The Vandersarl Bleriot 8/16/10—7/18/20
(Source: History.net by Jon Guttman) "Little is now known about Jules “J.J.” VanDersarl and his younger brother, Frank, except that they lived (in Dawson, NM) and just outside Denver, Colo.; their mother worked as a housekeeper; and they barely made it through grade school. But both brothers proved to have innate mechanical talents that made them proficient at machining, carpentry and other skills. Given that, it’s not surprising these young men, like a good many others at the time, became enthralled with aviation. J.J. experimented with gliders at age 12, and later, a few months after Blériot’s 1909 Channel flight, he and Frank got more ambitious. Obtaining all the publications and photographs they could, they used those references to build their own Blériot XI in 1911…then learned to fly it."
These old Dawson photos were graciously supplied by Jules great grandson, also named Jules Vandersarl, and appear to be taken prior to 1920. https://www.historynet.com/vandersarl-bleriot.htm
