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Background: The first 100 (of 980) L-4B's produced by Piper beginning from July of 1942 were all silver in finish and were ferried to the artillery training school at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. These 100 L-4B's were military registration numbers (tail numbers) 43-491 through 43-590, corresponding to Piper serial numbers 9352 through 9451. According to the build sheets from Clyde Smith, the L-4B was also designated by Piper as "J3C-65D."
I took the 100 Piper serial numbers and ran them against the FAA aircraft registration database, and the results are as attached. I can't say this captures ALL of the Fort Sill Cubs still possibly remaining out there, but it's probably a good relative indicator of how many are out there.
Total of 19 hits of the 100 Piper serial numbers:
14 are registered as J3-C65's, 4 as L-4B's, and 1 as an NE-1.
12 show currently valid registrations + 1 showing an expired registration - I guess that says in the USA, there are 13 actual airplanes or projects or sets of paperwork out there. 6 have been deregistered, of which 4 have been exported. Of the 2 remaining deregistered, 43-557 was associated with the Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, but there is no Cub in the collection / exhibit listing on their website. 43-565 was registered as a 1943 NE-1 and since deregistered, with the N-number currently reserved. Where did these two airplanes go?
I took the remaining 81 Piper serial numbers that got no hits on the FAA database and ran them against the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register. No hits.
I'll let someone else work on the remaining 880 L-4B's.
I took the 100 Piper serial numbers and ran them against the FAA aircraft registration database, and the results are as attached. I can't say this captures ALL of the Fort Sill Cubs still possibly remaining out there, but it's probably a good relative indicator of how many are out there.
Total of 19 hits of the 100 Piper serial numbers:
14 are registered as J3-C65's, 4 as L-4B's, and 1 as an NE-1.
12 show currently valid registrations + 1 showing an expired registration - I guess that says in the USA, there are 13 actual airplanes or projects or sets of paperwork out there. 6 have been deregistered, of which 4 have been exported. Of the 2 remaining deregistered, 43-557 was associated with the Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, but there is no Cub in the collection / exhibit listing on their website. 43-565 was registered as a 1943 NE-1 and since deregistered, with the N-number currently reserved. Where did these two airplanes go?
I took the remaining 81 Piper serial numbers that got no hits on the FAA database and ran them against the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register. No hits.
I'll let someone else work on the remaining 880 L-4B's.
