CubCrafters is a family…
“I’m very fortunate that my wife understands my love affair with flight,” says Tom Hanni, who flies his Carbon Cub SS out of Arlington, Washington Municipal Airport (KAWO). The understanding and the love seem to come naturally to both Tom and his wife Susan. Their fathers were both Naval Aviators. Susan’s dad flew the PBY and Tom’s was a fighter pilot, flying the FM2 Wildcat off aircraft carriers. Tom tries to fly at least 120 hours per year.
Somewhat surprising then, is the fact that Tom didn’t get his license until 2002. His first lessons were in a Cessna 172, but as soon as he earned his private license, he took ten hours of dual training in a Champ to receive his tail-wheel sign off. (About 90 percent of his total hours have been spent in tail-wheel aircraft.) In 2003, he purchased an RV4 and joined Arlington’s Blackjack Squadron, where he’s put in over 400 hours of formation time.
In 2007, in a scenario familiar to many pilots, Tom encountered health issues that complicated his FAA certification and led him to investigate LSAs. He first heard about CubCrafters from other pilots in Arlington, and checked them out. “It was immediately clear that CubCrafters was the Mercedes of its class,” he says. With an eye on competing in the Northwest SuperCub Fly-in STOL contest in Concrete, Washington, in March of 2008, he acquired a CubCrafters Sport Cub, in which he subsequently won the first place trophy.
Last August, Tom traded in his Sport Cub for a new Carbon Cub. He opted to upgrade to the Executive Glass Panel (“A must.” he says, “All the information is there at a glance, including true air speed and temperature readings for all four cylinders”) and took delivery in late November.
Tom praises the versatility of the Carbon Cub: “The more things you can do in an airplane, the more fun it is. With the Carbon Cub, I can go cross country, land on beaches…it’s like taking your airport with you.” He continues, “I now have twenty hours in my Carbon Cub SS. The performance is intoxicating. My new passion is off airport landings such as river bars and farm fields. The Carbon Cub SS inspires confidence. When you need less runway to take off then to land the intimidation factor is gone and the fun factor is off the chart.”
Naturally gregarious and fun loving, Tom is always eager for the opportunity to fly with others in formation and to hop around small strips in the Puget Sound area. He’s also very enthusiastic about the CubCrafters community. “It’s a family. The factory is super supportive. I love the owner get-togethers and any opportunity to share time with other CubCrafters enthusiasts.”
When not behind the stick, Tom is behind the steering wheel. He has been a bus driver for Community Transit for over twenty years (he drove an armored car before that), and last year received the Two Million Mile Award from the National Safety Council, in recognition of his extraordinary record of miles driven without a preventable accident.
