Light Painting CubCrafters XCub N920RS

I had three amazing light painting opportunities while attending EAA’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, and one of them was CubCrafters XCub N920RS! This was the first time that I’ve light-painted aircraft during AirVenture, and I certainly hope it’s not the last! How this project came about is a great story all by itself!

I met Ray & Melisa Fowler before the Wednesday night fireworks show. Long story short, that night, they allowed me, and our good friend Wayne Nolden, to light paint a very special aircraft of theirs, a P-51D Mustang named “Old Crow”. That stunning image is now complete (test prints are ordered)! Now, I’m in the process of writing the story about that cool project. Ray and Melisa are going to supply me with some information and photographs for that story. We should be sharing it with you soon.

Old Crow getting prepped for light painting at AirVenture 2025.

Ray is getting Old Crow prepped after taking the tarp off for the light painting.

After the P-51 light painting photography concluded, I mentioned to Ray and Melisa that I’d be happy to do another project that week if they would like me to. The next morning, Ray texted me and asked if it had to be a Warbird? I told him I was game for whatever aircraft they would like me to light paint.

They had just become dealers for CubCrafters, and they were demoing aircraft at nearby Hickory Oaks Campground. Ray was thinking of how cool it would be to have one of them light-painted for promotional purposes. After I closed up my light painting booth for the night, I headed over to the campgrounds. That’s when we decided that XCub N920RS would be the project that night!

Light Painting at Hickory Oaks Campground

Ray and Melisa were assisting CubCrafters at the site. Melisa was answering questions, and Ray was up in the air with potential buyers taking their test flights. I enjoyed watching all of the activity while sitting in the shade with a bottle of water. It was nice to just do nothing for a few minutes during a very hectic (and hot) week at AirVenture.

After Ray’s last test flight, he placed N920RS safely out of the way of the other airplanes so I could light paint it once it got dark. We talked about the setup, and then, he and Melisa left for another appointment.

Behind-the-scenes of the light painting ting camera setup for XCub N920RS.

Here’s the behind-the-scenes look from my iPad Pro and camera’s perspective.

The sky was changing very quickly that night, so I sat on the back of our Honda Odyssey, “The Enterprise D”, taking sky photographs for about 45 minutes until it was dark enough to proceed with the light painting part. The sky I selected from that large collection is a pretty cool one!

An Unsuspecting Light Painting “Volunteer”

I had begun light painting the Cub’s interior and landing gear when I got a visitor. A nice guy named Mike Port walked over from his camper to see what I was up to. Well, that was right when I was about to make my first full pass over the plane with my lightwand. So, I asked him if he would like to assist me by firing the camera with my iPad Pro. He said, “Sure”!

That pass over CubCrafters XCub N920RS was all he needed! He went to get one of his friends from a nearby camper (I don’t know his name) to show him what we just did. I reset the screen so the next full pass over the aircraft would be what they saw first. They both loved it, and Mike was now hooked! He was my official “Trigger Man” for the rest of the night!

It turns out that Mike would also be the one to put the XCub to bed that night once I was all done. Thank you for your assistance, Mike!

XCub by CubCrafters

Photo of CubCrafters XCub N920RS taken prior to light painting it.

Here’s what the XCub looked like in the daylight hours.

This cool aircraft is a CubCrafters CC19-215 model and was manufactured in 2024. It is a fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft with a reciprocating engine. Here are some of the key features and specifications:

Capacity: 2 occupants
Powerplant: Typically a 180-horsepower engine, potentially a Lycoming O-360 series engine or a Titan CC340 engine.
Construction: Lightweight carbon fiber, enhancing strength and durability while reducing weight.
Performance:
- Excellent climb rates and impressive maneuverability.
- Cruise speed of approximately 100-110 knots (115-127 mph), depending on configuration.
- Stall speed as low as 32 mph (32 knots).
- Takeoff distance as short as 60 ft.
- Landing distance as short as 110 ft.
Range: Approximately 400-500 nautical miles (460-575 miles).
Cockpit: Spacious and comfortable with modern avionics options.

The Liberty Foundation

A little side note is a good idea here. I should mention that Ray is the Executive Director of The Liberty Foundation Inc. The Liberty Foundation works to restore and preserve aircraft so that their stories can be told to future generations.

I intend that the light painting of “Old Crow” and any other of their aircraft that I light paint for them will help to raise funds for that purpose. The plan is that these artworks will be for sale in the store found on their website.

A cool light painted photograph of CubCrafters XCub N920RS.

This is one cool-looking aircraft, and the amazing sunset was icing on the cake!

CubCrafters XCub N920RS – The Movie

As always, we have a short “Build Video” on our YouTube channel. The link is below:

All told, 352 images were taken that night (many of those were of the sun setting), and nearly 80 were used to create the final artwork.

If you like this cool light painting of CubCrafters XCub N920RS, we have more light-painted aircraft, and many other vehicles of all kinds, on our dedicated Light Painting Photography Website at www.MichaelAndersonLightPainting.com. Please check it out!

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to read our story! – M&J

CubCrafters XCub N920RS