On the BROL velomobile forum, someone posted a link to Dave Shanks Alleweder build blog, still up all these years after his death.
Here is a post that I made in early February of 2008, shortly after I got the news that he had succumbed:
I received the sad news today that Dave Shank passed away over the
weekend. For those who may not know, Dave had been fighting cancer for
at least two years.
Dave was one of the early adopters in the velomobile world (at least on
this side of the Atlantic), having bought a Versatile back in 2005, and
then built an FAW+ from one of David Eggleston’s kits. I met him for
the first time at the 2005 New England Human Powered Vehicle Rally when
he pulled up in a white rental cargo van and dragged out the Versatile
just at the beginning of 24 hours of the torrential rains of Tropical Storm Florence that made that
event particularly memorable. He treated me to dinner out that night, and
among other things, talked about his adventure traveling around the
Netherlands in his new Versatile prior to having it shipped it back to
his home in Buffalo, NY. The HPV community in the Netherlands is pretty
active (and a tight knit group) and made him feel welcome, even offering
their homes as he toured around. This was something I experienced
myself when I had been there earlier that same year, and talking with
him about our experiences in the land of the velomobile was a shared
evening that I won’t soon forget.
We met up again at the 2006 rally, when he arrived in the white rental
cargo van- this time with both velomobiles inside .
I will miss seeing him at future gatherings.
Rest In Peace, Dave.
