Cub Doctor Visits Roundup For Piper Cub Class

Clyde Smith Jr. is the world famous "Cub Doc". The Cub is a small aircraft made by Piper, and no longer in production, though there are many reproductions of the Cub. Clyde's dad was a famous test pilot for Piper Airplane, an engineering supervisor, flight test supervisor. According to Clint Wormer, there aren't many, if any, Cubs that don't have Clyde Smith Sr.'s name on them.

Clyde Smith Jr. learned to fly from his father as a teen. His father taught him to fly an hour every Sunday afternoon. Clyde says he learned more after the lesson. "It was a bit psychological, if you try to rush things, it kind of messes you up." He spent the rest of the week just thinking about what they did during the one-hour lesson, and it had time to sink in. I asked how long it would take to learn to fly a Cub, and he said that someone who has never flown a plane would know a lot in ten hours of flying.

Clyde Jr. went to aircraft mechanics school, and two weeks after he graduated, Piper called him to come to work. They offered him three different jobs, he chose drafting for three years. He got laid off for the Vietnam War, but they called and offered him a job just to keep him there at the company. He worked in data processing, then went into the training center for mechanics. He did that for eight years, teaching service school all over the world till 1982. The company then turned the business over to the "Flight Safety" company, a large company that airline pilots go to. Clyde Jr. spent the following two years at Lockhaven, PA working in customer service. The company moved to Florida, and they wanted him to go and continue his work with the company, but he had no interest in living in Florida. He then began his self-employment career doing his own classes. Later, Piper called him under new ownership in 1988, in Florida, and they offered him an offer he couldn't turn down. They wanted to put the Super Cub, which made Piper famous, back into production. He went and worked two years as a contract employee, so that he was free to go back and forth to Pennsylvania. He helped set up the Super Cub line. The Piper company went bankrupt in 1990. He then moved back to Pennsylvania where he started doing restoration work and consulting. He has been doing seminars like this since 1994, traveling around. He does a class every year in Denver at a factory where they build old airplanes. His class is exclusive to the Piper. The class in Roundup was three full days, with close to twenty students. Clyde touches on all the aspects of the Piper Cub. There are people who have come back to his classes eight times. The class has so information. Starting with the history of Piper, models that were tested and never developed, fabric work, the exterior, and more. Many who take the class feel like they have only scratched the surface.

The Piper is still being made in Florida, but Cub Doc Clyde says they aren't in the same caliber as the old ones. The Piper Cub has been the most copied aircraft. The Cub is so aerodynamic, there have been many copies, but no one has been able to improve on the original. The plane is covered in a dacryon polyester, but originally was covered in cotton. Clyde knows everything about the original cub and he can help people who are looking to restore to the original specs. If they want to win awards with restoration, he is the guy to help them. When being graded for awards, they look at the stitching, ribs, instruments, interior, and many factors go into the original restoration. Two of the Pipers at the Roundup Airport are from the 1940's and they are still flying. The wing design is impossible to beat.

The Cub is small and easy to fly. It goes about 60-90 mph. Can fly for about 5.5 hours before refilling. Just like your car you do regular maintenance. Unlike your car, you can't just jump in and take off, you must do a walk around and maintenance check. You check the oil each time you fly, and drain a little gas out of the tank because they tend to get a bit of condensation, and you don't want any moisture in your tank when you are flying.

The Cub is a very well built and secure plane. It has been great back country aircraft, and is a great way to see the country because it can take off and land in small places. They are great for ranchers.

It can fly as low as 5 feet off of the ground, and as high as 10 thousand feet. You can even fly with the door open if it is hot out. It can carry one to four passengers depending on the model. "It is safer to climb into an airplane and travel than to get into your car and drive." According to Clint Wormer. Landing is the more dangerous than take off. You only need a couple hundred feet to take off, and about twice that for a landing (about a football field). The cub has only five gauges. Clint Wormer, the man who organized the class, and brought the "Cub Doc" to Roundup states that "older planes are not that expensive to have, you just have

to know what you are looking for." Price range would be around 20 thousand dollars. Some people purchase planes on shares with someone else. Clint got into restoration because his father had Piper Cub that local airport employee, Jake Barthule, had bought from Clint's father, and Clint bought it back. They decided to restore it together, and since then, they opened the repair/restoration shop, word got around and a bit of a group formed. According to Clint, Jake Barthule is one of the best restorers, and he is like a hidden gem here in Roundup. Because of Jakes skill with restoration, they decided to do the class in Roundup.

There are many Piper Cub planes around from after the war. People came back and bought them on a war plan. Clyde Jr. and Clint agree that "when the world gets to be too much, the best thing is that getting up in the air, flying is like medicine, the world just goes away for a while."

While most people don't realize that the Roundup Airport is pretty special, it is times like this that you get a glimpse of the asset that it can be to our community. The airport is a popular fueling stop for small aircraft, and has recently had the runway updated. The county commissioners are hoping to get the new water to the airport to increase business opportunity to the airport, and many things could happen in the future. Up, up, and away.