Piper L-21B Super Cub

Single engine two-seat glider tug.

In 1975 the Belgian Air Force acquired six former Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Royal Netherlands Air Force) Piper L21B Super Cubs for use by the Belgian Air Cadets. Contrary to the gliders the Piper Cubs are not the property of the Air Cadets and are exclusively flown by Belgian Air Force personnel. The aircraft are the responsibility of MCVZ/CMVV (Militair Centrum Voor Zweefvliegen / Centre Militaire de Vol à Voile) based at Goetsenhoven and report to No 1 Wing Training at Beauvechain. During the active gliding periods the aircraft are mainly based at Bertrix and occasionally, but can also be deployed to other bases where no winch (used to get the gliders airborne) is available. In the early period of operation the Super Cubs were painted in camouflage with day glow nose, tail and wingtips, but later the aircraft got a white paint scheme with orange engine cowling, wings and vertical tail plane.
In 2000/2002 all the remaining Super Cubs received a major overhaul, during which brand new fuselage frames, new wings and more powerful 180 HP engines were fitted. In reality the L21B's were replaced by new Super Cubs, where only some parts of the old aircraft were transferred to the new fuselages. The "new" Super Cubs are easily identified by their rounded aft window compared to a square one on the earlier models.

Picture