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Michaels RV-8
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Date: 12-4-2012
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Number of Hours: 0.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: My Inspiration
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My Inspiration for taking on this project is Howard Lee VanDresser. So who is Howard VanDresser or "Van" as he was known around the flying community? First and foremost, he was my mothers father, "granddaddy" to me, my sister, and my five cousins. Although granddaddy is no longer with us on this earth, his spirit, the life-long lessons, and knowledge he was able to instilled in us lives on.
On March 4, 1945, a clear sunny day in Wichita Kansas, granddaddy was 35 years old when he logged his first flight in a J3 Cub, NC27093 that only lasted a short thirty minutes. At that time he was working for Beechcraft as a final inspector on the Beech 18 assembly line. Times were hard as America was in the middle of the war.
He continued to work at Beechcraft and support a loving wife and three children, two girls and a boy all the while taking flight lessons when he could afford too. From his log book, he flew mostly J3's but also had time in an Aeronca Champ, NC31321, Luscombe Model 8, NC72082, and a Cessna 140, NC2038N. On November 11, 1945 his flight instructor, G.L Hobbs C-41973-HO signed-off for his first solo flight.
Due to the economic times in America after the war, it took him some time from his first flight to finally have his final check ride for his private ticket; the day was May 6, 1948. As a tribute, I have reserved the N548HV for my RV-8.
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Howard Lee VanDresser (Van)
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21' Cabin Cruiser (Kimberly)
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On the Kimberly
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