is, the reality is that holding ourselves accountable daily to PC 722NM is just one important part of the aircraft manufacturing and design philosophy that guides us."

Barnes stated CubCrafters raised its own standards in its quest to surpass those set by the FAA.

"Most important, today's acknowledgement by the FAA is a confirmation of the disciplined approach that applies to all aircraft activities here in Yakima: Top Cub, Sport Cub, Super Cub restoration, maintenance, support, parts fabrication and more," he said. "Indeed, CubCrafters earning our PC is just the latest example of our unwavering commitment to the highest standards across the entire company."

FMI: www.cubcrafters.com