Piper J3C-65 Cub       NC42500                      (c/n  14772)

                              

                                   The Piper J-3 was introduced in 1937 and by the end of 1941 some 10,000 had been produced.  
                                   They are still a relatively common sight on airports across the USA today.  This beautifully kept
                                   example was photographed at the Franklin County Airport, North Carolina, in 2004.   It displays
                                   authentic Piper original livery.  While other power plants were used, by far the most common was
                                   the Continental A65.    During WW II many thousands of Piper J-3s were used by various branches
                                   of the armed forces as air observation posts and liaison machines with extended cockpit canopies.
                                   Although originally known as the O-59A, they were re-classified into the liaison class as L-4s
                                   in 1944.  Many restored L-4s appear on the world's civil aircraft registers.  I photographed an
                                   immaculate example on a recent trip to England at Dunkeswell Airport in Devonshire (the County
                                   of my birth).  This machine is, in fact, an original O-59A, having been built as 42-36767.  It was re-
                                   classified as an L-4A and later civilianized in the US as N46454.  It was exported to France as
                                   F-BGXJ before crossing the Channel to become G-BGSJ.   Clearly it is not a requirement in the
                                   UK that the 'true' civilian registration be displayed on the aircraft!

                                Piper L-4A      G-BGSJ                            (c/n  8781)