Editing Piper J-3 Cub (section)

==Design and development==
[[File:Piperj3c.jpg|thumb|Piper J-3 Cub painted ''Cub Yellow'']]
The [[Taylor E-2|Taylor E-2 Cub]] first appeared in 1930, built by [[Taylorcraft Aircraft|Taylor Aircraft]] in [[Bradford, Pennsylvania]]. Sponsored by [[William T. Piper]], a Bradford industrialist and investor, the affordable E-2 was meant to encourage greater interest in aviation. Later in 1930, the company went bankrupt, with Piper buying the assets, but keeping founder [[Clarence Gilbert Taylor|C. Gilbert Taylor]] on as president. In 1936, an earlier Cub was altered by employee [[Walter Jamouneau]] to become the [[Taylor J-2|J-2]] while Taylor was on sick leave. Some believed the "J" stood for Jamouneau, while aviation historian Peter Bowers concluded the letter simply followed the E, F, G and H models, with the letter "I" skipped because it could be mistaken for the numeral "1".<ref name=smith>{{cite web | url=http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/piperj3.htm | title=Piper J-3 | work=Aircraft of the Smithsonian | access-date=2006-04-02 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060303180134/http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/piperj3.htm | archive-date=2006-03-03 }}</ref><ref>Peter M. Bowers, ''Piper Cubs'' (Tab Books 1993)</ref> 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 $250 per month for three years.
<ref name=spence>{{cite web | url=http://www.historynet.com/theyre-not-all-piper-cubs-november-97-aviation-history-feature.htm | title=They're not all Piper Cubs | work=Aviation History | author=Spence, Charles | date=23 September 1997 | access-date=2011-09-06 }}</ref>

Although sales were initially slow, about 1,200 J-2s were produced before a fire in the Piper factory, a former silk mill in [[Bradford, Pennsylvania#History|Bradford, Pennsylvania]], ended its production in 1938. After Piper moved his company from Bradford to [[Lock Haven, Pennsylvania|Lock Haven]], Pennsylvania, the J-3, which featured further changes by Jamouneau, replaced the J-2.  The changes integrated the vertical fin of the tail into the rear fuselage structure and covered it simultaneously with each of the fuselage's sides, changed the rearmost side window's shape to a smoothly curved half-oval outline and placed a steerable tailwheel at the rear end of the J-2's leaf spring-style tailskid, linked for its steering function to the lower end of the rudder with springs and lightweight chains to either end of a double-ended rudder control horn. Powered by a 40&nbsp;hp (30&nbsp;kW) engine, in 1938, it sold for just over $1,000.<ref>Piper J-3 Cub Film Series (TM Technologies, footage from 1937–1948 shows step-by-step construction. 110 minutes.)</ref>

Several alternative air-cooled engines, typically [[flat-four engine|flat-four]]s, powered the J-3 Cubs, designated '''J3C''' when using the [[Continental O-170|Continental A series]],<ref name="A691" /> '''J3F''' using the [[Franklin 4AC]],<ref name="A692" /> and '''J3L''' with the [[Lycoming O-145]].<ref name="A698" /> Very few examples, designated '''J3P''', were equipped with Lenape ''Papoose'' 3-cylinder [[radial engine]]s.<ref name="ATC695" />

[[File:1944_Piper_Cub_J-3C-100_HB-OUE_with_rare_Rolls-Royce_100hp_engine,_righthand_side.jpg|thumb|1944 Piper Cub J-3C-100 HB-OUE, s/ 12315, rare Rolls-Royce 100hp engine]]
The outbreak of hostilities in Europe in 1939, along with the growing realization that the United States might soon be drawn into [[World War II]], resulted in the formation of the [[Civilian Pilot Training Program]] (CPTP). The Piper J-3 Cub became the primary trainer aircraft of the CPTP and played an integral role in its success, achieving legendary status. About 75% of all new pilots in the CPTP (from a total of 435,165 graduates) were trained in Cubs. By war's end, 80% of all United States military pilots had received their initial flight training in Piper Cubs.<ref name=guill>{{cite web | url=http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/GENERAL_AVIATION/piper/GA6.htm | title=The Piper Cub | author=Guillemette, Roger | work=US Centennial of Flight Commission | access-date=2006-04-02 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121082920/http://centennialofflight.gov/essay/GENERAL_AVIATION/piper/GA6.htm | archive-date=2010-11-21 }}</ref>

The need for new pilots created an insatiable appetite for the Cub. In 1940, the year before the United States entered the war, 3,016 Cubs had been built. Wartime demands soon increased that production rate to one Cub being built every 20 minutes.<ref name=guill />

===Flitfire===
{{Main|Piper Flitfire}}
[[File:Piper J-3 Flitfire.JPG|thumb|Flitfire, used in RAF Benevolent Fund and war bond efforts]]	
Prior to the United States entering World War II, J-3s were part of a fund-raising program to support the United Kingdom. Billed as a ''Flitfire'', a Piper Cub J3 bearing Royal Air Force insignia was donated by W. T. Piper and Franklin Motors to the [[RAF Benevolent Fund]] to be raffled off. Piper distributors nationwide were encouraged to do the same.  On April 29, 1941, all 48 Flitfire aircraft, one for each of the 48 states that made up the country at that time, flew into [[La Guardia Field]] for a dedication and fundraising event which included Royal Navy officers from the battleship [[HMS Malaya|HMS ''Malaya'']], in New York for repairs, as honored guests.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Shindig at N.Y. Airport Opens Fund Drive for R.A.F|magazine=Life|date=12 May 1941|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sUwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36|page=36}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= Alamo Liaison Squadron|url= http://www.als-cannonfield.com/Flitfire.htm|access-date= September 4, 2010|archive-date= November 10, 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161110000246/http://als-cannonfield.com/Flitfire.htm|url-status= dead}}</ref> At least three of the original Flitfires have been restored to their original silver-doped finish.<ref>{{cite web|title=Museum Guide|publisher=North Carolina Aviation Museum}}</ref>