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1946 Piper J3C-65
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Description
Specific History of OHTM’s 1946 Piper J3C-65 Cub
This 1946 Piper Cub was owned by Robert “Bob” Weymouth. Mr. Weymouth was a stunt pilot famous for his airshow comedy routine, the Flying Farmer, in this Piper Cub during the 1970s and 1980s. On May 26, 1986, Weymouth got caught in a strong crosswind flying this Piper Cub at an airshow at the Berlin Municipal Airport in Milan, New Hampshire. Weymouth was unable to pull out of a steep…
Specific History of OHTM’s 1946 Piper J3C-65 Cub
This 1946 Piper Cub was owned by Robert “Bob” Weymouth. Mr. Weymouth was a stunt pilot famous for his airshow comedy routine, the Flying Farmer, in this Piper Cub during the 1970s and 1980s. On May 26, 1986, Weymouth got caught in a strong crosswind flying this Piper Cub at an airshow at the Berlin Municipal Airport in Milan, New Hampshire. Weymouth was unable to pull out of a steep dive and he crashed into the runway while avoiding spectators.
The Weymouth family donated that very Piper Cub to Owls Head Transportation Museum in on October 10, 1992.
General History of Piper Cubs
The Piper Cub was a common sight at aviation airports throughout the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. Clarence Gilbert “C.G.” Taylor founded the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation in Rochester, NY, with his brother Gordon, in 1927. After Gordon’s death in a 1928 plane crash, CG moved to Bradford, PA, and opened Taylor Aircraft with the support of the community and local investors. CG then designed the Taylor J-2 Cub to be a stable, easy-to-fly light airplane. The E-2 model had a two-cylinder Brownback engine nicknamed the “Tiger Kitten.” An employee of Taylor’s felt that the name “Cub” was a fitting designation for a plane with a kitten engine and the name stuck even after the Tiger Kitten engine was swapped for a more powerful one.
Unfortunately, the Great Depression forced Taylor’s company into bankruptcy in 1930. William Piper, an oilman living in Bradford, bought the company for $761 in 1931 but kept CG Taylor as the company’s president. After the E-2 was introduced to the world, aircraft designer Walter Jamouneau innovated the airplanes design into the J-2 Cub model in 1936. This is the model that is recognized as the prototype of the iconic “Cub” design. One of Gilbert Taylor’s goals was to create an affordable airplane that could be mass produced for anyone licensed to fly.
After a series of design disagreements, Piper bought out CG in 1935 and changed the company’s name to the Piper Aircraft Corporation. Despite the name change, the Piper J-3 was substantially the same as the Taylor J-2 and continued to be nicknamed the “Cub.” The J-3 Cub was the model and design that took the world by storm. In its first year of production, Piper built 736 J-3 Cubs. With the establishment of the Civilian Pilot Training program, production of Pipers picked up in anticipation of US involvement in WWII. The J-3 was chosen as the CPT’s primary training aircraft. In 1939, Piper built around 1,300 J-3 Cub – the following year, that number would jump over 3,000.
The Piper Cub became an enormously popular civilian aircraft, with more pilots learning to fly in them than in any other airplane. By the time production ended in 1947, William Piper had overseen the manufacture and sale of 19,888 Piper Cubs.
Year:
1946
Make / Manufacturer:
Piper Aircraft Corporation
Model:
Cub
Creator:
William Piper
Donated By:
The Weymouth family
Exterior Color:
Burgundy