By Budd Davisson, EAA 22483
This story originally ran in the March/April 2020 issue of Vintage Airplane.
How long does the average airplane family keep and fly a given airplane? That’s a good question, but even the FAA’s monster computers can’t give an accurate answer. However, when we hear someone has had the same airplane for 20 years or so, we think that’s a long time. Then there’s the Montambo family: J-3 Cub NC1502N came to live with Ray Montambo in 1951, and while he loved the airplane and flew its wings off, it’s unlikely that he could have envisioned that his son, grandson, and great-grandson would all still be flying it 69 years later.
To keep all the characters in this tale straight, I’ll list them here in chronological order: Ray Montambo (deceased); Roger (current owner), 75; grandson Ryan, 47; and great-grandson Andrew, 18.
The Cub Saga Begins
Roger, who currently owns the Cub, shared its early history.
“Clyde Smith Jr. confirmed that there were only 148 Cubs manufactured in Ponca City, Oklahoma, after NC1502N was produced, which ended the run of the J-3 Piper Cub there,” he said. “Cubs from Ponca City had the aluminum spar, and the lightning bolt stripe did not extend onto the metal boot cowl because the enamel paint on the boot cowl was incompatible with the nitrate/butyrate process.
“Dad bought the Cub in July 1951 for $600 from another local Michigan UP pilot who had paid $1,995 for it when new, which was only four years earlier in May of 1947,” Roger said. “When Dad asked the seller why the price was so low, he said this is what they were going for at the time, shortly after the war. That’s about $6,000 in today’s dollars. So, comparably speaking, that meant new Cubs were apparently going for around $2,000 in 1947, or $20,000 in 2020 dollars. Still a bargain.”
Roger said that when he was a kid, he was constantly riding along with his dad, and they often took friends along, with both sitting in the rear seat. He said this was probably the first and only time many of his friends would ever fly in any aircraft.
“We had skis, so we could fly it pretty much year-round,” he said. “On one flight, we left the Stambaugh Airport to fly around the frozen winter lakes and returned mid-afternoon. However, what was 3 to 5 feet of frozen snowpack when we took off had changed, and the ‘crust’ was no longer the crust we’d seen earlier. The plane broke through and sank up to its belly, but nothing was hurt. It did, however, take two toboggans to get it back on the top of the snowpack so we could push it back in the hangar.”
In the early ’70s, the airplane was vandalized and the cover was cut in multiple places, making it no longer airworthy, so it sat in the hangar for a number of years.
“Dad always intended on re-covering it, but his health was starting to go downhill and he couldn’t get at it,” Roger said. “He had the interest to fly but was not physically capable. At the time I was in my early 30s and started bugging him to let me bring the airplane home with me so I could re-cover it. At first he balked, but in 1976 as his health deteriorated, he finally gave in and gave me the airplane. I brought it home and a friend, Marvin Hoeft of Frontenac, Minnesota, and I got it back in the air in 11 weeks, in time for the EAA convention.
“By then my son, Ryan, was 5 or 6 years old, so he was constantly flying with me on short cross-country flights to local fly-ins and such,” he said. “I’d give him the heading, and even though he couldn’t see over the panel, he’d do his best to hold it. While living in Red Wing, Minnesota, we simply left the wheels on and we’d land on Lake Pepin [wide area of Mississippi River], where snowmobilers had made the track flat and packed, allowing an aircraft to easily land on wheels. It was common to see frozen fish in the clear ice, which had us wondering how they allowed themselves to let that happen.
“There were a few times when the thought about getting a faster airplane for cross-countries crossed my mind, but they weren’t serious thoughts,” Roger said. “Yeah, speed was neat, but I just didn’t have the urge.”
While a Cub is generally a local sightseeing bird, they often give in to the natural urge to be with their own kind. It’s the birds-of-a-feather thing, so they are drawn to Oshkosh, among other gatherings of the clan.
“In the mid-1970s, while living in Minnesota, we took the airplane to the EAA convention on many occasions, accompanied by close family friends. The men would fly the plane while the ladies would drive a car with all the kids and enough camping gear to last at least four or five days. Everyone enjoyed it then as much as we do today. We love meeting people with common interests, whether they’re grown-ups or children. However, while we don’t take the Cub as much as we used to, we’ve still made it there and camped out around 20 times. Ryan now brings his family, and they’ve attended about seven times.”
The Third Generation Takes Over
Ryan, the grandson, detailed the Cub’s second restoration.
“Dad completely rebuilt the airplane again in 2016, more or less in preparation for AirVenture’s 80th celebration of the Cub,” he said. “It’s hard to believe that it had been 40 years since they last rebuilt it, but this time they went for authenticity in all the details. The last time it was done I was 5 or 6 years old, but this time I appreciated what was being done. While the last time it was just the yellow airplane that had always been part of my life, this time around I recognized it for the icon that it is and realized that details count when you’re restoring what is basically a piece of history. At the same time, Dad wanted to bring it up to modern times in regard to safety and usability, so it received safety harnesses for both seats, Grove disc brakes, and a shielded ignition.”
Ryan, who lives in Charlotte and is active in Chapter 309, now has the airplane. He loves giving other members rides and converting them to tailwheel flying.
“I give as many rides as I possibly can to members who have often expressed concerns about the whole tail wheel thing,” he said. “They don’t admit it, but their apprehension is obvious. They have a maybe-I’ll-do-it-someday attitude. So I go out of my way to talk them into taking a ride or two with me. Usually that’s all it takes to light up their interest, and they often go ahead and get an endorsement. When they do that, it widens their view of sport aviation to include a lot of types that they’d never considered in the past. Plus, there are a number of local Cub rebuilders, so the type is well represented in the area.”
Going to AirVenture for the Cub’s 80th anniversary was a special experience for Ryan and his son.
“My son, Andrew, first started going to Oshkosh when he was 4 or 5 years old, but in 2017, when he was 15, we took the Cub to the 80th anniversary bash at AirVenture, and the flight itself was an adventure,” Ryan said. “The round trip from Charlotte took 27 hours and 23 fuel stops, but it’s hard to describe what it was like arriving at Oshkosh as part of the mass EAA Cub arrival gaggle organized by Steve Krog of Hartford, Wisconsin. There were 80 reservations made and about 43 Cubs ultimately involved, and we were right in the middle of them. The goal was 80 aircraft to coincide with the Cub’s 80th anniversary, but weather in Oshkosh was a limiting factor for many. It was simply an amazing experience to see that many Cubs in one place and to be part of a monumental celebration. Even though we had both been to AirVenture many times in the past, this is one that will stand out in our memories for the rest of our lives.”
Andrew, who is now a freshman at Kent State in its professional pilot program and being exposed to all aspects of aviation, still loves flying the Cub.
“He soloed it in 2018 and got his PPL in May 2019,” Ryan said. “There’s a good possibility he’s going to want to take the Cub to Oshkosh this year on his own. We’ll see. We know that is going to happen. We just don’t know for sure when. The truth is that the airplane will eventually be his, and that figures into all of the thoughts about the airplane. It’s also worth mentioning that although Andrew applied for the Ray Foundation Scholarship, he did receive one of two $2,500 grants from EAA Chapter 309 in Mooresville, North Carolina, allowing him to finish his license and making the EAA trip a possibility.”
The Fourth Generation Makes Its Appearance
Andrew, the great-grandson, can’t remember a time without the Cub in his life.
“When I was younger, other than flying, a lot of my time was spent at tae kwon do. I also did a lot of remote-control driving and flying of models,” he said. “My earliest memories of the Cub are flying to Lincolnton County Regional Airport and back to Bradford to get popcorn and gas at the airport. I don’t remember my first time ever flying in the Cub because I was so young and have been doing it since I was big enough to fit a headset on my head.”
Despite being the fourth Montambo to fly the Cub, Andrew, the great-grandson, experienced a family first in the airplane.
“After flying with my dad for my whole life, I finally soloed at age 16 in the Cub, the first in the family to do so,” he said. “I wasn’t that nervous because I had been doing it for so long and was well prepared. However, as I was climbing out I noticed how much better it climbed without the extra weight of another passenger. The next thing I felt was pure joy realizing that I was actually doing this all by myself. It was a really good feeling. Turning final, I was a little nervous about how the landing would go, but I was mostly excited to feel the difference without anyone else in the plane.”
Andrew also has fond memories of his trip to AirVenture for the aircraft’s anniversary.
“My trip to the 80th Cub anniversary was the very best flight of my life,” he said. “Flying low and slow across the country is a much different experience than any other type of flying. Although it took a long time to get to Wisconsin, it was never boring. It was cool to see everything from the sky with the doors open and cruising at about 65 mph. When we were inbound to Oshkosh as part of the gaggle, I was watching the airplanes in front of and behind us and was excited to land at Oshkosh.
“On the ground, it was a cool experience to be with all the other Cubs, knowing they had just taken a journey similar to ours to get there,” Andrew said. “I was busy taking pictures and watching the other Cubs around us. It was fun listening to the Cub chatter on the radio while landing, and it was even more fun to be camping with the other 43-plus, including those that were not able to join the core Cubs in a big group.”
Andrew said that although the airplane won’t be his for a long time, he knows he will ultimately be responsible for it. He said that when the time comes, he’ll be ready to care for it, as he knows it’s part of furthering a family tradition and taking care of a historical icon.
A Cub for the Ages
Granddad Roger summed it up well when he said, “I don’t see any reason that this Cub, with all the work done to it, cannot last another 70 years. Many airplanes older than Cub NC1502N continue to fly today. They look much nicer than new and are probably a lot safer due to the love and care that goes into their restoration by their respective caretakers.”
Another 70 years down the road, the “respective caretaker” in this case will undoubtedly be a Montambo. And given what NC1502N has experienced in the last 70 years, it is reasonable to think it could be one of the first airplanes to be owned by the same family for 150 years. That sounds bizarre, but is it?