How to Draw a Piper Cub J3

A Side View

• 1

  Draw an elongated diamond with the longest tip pointed to the right. At the tip on the right, draw a small mound for the rudder section (the vertical stabilizer). Erase the left side lines of the diamond. Starting with the nose section, add a curving line extending from the bottom point upward and around the left tip. Midway over the top of the nose, connect your line to the top point with a straight slanted line. The straight section is the windshield of the plane. The Piper Cub J3 is a single engine plane, so the tip of the nose holds the propeller while the engine is housed within its front section.

• 2

  Draw the wing, shaped like a thin rectangle, so the left edge intersects the plane at the top point of the diamond. The rectangular wing extends 1/4 above and 3/4 below the top of the plane. The rectangle is slightly smaller in length and half the width of the plane's body. Draw this wing section onto the plane angled slightly to either the left or right. Add semi-circles to the wing's ends since the J-3 model has rounded wing tips.

• 3

  To add the the small rear wings (horizontal stabilizers) coming off the tail section, use the same shape as you did for the wing, only decreased to about half the size. The left edge of these small wings lines up with the right side of the rudder (vertical stabilizer). Place the smaller wings on to the drawing using the same angle the large wings were drawn with. Again, let 1/4 extend over the top and 3/4 below, as you did for the wings. Round off the ends of the horizontal stabilizers.

• 4

  Finish it up! Erase any errant lines and fix what doesn't look exactly correct to you. Add the landing gear, windows, and any designs or color you like. A Piper Cub J3's wheels are located directly below the forward seat and window section. The strut connecting the wheels to the underside of the plane looks like an inverted "V" from the side. Wings are also held in place with struts but cannot be seen from this side view.