Piper J-3 Cub

Perhaps the most enduring airplane of all times just might be The Piper J-3 Cub. This small, simple,
light aircraft was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. With tandem (fore and aft) seating, it
was intended for flight training but became one of the most popular and best-known light aircraft of all
time. The Cub's simplicity, affordability and popularity invokes comparisons to the Ford Model T
automobile. In 1938, it sold for just over $1,000. Today you can expect to pay over $100,000.00 for a
similar aircraft. The need for new pilots created an insatiable appetite for the Cub. In 1940, the year
before the United States' entry into the war, 3,016 Cubs were built; soon, wartime demands would
increase that production rate to one Piper J-3 Cub being built every 20 minutes. In Europe, the final
dogfight of WWII occurred between an L-4 (military version of the Cub, and a German Fieseler Fi 156
Storch (similar to a Cub). The pilot and co-pilot of the L-4, Lts. Duane Francis and Bill Martin, opened
fire on the Storch with their .45 caliber pistols, forcing the German air crew to land and surrender. This
design can easily be converted to make 7 versions of this aircraft type: a Huskey, PA-11, 12, 14 and 18
(Super CUB) also a J-5.

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