The Piper Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1937 by William T. Piper who had bought the manufacturing rights to the Taylor B-2 Chummy in 1930 from the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation. Piper had developed the Chummy as the two seat Taylor E-2 Cub powered by a 40hp(29kW) Continental. This aircraft was developed into the Taylor J-2 Cub (695 built) which in turn led to the Piper J-3 Cub first flown in 1937 powered by the 40hp Continental and with a maximum take-off weight of 1100lb (499kg). A number of the original J-3’s remain airworthy. The next variant was the J-3C-50 (737 built) which was powered by a 50hp(37kW) Continental and first flown in 1938. The higher powered J-3C-65 was introduced in 1940 as were the Franklin powered versions, the J-3F-50 and J-3F-65. The J-3L-50 was powered by a 50hp(37kW) Lycoming and the J-3L-65 by a 65hp Lycoming. In 1941 the US Army conducted trials with the J-3, ordering 40 examples under the designation O-59. The trials were successfully concluded and the type was ordered as the O-59A (L-4A) and 948 were built powered by the 65hp Continental. These were followed by the L-4B Grasshopper (980 built), the L-4H (1801 built), the L-4J (1680 built). These differed in detail only. The L-4C referred to 8 impressed J-3C-65’s and the L-4D to 5 impressed J-3F-65’s. A total of 19,888 J-3 Cub’s were eventually built. Some have been re-engined with a variety of powerplants including the 85hp(63kW) Continental and the 115hp(85kW) Continental. Several thousand J-3 Cubs remain airworthy. Illustrated below is a J3C-85 which is powered by an 85hp Continental.

N25804                    c/n 3755                        USA

2 seat light aircraft first flown in 1940

Engine: 65hp(48kW) Continental A-65                                                                                          Length: 22’3"(6.78m)                                                                                            Height: 6’8"(2.03m)Wingspan: 35’2.5"(10.73m)                                                                                      No.built: 12,000* Range:250miles(402km)                                                                   Cruising speed: 75mph (120kmh) Empty weight: 680lb(308kg)                                                   Maximum take-off weight: 1200lb(544kg)