Piper J-4 Information & Piper J-4 Links at HealthHaven.com

J-4 Cub Coupe
	Piper J-4A Cub Coupe displayed at the Pima Air Museum, Tucson, Arizona in 2005
Role	Trainer and private owner aircraft
Manufacturer	Piper
First flight	May 1938
Introduced	1938
Status	many still flying in 2009
Produced	1938-1942
Number built	1,251

The Piper J-4 Cub Coupe was a two place side-by-side version of the Piper J-3 that was built between 1938 and 1942 by Piper Aircraft.

[edit] J-4 development

The fuselage of the J-4 was wider then the preceding J-3 and the aircraft had a fully enclosed rear decking to the fuselage top.^[1] The first J-4s had a Continental A50, with up exhaust, an open cowl, oil and spring landing gear, a modified tail wheel system and many other changes. The early J-4 had a comfortable cockpit but was slower than most side by side aircraft of the day.

The 1940 J-4A gained a full pressure cowling, A65 engine, and aft auxiliary fuel. The J-4B was fitted with a 60 h.p. Franklin 4AC-171 engine.^[2] The final version was the 1941 J-4E which sported a 75hp Continental engine. The main fuel tank was moved to the wing along with a header tank and it also had a redesigned interior. Performance was now on par with other similar aircraft of the day, but the attack on Pearl Harbor sealed its fate.

Some J-4s had another unique feature in the tail construction, the stabilizer was made of stainless steel tubing, riveted together with gussets. The plane was Piper's first side-by-side, which made it a good trainer.

[edit] Specification (J-4A)

Data from Simpson, 2001, p. 430.

General characteristics

Length: 22 ft 6 in ( m)
Wingspan: 36 ft 2 in ( m)
Height: 6 ft 10 in ( m)
Gross weight: 1300 lb ( kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Continental A65-1 piston engine, 65 hp ( kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 100 mph ( km/h)
Cruise speed: 92 mph ( km/h)
Range: 360 miles ( km)
Rate of climb: 600 ft/min ( m/s)

[edit] References

Notes

^ Simpson, 2001, p.429
^ Simpson, 2001, p.429

Bibliography

Simpson, Rod (2001). Airlife's World Aircraft. Airlife Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-84037-115-3.

[0] Simpson, 2001, p.429

[1] Simpson, 2001, p.429

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