29th Annual West Coast Cub Fly-In

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photo: Frank Bowlin

Nearly 100 Piper Cubs flew in to the annual West Coast Cub Fly-In at Lompoc Airport July 12-14. Over 100 planes registered, with the majority of them being Cubs. There were also a few poseurs with the odd assortment of Taylorcraft, Champs and eclectic homebuilts, including a modern Van’s RV in Cub colors, right down to the bear cub emblem on the tail.

This Cub Fly-In is patterned after fly-ins of decades past, in that it’s a very low-key weekend centered around the sheer joy of flying. The planes in attendance represented the broad range of aircraft called “Cub,” from various J- and PA- models all the way through to modern Legend and Cub Crafters aircraft. The rarest in attendance this year were three J-5s, but J-2s and J-4s have regularly attended in previous years.

The pace of the weekend befit that of a Cub, with arrivals officially starting on Thursday and the organized events starting with dinner. Arrivals continued on Friday and the day ended with dinner. Saturday featured the flour-bomb drop and the spot landing contest. The final official flight event of the weekend was the group flight over to the coast to circumnavigate Point Conception lighthouse in formation. Saturday was capped off with the awards dinner in the evening, following an old-time Hollywood theme.

Events like this are the grass roots of general aviation and continue to keep the spark alive in a time when new pilot starts and aircraft production are at new lows.

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