The Taylorcraft Story

C. G. Taylor can truly be called the father of the light airplane industry. At one time, before WWII, his two famous designs, the Taylorcraft and the Taylor Cub, comprised well over half of the world's light aircraft fleet. A majority of the pilots living in the United States today probably trained in one or the other of his little planes. The Taylorcraft Company, the subject of this history, was started by C. G. Taylor in 1936. It still exists today - still building his original two-place, side-by-side design, This book, therefore, spans the period from 1936 to the present. It tells how, after he was forced out of the Piper organization, Taylor built a new plane and a new company, succeeding against almost insurmountable odds. Details of the original design and prototype are included along with the story of the difficult search for financial backing and production facilities. It covers the "glory days" of growth and prosperity in Alliance, Ohio, then on to the disastrous bankruptcy and shutdown in 1946. Attempts by such entrepreneurs as Ben Mauro, Charles and Dorothy Ferris and Darus Zehrback to revive the company and continue production bring the narrative to the present. --- excerpt from book's Preface