Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Two-seat light cabin monoplane

Power Plant:

One 48 kw (65 hp) Continental A-65-8 four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The Piper J-2 Cub first appeared in 1936 as a simple two-seat in tandem training monoplane designed by the brothers Clarence Gilbert and Gordon Taylor.  They had begun to fabricate aeroplanes in New York State in the mid 1920s with a design which became known as the Chummy. It had two seats and was powered by a 67 kw (90 hp) radial engine.  However, due to the Great Depression, it was not produced in any numbers.  In 1928 Gordon died and C G Taylor moved to Bradford in Pennsylvania where he met William T Piper and they set up a company to build light aircraft.

The first aircraft became known as the Taylor Model E-2 and was powered by a Brownbach Kitten engine. A number of engines were tested before they decided on the Continental Motors A-40 which produced 28 kw (37 hp).  However, the Company only lasted a short time and ceased operation. They bought the assets and set up Taylor Aircraft Corp with C G Taylor as president and W T Piper as treasurer. Certification of the Cub, as the design had now become known, was received on 15 June 1931 and 22 aircraft were sold in the first year.

Production continued and 17 were sold in 1933, 71 in 1934, 200 in 1935 and 500 in 1936.  By this time a new model known as the J-2 had been produced with an enclosed cockpit.  In 1936 Piper bought Taylor out but, shortly after, the production facility was destroyed by fire. Piper then moved to Lock Haven, an old lumber town in Pennsylvania, where a new facility was built and production commenced of the J-2, some 687 being delivered in 1937.  Further variants of the design included the F-2, G-2 and H-2.

In 1938 the J-3 was introduced, being designed by Walter Jamouneau (from whose name the J was used), he being the chief designer for the Company. This model offered the choice of engines from Franklin, Lycoming and Continental, all producing 30 kw (40 hp), all of these engines over the years being developed to produce 48 kw (65 hp).  A number were used for long distance flights in the 1930s, one J-3 in November 1938 flown by Tom Smith flying non-stop around Lancaster, California in a time of 218 hrs and 23 mins.

Once war broke out in Europe the Civilian Pilot Training Programme got off the ground and production of the Cub for war service began to take off, 1,806 examples being delivered in 1939, 3,017 in 1940 and 3,197 in 1941, all painted in what became known as ‘buttercup yellow’. In 1941, during US Army manoeuvres, the requirement for an observation and artillery spotting aircraft arose and 5,673 Cubs, known as the L-4 Grasshopper, were produced. The YO-59 was virtually a stock J-3C-65 and a batch was supplied for evaluation.

The need for the L-4 was great and it was produced in a variety of models at a number of factories across the United States. One was the TG-8, a glider variant for training without the engine. Production of the L-4 series amounted to 859 O-59s, 4,461 of the L-4 variant, and 253 of the TG-8 which, in US Navy service, was known as the LNP-1.  Many privately owned Cubs, Coupes and Cruisers were impressed by the USAAF, receiving designations L-4C, L-4D, L-4E, L-4F and L-4G.  The L-4A and L-4B were similar, the latter having less radio. Improvements led to the L-4H, of which 1,801 were built before production moved to the L-4J with a controllable pitch propeller. They saw service throughout the war in all theatres, and at one stage four operated from an aircraft carrier during the invasion of North Africa. An L-4H was registered to its owner at Daylesford, VIC in April 2017, becoming VH-XFA (cx/n 11891).

In February 1937 Taylor J-2 Cub VH-UYM (c/n 959) arrived in Sydney on board the SS Port Hardy for the Australian agents, Julius, Gardiner & Co. Fitted with a 30 kw (40 hp) Continental engine, in order to “demonstrate the practicality of light low-powered aircraft” it was fitted with extra fuel tanks and, flown by Jack Clancy and R H Julius, flew around Australia covering 12,874 km (8,000 miles), the aircraft having ”Sterling Paints – Round Australia Tour” painted on the fuselage.

After the war, with the number of ex-military aircraft available, Piper Aircraft ceased production but eventually re-commenced with a new model similar to the J-3 known as the PA-11 Cub Special with a 67 kw (90 hp) engine, and continued until 1947 when a new model with minor refinements was released. The J-3 had no electrics, starting the engine being by means of chocking the wheels, tying back the control stick and hand-swinging the propeller.  Construction was of a steel tube cage with long wings and fabric covering.  Many were used over the years as primary trainers, taxis and for touring; and a number were converted for crop spraying.  Early aircraft had wooden spars but later metal spars were used. Undercarriage shock absorption was by way of bungee chords.

A few aircraft appear on the register as Taylor-built J-2s. Cubs still extant include: VH-UYT (J-2 – c/n 958), VH-UYM (J-2 – c/n 959), VH-UYL (J-2 – c/n 1095), VH-FZY (J-3C – c/n 3416), VH-DIT ( J-3C – c/n 11410), VH-APO (J-3 – c/n 2381), VH-LIV (c/n J-3C – 11891) and VH-LFJ (J-3C/L-4J – c/n 8633). A J-3C (G-KIRK) was flown from the United Kingdom to Australia by Maurice Kirk early this century, being based at Bankstown, NSW for sometime before returning to the UK. A further Taylor J-2 was imported from the United Kingdom and became VH-FZL² (c/n 1754 – ex G-JTWO, G-BPZR, N19554, NC19554) on 14 December 2011 but was de-registered in May 2018.

One J-2 Cub is extant in New Zealand. ZK-AGD (c/n 1152) has been stored in a dismantled condition at Hawera awaiting restoration for many years after being damaged in 1968 by a collapsed hangar.  J-3C Cubs registered include: ZK-AHC (c/n 2709), ZK-AHD (c/n 2707) and ZK-AHE (c/n 2708), based at Masterton, Waipukurau and Balclutha respectively.