Carbon Cub UL Makes Historic Transatlantic Flight from Idaho to Poland

Aug 11

6 min read

A lightweight bush aircraft is not necessarily the first machine that comes to mind when considering a transatlantic ferry flight. Yet that is precisely what a new Carbon Cub UL has accomplished, completing an extraordinary 6,900-nautical-mile journey from Lewiston, Idaho, to Poland and demonstrating just how far modern light aircraft technology has progressed.

The flight, completed in July 2026, marks the first transatlantic crossing by a Carbon Cub UL and represents a significant achievement for both the aircraft and its powerplant, the turbocharged Rotax 916 iS. Rather than having his newly purchased aircraft dismantled and shipped across the Atlantic, Polish owner Zbigniew Dziubas elected to fly it home. With Gabriel Batkiewicz at the controls, the expedition turned into an impressive demonstration of endurance, fuel efficiency and careful long-distance flight planning.

N21UL departed Lewiston, Idaho, following delivery to Dziubas and embarked on a route that would take it across some of the most challenging terrain and weather environments encountered in general aviation. Over 94.5 flight hours, the Carbon Cub UL crossed the United States and Canada before heading north toward Greenland. From there, the aircraft continued across Iceland and the North Atlantic before reaching the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, eventually arriving in Poland.

What makes the achievement particularly interesting is the aircraft itself. The Carbon Cub UL is fundamentally a lightweight, high-performance utility aircraft designed with backcountry operations in mind. Its natural environment might be an unprepared mountain strip or remote wilderness airfield rather than the North Atlantic. Yet the aircraft's combination of low weight, aerodynamic efficiency and the performance of its Rotax powerplant provided the foundation for the ambitious ferry flight.

The route required considerably more than simply pointing the aircraft east and monitoring the fuel gauges. Flying a light aircraft across the North Atlantic demands careful preparation, constant weather monitoring and a willingness to abandon a planned leg when conditions deteriorate.

That philosophy was demonstrated early in the expedition when deteriorating weather in Canada forced the crew to divert to an alternate airport. Rather than attempting to maintain the original schedule, the crew chose the safer option, an approach that would become particularly important as the aircraft moved into the remote regions of Greenland and the North Atlantic.

Before leaving Canada for the Atlantic crossing, N21UL underwent its first 25-hour oil change. From that point, the expedition moved into an environment where weather, fuel reserves, emergency equipment and diversion options became critical considerations.

The Carbon Cub UL eventually climbed to Flight Level 120 while crossing the Greenland Ice Cap, an impressive altitude for an aircraft of this class. Favourable weather conditions made the high-altitude crossing possible, although the crew subsequently encountered strong winds that delayed their departure from Greenland for Iceland.

The North Atlantic would present the expedition with perhaps its most significant logistical challenge. For the longest overwater legs, N21UL was fitted with an auxiliary belly pod carrying an additional 95 litres of fuel. Combined with the aircraft's 167-litre wing tanks, this increased total fuel capacity to 261 litres.

That additional fuel capacity provided the flexibility to avoid the Faroe Islands. Although a route through the Faroes can break up the North Atlantic crossing, the area can also present strong winds, turbulence and challenging operating conditions. Instead, the Carbon Cub UL was able to make the direct 695-nautical-mile flight from Reykjavík, Iceland, to Wick in Scotland.

The longest leg took six hours and 58 minutes and consumed approximately 158 litres of fuel. The figures highlight one of the most important characteristics of the Carbon Cub UL during the expedition: its remarkably low fuel consumption.

Powering the aircraft throughout the journey was the turbocharged Rotax 916 iS, an engine that played a central role in making the transatlantic expedition possible. The 916 iS combines turbocharging with electronically controlled fuel injection and FADEC engine management. For an expedition involving everything from low-level flying across North America to high-altitude operations over Greenland, the ability to maintain consistent engine performance across a broad range of conditions was particularly valuable.

During much of the flight, Batkiewicz operated the engine at approximately 5,200 RPM and 32 inches of manifold pressure. Fuel consumption averaged between 21.5 and 22 litres per hour, equivalent to approximately 5.7 to 5.8 U.S. gallons per hour.

The aircraft's true airspeed generally ranged from 97 to 100 mph depending on weather and wind conditions. Those numbers may not sound particularly dramatic in an aviation world increasingly obsessed with speed, but they tell a different story when considered in the context of the mission. The Carbon Cub UL was not attempting to cross the Atlantic at jet speeds. Instead, it was exploiting efficiency and endurance to achieve something that would have seemed highly ambitious for a lightweight aircraft.

Batkiewicz admitted that the aircraft exceeded his expectations. “The aircraft pleasantly surprised me,” he said, adding that the engine performed beautifully and the aircraft remained stable throughout the journey.

Perhaps more significantly, the pilot acknowledged that he had initially been sceptical about the Rotax engine. After almost 95 hours of flying across North America, Greenland and the North Atlantic, his opinion had changed considerably.

The expedition provided a real-world test that goes well beyond a manufacturer's performance chart. The engine was required to operate reliably through different altitudes, temperatures and operating environments while the crew continuously managed fuel, weather and routing.

The Carbon Cub UL may be a lightweight aircraft, but the expedition's preparation was anything but lightweight. For the extended overwater sectors, N21UL carried immersion suits, life jackets and a life raft, along with satellite tracking equipment and emergency communications equipment. Alternate airports were continually assessed, while weather information played a major role in determining when the aircraft would depart and when it would remain on the ground.

That conservative approach is particularly important when operating a small aircraft over remote areas. In the event of an engine problem or rapidly deteriorating weather, the options available to a light aircraft can be dramatically fewer than those available to a large commercial airliner.

The decision to wait for suitable weather in Greenland and the earlier Canadian diversion demonstrate that the expedition was not about proving that the Carbon Cub UL could simply endure whatever conditions were thrown at it. Instead, it was about demonstrating that the aircraft could be used for a demanding international mission when combined with disciplined planning and sensible operational decisions.

The journey ultimately covered approximately 6,900 nautical miles and involved eight countries or territories along the route: the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Poland.

For Dziubas, however, the achievement was about more than simply getting a new aircraft from the factory to his home country. The decision to fly the aircraft himself, rather than have it transported by conventional means, transformed a delivery into an adventure that few Carbon Cub owners will ever forget.

The flight provides an equally valuable demonstration of what the Carbon Cub UL can accomplish outside its traditional backcountry environment. Brad Damm, CubCrafters' Vice President of Sales and Marketing, described the flight as a testament to Batkiewicz's planning, decision-making and piloting skills, while also highlighting the aircraft's efficiency and reliability. The significance of the flight extends beyond the headline achievement. It demonstrates that modern light aircraft can combine the characteristics traditionally associated with recreational and backcountry flying with the endurance necessary for serious long-distance operations.

The Carbon Cub UL was designed to explore remote airstrips and rugged terrain. N21UL instead spent nearly 95 hours exploring a considerably larger portion of the planet, including the Greenland Ice Cap and the North Atlantic.

And perhaps that is the most interesting aspect of the flight. Aviation has a long history of proving that an aircraft's capabilities are often limited less by its size than by the imagination, preparation and judgement of the people operating it.