Henderson Little Bear

The Henderson Little Bear is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed and produced by Henderson Aero Specialities of Felton, Delaware, introduced in 1993. The aircraft is a replica of the Piper J-3 Cub (a little bear is a "cub"). When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit or in the form of plans for amateur construction.

Design and development
The Little Bear features a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-tandem enclosed cockpit accessed via doors, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft fuselage is made from welded steel with all surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. Its 35.00 ft span wing employs a USA 35B airfoil, has a wing area of 178.0 sqft and is supported by "V" struts and jury struts. The cabin width is 28 in. The acceptable power range is 65 to 100 hp and the standard engine used is the 65 hp Continental A65.

The Little Bear has a typical empty weight of 700 lb and a gross weight of 1220 lb, giving a useful load of 520 lb. With full fuel of 12 u.s.gal the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage is 448 lb.

The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 400 hours.

Operational history
By 1998 the company reported that five kits had been sold and two aircraft were completed and flying.

In December 2013 one example was registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration.