November 2012
1925-1926 North Star Aerial Corp. founded at Rochester, N.Y. by Clarence Gilbert and Gordon Taylor using a restored Curtiss Jenny
1928 Moved to Bradford, Penn. and formed the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Co. (TBAC)
1928 William Thomas Piper Sr., an oil man, joins the TBAC Board of Directors
1928-1930 TBAC produces the side-by-side A-2, B-2, C-2 Chummy aircraft
1930 D-1 glider made
1930 TBAC bankrupt, W.T. Piper Sr. purchases assets and renames it Taylor Aircraft Co. with C.G. Taylor as Chief Engineer; 50-50 ownership
12 Sept 1930 E-2 attempts to get airborne with Tiger Kitten engine supplied by the Light Manufacturing and Foundry Co.
The engine engenders the name “Cub”
23 Sept 1930 E-2 Cub flies with pilot Bud Havens, Salmson engine
March 1931 First E-2 Cub with Continental A40 engine
1931 E-2 production commences. Also F-2, G-2 and H-2
1931 Walter Jamoneau joins Taylor Aircraft Co.
1935 J-2 Cub designed by W. Jamoneau whilst C.G. Taylor is away ill
December 1935 W.T. Piper Sr. and C.G. Taylor split, Piper buys out Taylor’s half;
C.G. Taylor sets up Taylor-Young Co. in Ohio (later Taylorcraft)
March 1937 Bradford factory burned to the ground
June 1937 Taylor Aircraft Co. moves to an abandoned silk mill at Lock Haven, Penn.
30 October 1937 J-3 Cub Type approved
1 November 1937 Piper Aircraft Corp. formed
December 1937 Production of J-3 Cub commences
1938 Jake Miller joins Piper as Sales Manager; sets up comprehensive network of distributors and dealers
1938-1939 Modern production facilities set up at Lock Haven factory with rotary paint/toner drier system, a monorail linking departments
and a long final assembly line
1939-1940 Side-by-side J-4 Cub Coupe and three-place J-5 Cub Cruiser introduced
1939-1947 Miscellaneous aircraft designed during World War II, none of which went into full production: P-1 Applegate Duck, two-place
P-2, four-place P-4, PT Trainer, LBP-1 Glomb, P-5 Cantilever Cub, PA-6 Sky Sedan, PWA-1 Skycoupe and PA-8 Skycycle
1942-1945 Military Cub, the L-4, produced in large numbers; also the NE-1 and TG-8 glider
1946 Piper opens factory at Ponca City, Okla.
1946 PA-12 Super Cruiser replaces the J-5
1947 PA-11 Cub Special replaces the J-3
1947 Piper nearly goes bust; the banks bring in William Schriver. The Pipers resign from the board
Late 1947-1948 PA-15 Vagabond developed, the plane that saves Piper
1948 Four-place PA-14 Family Cruiser introduced
1948-1954 Further short-wing Pipers produced: four-place PA-16 Clipper, later
the PA-20 Pacer
1949 PA-19 developed for the U.S. Armed Forces; PA-18 Super Cub replaces
the PA-11
1947 George Truman and Clifford Evans fly around the world in two Super
Cruiser aircraft: 25,162 miles in 122 days
December 1948 Piper buys Stinson Aircraft from Consolidated Vultee Corp.
1950 The Pipers back in charge of their company
1951 Nosewheel-equipped PA-22 Tri-Pacer introduced
1952-1953 First business class aircraft developed; twin-engine low-wing
PA-23 Apache, the first Piper to use the American Indian name
1957 Fred Weick joins Piper and establishes the development center and manufacturing plant at Vero Beach, Fla.
1957-1960 PA-25 Pawnee developed at Vero Beach, specifically designed for crop dusting and spraying
1958 Sleek four-place low-wing PA-24 Comanche introduced at Lock Haven
1958-1960 Four-place, low-wing PA-28 Cherokee developed at Vero Beach, led by Karl Bergey
1959 Max Conrad sets many endurance and speed records in a Comanche
1960 PA-23-250 Aztec replaces Apache
1960 PA-25 Pawnee introduced at Lock Haven
1961 PA-28 Cherokee introduced at Vero Beach
1961 $5 introductory flying lesson introduced
1962 Fiberglass and plastic PA-29 Papoose developed at Vero Beach
1962 Ed Swearingen develops the PA-30 Twin Comanche for Piper; introduced
at Lock Haven in 1963
1964-1967 PA-28 Cherokee 235, PA-32 Cherokee Six and PA-28R Cherokee
Arrow introduced at Vero Beach
1967 Ed Swearingen develops the PA-33 Pressurized Comanche for Piper
1967 Cabin-class PA-31 Navajo introduced at Lock Haven
1967-1969 18-place commuter PA-35 Pocono developed
1968-1969 Renovo plastics/fiberglass and Quehanna subassembly factories
established in Pennsylvania
1969 Land at Lakeland, Fla. purchased and factory built in following years
1969 Bangor Punta and Chris Craft take over Piper
1970 PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R replaces PA-30
1970 PA-31P Pressurized Navajo introduced at Lock Haven
Late 1970 Piper buys Cavalier Aircraft Enforcer program
January 1970 William Thomas Piper Sr. dies
1971 PA-34 Seneca introduced at Vero Beach
June 1972 Rain from Hurricane Agnes floods central Pennsylvania and the Piper factory
1973 Howard Piper and William Piper Jr. both resign from Piper day-to-day jobs
1973 PA-31-350 Chieftain introduced
1973 PA-36 Pawnee Brave production starts
1973 Turbine PA-31T Cheyenne introduced at Lock Haven
1973 PA-28-151 Cherokee Warrior with semi-tapered wing introduced
1973 Piper moves production of Navajo and Chieftain to Lakeland
1973-1977 PA-38 Tomahawk trainer developed at Vero Beach, goes into
production at Lock Haven in 1978
1975 William Piper Jr. resigns from Piper board, the last member of the Piper
family to leave the company
1975-1978 PA-32R Cherokee Lance and PA-44 Seminole introduced at Vero Beach
1978 Piper buys the Aerostar line of aircraft from Ted Smith
1979-1983 PA-46 Malibu developed at Vero Beach
1980 PA-42 Cheyenne III introduced at Lakeland
1981 Santa Maria, Calif. factory closed, Aerostar production moved to Vero Beach
1982-1984 PA-48 Enforcer developed at Lakeland
March 1984 Lear Siegler Corp. takes over Bangor Punta/Piper
1984 Renovo, Quehanna and Lock Haven factories closed, operations moved to Lakeland
1984 PA-42 Cheyenne IV introduced at Lakeland
1984 PA-46-310P Malibu introduced at Vero Beach
1985 Lakeland factory closed, operations consolidated at Vero Beach
Early 1987 Forstmann Little & Co. acquires Piper
May 1987 Piper sold to Stuart Millar/Romeo Charlie
1988 PA-46-350P Mirage introduced
1988 PA-18 Super Cub reintroduced at Vero Beach
1989-1990 LoPresti-Piper established at Vero Beach and Swiftfury developed
July 1991 Piper files for Chapter 11 protection
July 1995 Piper Aircraft Corp. dies, the New Piper Aircraft Inc. is born
2001 PA-46-500TP Meridian introduced
July 2003 American Capital Strategies buys Piper
2004 Hurricanes damage Piper factory at Vero Beach
June 2006 Company name reverts to Piper Aircraft
2008 PA-46R-350T Matrix introduced
May 2009 Imprimis acquires Piper
October 2011 Piper becomes an investment of the Ministry of Finance of the
government of Brunei
