AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2012 - 50

His dedication to airport development was known to many. In 1967, a new airport was planned at Brockport, New York. A local teacher and pilot decided to build the airport and gain support by stressing it could be ready in a day. At two minutes to seven the first engine of a road grader started. Volunteers worked with it and other equipment to clear the brush and grade the strip. Mr. Piper had been invited to be the first person to use the new airport. At 6:15 p.m., a Piper Navajo with Mr. Piper aboard touched down on the dusty strip. Workers welcomed him and he personally thanked them for their efforts. He welcomed the publicity for airport development that the building stunt brought. That airport and a few others started with proponents gaining information from a Grow Kit produced by the Utility Airplane Council. This package of basic planning and promotion material was one of the programs undertaken by the UAC after sales slumped following the postwar boom. I had been hired to develop the $150,000-per-year program to get better public acceptance for general aviation. Mr. Piper and his son Bill Piper Jr., who by this time had taken over many of the company duties, eagerly supported the entire program, even quietly urging more joint effort to get more people to train as pilots and to build more airports.
50 | AOPA PILOT November 2012

PIPER OPENED its engineering center in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, in 1961 (above). “Mr. Piper” was honored in 1961—along with his family; that’s Rev. Billy Graham on the far right (above right).

Back to basic flying
Tadd Garcia flew his 1946 J–3 Cub to Sentimental Journey from Pittsburgh. It was the airline pilot’s third visit to the Sentimental Journey. “I bid for vacation this week every year,” he said. A pilot since 2000, he’s owned the Cub a little more than two years. “I wanted to go back to basic flying. We’re flying these things with automated everything, and I liked the idea of going back to a basic airplane.” Garcia flies the Cub 75 to 100 hours per year. “I just like cruising around on a nice, smooth evening with the window open,” he said. “Gas is still expensive, but at least this airplane makes it somewhat manageable.” —Mike Collins

TADD GARCIA

Others did not agree. The joint industry program was discontinued after a year and a half. In dealings with competitors, Mr. Piper maintained the same modest, nonaggressive, frank, and honest attitude that distinguished him in other business and personal activities. Walter Jamouneau, under Mr. Piper and his sons’ direction, continued to make improvements in the Cub. There were added pressures to build other aircraft to sell to the increasing market for personal and business aircraft. Even as these new single- and multiengine models were brought into the market, Mr. Piper still had his Cub for training. To much of the world, the Piper Cub is the name by which noncommercial flight is known. Late in his life, Mr. Piper was being interviewed for a story. The interviewer commented that just as Henry Ford had produced a low-cost Model T to make automobiles more easily available and revolutionize transportation, Mr. Piper had done much the same for aviation. “Does it bother you to be called the Henry Ford of aviation?’ the interviewer asked. “No,” Mr. Piper responded, “but I’d rather that Mr. Ford was known as the William Piper of automobiles.” AOPA
CHARLES SPENCE was vice president of

public relations for AOPA from 1968 to 1983. He has been flying for more than 50 years.

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - November 2012