Keith "Pedlar" Vasey

When Pedlar was still a young boy in south-central Kansas his father began flying lessons. His Dad was taught in a J-3 Cub by an old man named Orville Hickman – who also trained Charles Lindbergh to fly. The Vasey family always had an aircraft in the hangar. In 1970 they flew to the EAA convention when Pedlar was 11 - the first year in Oshkosh after being relocated from Rockford, Illinois.  After that trip, Pedlar's Dad began a plans-built project which became the first flying P-51 replica. Still, with all this rich flying heritage, Pedlar didn’t take his first flying lesson until 1987 and suddenly he realized he should have begun a lot sooner (when his father may have paid for it).  Pedlar has logged 4,975 hours as a pilot with Commercial, Multi-Engine, Sea Plane and Instruments ratings.  He has been trained in 68 different models of aircraft and is currently in his 19th year as an aircraft salesman (also a bike enthusiast, hence Pedlar has a dual meaning!).  Pedlar's wife, Valerie doesn’t share the passion for flight, but greatly appreciates the ability to travel – with a pilot in the family. His two boys, Ben & Henry, haven’t begun flying lessons yet, but they provide invaluable assistance when Pedlar is faced with replacing components in hard-to-reach places. Pedlar flies the RV-8 he built. His build process was delayed by the arrival of two children and – equally – the finances to purchase the new engine. In 2012 he sold his RV-8 to a doctor in Texas. He flew it for a year and installed some avionics upgrades.  After 12 months, Pedlar couldn’t stand it anymore and bought it back from the doctor!  He has the RV Grin back and it is even bigger when flying formation with KC Flight.