Founder, Kip Lankenau
How KipAero Started
KipAero started as an offshoot of Kip Motor Company when craftsmen re-invented the Liberty Distributor Cap. Previously, Kip Motor had twenty years experience in reproducing authentic parts for uncommon antique British vehicles perfecting small-batch manufacturing processes. These experiences plus the love of aviation history led to the production and fabrication of WWI aeroplanes, mainly the Sopwith family of flying machines.
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KipAero
The KipAero division focuses on providing vintage aviation enthusiasts with the parts and expertise needed to accurately build, restore, repair and maintain vintage aeroplanes. Our line of full-size, authentic Sopwith aeroplane kits are developed using the original factory drawings and period-correct materials. Fitted with new production CAMS Gnome rotary engines, the result is just like the original flying experience of more than one hundred years ago. Sopwith reproduction aeroplanes – 1½ Strutter, Pup, Triplane and Camel – are available in kit form or fully assembled. If you’re looking for ignition parts for Liberty V8 or V12, Hispano-Suiza, B-TH, Curtiss Conqueror or Siemens-Halske, a Scarff ring, Rotherham air pump, tampier valve, bloc-tube carburettor or a Bessonneau hangar, you’ve found the right place! At KipAero, we don’t just breathe early aviation, we fly it!
KipAero Squadron
Kip Lankenau, Commander, Pilot, Historian, and Aviation Enthusiast
Kip is the founder and president of Kip Motor Company, a parts, service, and restoration facility specializing in antique British automobiles and now, vintage aeroplane ignition components and kits through a division, KipAero. A member of the Antique Automobile Club of America by the age of five, antique automobiles and history are his lifelong passions.
A frequent speaker, Kip has presented at numerous conferences including British Motor Trade Association, Aviation Week & Space Technology Innovation Challenge, the Aircraft Engine Historical Society conference in Dayton, Ohio (October 2016), a guest commentator at the US Air Force Museum WWI Dawn Patrol Rendezvous, speaker at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016-2023 and the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum.
Bruce Kimme, Chief Safety Officer
Bruce brings 48 years of aircraft maintenance experience and management processes to KipAero as our Chief Safety Officer volunteer. Receiving his A&P license in 1972, Bruce worked in the general/corporate aviation field and for the last 35 years as Director of Aircraft Maintenance for a Fortune Top Ten corporate flight department. Currently, Bruce is focusing on our test flight program’s procedures to safely operate and fly a Great War aeroplane. We are rediscovering and documenting the flying characteristics, learning valuable information from every flight, fine-tuning safety checklists, ground crew operations, and maintenance procedures to share with other aero enthusiasts.
Dave Spradling, Director of Research & Development
A very talented artisan, Dave holds degrees in Math and Physics from East Texas State University. Joining KMC in July of 1991, his primary product development and manufacturing responsibilities consume most of his time. However, his technical and training skills will likely be engaged during any phase of vehicle and aero troubleshooting, restoration, and repair.
Dave was instrumental in de-engineering the Liberty Cap and developing our small-batch manufacturing processes. He’s been involved in all aspects of the Sopwith kit production & assembly, and special projects most recently including fabricating the Langley Aerodrome.
Luke Lindley, Aero Technician & Ack Emma
Luke joined Kip Motor Company in May of 2020 as an intern upon graduating from McPherson College with a degree in Automotive Restoration Technology assisting in parts production. With a mechanical knack and desire to understand how all things work, Luke fit right in with our Production team. By the end of the summer, he was promoted to Apprentice making authentic reproductions for KipAero’s aviation projects and our customers. As Luke states, “Crafting or making things gives me a satisfaction that not much else does.”
Since then, Luke has graduated to “Journeyman” and is a key crew member, not only in aero production but part of the flight crew with his “pulling the prop” rotary engine starting skills.You’ll see Luke in many of our production and flight videos.