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Has Any Mfg Made A Taylor Cub? (photo)


TimHortman

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Hello Everyone,

 

I've been going though my family's paperwork over my time off this holiday. My Great Uncle bought a new TAYLOR CUB & was actually killed in a crash of the aircraft while working for a local newspaper. I was wondering if there was ever a kit of the aircraft made. Any scale would be fine, but I mostly have been building 1/48. I know there are some later versions of the Cub out there, but do you know of anyone who made one of the earlier versions (as shown in the photo below)

 

Thanks for your time - hope you all have a great 2009!

Regards,

Tim

 

TaylorCub-ArtYoung.jpg

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According to John W. Burn's " Plastic Aircraft Kits of the Twentieth Century" there was only one Taylor aircraft kitted. This was the Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper, in 1/72 scale, by a company called O'neill. No other Taylor or Taylorcraft products are listed. I might add that the Card Modelling hobby has a much more extensive variety of obscure types and you could consider exploring this option. Regards, Nick Filippone

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Thanks for the info Nick!

I'm pretty sure that I will end up working with a Piper Cub and trying to convert. I was hoping that there was a kit out there already I could work with.

Hope you have a great 2009!

Tim

 

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Hello Everyone,

 

I've been going though my family's paperwork over my time off this holiday. My Great Uncle bought a new TAYLOR CUB & was actually killed in a crash of the aircraft while working for a local newspaper. I was wondering if there was ever a kit of the aircraft made. Any scale would be fine, but I mostly have been building 1/48. I know there are some later versions of the Cub out there, but do you know of anyone who made one of the earlier versions (as shown in the photo below)

 

Thanks for your time - hope you all have a great 2009!

Regards,

Tim

 

 

Tim,

 

I hate to burst your bubble, but if the photo is of your uncle's aircraft, I am fairly certain it is a Piper J-2, not Taylor, Cub. Most of the confusion between the names of the plane come from the fact that Taylor started building them, Piper bought into the company after bankruptcy and then Taylor left the comapny after there was some rift over the development of the J-2. The J-2 belonged to the Piper Company, not Taylor and Piper produced all of the J-2s.

 

Of course, the good news is that a J-2 is much easier to get out of any kit than a E-2. I would recommend the 1/35 Bronco L-4H/J-3 kit, but the glasswork is totally wrong. The Revell of Germany kit is a PA-18, and while the fueslage is closer, you would have to rebuild the engine from the firewall forward. Perhaps the two kits could be merged, as the slightly smaller 1/35 engine could possibly be modified into the smaller Continental A-40, a two cyl. 115 CUIN engine instead of the Continental A-65 provided ( a 4-cyl 175CUIN version)

 

 

 

Here is my evidence for your review:

Look at the logo on the tail. The "Bear Cub" logo on the photo you posted is a trademark of the Piper Aircraft Corporation. I do not think that logo was applied to any of the aircraft manufactured under the Taylor name, but I could be wrong. I have not found a period photo of a E-2 with this logo, only Piper J-2s and J-3s with different variations of the logo. Also, the last Taylor "CUB" was a 1935 model, the year of the J-2's development and the split of ownership.

 

 

VFA127-CUB.JPG

 

 

 

The exposed cylinder heads of the Continental engine would limit this to a Taylor E-2 as the Taylor F-2, G-2 and H-2 all had 3-cyl. radial engines. The E-2 had a turtleback whcih did not fair into the training edge of the wing. Additionally the E-2 had a squared vertical and rudder. This is a 1935 Taylor E-2.

4597L.jpg

 

 

Info from wikipedia, and I think it's correct. It confroms with my memory of other things I have read concerning the aircraft:

 

The Taylor E-2 Cub first appeared in 1930, built by Taylor Aircraft in Bradford, Pennsylvania. Sponsored by William T. Piper, a Bradford industrialist who had invested in the company, the E-2 was meant to be an affordable aircraft that would encourage interest in aviation. Later in 1930, the company went bankrupt, with Piper buying the assets but keeping founder C. Gilbert Taylor on as president. In 1936, an earlier Cub was altered by employee Walter Jamouneau to become the J-2 while Taylor was on sick leave. (The coincidence led some to believe that the "J" stood for Jamonoueau, while aviation historian Peter Bowers concluded that the letter simply followed the E, F, G, and H models, with the I omitted because it could be mistaken for the numeral one.)[2][3]. When he saw the redesign, Taylor was so incensed that he fired Jamouneau. Piper, however, had encouraged Jamouneau's changes, and hired him back. Piper then bought Taylor's share in the company, paying him US$250 per month for three years. [4]

 

Although sales were initially slow, about 1,200 J-2s were produced before a fire in the Piper factory ended its production in 1938. After Piper moved his company from Bradford to Lock Haven, the J-3, which featured further changes by Jamouneau, replaced the J-2. Powered by a 40 hp (30 kW) engine, in 1938, it sold for just over $1,000.

 

 

 

 

 

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Thanks James!!

 

No worries here about my bubble! :D

 

The reason I typed Taylor Cub, was that I have one of his early pilot log books. Inside the front cover it reads "The Taylor "CUB".... America's Safe Plane" Of course, the log book could have been picked up anywhere.

I have the original bill of sale for the aircraft around here somewhere. I'll see if I can dig that out and check for sure. It's somewhere in a huge pile of family items that my parents got with my Aunt's passing a few years ago, so it may take me a while.

 

I've looked through the log book again and there are listings for both a Taylor Cub and Piper Cub with the NC 20887 (which is the airframe above).

I'll let you know if I can put my hands on any more info!

 

Thanks for the model tips. I will have to check those out. I figured I was going to have to do some kit bashing or scratch building to make this happen.

 

 

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The reason I typed Taylor Cub, was that I have one of his early pilot log books. Inside the front cover it reads "The Taylor "CUB".... America's Safe Plane" Of course, the log book could have been picked up anywhere.

I have the original bill of sale for the aircraft around here somewhere. I'll see if I can dig that out and check for sure. It's somewhere in a huge pile of family items that my parents got with my Aunt's passing a few years ago, so it may take me a while.

 

Tim,

 

It is entirely possible that the company produced a limited number of J-2s under the Taylor name between the time of the split and whatever amount of time it took to make legal changes to the name and get new paperwork ordered and from the printers. I do not know the dates involved, only that it was 1935. Equally possible is the fact that a depression was on and William Piper chose to continue the name as long as there was sufficient letterhead available to operate the business as a money saving action. I am not THAT familiar with the history, but I will ask one of the local Cub guys what they know about it in the next time I see one of them.

 

James

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James,

 

I spent some time today looking through the old albums again, and it appears he had two aircraft. I think the earlier one may have been a Taylor Cub, and the later one (shown above) in which he was killed was indeed a Piper. It's going to take me a while to sort through things and make sense of what I am looking at, but I'll update here when I get it figured out.

 

Thanks again for the help!

Tim

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Hello Again!

 

As James stated above, the first shot was a Piper Cub J-3.

Below are some photos of the aircraft I was thinking of for the first post. I am unsure if my great Uncle actually owned this one, or just learned to fly on the aircraft. Most of the early pilot log entries are for the Taylor Cub NC15335 (which I think is an E-2)?

 

Thanks for all your help.

Hope you all have a Happy 2009!

Tim

 

TaylorCubNC15335d.jpg

 

 

TaylorCubNC15335a.jpg

 

 

TaylorCubNC15335cplus.jpg

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Also if anyone's interested, I scanned some other photos from the albums and uploaded them.

I won't post them all here, but here's a link to them on ARC if you're interested:

 

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....howtopic=173658

 

 

Cheers!

Tim

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