Object Details
- Physical Description
- Piper Cub lapel pin; one piece stamped brass wings with embossed text "CUB" in center of pin.
- Summary
- Souvenir pins such as these were distributed as marketing material for the Piper Cub aircraft. Born during the Great Depression, the Cub was a simple, inexpensive light plane with gentle flying features that captured and even helped create the private pilot market.
- Two men were responsible for the Cub's success: C. G. Taylor designed it, and William Piper provided financial and marketing genius. Piper displayed his marketing savvy in several ways. To make flying seem fun and easy he distributed "How to Fly" kits and souvenir pins to flying clubs. He adopted an automobile purchasing model, leasing the Cub for $475 down and 12 monthly payments so it could earn its keep at flying schools. To encourage Piper employees to purchase or lease a Cub, he provided them with flight training for just $1 an hour.
- Piper's marketing techniques proved successful. Thousands of people over more than 30 years learned to fly in a Cub. The plane became so popular that people started calling all light airplanes "Cubs." By 1941, a third of all general aviation aircraft were Taylor or Piper Cubs, and more than 27,000 had been sold when production ended in 1947. The Cub's simple design remains famous and led to the line of Piper personal and business aircraft that continues today.
- Inventory Number
- A19951496000
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- AWARDS-Insignia
- Materials
- Overall: Brass
- Dimensions
- 3-D (Each): 1.7 × 0.5 × 0.5cm (11/16 × 3/16 × 3/16 in.)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19951496000
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv960806153-9c88-4b58-a427-311ac4e3106a
