A Family Affair
Bernard Pietenpol’s happiest moments came when he was flying one of his homebuilt airplanes—with a child or two in tow.
- By Diane Tedeschi
- AirSpaceMag.com, March 15, 2010
Courtesy Pietenpol Family
Why fly solo when you can bring along a passenger? That’s probably what Bernard Pietenpol was thinking when he designed and built the Air Camper, a two-seat monoplane.
Pietenpol lived a simple life in rural Minnesota. When he wasn’t working in his television repair shop in Cherry Grove, he almost always had an airplane under construction: wood airframe, fabric covering, and an engine lifted from an automobile. And when the airplane was finished, it was put to use flying low and slow over acres of farmland. Pietenpol’s two sons, Kermit and Don, and his six grandchildren all grew up seeing their world from above. For the Pietenpol family, airplanes weren’t really a mode of transportation—a way to get from one point to another. Flying was a pleasure all its own, and getting aloft in an open-cockpit airplane was the best way to enjoy a long summer day. Generations of Pietenpol homebuilders agree.
Pictured: Don often sat alongside his father, who resorted to strapping his son in with a men’s belt because the no-frills Air Campers had no safety harnesses.
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Comments (4)
The Pietenpol aircraft looks very similar to the Heath Parasol aircraft that we are rebuilding at our Western North Carolina Air Muaeum at Hendersonville, NC. It is an early kit designed by Mr. Heath that could be purchased in the 30's for $200.00 + the engine. There is some engine work (a Contenental 70 series engine, substituted for the Heath engine) to be done and minor final assembly. Some day soon, off to the wild blue yonder.
We have 8 other aircraft from the 30's and 40's in our collection. One of our members has recently finished refurbishing a Stearman. It's a silver and black beauty, that makes you want to get in and fly away.
The museum holds an air fair the first weekend in June, fly-ins are welcome. There is a 3000ft hard strip and grass strip that run parallel, in front our our facility. Welcome.
PS As a subscriber to the Air and Space Magazine, I enjoy each and every article, in each and every issue, thanks for keeping aviation alive. Don. EDITORS' REPLY: Thanks for the kind words, and for your support, which keeps the magazine alive.
Posted by DONALD BUCK on March 28,2010 | 02:05 PM
I own N56JY, And am willing to donate a picture if you like.
Posted by Garry Ackerman on January 25,2011 | 02:47 PM
I very much doubt that Mr.Pientenpol would be running a television repair shop in the late 20's and early 30's as is noted in the article. The caption on one of the accompanying photographs mentions an auto repair shop, which is much more likely!
Posted by Frank Parker on July 30,2012 | 02:05 PM
The caption of the 3rd photo mentions a "16 Value Ace engine". Could that actually be a "16 Valve Ace engine" instead?
Posted by Mike Burkholder on May 17,2013 | 11:39 AM