AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 48

Bradford. Taylor continued to produce the two-place, high-wing Chummy monoplane, but its price was about $4,000. The president of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce had been Mr. Piper’s commanding officer in the Spanish-American war. (Mr. Piper had fibbed about his age to enlist before finishing high school.) Concerned about the future of the new factory in town, the Chamber head insisted Mr. Piper become a member of Taylor’s board of directors. Now in the airplane business, Mr. Piper devoted more and more time to it and less to the oil-recovery company. He and Taylor sparred, Mr. Piper believing the company needed to produce an inexpensive aircraft to get more of the public involved in aviation and Taylor wanting to keep improving the Chummy—even if it meant higher prices. Despite modest success, the company went bankrupt in 1930 and Mr. Piper was the only bidder on its assets. He bid $761. Indicative of his character, Mr. Piper gave Taylor half of the business and appointed him chief engineer. He still wanted an inexpensive airplane to sell to flight instructors, believing

LYNNE AND JIM FINLEY

Family Cub
JIM AND LYNNE FINLEY of New Orleans flew 16 hours over four and a half days to Wisconsin to participate in Cubs 2 Oshkosh. Actually, Jim flew their 1946 J–3 while Lynne drove to haul their luggage. “She had me beat on every leg, except into [Hartford],” Jim said. The couple owned a Cessna 210 for 30 years, until they sold it two years ago and bought the Cub. “We’re not new to the aircraft,” Lynne noted. “He trained in a Cub and I trained in a Taylorcraft, so we’re home.” “The airplane actually shrank. When I learned to fly in it when I was in college, the cockpit was much larger,” Jim laughed. “The Cub brings you back to what flying was all about. It’s fun. People come out and talk to you when you land somewhere in a Cub.” —Mike Collins

and Taylor continued to disagree. Mr. Piper urged development of a cheaper, bare-minimum aircraft for flight training. Taylor’s engineers made a few changes in the E–2 Cub, although what Mr. Piper wanted was still not in the works. He encouraged a young engineer, Walter Jamouneau, to make many more improvements in the E–2. These exceeded Taylor’s orders and, in anger, Taylor fired all three of the company’s engineers. So, at age 24, Walter Jamouneau became chief engineer. The E–2 Cub became known the J–3 Cub, J for Jamouneau. Mr. Piper bought out Taylor’s half interest in the company, hired back the fired engineers, and the Taylor Aircraft Company became the Piper Aircraft Company. With the Piper J–3 Cub, he had his low-cost aircraft for flight training; at one point the J–3 sold for less than $1,000. A fire destroyed the plant in Bradford in 1937, causing some $200,000 in damage. Insurance covered only about five percent of the loss. Mr. Piper was in California when the fire occurred and was informed by a telephone call. In his usual optimistic attitude he responded, “Well, at least we’ll

that if persons paid less to learn to fly, more persons would earn a pilot’s license. Reluctantly, Taylor went to work on a tandem-seat, low-cost aircraft. Because of an enclosed seating area, occupants could not get in by climbing over the side as they did in open-cockpit aircraft. And the high wing kept a door from swinging open. This was resolved by installing the drop-down side panels. A two-cylinder, 20-horsepower engine, the Brownback Tiger Kitten, was chosen
48 | AOPA PILOT November 2012

for this new product. A name different from Taylor’s Chummy was needed and many members of the company attempted to come up with an acceptable one. The company accountant thought about the Tiger Kitten engine he was paying company money for and suggested Cub as the name for the new airplane. Production and sales of the Taylor E–2 Cub increased. The Taylor Aircraft Company became the leading producer of aircraft in this category. But Mr. Piper

get some free publicity out of it.” Lured by Jake Miller—one of his distributors who became marketing director—and the offer of a vacated silk mill, Mr. Piper moved production to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. He had his aircraft to sell for inexpensive flight training and sent salesmen off with them to fly from airport to airport until they were sold. They would leave the airplane with the purchaser and return to Lock Haven. Under Mr. Piper’s instructions, the salesman would charge extra for

AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2012

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