Clarence Gilbert Taylor (September 8, 1898 – March 29, 1988) was an early American aviation entrepreneur and co-founder of the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation (later named the Piper Aircraft Corporation) in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. He was the designer of the Taylor Cub, which led to the creation of the

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

, one of the most popular airplanes in history.

Biography

Gilbert was born on September 8, 1898, in Rochester,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to Arthur and Clara (née Makin) Taylor, who had immigrated to the United States from

Nottingham, England Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham is the legendary home of Robin Hood and to the lace-maki ...

, in 1889. He was one of six children including his brother Gordon A. Taylor (January 15, 1902 – April 24, 1928). Gilbert co-founded the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation with Gordon in 1927. A year later, Gordon was killed, along with an early sales agent for the brothers' aircraft, during a demonstration flight for a prototype of their Taylor Chummy airplane at the Ford Airport in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County, Michigan, Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring Metro Detroit, suburb of Detroit, Dearborn borders Detroit to the south and west, roughly west of downtown Detroit. In the 2020 United States ...

. After his brother's death, Gilbert moved the company to

Bradford, Pennsylvania Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located close to the border with New York state and approximately south of Buffalo, New York. Home to an oil refinery, Zippo headquarters and a University of Pittsburgh b ...

, where he remained until 1936. During his time in Bradford, the company was renamed to the Taylor Aircraft Company after investor William T. Piper bought the assets of the company in 1930. Piper kept Gilbert on as president, but after clashes between the two, Piper bought Gilbert out and he left to start Taylorcraft Aviation in 1935. Two years later, Piper renamed the company to what is now known as

Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th cent ...

. It went on to build more than 20,000 Taylor-designed

s, the most-produced fabric-covered aircraft of all time.

References

External links

''C. G. Taylor - Pioneers of Flight''
from the

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to human flight and space exploration. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, its main building ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Gilbert American aviation businesspeople American aviation pioneers 1898 births 1988 deaths Businesspeople from Rochester, New York Aviators from Pennsylvania American aircraft designers American people of English descent 20th-century American businesspeople