The Taylor J-2 Cub (later also known as the Piper J-2 Cub) is an American two-seat

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft co ...

that was designed and built by the Taylor Aircraft Company. The company became the Piper Aircraft Company and the J-2 was first of a long line of related Piper Cub designs.

Development

The J-2 Cub was a development of the earlier

Taylor Cub The Taylor Cub was originally designed by C. Gilbert Taylor as a small, light and simple utility aircraft, evolved from the Arrowing Chummy. It is the forefather of the popular Piper J-3 Cub, and total production of the Cub series was 23,512 ...

. In 1935 the Taylor Aircraft Company had decided to improve their Cub line of aircraft which were angular and austere-looking and initially had an unglazed cabin area. The new J-2 had rounded-off wing tips, a similarly "rounded" fin and rudder framed up and fabric-covered separately from the fuselage structure, enclosed cabin and wider Goodyear "airwheel" tires, a special low-pressure variety of aircraft landing gear tire pioneered by Alvin Musselmann in 1929 that resembled a later

tundra tire A tundra tire (UK: ''tundra tyre'') is a large low-pressure tire used on light aircraft to allow operations on rough terrain. A common variant of tundra tire is the bushwheel brand. These tires include an integral inner tube with the valve man ...

in general appearance and proportions. Powered by a 37 hp Continental A-40-3 piston engine the aircraft appeared in October 1935 and the type certificate was issued on 14 February 1936. From September 1936 the engine was changed to a 40 hp Continental A-40-4. One sub-type was produced, the J-2S which was a float-equipped version. In 1935

Clarence Gilbert Taylor Clarence Gilbert Taylor (September 8, 1898 – March 29, 1988) was an early aviation entrepreneur and co-founder of the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation (later named the Piper Aircraft Corporation) in Rochester, New York. He was the designer ...

left the company to start another aircraft manufacturer which would become

Taylorcraft Taylorcraft Aviation is an airplane manufacturer that has been producing aircraft for more than 70 years in several locations. The company builds small single-engined airplanes. The Taylorcraft design is a conventional layout: high-wing, fab ...

. William T. Piper bought Taylor's shares in the company. In 1936 and 1937 some aircraft were completed by Aircraft Associates in California and these were known as the Western Cub. In 1937 the original Piper factory, a renovated former silk mill in

Bradford, PA Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania. It is located close to the border with New York state and approximately south of Buffalo, New York. Bradford is the principal city in the Bradford, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The popul ...

, was destroyed by fire and the company moved to

Lock Haven, PA Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area, ...

and production restarted in May 1937 and the company was renamed the Piper Aircraft Corporation in November 1937.

Production and operational use

The last of 1,207 J-2s was completed in 1938 as production of the J-3 Cub started. Numbers of J-2 Cubs were exported to Europe including to the United Kingdom. The type was mainly flown by private pilot owners. Over 100 Taylor and Piper J-2s remained on the U.S. civil aircraft register in 2009.

Variants

* Dudek V-1 Sportplane a low-wing homebuilt based on the J-2.

Specifications (J-2 Cub)

References

* Roger W. Peperell and Colin M.Smith, ''Piper Aircraft and their forerunners'', 1987, Air-Britain (Historians), , Page 18 to 22.
"Specifications of American Airplanes"
''

Aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

'', March 1936, Vol. 35, No. 3. pp. 82–85. ''Registration required.'' {{Aircraft manufactured in Canada Cub, J-2 1930s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935