William Thomas Piper "Ford of Aviation"

"William Thomas Piper" painting Gong Haoqin of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

William Thomas Piper (1881-1970) was an American aircraft manufacturer, aviation businessman, oil industry businessman and engineer, the founder of piper aircraft company, he was known as the "Ford of the aviation industry", because in his lifetime, Piper Aircraft Company produced more aircraft than any other company, almost as popular in the United States as Ford, so Piper was known as the "Ford of the aviation industry".

Piper was born in Nap Creek, New York, and graduated from Harvard University in 1903. He worked in the construction industry and then in the oil business his family started in Pennsylvania. In 1928, Piper joined the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Company. At that time, there were many young people who loved flying in the United States, and he felt that light aircraft had great market prospects, but the price of aircraft was a big problem hindering the aircraft market, so he persuaded Taylor to design a popular light aircraft - simple to operate, low-cost, and affordable for ordinary people.

In September 1930, the aircraft, known as the E-2 "Young Fox", made its first successful flight. It was a small twin-cylinder, two-cycle, 37-horsepower light aircraft with a pair of double-blade propellers, and some people figuratively called it "Tanuki". This kind of aircraft that is too simple to be simple has only 2 engine meters, no altimeter, no airspeed meter. The pilot relies on his ears to listen to the sound blown on the metal pipe of the pillar to judge the speed of the aircraft, and estimates the amount of oil in the aircraft by looking at the height of the floating valve stem in the fuel tank. The cockpit can seat two people in front of and behind, and the plane can take off and land directly on the football field. The price is even cheaper, with a price of $1325 in the early 1930s.

Unexpectedly, this aircraft was not mass-produced, catching up with the Great Depression of the Us economy. At that time, the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Company had to choose to declare bankruptcy. In 1931, Piper bought the bankrupt Taylor Brothers Aircraft Company for $761, | Taylor remained at the company. Piper managed to raise money, resume production, and sell a considerable number of "baby foxes." When Taylor left the company in 1936, Piper hired Walter Jamono, a young man with a degree in aeronautical engineering, as chief engineer.

In 1938, Giamono made improvements to the E-2 Cub Fox aircraft, designing the J-3 Cub Fox. The new "Young Fox" aircraft made Piper rich again, and before World War II, "Young Fox" became a household name in the United States, so that the name became a collective name for light and small aircraft. At that time, all towns with airports, even the smallest airports, could see such small yellow planes flying around.

Most enticingly, Piper's flight lesson costs $1.325 per hour. At that time, this kind of cheap small plane was very popular with the people, and if the teenage boy wanted to fly, he would ask his parents for a few dollars and go to a few flying lessons. The plane takes off from the small local airport, and from the open cabin you can see grass, treetops, friends' houses, cars running on the highway, and the instructor in the back seat will pat you on the shoulder and tell you to pedal your left foot, turn, pull rod to climb, and when you return to the ground, give you a comment. This is the simple, cheap, fun".

Piper's description of "young foxes" as "the kindergartens where pilots grew up" is no exaggeration, and 80 percent of American pilots who obtained their flight licenses in the 1940s were taught with "baby foxes," and 75 percent of American pilots who served in World War II completed their primary training through "young foxes." As World War II approached, Piper's factory produced 1,800 Young Foxes a year, and his factory became the world's largest aircraft factory. At that time, U.S. President Roosevelt implemented the "Civilian Pilot Training Program" in order to prepare for war. By the time Japan surrendered, Piper had supplied the military with a total of 5,673 Young Foxes. From 1931 to 1950, a total of 23,512 "young foxes" of various types were produced, some of which were used until the 1990s.

After the end of World War II, Piper continued to introduce new single-engine and twin-engine civilian light aircraft, and by the end of the 1960s, Piper had produced more than 70,000 light aircraft, setting a record for the number of aircraft produced in the world. Piper's business slogan is: "Flying Piper's plane is as simple as driving a car." "I'm a crappy pilot myself, but I'm going to make any fool fly my plane." ”