Around the World in a fabric covered airplane!

[-Jim G]

Seventy Five years ago a couple of USAAF Veteran pilots were having a discussion about the new Piper Super Cruiser aircraft. The PA-12 Super Cruiser was developed from the J-3 Cub, but with a wider fuselage and a 100 HP engine (the basic J-3 had 65 HP). It also had much greater fuel capacity and a little more speed.


One of these gentlemen claimed that if he had a Super Cruiser, he could fly it around the World! That discussion started the journey. They contacted William Piper with the idea, and Piper donated a pair of aircraft. Lycoming donated the engines, and various other companies contributed to the effort.


Probably the most fun source of information is the four part documentary from the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven, PA, USA: [link]

 

[-Jim G]

A co-worker of mine asked me if I could build a model of the plane that his neighbor had when he was a kid. He didn't know what kind of aircraft it was... I asked if he had any pictures... Turned out to be a PA-12 Super Cruiser, and so I started gathering technical data and plans. I used Piper Factory plans to create this new model.

I contacted the Piper Aviation Museum about this endeavor and they were happy to take detailed pictures of 'the City of the Angels'. With that help we were able to make an accurate picture of that aircraft. While we didn't have success contacting the Smithsonian Institute to get their cooperation, we did manage to find enough pictures on-line to create an accurate model of 'the City of Washington'.

Each time the aircraft landed on their journey, they would paint the name of the place on the starboard side of the fuselages. Each time they landed in another Country, they would paint the National Flag of that Country on the port sides. These are pictures of the City of the Angels in Lock Haven, PA:

 

[mijob]

lovely plane and a nice historical explanation.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

That looks AMAZING!!!

 

[-Jim G]

I have the Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser model in various liveries. The model that this build thread displays is a plane with a similar paint scheme to the World Travelers, but has a bit brighter shade of red. It is an active aircraft that flies in the Netherlands.

 

[-Jim G]

First off I make the two sided pieces. The propeller, tail wheel, and struts all have a precise rectangle drawn around them so that they can be glued precisely back to back. Set these rectangles aside to dry thoroughly. The tires for the main landing gear gets glued to cereal box cardboard at this point.

 

[-Jim G]

The fuselage gets scored, cut out, shaped and glued.

 

[-Jim G]

Reaching through the front of the fuselage, I glue on the windscreen/cabin roof piece,



I shape the wing using my clipboard for the leading edge. I have sanded the edge of my clipboard to a rounded shape and I use this commonly as a shaping tool. Once shaped the trailing edge tabs get glued.

 

[-Jim G]

I glue the wing to the top of the fuselage and I glue the cabin roof to the wing. Then I set a pair bamboo skewers on my clipboard, and weight the wingtips while the glue is drying to set the wing dihedral.



While the wings are drying the vertical tail is glued together and shaped, and the engine cowling is built

 

[-Jim G]

Now the landing gear and wing struts.
the jury struts are peculiar to the PA-12. There is a detail on the model sheet that shows what the jury struts look like. I place a piece of waxed paper over the detail and glue the jury strut assembly to the waxed paper. When the glue is dry, I can peel it off the waxed paper.



Landing gear struts glued on - when they are dry I glue on the wheels.



And finally the wing struts

 

[-Jim G]

As a finishing touch, I put a blob of glue on each of the fuel tank caps. When they are dry I will color them with either a silver, or red marker.

 

[-Jim G]

This is a simple model to build and it is a good choice for a first time modeler. The PA-12 Super Cruiser [link] model is available in 10 different liveries including both of the World Travelers and also models with optional seaplane floats.

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

You did a great job on this project! The planes look AMAZING!!!

 

[mijob]

Nice job Jim.

 

[micahrogers]

Nice work! I love these old planes, they have so much more character than the new 4th, 5th, and newer generation.