1946 Piper J3 N70777

I owned the paperwork and a few parts of this untill about 2010.

In the 50s and early 60s, there were a number of small crop dusting services that used modified J-3s. At this time, you could buy a J-3 for a few to several hundred dollars. These modified J-3s could then be sold for $1000 to $1500. My Father, Ed Shumaker, did a number of these conversion J-3 to duster conversions as a sideline while working for Graham Aviation. My job as a teenager was to stand inside the hopper and buck rivets. Later, my younger brothers took over this job. We had a hangar and small strip, about 1200 ft, on our property in Marianna Florida. This was on the Old Starr Road. This road is now known as the Old Spanish Trail.

Dad's hangar/shop was about 30' X 30' open to the north with no door. One day a strong wind from the north turned the hangar completely over blocking the Old Starr road. I will never forget coming home from school on the bus and seeing the road blocked by the upside down hangar. The wings of my PA-12 were inside this hangar tied to the ceiling. Miraculously, the wings were not badly damaged. Some minor PA-12 parts hanging on the hangar walls were never seen again.

After Graham Aviation closed, my Father and Bill Singleton started S and S Air Service. Their first two aircraft were a J-3 and a PA-18A. They named the J-3 "Stump Jumper", and the PA-18A "Spook". This J-3 was already converted when S and S bought it. I don't recall which engine it had initially, maybe a C-85 or a O-200. When I got to fly it, the engine was a "hybrid" Lycoming. This was a O-290-D with a carb and oil sump from a O-320. So, the engine had two data plates. The O-290 data plate on top of the case and the O-320 data plate on the oil sump. When this engine needed an overhaul in the middle of dusting season, the "Stumper Jumper" borrowed the O-235 from the PA-12. Working aircraft had priority when it came to available engines.

The few times I got to fly the "Stump Jumper" it was a great thrill. With no load, it would be ready to leave the ground almost as soon as the throttle was all open. Some operators claimed that the semi-open cockpit with the leading edge continuing across the cockpit made for a little more lift.

Once when Bill Singleton was dusting with the "Stump Jumper", a "June Bug" (colloquial name for a iridescent green beetle about 1/2" long) went over the top of the little windshield and under his helmet hitting him directly in the forehead. That was a shock.