On June 21-24 of 2006 the organization "Sentimental Journey" will host their annual fly-in to "Cub Haven", Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. The fly in, as always, celebrates the Piper J3 Cub, and this year will also feature the Piper Apache which, along with many other models of Piper aircraft was also produced at the Lock Haven plant.

How times have changed.

The 2nd floor entrance area and gift shop counter.

One half of the display chronicling the life of William T. Piper

In 1979 Piper Aircraft had well over a dozen aircraft models, and of just one of those models, the new Piper Dakota, they sold 335 units. In 2005 Piper sold 233 units of all their aircraft models combined, of which there were 11 models. The two biggest sellers were the Warrior and Saratoga II TC, of which just 37 were sold of each. How times have changed.

It is said that the "Golden Age" of General Aviation ended with World War II, and the great boom in GA that was expected after WWII never really occurred. I disagree, and think that expectations were unrealistic for the post-WWII period. If one looks at the post-WWII era, from the late 1940s to the late 1970s, it would be obvious that GA manufacturing was in its true "hey day", and that this was the real Golden Age for General Aviation. It was a time not only for GA, but the birth period for Business Aviation, an area of aviation virtually non-existent prior to WWII.

The "Piper Boys": Thomas, William T. Sr., Howard ("Pug"), and William T. Jr. Only William T. Jr. survives today. The last members of the Piper family left the company in 1973.

Advertising for the Piper "fabric" aircraft of the 1950s.

During this period aircraft manufacturers often sold more aircraft in a month than they now sell in a year, often much more. There was a much wider variety of models available, and while prices were never cheap, these aircraft were certainly more affordable than their counterparts today. In 1973 one could purchase a very nice Mercedes-Benz automobile for about $25,000 and a very nice single engine GA aircraft for about $75,000, or three times the price. Today, that Mercedes will cost about $100,000 and its GA counterpart around $600,000, or six times the price!

Whether the Golden Age for GA was pre-WWII or post-WWII is almost irrelevant, as it is certainly non-existent today. Fortunately the GA market is just healthy enough to keep some manufacturers in business, and even support some brand new aircraft designs. However, the glory days of 20, 30 years ago are over. For many manufacturers it is not GA but Business Aviation that keeps them healthy. Witness Cessna, whose move into business jets in the 1970s made them the leader in that market today.

The PA-29 Piper Papoose, a composite aircraft well ahead of its time.

The main gallery, with the frame of a J3 Cub in the foreground.

During this post WWII period, there were three major GA manufacturers, Beechcraft, Cessna, and Piper. In size order it was more like Cessna, Piper and Beechcraft.

If one wishes a glimpse into the hey day of GA manufacturing, a time capsule if you wish, one needs to travel to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, and the former facilities of Piper Aircraft to see it. Here you will see the former Piper manufacturing facilities, one facility which has been partially turned into a museum, the Piper Aviation Museum.

With little doubt, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, is probably not the best location for an aviation museum. Some might argue it's not even the best place to build aircraft. It is a bit off the beaten path to attract many visitors, it's in a valley, the winters are cold, and the nearby Susquehanna River has been known to wreak havoc on the surrounding area. Vero Beach, Florida, would be a better location, with balmy weather and tourists, as long as you can withstand the occasional hurricane!

Piper Tomahawk simulator running FS2004.

The Super Cruiser "City of Angels".

Well, history is what it is, and one cannot change it, and it is Lock Haven that William T. Piper Sr. chose to locate the Piper Aircraft Company, after he had completed the purchase of the Taylor Aircraft Company, and that company's facilities in Bradford, Pennsylvania were destroyed by fire in 1937.

There are many resources available on the Web to research the history of Piper Aircraft, so I will say only that Piper opened a research facility in Vero Beach in 1957, the Lock Haven facility was severely damaged by flooding (yes, the Susquehanna River) in 1972, and in 1984 Piper, now owned by Lear-Siegler, left Lock Haven to consolidate operations in Vero Beach.

It is, however, Lock Haven that will always be the historical home of Piper. It is here that Piper literally made history with the venerable J3 "Cub". It is Lock Haven that manufactured the great Piper piston twins; everything from the Apache to the to the Cheyenne turboprop. Lock Haven also was birthplace to the Comanche, a great aircraft, and the one that was lost to the flood of 1972.

What would a Piper museum be without one of these?

The pressurized Aztec.

The Lock Haven facilities started in a building that once housed a silk mill, and continued to grow from there. As Piper grew, the original mill was stretched via numerous additions, and across the street, literally on the grounds of Lock Haven airport, was built an engineering facility and an administrative office building.

In 1995 the Piper Aviation Museum was formed, and the non-profit corporation purchased the former 56,000 square foot engineering building to house the museum. As described both at the museum's web site and by staff, the museum is a "work in progress", but it is progressing quite well!

Indeed, the Lock Haven location is not ideal for attracting large numbers of visitors, and the museum's small, paid staff is supplemented by many volunteers. While the museum resides on the 1st (ground) and second floors, the top, third floor is rented out in order to help pay the bills. Revenues for the museum come from this leased space, admission fees (a reasonable $6 per adult), gift shop sales and donations.

A cabin/cockpit mockup for the Cheyenne 400LS.

This attractive display most likely appeared in their administrative office building.

In the entrance to the building you will see the original employee time card slots, and you can purchase one of these slots, to which an engraved plate with your name will be attached, for $100. With little doubt, the museum has to try hard to make ends meets, and it seems as though they are doing a fine job.

While the museum might not be considered large by some standards, if aviation, especially Pipers interests you, you could easily spend several hours there. On the day we visited, a Thursday, our group of three was the only ones in the museum. We flew in to KLHV, and first taxied to the other side of the field for some low-priced fuel ($3.38 per gallon vs. $4.44 per gallon at our home base of KCDW). We then taxied across the field and parked adjacent to the museum's parking lot, which was filled with cars for employees from the third floor offices.

The museum consists of two large galleries on the second floor, and from here you can go down to the "hangar" which is on the first floor. The second floor contains hundreds (if not thousands) of photos and printed material (ephemera). Touring these galleries will give you a complete history of the company and the Piper family, with some entertaining reading of numerous documents and advertisements that appeared in magazines over the years.

Need some signs? Piper was purchased by Bangor-Punta in 1969 who in turn was purchased by Lear-Siegler in 1984. There have been other owners since then.

Abandoned Navajos from the 1972 flood.

In the first gallery, the largest one, there is the tube frame of a J3 Cub on the floor, and behind it is an aircraft I'll bet very few knew Piper ever produced, the PA-29 "Papoose". Designed in the early 1960s, the Papoose was of almost entirely of "composite" construction, in this case, a honeycomb material covered in fiberglass. It preceded the composite aircraft of today by almost 40 years! Sadly, the Papoose never saw production, as the FAA just did not know enough about this type of construction, and certification appeared to be all but an impossibility.

In the second gallery there's a Link trainer, along with a more modern "Flight Simulator". This simulator is a very real Piper Tomahawk, complete with wings but without propeller. Since it was down for maintenance during our visit, I am not sure exactly how it works, but I can tell you this: There is a monitor ahead of the windshield, a computer outside the aircraft and, yes, FS2004 running on the computer! Hopefully during a future visit I will have a chance to fly it.

Downstairs is the "hangar", this is more like a large garage with storage areas and work shops adjacent. If you are expecting to see every Piper model ever produced here you might need to manage your expectations a bit, as the building simply is not large enough. However, what is there is quite interesting.

The former administration / executive office building.

The Piper factory, with the original silk mill in the distance on the right, and the building stretching well off the photo to the left.

From the ceiling hangs a J2 Cub, and on the floor are two pristine J3 Cubs, along with the famous Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser "City of Angels", which in 1947 was flown around the world by George Truman. Actually, two Super Cruisers made this flight, and the second one "City of Washington", piloted by Clifford Evans resides at the NASM in Washington, D.C. after its donation to the museum by William T. Piper Sr.

Center stage is a pristine Comanche, and just beyond is yet another Piper I'll bet many of you did not know about, even though it looks very familiar; a PA-41P, a pressurized Aztec, N9941P. Note the registration ending in "41P". I guess Piper had great hopes for this aircraft.

Built in 1974, it was soon learned that what made the Aztec a spacious load-hauler, often popular with charter operators, did not make it suitable for pressurization, namely the fuselage structure. Perhaps it was just a bit too boxy to withstand the pressurization cycles. The pressurized Aztec lived only a few months and was then donated to the Mississippi State University Raspet Flight Research center, where it was used for cooling and drag tests. MSU donated the aircraft to the museum in 2000, and while the aircraft was flown to the museum, it was donated with the provision that the aircraft never be flown again.

Adjacent to the hangar is a large storage area, and since there was no notice posted not to enter it, I did! Most notable in this area were the fuselages of two Piper Navajo Chieftains, looking like they just came off the assembly line. They did, back in 1972, and when the flood waters hit them they could never be certified. Piper never scrapped them either and they are now museum property.

The former engineering building, which now houses the museum.

While my Piper Dakota was built in Vero Beach, making this photo was a must!

Walking out of the hangar is a ramp area, and here we have a forlorn-looking Aztec missing her engines. I did not inquire if this was another flood aircraft, but I suspect that it was. Nearby, the fuselages of several Navajos are tossed to the side, all victims of the flood.

Crossing the ramp and the adjacent street is the Piper factory itself stretching for what seemed like a dozen city blocks.

Having spent the better part of two hours at the museum it was easy to come to the conclusion that the museum is much more than the sum of its parts. Add the other Piper buildings and the surrounding airport and one quickly concludes that this is a time capsule, a glimpse into that other era I described above. A glimpse into what I feel was the true Golden Age of GA.

With AVGAS prices going into the stratosphere, and new aircraft prices following them, it is highly unlikely we will ever see this Golden Age of general aviation manufacturing again, but if your travels should take you anywhere near Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, take the time to visit the Piper Aviation Museum, and see what it was like back in the "good old days".

Links:

Piper Aviation Museum:
http://www.pipermuseum.com/

Sentimental Journey fly-in web site:
http://www.sentimentaljourneyfly-in.com/

The New Piper Aircraft:
http://www.newpiper.com/

Lou Betti
loubetti@earthlink.net
http://www.dreamfleet2000.com