This thought experiment is irresistible: What if the clock were wound back 50 years and William T. Piper got a look at the modern crop of light sport airplanes that bear the name of his beloved Cub? Would he be pleased? Our guess is that he would not be, although Walter Jamouneau would be. Jamouneau was the engineer responsible for improving the Taylor E-2 and evolving it, eventually, into the J-3. Its not that Piper was a purist and would be offended by what the likes of Legend and Cub Crafters have done to his classic everymans airplane. Its because Piper was, above all else, a salesman and in his day, the $1325 price was what would make the thing sell (and did) and thus become the iconic conception of light aircraft. The J-3 was not the perfect airplane. It was compromised to be affordable, not be the best that could be built. Piper could not have imagined that seven decades later, his J-3s would still be competing with new airplanes as they most assuredly do. But the Legend Cub and Cub Crafters S2 Sport Cub are closer to what Piper might have wanted but wouldnt have built. Both are less compromised purely for price and both represent the Cub idea executed as we’ll as it can be. Despite the advent of LSA, the days of an airplane for every man are gone and neither the Legend nor the SportCub can pretend to be one, in our view. Of the two, the Legend is closer, given its lower cost. Although it hasnt ignited the market explosion many have hoped for, the light sport rule has focused attention on new airplanes that cost less than half of what new conventional aircraft do. Further, because no medical is required to fly light sport, many certificated pilots who cant hold a medical are staying in the game and others who wouldnt have otherwise considered owning an airplane are kicking tires. And some of those are the 8.00 X 4s on J-3s, other legacy light sport options and new LSA models from more than a dozen manufacturers. The fact that one in six LSAs sold is a Cub-type taildragger illustrates the enduring appeal of Pipers design. But do 60- or 70-year-old J-3 Cubs really compete with new Legends and Sport 
Three Cubs: New LSAs vs. the J-3
This thought experiment is irresistible: What if the clock were wound back 50 years and William T. Piper got a look at the modern crop of light sport airplanes that bear the name of his beloved Cub? Would he be pleased? Our guess is that he would not be, although Walter Jamouneau would be. Jamouneau was the engineer responsible for improving the Taylor E-2 and evolving it, eventually, into the J-3. Its not that Piper was a purist and would be offended by what the likes of Legend and Cub Crafters have done to his classic everymans airplane. Its because Piper was, above all else, a salesman and in his day, the $1325 price was what would make the thing sell (and did) and thus become the iconic conception of light aircraft.