There is no more iconic aircraft in general aviation than the classic Piper J3 Cub. In fact for many years the term “Piper Cub” was used by some to describe any small, single-engine aircraft. The image of the slender, bright-yellow airplane with its long black “lightning bolt” trim, running along the side of the fuselage, comes almost immediately to mind to any aviation enthusiast. At the speeds and altitudes typical of the machine, observers had ample opportunity to capture the image.
The Piper J3 evolved from the Taylor E2, a diminutive, tandem (one seat behind the other) high-wing monoplane. It was initially powered, in the most modest sense of the word, by a 20 horsepower Brownback engine named the “Tiger Kitten.” Legend has it that the name “cub” was inspired by the name of the engine. Production versions of the airplane were blessed with a new 40 horsepower Continental engine however.
No story of a general aviation aircraft from the late 1920’s or early 1930’s would be complete without a buyout, business failure or bankruptcy and the Piper Cub is no exception. Clarence Taylor was enticed to move his company from Rochester, NY to Bradford, PA, in September of 1929; not the best time to start a new company whose primary product was a personal aircraft. After a couple of years of struggle, the assets were bought from bankruptcy by a local businessman, William Piper and the Taylor Company limped along for a few more years. We could surmise that the relationship between Mr. Taylor and Mr. Piper was maybe not the best and when Mr. Piper had another employee redesign the airplane while Mr. Taylor was out of town, the relationship didn’t improve. After some firings and rehiring’s, Mr. Taylor left to form a new company and Mr. Piper renamed the company and, in 1936 began producing the much-improved J2 model, now the Piper Cub.
Mr. Taylor enjoyed his own success later with his new line of aircraft so the story ends better than it began.
In 1938 more improvements resulted in the production of the first J3 model. Events in Europe created the need for pilots to be trained for potential military service and the little Cub, like most other able-bodied assets, rose to the challenge. Under the Civilian Pilot Training Program, thousands of people received basic flight training that paid off later when war was declared. Many of these pilots went to war but so did the little Cub. The conversion to military use consisted of, in the words of a Piper executive, a change to the paint color. It became a liaison aircraft and performed, reconnaissance, artillery spotting and general liaison duties as needed.
One creative mind even strapped a couple of bazookas to the wing struts and surprised a few German tanks. So the Cub got in its licks for Uncle Sam too.
After the war, the little Cub, now back in its yellow “civvies” took up its place at many local airports teaching and sharing the joy of flight.
In all, almost 20,000 J3’s were produced and Piper continued to modify the design and the Cub fathered several other models.