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Business: WILLIAM THOMAS PIPER

Aviation's Most Durable Cub

TO aviators the world over, private aviation's most durable and legendary plane is the Piper Cub. The most durable Piper of all is William Thomas Piper, president and board chairman of Piper Aircraft Corp.. the Cub's maker. At 80, grey-thatched, stocky (5 ft. 9 in., 200 Ibs.) Bill Piper is the grand old man of private flying—yet he became a cub pilot only at 50 after making a career as a successful oilman. By pioneering in the small, cheap and easy-to-handle plane, he helped put flying within the reach of...

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