Father: William Leonard Kleaver Ed. High School m. 1936 Mary Lee [Speight] USA Pilots Licence No 5639 In 1929 he flew his grandfather "William Kleaver of Scott River" and his uncle H.J. Kleaver "Superintendent of Schools at Dunsmuir" on a air trip round Scott Valley and Marble Mountain.
"When pilot Ken Kleaver's motor quit cold 1,500 feet above Eureka, Calif., he was left no alternative but to land. Two nurses riding as passengers were uninjured when Kleaver picked a soft spot in the mud alongside a slough and gently nosed the ship over. Kleaver was not hurt. Here's the way they landed." Arizona Republic, 23 Nov 1930 He then did barnstorming and stunt flying for the 'Crusading Flying Fleet', "well known transport flyers, who have thrilled many crowds with their feats of danger and daring. Also, they will carry aloft any passengers who are looking for thrills." By 1936 he owned one of only two Fokker C-2 Tri-motors in the USA, and offered 14 passengers a joyride from Bend Airport, Oregon in his '$92,000 airplane'. Address in 1940: Yreka, CA Postings: 1FPP, Hawarden, Ringway, 2FPP Suspended without pay for a week in Jan-41 for 'General Misdemeanour' He and Ralph Canning were nicknamed the 'California Prune Pickers' by their English counterparts. RAF Ferry Command from Apr 1942 In 1956 he was reunited with a schoolfriend from Dunsmuir, Eugene Babb: "The human interest angle is that, in the meanwhile, both men have been girdling the globe many times over, Babb as skipper for various shipping companies, Kleaver as captain for airlines all over the world. Each had been in and out of the same port many times, unknown to each other." "Kleaver is the Calistoga representative for the Valley Chevrolet Company." d. 2 Jan 1962 - Shasta County, CA Download ATA Pilot Personal Record (.zip file): |
1940
