Departure
88%
vs 95% ▼ 7
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
The CubCrafters CC19 XCub is an American two-seat, high-wing backcountry aircraft built by CubCrafters of Yakima, Washington, introduced in June 2016 as an all-new, from-the-ground-up successor to the company's Carbon Cub line. Combining STOL capability with genuine cross-country speed and range, it was developed to satisfy adventure pilots who want an aircraft equally at home landing on a gravel bar or covering hundreds of miles at a fast cruise. Its lineage traces back to the 1949 Piper PA-18 Super Cub, though the XCub shares no interchangeable parts with the original design.
The CubCrafters CC19 XCub is a light, single-engine, two-seats-in-tandem aircraft with a V-strut-braced high wing, produced by CubCrafters of Yakima, Washington. Supplied complete and ready-to-fly, it is offered with either fixed conventional (tailwheel) landing gear or, as the NXCub, tricycle gear, and can also be fitted with floats. It traces its lineage to the 1949-vintage Piper PA-18 Super Cub but is a wholly original design, sharing only general size and appearance with the classic Cub family.
The XCub is a development of the CubCrafters Carbon Cub EX, incorporating higher performance and even more carbon fibre in its structure. It was developed in secret over a six-year period from 2010 to 2016 and was not publicly announced until FAA FAR 23 type certification had been completed; the certification process was funded entirely from company internal resources, with no venture capital, loans or customer deposits involved. FAA type certification for day and night visual flight rules was granted on 2 June 2016, and by the time of AirVenture that July the company had already sold 20 aircraft. The CC19-180 received EASA type certification on 17 December 2017, followed by certification in Canada and Japan in August 2018. On 26 March 2019 the aircraft was additionally certified by the FAA in the primary aircraft category. In July 2019 a more powerful CC19-215 variant was introduced, and in 2020 CubCrafters certified the NXCub, a tricycle-gear version of the same airframe. The design also underpins CubCrafters' Builder Assist programme for Experimental/Amateur-Built completion, and from July 2025 the XCub and NXCub have been offered as full kits that can be shipped to a builder's own workshop.
The XCub features a V-strut-braced high wing, a two-seats-in-tandem enclosed cockpit accessed via doors, fixed aluminium sprung landing gear and a single tractor engine. The airframe is built from welded, CNC-milled 4130 steel tubing, with flying surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. The wing spans 34.3 ft (10.5 m) with an area of 174.8 sq ft (16.24 sq m) and carries flaps; controls are driven by torque tubes rather than cables, with the aileron tubes running inside the wing struts, giving a tighter, more precise feel than the pulley-actuated ailerons of the traditional Super Cub. The standard powerplant is a 180 hp (134 kW) Lycoming O-360-C1 (CC363i) four-stroke engine driving a Hartzell Trailblazer composite constant-speed propeller. A 215 hp (160 kW) Lycoming IO-390 (CC393i) engine paired with a three-bladed Hartzell Pathfinder propeller was introduced in July 2019 for the CC19-215, requiring a revised cowling and baffles. Empty weight is 1,216 lb (552 kg) against a gross weight of 2,300 lb (1,000 kg), for a useful load of 1,084 lb (492 kg). Fuel capacity is 49 to 50 gallons of avgas. An XCub or NXCub can be converted between conventional and tricycle gear with additional parts, a task that two people can complete in around four hours.
Demonstrated takeoff and landing distance at maximum gross weight is just 170 ft (52 m), underlining the type's STOL credentials. In level flight the CC19-180 has shown a true airspeed top speed of 153 mph; at a more economical 120 mph true airspeed, fuel burn drops to 6 gph or less, giving around eight hours of endurance from a full 50-gallon tank, while cruising at a traditional Super Cub-like 100 mph extends range to roughly 1,000 statute miles. CubCrafters quotes a cruise of 135 mph with 49 gallons giving an 800-mile range, extendable to over 1,000 miles at a 120 mph economy cruise. Handling has been praised for its precision: the aileron torque-tube linkage removes the slop and adverse yaw associated with the Super Cub's pulley-actuated system, and the aluminium sprung landing gear absorbs touchdown energy far more gently than steel or bungee gear, producing a firm pushback on a bounced landing rather than a sharp rebound. Reviewers have noted that flap deployment brings a pronounced pitch change that requires some nose-down trim to manage, and that the flap-selector handle's release action differs between the first and subsequent notches, taking some getting used to.
The original production version is the CC19-180, powered by the 180 hp Lycoming O-360-C1 engine. The CC19-215, introduced in July 2019, uses a 215 hp Lycoming IO-390 engine with a three-bladed propeller and a revised cowling. The NXCub, certified in 2020, is the tricycle-gear version of the same airframe, available only with the 215 hp IO-390 engine; it can be converted to or from conventional tailwheel gear with additional parts. Beyond the factory-built, FAA Part 23 certified aircraft, the design is also offered through CubCrafters' Builder Assist programme for Experimental/Amateur-Built completion, and since July 2025 as a full E-AB kit for home assembly.
The XCub is aimed at adventure and backcountry flying, combining short-field capability with cross-country speed and range, and is used for everything from rough-strip operations to longer touring flights. Early evaluation flights by AOPA, AVweb and Flying magazine all praised its blend of STOL performance, cabin comfort and cockpit layout, with reviewers highlighting the tremendous operational flexibility available at economical cruise settings. It has become established as a benchmark aircraft in the modern backcountry and STOL flying community, sold both as a ready-to-fly certified aircraft and, through CubCrafters' Builder Assist programme and kit offering, as an Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft.
In flight simulation, the XCub is best known as a STOL specialist, modelled with tandem two-seat cockpits available in either full-glass or steam-gauge instrument configurations. Simulated performance figures commonly quoted include a maximum level-flight speed around 133 knots, a cruise speed near 126 knots, stall speeds around 34 knots (32 knots in ground effect), a climb rate of about 1,500 feet per minute, endurance of six-plus hours and a range of roughly 695 nautical miles. Many simulator pilots find the type demanding at first because its STOL characteristics, particularly flying and landing at post-stall speeds and managing crosswind takeoffs with the tailwheel light or off the ground, differ markedly from more conventional aircraft, but it rewards practice with genuinely engaging short-field and backcountry-style flying, and has developed a following for exactly that kind of flying within simulator communities.