hen a company manu足 factures a product that becomes a bona fide hit in the marketplace, it 's only natural that it tries to build and expand on its popularity. Piper certainly had a hit on its hands with the Piper Cub, with a popularity that shows little sign of abating, even to this day. In the late 1930s, Piper was busy pumping Cubs out the door of its Lock Haven, Pennsyl足 vania, factory, but there was room for some variation. Pilots who had learned to fly while strapped into a
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DECEMBER 2001
C ub were looking for something with a little more room and a bit more panache. William T. Piper and his talented staff knew what had kept their bread buttered during previous years, and they continued the push to build airplanes with plenty of value at an affordable price. Getting profitability out of the Iightplane business took all the business and engineering acumen they could muster, not to mention sales calls with a real salesperson rapping on th e door of every prospect. The
Cub Coupe, with its side-by-side seating for two and a pair of real automobile-style doors, was satisfy足 ing to many, but some still wanted something a bit different. (Nothing really changes, does it?) The Coupe project was redesigned to feature a trio of seats, a wider bench seat in the back for a pair of slender passengers, and a single seat up forward for the pilot. A 7S-hp Continental engine was mounted up front, with eyebrow cooling scoops carrying on the Cub tradi足 tion. A snazzy spinner/cowling