Hovering: The History of the Whirly-Girls – International Helicopter Pilots

This book was originally published in 1994. The hardcover edition consisted of 254 pages. This is a complete rendition of that book minus the index and a small amount of backmatter. While some surnames have changed I have kept the original history unchanged,. In a few rare cases I have updated some of the biographies since the changes were significant.For more information of the Whirly-Girls organization see thei website at:http://www.whirlygirls.org/Whirly-Girls are the “other” women aviation pioneers: the women helicopter pilots. Some started as fixed-wing pilots, but most began their flight careers with the helicopter. Once the rhythm of the rotating blades got in their blood there was no turning back.It has been suggested that helicopters and women have characteristics in common and that is the reason for their love affair. Helicopters are more flexible and spontaneous for example, than fixed-wing aircraft. At the drop of a hat they can change direction for the better, or even stop should the occasion arise. Flying, of course, is serious business and this analogy must be regarded as subliminal at best.However, in a much deeper way, women pilots were forced to look the helicopter differently than men pilots. Theirs was a continuing challenge: first to master its flight which was straight forward, but then gain acceptance as commercial and military helicopter pilots — and that was more difficult.Their long struggle has now been won, starting literally with the evolution of the helicopter in the early forties. A major contributor to the victory lies in the organization the women pilots started in 1955 known as the Whirly-Girls. Women helicopter pilots took their work seriously, but not themselves, as the name implies — and therein lies one of the most successful, happy and charming tales in aviation.