Introduced in 1938, the Piper J-3 Cub, with its characteristic black lightning bolt, became an immediate success with the flying public. By 1947, when the last J-3 model was produced, a total of 14,125 had been built.

The Great Depression virtually decimated the private aircraft industry, and aircraft manufacturers scrambled to develop a low-cost light airplane that could be bought by anyone with an average income and a desire to fly. In response to this need, Clarence Taylor of Taylor Brothers Aircraft in Bradford, Pennsylvania, designed the E-2 Cub in 1930. It was a small fabric-covered high-wing airplane with a steel tube framed fuselage, wooden wing spar and aluminum wing ribs.

William Piper, an oil man who had become a major investor in Taylor Brothers Aircraft Company, saw the potential in the company and bought out Clarence Taylor. Piper asked designer Walter Jamouneau to redesign the Cub and the result was the J-2 (“J” for Jamouneau) Cub in 1936. In 1937, a devastating plant fire compelled Piper to move his operations to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Further improvements made to the original Cub design after the move to Lock Haven resulted in the J-3 model.

As America’s involvement in the Second World War grew more certain, the reliable little Cub seemed destined for war. When the military expressed a need for an easily maintainable aircraft that could operate out of small rough fields, the Cub was selected. The L-4 Grasshopper variant, as it was called, was equipped with a radio, extended side windows for greater visibility, and almost all had the 65 horsepower Continental engine. They were used for reconnaissance, target spotting, liaison, personnel transport, photography, ambulance service and a host of other duties. Piper produced 5,569 Cubs for the military, nearly all for the Army, though the Navy also operated its own variant, designated the NE-1.

Thousands of today’s general aviation pilots made their first solo and dual instruction flights in the Cub. If you were flying alone, you always flew from the rear seat for balance purposes. Due to its reasonable price tag, ease of maintenance, versatility, and forgiving flight characteristics, the J-3 Cub became one of the most popular aircraft in aeronautical history.

The Museum’s Cub is a J-3C-65 model manufactured in 1939. It was donated to the Museum in airworthy condition with a total of 3,008 hours on the airframe in 1978 by Ed Norris of Rancho Santa Fe, California.