Bourdon Airplanes

[hesham]

Hi,

The Boudron Aircraft Corporation was formed in 1928,and designed the
B-1 Kitty Hawk,a three-seat biplane,powered by one 97 hp Ryan-Siemens engine,followed by B-2,almost the same airplane but powered by one 105
hp Yankee Siemens SH-14 engine in 1929.

The B-3 is not known,and the B-4 Viking was from the same family,and powered by one 125 hp Kinner K-5 engine.

http://www.aerofiles.com/_bo.htmlhttp://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9767475f/f584.image

 

[VictorXL188]

Further information regarding the Boudron Aircraft Corporation can be found here; https://www.newenglandaviationhistory.com/tag/viking-flying-boat-company/. Also from the same page is this picture of a Kittyhawk taken at Providence Airport, Seekonk, Massachusetts.

 

[VictorXL188]

Also as an addendum, the company suffered, like many others thanks to The Great Depression, and Robert Gross purchased the assets in 1930 or early 31. It was renamed Viking Flying Boat Company and the company planned to license-build Schreck Flying Boats for the US Coast Guard whilst production of the Kitty Hawk Models B-4 and B-8 continued. Robert Gross shut down the company due to lagging sales and rising losses. The USCG only ordered 5 flying boats. Only 34 Kitty Hawks were completed. Using Viking as his springboard, Robert and his brother Courtland purchased the assets of bankrupt Lockheed Corp in 1934 (or 1932 according to some sources) for $40,000. The brothers parlayed that modest gamble into what rapidly became a multi million dollar aviation giant by the end of WWII. Going back to the Kitty Hawk B-8, one of the Viking-built examples, NC975M, took to the skies once again in 2017, the last flying example of the breed. Picture taken from https://www.facebook.com/Bourdon-and-Viking-Kitty-Hawk-Aircraft