World War II service Minutes before the 1941
Attack on Pearl Harbor, Machinist Mate 2nd Class Marcus F. Poston, a student pilot, was on a solo flight through K-T Flying Service, piloting a Piper J-3 Cub over the valley of
Oahu. Poston was flying just as the Japanese planes began appearing over the island and was subsequently shot down. Poston managed to bail out and parachute to safety. The Piper J-3 Cub was the first American plane to be shot down in
World War II. The Piper Cub quickly became a familiar sight.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt took a flight in a J-3 Cub, posing for a series of publicity photos to help promote the CPTP.
Newsreels and newspapers of the era often featured images of wartime leaders, such as Generals
Dwight Eisenhower,
George Patton and
George Marshall, flying around European battlefields in Piper Cubs. Civilian-owned Cubs joined the war effort as part of the newly formed
Civil Air Patrol, patrolling the
Eastern Seaboard and
Gulf Coast in a constant search for German
U-boats and survivors of U-boat attacks. Piper developed a military variant ("All we had to do," Bill Jr. is quoted as saying, "was paint the Cub olive drab to produce a military airplane"), and a range of . Some 5,413 L-4s were produced for U.S. forces, including 250 built for the U.S. Navy under contract as the NE-1 and NE-2. All L-4 models, as well as other tandem-seat light aircraft from
Aeronca and
Taylorcraft, were collectively nicknamed "Grasshoppers", although any
liaison plane, regardless of manufacturer, was often referred to as a 'Cub'. The L-4 was primarily employed in World War II for artillery spotting and training liaison pilots, but short-range reconnaissance, medical evacuation, and courier or supply missions were not uncommon. especially during the
Battle of Arracourt. L-4s could also be operated from ships, using the
Brodie landing system. After the war, many L-4s were sold as surplus, but a considerable number were retained in service. L-4s sold as surplus in the U.S. were redesignated as J-3s, but often retained their wartime glazing and paint. In October 2017, the L-4H that Major Carpenter flew in World War II—s/n 43-30426—was identified in the collections of the Austrian Aviation Museum () at
Graz Airport. It was acquired by the
Collings Foundation and returned to its World War II appearance, by a restorer in
La Pine, Oregon. The restoration was reported as complete on July 4, 2020 and the aircraft is now on public display, at the Collings Foundation's
American Heritage Museum.
Postwar An icon of the era and of American
general aviation, the J-3 Cub has long been loved by pilots and nonpilots alike, with thousands still in use. Piper sold 19,073 J-3s between 1938 and 1947, the majority of them L-4s and other military variants. After the war, thousands of Grasshoppers were civilian-registered under the designation J-3. Sixty-five pre-war Taylor and Piper Cubs were assembled from parts in Canada (by
Cub Aircraft). After the war, 130 J-3C-65 models were manufactured in Hamilton, Ontario. Sixteen L-4B models, (known as the
Prospector), were later manufactured. The last J-3 model was assembled from parts at Leavens Bros. Toronto in 1952. J-3 Cubs were also assembled in Denmark and Argentina and by a licensee in Oklahoma. In the late 1940s, the J-3 was replaced by the
Piper PA-11 Cub Special (1,500 produced), the first Piper Cub version to have a fully enclosed cowling for its powerplant and then the
Piper PA-18 Super Cub, which Piper produced until 1981 when it sold the rights to WTA Inc. In all, Piper produced 2,650 Super Cubs. The Super Cub had a 150 hp (110 kW) engine which increased its top speed to 130 mph (210 km/h). Its range was .
Korean War service On 26 June 1950, one day after the Korean War broke out, the Republic of Korea Air Force flew L-4s to Dongducheon to support the ROK 7th Infantry Division against North Korean military by dropping two bombs from an observer in the rear seat. A total of 70 bombs were dropped until the following day, then aircraft were switched back to reconnaissance mission as bombs were depleted. South Korea lost 25 L-4s throughout the Korean War. The United States Army also operated small numbers of L-4s, but were replaced by L-16 during the war. An electrical system is standard from both manufacturers. The J-3 is distinguished from its successors by having a cowl that exposes its engine's cylinder heads—the exposed cylinders of any J-3's engine were usually fitted with sheet metal "eyebrow" air scoops to direct air over the cylinder's fins for more effective engine cooling in flight. Very few other examples exist of "flat" aircraft engine installations (as opposed to radial engines) in which the cylinder heads are exposed. From the PA-11 on through the present Super Cub models, the cowling surrounds the cylinder heads. A curiosity of the J-3 is that when it is flown solo, the lone pilot normally occupies the rear seat for proper balance, to balance the fuel tank located at the firewall. Starting with the PA-11, as well as some L-4s, fuel was carried in wing tanks, allowing the pilot to fly solo from the front seat. ==Variants==