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1936 Taylor J-2 “Piper” Cub

The Taylor J-2 Cub, or Piper Cub, was a common sight at general aviation airports like College Park throughout the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s.

Designed to be a stable and easy-to-fly plane, more pilots learned to fly in the tandem two-seater Cub than any other airplane at the time.

Specs

Year: 1936 (original)

Capacity: One pilot, one passenger

Empty weight: 563 pounds

Wingspan: 35 ft. 3 in.

Length: 22 ft. 5 in.

Maximum speed: 85 mph

Engine: Continental A40, 40HP

The Taylor J-2 Cub, or Piper Cub, was a common sight at general aviation airports like College Park throughout the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s. Designed to be a stable and easy-to-fly plane, more pilots learned to fly in the tandem two-seater Cub than any other airplane at the time. The Cub was light, affordable, and simple, making it popular for aviator hobbyists. Former College Park Airport manager George Brinkerhoff used Cubs for flight instruction.

Piper vs Taylor

The aircraft was built by Taylor Aircraft Company and co-owner Gilbert Taylor, but its design was heavily influenced by financier and co-owner William Piper. Piper wanted to create an affordable, mass-produce-able aircraft easy enough for anyone to fly. After a series of design disagreements, Piper bought out Taylor’s share of the company in 1935 and reorganized it as Piper Aircraft Corporation in 1937. Taylor left the company to found the Taylorcraft Aircraft Company in Ohio. Piper continued to build on Taylor’s designs in later versions of the Cub.

Design and Operation

The origins of the Cub are found in Rochester, New York in the 1920s when brothers C. Gilbert Taylor and Gordon Taylor designed the A-2 Chummy. In 1928, after Gordon Tayler died in a crash, Pennsylvania oilman William T. Piper convinced Gilbert to move to Bradford, PA to redesign the nearly $4000 Chummy into a low-cost airplane that became the Cub. In 1935, Piper brought in another designer, Walter Jamoueau, to improve the Cub based on owner comments. This angered Taylor, who left the company. In 1937, the Taylor Cub became the Piper Cub. Despite the name change, they were the same airplane: a stable, slow, easy-to-fly airplane. Over 20,000 Cubs were built from 1936-1947 for civilian and military use.

The enclosed cabin has tandem (one in front of the other) two seats. The rounded edges give the Cub its classic and recognizable shape: the wings have rounded tips, and rounded top to the fin/rudder. Early J-2 came in different colors, but yellow soon became the Cub standard.

Piper Cubs at College Park Airport

Piper’s Cub became an enormously popular civilian aircraft, and were easy to train on. George Brinckerhoff, manager of the College Park Airport for many years, Brinkerhoff used Piper J-2 and J-3 (its similar successor) Cubs for flight instruction and in his Flying Service operation for 30 years, along with Fleets, Stinsons and Wacos. Many pilots used the Cub for air shows including landing the plane on modified trucks and comedy acts were the pilot pretended to be a rube who accidentally found himself flying the plane.

Piper Cubs at Columbia Air Center

Two versions of the Cub were flown at the Columbia Air Center as early as 1945. Airport manager John Greene reported 8 aircraft at the airport in 1945, including one Piper J-2 (the aircraft on display) and one J-3, a subsequent version. Then next year, another Piper J-2 had been bought. Greene and other aviators would have used the planes for fun and to teach students.

Our Cub

The airplane is currently on loan to the museum from Jeff Liljenquist of Oakdale, CA. Like many Taylor/Piper Cubs, it was owned and flown by private pilots.