CoolPix: Continental A-40 On A Taylor J-2 Cub (NAHI 2011)
Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 10:42PM 
(click pic for hi-res) Classic aviation beauty! Continental A-40 engine on a Taylor J-2 Cub
I'm beginning to have a little infatuation relationship with the Continental A-40 engine from the 1930's. I've known since I was a kid that the A-40 was the basis for what would eventually become the A-65 (65 hp), which begat the C series engines (like the 90 hp C-90), which then led to a little engine called the O-200 (100 hp) which just happens to be the engine Cessna put into over 20,000 150's. There's a LOT of aviation history built around these little 4 cylinder engines! But, even knowing all this, I'd still never really studied the A-40.
So when I saw this immaculate Taylor J-2 Cub at the National Aviation Heritage Invitational (NAHI) at Reno a few weeks back, I took a little closer look. What a beautiful little engine! This one is single ignition (later A-40's went to dual ignition) - and how cool is it (no pun intended) that there are cooling fins in the head? Almost looks like a little model airplane engine!
Even more amazing to me is that this little 40 hp engine would actually get a 2-place airplane like the J-2 off the ground. If I could, I'd have me a Taylor J-2 Cub with an open cowl A-40... AND an early Taylorcraft, the side-by-side follow up design by C.G. Taylor, also with an open cowl A-40 on it. That would make a really cool collection of amazing low-powered 2-seaters from the golden age of aviation. And the best part to me is that the open cowl lets you take in that classic engine style all day long.
BTW, this image, or one similar might be another option for my large, high-quality photo print idea. Hopefully by early November I'll have the first of some fabulous aviation prints (like the 'dawn patrol' B-25) available for you to consider purchasing : )
Reader Comments (6)
And don't you know she'd be so much fun to play with? Kind of funny that I see this after my tube and rag "practice" building session I did with my tig out in my garage... #GotPlansOnTheBrain...
~J~
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kandrmar e3d3fd1842 https://asorpick.com/matlazaba
kandrmar e3d3fd1842 https://asorpick.com/matlazaba