I will relate a Cub story, which was told to me by a friend of the pilot involved, with no added embellishment, apparently.
A keen young aviator (pilot X ), tired of the assorted tin-ware of his flying club, decides to extend his aeronautical capabilities to include tail-draggers, and in short order, gets checked out and signed off.
His happiness is complete when shortly after, the club acquires a newly-rebuilt and very smart Super-Cub, so pristine in appearance, that the word ‘Super’ hardly does it justice. As is the way with a new toy, it is jealously guarded, and it seems that the CFI will never allow the cherished machine to be mauled by less tutored hands than his own.
Eventually, though, weeks of pleading and persuasion pay off, and our pilot is finally checked out on the Cub, to the satisfaction of all. However, he soon tires of circuits, and hatches a plan to go a bit further afield, not to some humble farm-strip, but a proper airport, where being a pilot actually means something. The CFI listens to this plan with grave suspicion, his unease barely concealed, yet he cannot state a particular reason why this flight should not go ahead.
No sooner said than done, charts appear, lines are drawn, frequencies checked and all systems go. A final plea by the CFI to take a Cessna instead of the Cub falls on deaf ears, and before he can think of any more objections, he is watching the Cub fade to a distant speck. As it happens, the flight goes without a hitch, a beautiful landing is achieved, and the little Cub is admired by all, as it taxies in to park in front of what passes for a terminal.
Glowing with satisfaction, our pilot goes through the formalities of arrival, and decides to reward himself with a visit to the cafe, the large window of which overlooks his parking spot. As he reclines, tea in hand, he has time to appreciate the hustle and bustle of this busy place, so different from his dozy club. Aeroplanes large and small taxy past, and a large turbo-prop moves onto the apron opposite his Cub. All around, planes are moving……including the Cub. Slowly at first, but with gathering speed, the runaway aeroplane expands in his view, approaching backwards to almost the very window where he sits. Paralysed with horror, he can only gape as, with a muffled thump, the rudder crunches into the side of the building.
SCENE 2
A busy day draws to a close at a small country airfield, and aeroplanes disappear into hangars. A taxi approaches the flying club, and draws to a halt. The CFI, recognising the figure emerging from the taxi, steps out of his office and greets him, remarking that he had not realised pilot X had already returned from the trip, and then inquiring how it had all gone. Hesitating to reply, the pilot goes to the rear of the taxi, and from the boot pulls out a very mangled rudder. The exact response of the CFI is not recorded, but is open to speculation!
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