Background
Vanderkloot was the son of William J Vanderkloot and Florence M Cary. He was descended from Stephen Genung, of Morris County, New Jersey, who served as a private in New Jersey state troops during the American Revolution.
Vanderkloot was the son of William J Vanderkloot and Florence M Cary. He was descended from Stephen Genung, of Morris County, New Jersey, who served as a private in New Jersey state troops during the American Revolution.
William attended Culver Military Academy in Indiana, and though he commanded the academy"s Black Horse Troop, a cavalry unit, at age 16, he had long watched planes coming and going from the Glenview Naval Air Station.
During summers, he worked as a ground crewman for a local flying circus so he could be closer to the airplanes. But while he was there, Vanderkloot sold his car, bought a homemade aircraft with the money and, after a few flying lessons, crashed lieutenant He later attended Parks Air College in East Saint Louis, and during the 1930s was a pilot for Transport World Airlines.
Vanderkloot went to Montreal in 1941, before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and volunteered with the Royal Air Force Ferry Command to transfer long-range planes to Great Britain.
Vanderkloot headed the aviation department of Johns Manville Corporation in New York, piloting executive jets and helicopters. He retired in 1970 to Florida.