A story that spans nearly a hundred years, thousands of miles, and one small handmade airplane. This is the stuff of vintage homebuilt aviation dreams:
Then: The early 1930s, Canada. Two young Chinese-Canadian brothers who caught the flying bug but had only depression-era resources. What to do? Build a Pietenpol, the original homebuilt aircraft, and teach themselves to fly. Those brothers, Robert and Tommy Wong, went on to found Central Airways and change the course of Canadian aviation. Their first handmade plane, however, seemed to have disappeared.
Now: Long presumed lost, that very same original aircraft was discovered last year in Saskatchewan and is now under restoration by our friend Cam Harrod in Ontario. Though amazingly intact for being 90 years old, the aircraft was missing tail feathers… By lucky chance, the Kelch Aviation Museum happened to have a spare set of Pietenpol tail feathers, built by the late Ed Sampson of Minnesota, a good friend of designer Bernard Pietenpol. And now after 90 years, the Wong family got to be reunited with the plane that started it all.
We are so proud to be a small part of the story to return this historic aircraft to the skies! It’s stories like this that make aviation so special and history so important. Read the full, inspiring story here:
