Jim Richmond, the founder of CubCrafters, passed away\npeacefully on Sunday at his home in Yakima, Washington. He was surrounded by loving\nfamily and will be missed greatly by family, friends, customers, and coworkers\nalike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both Jim Richmond and CubCrafters, are names that are\nsynonymous with new innovation in backcountry aviation. Richmond started the\ncompany in 1980, and although he had retired from its day-to-day management in\nrecent years, he continued to be active in managing the strategic and creative\ndirection of the company until his death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A true visionary, Jim saw the possibilities in modernizing\nthe iconic Piper Super Cub with current design and manufacturing techniques for\nbetter performance and safety. In the four decades since he founded the\ncompany, CubCrafters has manufactured a fleet of around 1500 new aircraft and\nrebuilt or restored countless others for customers all over the world. The team\nthat Jim built in the rural Washington State community of Yakima developed\nseven different models of aircraft over the years, both certified and experimental,\nalong with dozens of STC\u2019s and many other advancements to benefit the General\nAviation community. The most recent aircraft added to his legacy is the\nnosewheel equipped XCub, an airplane that allows true backcountry access to a\nwider range of pilots than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCubCrafters is truly a family. Our employees, customers,\nand affiliates all feel Jim\u2019s loss,\u201d said Pat Horgan, current company President\nand CEO. \u201cIn everything we do moving forward, Jim will be with us. It was his\nstated intention that CubCrafters would continue as the market leader in the\ndesign and manufacture of the best backcountry aircraft in the world. Both\nJim\u2019s family and the CubCrafters leadership team are fully committed to\ncontinue growing the aviation legacy that Jim started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n