Midwest Flyer Magazine

day on his way past the New Haven,Connecticut, Municipal Airport,George noticed a Viking Flying BoatCompany Kitty Hawk B8 biplanepushed off to the side, half covered by atarpaulin. It was orange and black, andlooked like it was ready for the scrapheap. Before the day was out, Georgebought that aircraft, including theparts that had been removed and werescattered all around the airport, for thejunk price of $250. Shortly thereafterhe and his friends hauled the wholeworks in the back of a barrel truckthe 80 miles to his home airport inCoventry, Rhode Island.The Kitty Hawk B8, N13250, wasa 1933 model. It sported a KinnerB-5 125 hp 5-cylinder radial engine,and had two seats – one in front thataccommodated two passengers, and onein the back, the pilot’s. Soon, with helpfrom friends and old salts, and lots ofwork on his own, George had the KittyHawk flying.!"#$"#%&'()*'()%+,-.'-*!"#$"#/%!,$0')$,) Wisconsin Aviation Businessof the Year 2007!"#$%$&'()*)+,%,-()./0)0'12)./0)3#&/2()24,2).&%)#156,-'()./0),).71)8,%)#1)9,7(,7:;!!""#$%$&'(&)*')+,)-"./0.""+123)&'"456)-"+#%#718)"""George Carpenter found the almost-junk 1933Viking Flying Boat Company Kitty Hawk B8half hidden under a tarp at the New HavenYears later, N13250 found a permanent homein the New England Air Museum, WindsorLocks, Connecticut. George, his wife, Arline,and a nephew visited his venerable old biplaneabout 10 years ago.George logged many happy flyinghours in the old biplane before sellingit to a friend a couple of years later. Butbefore he and N13250 parted ways,George learned a fascinating and almosteerie fact from the aircraft’s flight logs:on May 6, 1937, as 11-year-old Georgewas transfixed by the reports comingfrom the Atwater Kent, and starring upin wonder at the mammoth Germanblimp, this same Kitty Hawk was alsoin the skies overhead, serving as thephoto plane documenting the arrival atLakehurst of LZ129 Hindenburg.Nor was this encounter with fatethe last he and his Kitty Hawk wereto share. George and Arline movedto Sauk County, Wisconsin, in 1948,where she was born and raised, bothwishing to escape the East Coast for thequieter life of rural Wisconsin. Abouta year later they stopped at a root beerstand for refreshments. George noticedthat the car behind them had a RhodeIsland license plate, the state fromwhich they recently moved. Thinkingthis an unusual coincidence, Georgeapproached the fellow driving, onlyto find that it was the very person towhom he had sold the Kitty Hawk! Inthe process of relocating to California,George’s buyer had sold the Kitty Hawkto another lucky pilot.But this was not to be George’s lastmeeting with N13250. Many yearslater the venerable biplane was to finda permanent home on display at theNew England Air Museum, in WindsorLocks, Connecticut, where you can seeit to this day. http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N13250.html Abouteight years ago George, Arline and hisnephew visited his old friend at themuseum.Over the years George Carpenterhas owned and flown many otherairplanes, including an Aeronca7AC, which he bought brand new, aTaylorcraft BC12D, a Luscombe 8A, aPiper Colt and a Piper J4E Cub Coupe,among others. He developed a landingstrip on his own property and alsoshared a small strip with friends alongthe banks of the Wisconsin River. Mostof his flying was relatively uneventful,except for a couple of memorableevents. One was a forced landing in aFleet biplane, which was being ferriedin from Canada. The Fleet’s Kinnerradial engine quit over Willimantic,Connecticut, but was successfullylanded in a field.George was sent to fly the Fleetthe rest of the way to its destination.Shortly after takeoff, the Kinner quitagain, this time over rocky, forestedterrain, and a second forced landingensued. George landed on a loggingroad and was able to walk away fromthe wreckage uninjured, havingfollowed the age-old advice to aimbetween two trees so the impact forceswould be reduced, and the aircraftslowed, as the wings sheared off. (I’veoften heard that bit of advice myself,but never encountered anybody whoactually made it work!)In the years after moving toWisconsin, George and Arline raiseda family of six children, and are nowblessed with grand- and great-grandkids as well. During his work yearsbefore his retirement in 1981, Georgeworked as a union carpenter, includinga stint at Badger Ordinance duringthe Korean War. Later he ran twosuccessful small businesses, one a smallconstruction company and the second,an engine overhaul shop specializing inVolvo cars. He backed off from flyingfor a while, during which time he got