The Taylor Chummy, originally the Arrowing Chummy is a light utility aircraft made by the Taylor Aircraft Company in the late 1920s. It was the fore-runner of the highly successful Piper Cub series.^[1]

The Chummy was designed by brothers C. Gilbert Taylor and Gordon Taylor in 1928.^[1] It is a braced, parasol-wing monoplane with two seats side-by-side in an open cockpit.^[1] Power was supplied by a tractor-mounted radial engine.^[2] Fixed, tailskid undercarriage was fitted, initially with a through-axle, but later with divided main units.^[4] The name "Chummy" was chosen by Gilbert because of the side-by-side seating, an unusual feature in an era when tandem seating was the norm.^[3]

About nine examples were built, but the exact number is uncertain due to many records being lost in a 1937 factory fire.^[3] Additionally, some earlier Chummy models were rebuilt into later models.^[3]

On April 24, 1928, Gordon Taylor crashed a Chummy at Ford Airport, Dearborn, Michigan.^[5] His passenger, Aaron Rosenbleet, was killed instantly, and Taylor died of his injuries shortly after reaching hospital.^[5] Gilbert witnessed the crash.^[5] The crash was attributed to the passenger's hand "freezing" on the control stick, and subsequent Chummys included a spring-loaded safety mechanism that allowed the pilot in command to override the other set of controls.^[3]

One of the C-2s built had a wing modified with a seven-degree, variable-incidence wing for entry into the Guggenheim Safe Airplane Competition.^[6]

The Chummy was expensive and did not sell well, leading to the bankruptcy of the Taylor Brothers company in 1930.^[6]

A-2 Chummy

initial version with 90-hp (67-kW) Anzani radial engine^[2][4] and through-axle main undercarriage.^[4]

B-2 Chummy

refined version with 113-hp (83.4-kW) Ryan-Siemens Yankee 7 engine^[2][4] and divided main undercarriage.^[4]

C-2 Chummy

Data from "The Airplane Division"

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: one passenger
• Length: 22 ft (6.7 m)
• Wingspan: 34 ft (10 m)
• Height: 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m)
• Wing area: 175 sq ft (16.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 975 lb (442 kg)
• Gross weight: 1,475 lb (669 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Ryan-Siemens Yankee 7 7-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 113 hp (84 kW)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 110 mph (180 km/h, 96 kn)
• Cruise speed: 95 mph (153 km/h, 83 kn)

• "2 Killed in Crash at Detroit Airport". The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. April 25, 1928. p. 20.
• "Aircraft Types". The Vintage Piper Aircraft Club. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
• Davisson, Budd (May 25, 2022). "Cub Clones — The Icon That Keeps on Giving". Experimental Aircraft Association. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
• Neely, C. L. (June 1986). "The Model B2 Chummy". Model Builder.
• "Piper Aircraft - 75 Years Young". Piper Flyer Association. November 2012. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
• "The Airplane Division". Aviation. April 16, 1928.