AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 16

WAYPOINTS

Cub encounters
75 years of Piper

BY THOMAS B. HAINES Editor in Chief

First time flying the iconic Piper airplane
WITH THIS BEING THE SEVENTY-FIFTH anniversary year for Piper Aircraft, its first model—the Cub—has been everywhere lately, including on the cover of this magazine. The Cub is the most iconic of all iconic GA airplanes. Many in the general public, when asked to name a “little” airplane, will come up with the Cub first—or that other iconic GA airplane, the Learjet. My first exposure to the Cub came from stories my father tells of his youth. Growing up near the airport in Clarion, Pennsylvania, he and his friends used to sneak onto the airport and play in a wrecked Cub fuselage. Apparently some hapless student had crashed

Collins allowed me to fly the Super Cub for a few minutes—my first time flying an airplane with a stick, my first time flying a tailwheel airplane.
the airplane nearby, shearing off the landing gear. The neighborhood kids quickly adopted it, even equipping this “fighter” airplane with toy rifles to fend off the enemy. My father says he logged many hours in that cockpit. My first actual encounter with a Cub wouldn’t occur until a couple of decades after I first heard those stories. I was a newbie associate editor at AOPA Pilot in the summer of 1988 (back when this magazine represented the entirety of our media properties). Stuart Millar had just bought Piper from Forstmann Little—the entrepreneur seemingly riding in on a white horse to rescue the company long neglected by its private-equity owners. The strident Millar was like a televangelist from the moment he took over Piper, vowing to turn his “junkyard dog” pack of attorneys loose on those filing frivolous product liability lawsuits against the struggling company, rolling back prices to spur languishing sales, and putting the Super Cub back into production. At Sun ’n Fun that year, Millar rallied the crowd of pilots downtrodden by GA’s tough times. (Sound familiar?) That summer, Richard Collins, then editor in chief

AOPA HANDBOOK

Editor in Chief Tom Haines on the cover of AOPA’s Handbook for Pilots in 1989.

has been editor in chief of AOPA Pilot since 1994—back when this magazine was the association’s only “media property.”

TOM HAINES

of Pilot, and I flew to Piper’s Vero Beach, Florida, headquarters in his Cessna P210 to check out the newly reintroduced Super Cub. We launched on the photo mission at dawn the next day, flying behind an old Saratoga that served as a photo platform. Photographer Mike Fizer, even newer to the staff than I was, was shooting from the ’Toga’s doorless cabin. This was all heady stuff to a kid in his mid-20s who had been with AOPA only a few weeks. After we finished the photo mission, Collins allowed me to fly the Super Cub for a few minutes—my first time flying an airplane with a stick, first time flying a tailwheel airplane, first time flying a tube-and-fabric airplane. My, how green I was. One of the images from that shoot wound up as the cover of the 1989 edition of AOPA’s Handbook for Pilots. I still chuckle whenever I see it, as Collins and I are wearing dress shirts and ties—in a Cub on a warm Florida day. How out of character that seems, but, hey, that’s how we all dressed in those days. A few years later I had a more intimate relationship with a J–3 Cub when I got checked out in one owned by another AOPA employee. Unfortunately, before I could fly it myself after the checkout, someone crashed it in a field, destroying the wing and totaling the airplane. The pilot walked away. While the airplane was officially listed as destroyed, my guess is that parts of it are still flying today. Over the years, I’ve had numerous other encounters with Cubs, all of them pleasant and memorable. Millar’s big plans for the company proved to be but a footnote in Piper’s storied history. The financial troubles continued and the Super Cub quickly went back out of production. However, the little yellow airplane inspired a plethora of other designs, including the now popular Aviat Husky and a den full of Cub-alike Light Sport airplanes. Truly, few GA airplanes can claim to be as influential as the Cub—on the aircraft industry, training market, the public, and a young associate editor. Piper—thanks for the memories and best to you for another 75 years. Now, how about a rebirth of the J–3— an original LSA? AOPA
EMAIL thomas.haines@aopa.org

SOCIAL

Follow on twitter.com/tomhaines29

16 | AOPA PILOT November 2012


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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012

AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012
Contents
President’s Position
Visual Approach
Letters
Waypoints
Proficient Pilot
Safety Pilot
License to Learn
Pilot Counsel
Fly Well
Restless Wildcat Waiting to Fly Again
People
Test Pilot
Pilot Products
Milestone
Youth
75th Anniversary of the Piper Cub
Mr. Piper and the J–3
Cross-Country in a Piper Cub
AirCam River Run
Debonair Debut
Technique
Ownership
Never Again
Flying Clubs
Wx Watch
Membership
Member Products
Pilot Protection Services
State and Local Action
AOPA Foundation
AOPA Insurance Services
Fly by Wire
Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - President’s Position
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Visual Approach
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Letters
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Waypoints
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Proficient Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Safety Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - License to Learn
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Pilot Counsel
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Fly Well
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Restless Wildcat Waiting to Fly Again
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - People
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Test Pilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Pilot Products
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Milestone
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Youth
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - D-1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - D-2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 75th Anniversary of the Piper Cub
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 43
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Mr. Piper and the J–3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 49
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 50
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Cross-Country in a Piper Cub
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 52
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 53
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 54
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 55
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 56
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 57
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 58
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 59
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 60
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 61
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - AirCam River Run
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 63
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 64
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 65
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Debonair Debut
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 67
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 68
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 69
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 71
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 72
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 73
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Technique
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 75
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 76
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Ownership
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 79
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 80
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 81
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Never Again
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 83
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 84
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 85
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Flying Clubs
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 87
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Wx Watch
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 89
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 90
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 91
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 92
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 93
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Membership
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 95
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Member Products
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - I1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - I2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 97
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Pilot Protection Services
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 99
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - State and Local Action
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 101
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - AOPA Foundation
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 103
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - AOPA Insurance Services
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 105
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 106
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Fly by Wire
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 108
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 109
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 110
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 111
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Pilots
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - Cover4
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