Father: Nelson G. Kraschel, former Governor of Iowa, mother Agnes Ed. Iowa State College, University of Colorado Learnt to fly in 1936 at Des Moines, IA prev. Instructor, Livingstone Airways, Waterloo, IA then USAAF Flight Instructor at Cimarron Field, Oklahoma City Dick joined the ATA when his parents were away on vacation. "I thought it would be easier if they didn't know my plans", he said. It turned out, however, that he needed his parents' permission anyway, so his mother (when she found out about it) flew to Montreal and gave the necessary consent. During his ATA Service, he ferried more than 60 types of planes, "losing 48lb in the process." "The work, the climate and the food sort of piled up on me and got me down", he said. Post-ATA, he joined the Bell Aircraft Co. as a test pilot on 14 Sep 1942, but was killed 29 May 1943 when his parachute failed to open after he bailed out of a test flight near Niagara Falls.
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1941
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