Overview

The Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser is a three-seat, fabric-covered taildragger that Piper built from 1946 to 1948 as its first post-war airplane aimed at personal touring rather than training. It descends from the prewar J-5 Cub Cruiser, stretching the Cub formula to seat a pilot in front and two passengers side by side on a rear bench. A 100 hp Lycoming O-235-C turns a fixed-pitch propeller at 2,600 rpm, and two 19-gallon wing tanks give it 38 gallons of fuel, roughly double a stock J-3. Cruise runs about 91 knots and the service ceiling reaches 12,600 feet. The configuration earned the type its name in 1947, when two PA-12s called the Flying Cubs circled the globe.

Within the Cub lineage the PA-12 is the cross-country member: it carries more people and more fuel than the two-seat J-3 or PA-11, and trades the bush-focused power and flaps of the later 150 hp PA-18 Super Cub for a calmer touring brief. Buyers today are vintage-taildragger owners who want a third seat and the range to travel in a classic Cub, and many fit larger engines, flaps, and tundra tires to push the airframe toward backcountry work the stock 100 hp version does not quite reach. It cross-shops against other postwar touring taildraggers such as the Cessna 170, though it stays lighter and simpler. Where the two-seat J-3 and PA-11 stop, the PA-12 keeps going: a third seat, 38 gallons against roughly half that in a stock J-3, and the 800-pound useful load to carry a small family and a weekend’s gear over 520-nm legs. It is the Cub for the owner who wants to travel in one, not only fly locally.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Three seats in a Cub-sized airframe. Pilot in front, two-place rear bench: the PA-12 carries a third person where the J-3 and PA-11 stop at two.
• Touring range and fuel. Two 19-gallon wing tanks hold 38 gallons, about double a stock J-3, extending legs to roughly 520 nm.
• Real load-hauling for a Cub. An 800-pound useful load lets the PA-12 carry three people, or a pilot and serious gear, well beyond what the lighter two-seat Cubs manage.
• Round-the-world pedigree. Two PA-12s circled the globe in 1947 as the Flying Cubs, evidence of the reliability and range that separate it from the trainer Cubs.
• Backcountry upgrade path. The airframe accepts larger engines of 150 hp and up, flaps, and tundra tires, letting an owner move it toward Super Cub capability.

Trade-offs

• Tight rear bench. The two-place rear seat is sized to the Cub’s narrow fuselage, so two adults sit shoulder to shoulder.
• Awkward cabin entry. Reaching the front seat means working past the door post and structure, a vintage-Cub quirk.
• Modest stock performance. The standard 100 hp version has no flaps and needs more runway than a Super Cub, and it floats on landing if the approach speed is not held down.
• Fabric airframe upkeep. The covering lasts roughly 20 to 30 years before a labor-intensive recover; a recent recover adds materially to value.
• Limited cruise speed. At about 91 knots it stays slow against metal touring singles like the Cessna 170.

See Also

• Piper J-3 Cub – the 65 hp Cub icon the Super Cruiser grew out of, two seats and local range against the PA-12’s three seats and touring fuel. Compare
• Piper PA-11 Cub Special – the refined 90 hp two-seat Cub, the smaller sibling for a buyer who does not need the third seat. Compare
• Piper PA-18 Super Cub – the 150 hp bush workhorse the PA-12 is often modified to imitate, a step up in power and STOL performance. Compare
• Cessna 170 – a postwar metal-and-fabric touring taildragger, a direct vintage cross-shop with more cabin and speed at higher weight. Compare
• Aeronca 7AC Champion – a contemporary fabric taildragger from the same era, the lighter two-seat alternative for vintage buyers. Compare