Front:
*ELO83
CO
DENVER
WilliamT.Piper
Aviation Pioneer
USAirmail
17
40
1991
80266
Back:
WILLIAM T. PIPER
First Day of Issue: May 17, 1991
First Issue Location: Denver, Colorado
In 1945 William T. Piper reached reached another land-
mark in a flawlessly successful career. That year, Piper
was certified a pilot for twin-engined aircraft. No doubt
there were quite a few nervous executives of the Piper
Aircraft Corporation as their venerable president took to
the air, but their worries were for naught. Born on January
8, 1881, Piper graduated from Harvard University in
1903. In 1929, Piper's long-time interest in flight resulted
in the founding of the company which would become the
Piper Aircraft Corporation. For several years, the com-
pany produced light-duty aircraft for personal and busi-
ness use. But in the 1940s, Piper Aircraft came into its own
with the delivery of more than five thousand, six hundred
Piper Cub airplanes to the U.S. government for use in
World War II. The Piper Cub put Piper Aircraft into the
forefront as a manufacturer of light- to medium-duty
airplanes and earned Piper the moniker "the Henry Ford
of Aviation” for his leading role — a position he held until
his death in 1970 at the age of eighty-nine.
No. 91-38
©1991 The Maximum Card Collection
A division of Unicover Corporation Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007
® Original painting for the Maximum Card by Lois Hatcher
