Best of 2017 @Legacy
ELVIN “AL” MEYER SERVED THE HELICOPTER INDUSTRY WELL
By Pam Landis
Born in Bakersfield, California, on September 23, 1941, Elvin “Al” Meyer, a vice-chairman of HAI’s board of directors until 2002, passed away in early 2017 in Santa Monica, California.
Meyer was senior vice president/manager of ERA Aviation at the time of his retirement in 2004. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1965. He began his career in aviation crop-dusting out of Shafter, California, and worked as a bush pilot in Alaska for Anchorage Helicopter Services. He left the United States about a year later and worked for National Utility Helicopters (NUH) in Singapore and Indonesia with the beginning of oil exploration in the region.
Early in 1978 Meyer returned to the U.S. and was a surveyor for the U.S. Geological Survey in the western states. To survey, he would fly a grid of 120 miles x 3 miles x 120 miles about eight to 10 times a day measuring gamma rays. The one area that proved difficult, causing him to suffer from headaches while flying the grid, was Death Valley with its lowest point being -282 feet to its highest point of 11,000 feet.
He then assisted building heli-rigs by helicopter to drill gas wells in Borneo for Huffington Oil. In June 1980, he started working for ERA Helicopters as a line pilot out of Lake Charles, Louisiana. After six months with the company, he was promoted to director of training and later chief pilot/director of operations (1984-1990), vice-president/manager of the Gulf Coast Division (1991-2004). By this time he had received an ATP, and was the first pilot to have a full ATP in a BO-105. He was also the first non-Bell pilot to fly the Bell 412, flying the first one off the line. Al had over 9,000 hours in helicopters and over 800 hours in fixed-wing aircraft.
Best of 2017 @Legacy
WHIRLY-GIRLS INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTES THROUGH EDUCATION
By Pam Landis
Jean Ross Howard Phelan founded the Whirly-Girls on April 28, 1955, in hopes of developing an organization where female
pilot s
could share information and camaraderie regardless of country, race, religion or politics. She was one of 13 charter members representing women helicopter pilots from France, Germany, and the United States. As founder and first president of the organization, Jean encouraged the establishment of hospital heliports and the use of helicopters in emergency medical service.
Today, there are more than 1,900 registered members representing 45 countries, two territories, one crown dependency, and one special administrative region. The organization is still growing.
Whirly-Girl Tracy Zedeck used a scholarship to receive maintenance training at Robinson Helicopter Company.
58 Nov/Dec 2017
During the Whirly-Girls 2017-18 scholarship season, they offered 19 scholarships from 16 sponsors. The total value of the scholarships offered this season exceeds $90,000. The
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