William T. Piper

For other people named William Piper, see William Piper (disambiguation).
William T. Piper
Piper in 1957
Born
William Thomas Piper

(1881-01-08)January 8, 1881
Knapp Creek, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 15, 1970(1970-01-15) (aged 89)
Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting placeHighland Cemetery
Occupation(s)Businessman, engineer
Known forFounder of Piper Aircraft
SpouseMaria Theresa Van DeWater (m. 1910— her death 1937)
Children5; William Jr., Thomas, Howard, Mary, and Elizabeth
Military career
AllegianceUnited States
Service / branchUnited States Army
Years of service1897–1915

William Thomas Piper Sr. (January 8, 1881 – January 15, 1970) was an American aviation and oil industry businessman.[1][2] He was the founding president of the Piper Aircraft Corporation and led the company from 1929 until his death in 1970.[3] He graduated from Harvard University in 1903 and later became known as "the Henry Ford of aviation".[4][5]

Prior to Piper's successful business career he was an officer in the United States Army serving in the Spanish–American War. He was then in the United States Army Corps of Engineers during World War I.[6] In total Piper served 18 years in the Army. When he returned from World War I he was primarily an investor and businessman in the oil industry[7] until 1929 when he became an investor in the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corporation. He went on to purchase the soon-renamed Taylor Aircraft Corporation and head it until reorganizing the company into Piper Aircraft in 1937, eventually seeing tremendous success and becoming a well-known aviation figure of the 20th century.[8] Piper Aircraft sold over 80,000 units when he oversaw the company, cementing Piper as a global aerospace manufacturing power.[9][10][11]

Piper was posthumously inducted in the National Aviation Hall of Fame class of 1980. The William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania is named in his honor. Piper's son William Piper Jr. took over the company after Piper Sr. died in 1970.[10] At the time of Piper SR.'s death, he was worth an estimated $55 million (over $347 million in 2017 dollars), ranking him within the Forbes 400 richest people in the world in 1970.[12]

  1. ^ "William T. Piper | American manufacturer". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  2. ^ "Bill Piper and the Piper Cubs | HistoryNet". HistoryNet. 2006-06-12. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  3. ^ "Bill Piper and the Piper Cubs". HistoryNet. 2006-06-12. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  4. ^ "William T. Piper | Pioneers of Flight". pioneersofflight.si.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  5. ^ "An Appreciation: William T. Piper Jr., a pleasant man of accomplishment". General Aviation News. 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2018-11-18.
  6. ^ Keller, Thomas. "Piper's legacy in aviation and the military lives on". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  7. ^ "Piper, William Thomas Sr". National Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  8. ^ "Piper legacy going strong". The Daily Item. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  9. ^ "Piper Aviation Museum named top tourist attraction in county". The Express. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  10. ^ a b Myers, Spencer (24 June 2016). "Piper's Legacy". Pennsylvania Business Central. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  11. ^ Cheney, Jim (2017-09-25). "Exploring the Piper Aviation Museum in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania". UncoveringPA. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  12. ^ "The world's richest person in every decade". lovemoney.com. Retrieved 2019-02-06.