– THE CUB –
1939 Piper J-3 Cub
Sylivania Air Photo Service
Lincoln Park Air Port, New Jersey, circa 1960

Since there wasn't a war going on, and Dad was running an aerial photography service at the time, we actually HAVE pictures of the Cub - and in color! - for modeling reference. The cub was overall dark blue dope. The nearest color I've found is Blue Angels blue. The markings were pale yellow. The interior was either the same pale yellow or Zinc Chromate. Happily, I've actually seen the Cub myself, and we have enough pictures that I could build a pretty accurate model of the old girl.

The Cub parked at Lincoln Park, New Jersey, Airport in the late 1950s with Dad striking a classic "Smilin' Jack" pose. The joystick in the Cub's front cockpit is the one dad took from that Focke Wulf. The metal nose cowling appears darker than the rest of the airplane, the effect of the same paint on different surfaces (fabric and aluminum), or possibly different paints (dope on the fabric and enamel on the metal).

December 31, 1962, there was a snow storm that blew 100 mile per hour winds across the airport. Since the Cub's takeoff speed is less than 60, it did! It ripped it's mooring lines out and flipped over into the adjacent drainage ditch. The wings were totalled. The Cub sat wingless in our barn for many years. Dad was unable get the chance and money to fix it, so he sold it. We understand it's been rebuilt and is possibly still flying somewhere in Canada. I still have the patch of fabric with the word PHOTO, so I was able to use it for color reference for a scale model.

I can see my house from here! No, really! Our house is in the center of this aerial shot taken from the Cub some time before 1962. The three houses immediately surrounding us were all owned by my grandmother's family. Today, the surrounding woods and fields are replaced by housing developments, the house at the end of the Y-shaped driveway is gone for a new side road, and we've all moved on.