Pietenpol Air Camper — Original 1933 Construction Plans

The Original Pietenpol Air Camper Plans — Direct from the 1933 Flying and Glider Manual

The Pietenpol Air Camper is one of the most beloved homebuilt aircraft designs in aviation history. Designed by Bernard “Bernie” Pietenpol on a Minnesota farm in 1929, the Air Camper proved that an everyday person with basic woodworking skills could build a real, flying airplane in their workshop. This download is the original 1933 construction article exactly as published in Modern Mechanics and Inventions Flying and Glider Manual — the document that put the Air Camper into the hands of thousands of amateur builders worldwide.

Whats Inside the Download

• The complete original Pietenpol Air Camper construction article from the 1933 Flying and Glider Manual
• 16 pages of period-authentic plans, drawings, photographs, and builders commentary
• Specifications for the original Ford Model A converted engine installation
• Wing, fuselage, tail surface, and landing gear construction details
• Cross-references to companion designs (Heath Parasol, Corben Baby Ace) in the same publication

Wood-and-Fabric Parasol Monoplane — No Welding Required

The Pietenpol Air Camper is a two-seat tandem open-cockpit parasol monoplane. The structure is conventional wood and fabric — spruce or fir spars, plywood ribs and fuselage formers, doped fabric covering. There is no welding required and no specialised tooling beyond a workshop with a bandsaw, drill press, and hand tools. This is the design that made the homebuilt aircraft movement accessible to ordinary people in the 1930s, and it remains an outstanding first-build choice for the patient amateur today.

Performance and Specifications

• Configuration: Two-seat tandem parasol monoplane, open cockpit
• Wingspan: 29 ft (8.84 m)
• Length: 17 ft 8 in (5.38 m)
• Empty weight: ~610 lb (276 kg)
• Original engine: Ford Model A converted automotive engine (~40 hp)
• Modern engine options builders use: Corvair conversion, Continental A65 / O-200, Lycoming O-235
• Cruise: ~70 mph (113 km/h)
• Stall: ~35 mph (56 km/h)
• Construction material: Wood and fabric (spruce, plywood, doped Dacron or cotton)

Who Should Build the Pietenpol Air Camper

This design suits the patient first- or second-time builder with basic woodworking skills. Expect 800-1,500 hours of construction time spread over 2-4 years. No metal-bashing, no welding, no exotic materials — just good clean woodwork and fabric covering. There is no faster route into the homebuilt aircraft world that ends with such a charming, slow-and-low aircraft to fly. The Air Camper has been flying continuously since 1929 with an active builder community supporting it worldwide.

About This Document — A Historical Reprint

This PDF is sourced from the 1933 edition of Modern Mechanics and Inventions Flying and Glider Manual, a public-domain US publication. It is an authentic period document — the article that introduced the design to a generation of amateur aviators. Modern builders typically supplement these original plans with the more comprehensive drawings sold by the Brodhead Pietenpol Association, but having the original 1933 article in hand is both a historical pleasure and a useful construction reference.

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