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Page Four BELL HELICOPTER NEWS [[image]] She's 48-year-old Mrs. Evelyn Bryan of Tennessee and she's just received an instructor's rating from Bell's flight school. She's believed to be the... ...world's fourth woman helicopter instructor [[image]] [[right margin]] Jim Franklin My Instructor [[/right margin]] A five-foot-two, 114 pound greying little woman who hails from Tennessee has just received a helicopter instructor's rating here at Bell Helicopter. She's Mrs. Evelyn Bryan, 48-year-old flying enthusiast. who has been piloting aircraft "for about 14 years." Less Than 25 Women Helicopter Pilots in the World Although not the fist woman to attend the company's helicopter flight training school, Mrs. Bryan is one of a very few. She's also another minority: there are less than 25 helicopter pilots in the world. And Mrs. Bryan is believed to be the fourth woman to receive a helicopter instructor's rating. Mrs. Bryan has been a helicopter pilot since 1947 when she "learned to fly them at Helicopters International down in Florida. They used a Bell Model 47D-1," she recalls. How did she get interested in learning to pilot helicopters? "Well, I became interested when I got my first ride in one," she'll tell you. And then she goes on to explain that she got her first ride in a helicopter "when a barn-storming, publicity-minded senatorial candidate came through town. For a favor I did for him (Mrs. Bryan few an airplane from Chattanooga to Tricity, Tenn., for the campaigning candidate). he let me ride in the helicopter. And after that, I just wanted to fly one myself." Instructor's Rating "Investment in Future" Why did she get an instructor's rating? "I think helicopters are the coming thing," she explains. "Some day, more people will be flying them. They'll need to be instructed. And that's what I want to do - instruct them. So my getting an instructor's rating is an investment in the future." Mrs. Bryan has been an instructor in fixed-wing aircraft for years. A partner in Morristown Flying Service, Inc. of Morristown, Tenn., she holds a commercial license and rating in both single engine (land and sea) and multi-engine (land) aircraft and is rated as a flight instructor and in instrument flying. She's also a CAA commercial pilot examiner. And last April 25, she received her helicopter instructor's rating. At the Morristown Flying Service, Mrs. Bryan does all the instructing and her partner does charter work. As the only operator at the airport, Morristown Flying Service also operates the airport. Mrs. Bryan's home is in Jefferson City, 12 miles southwest of Morristown. "The airport's midway between the two towns." How did she become interested in flying? "I learned to fly just before I turned 35 years old," she recalls. "At that time, my husband was in t he service, and I had to run our dry cleaning plant and laundry. To get away from the 'grind,' I took up flying as a hobby." Flying No Longer Just A Hobby With Mrs. Bryan Today, flying no long is just a hobby with Mrs. Bryan - but a day-to-day business. And her husband operates their dry cleaning plant in Jefferson City. "He has nothing to do with the airport business," she explains. Does he fly? "Yes, he has a pilot's license, but he doesn't care too much about flying," says Mrs. Bryan. Does it hurt his ego for Mrs. Bryan to be the best pilot? "Not the least," she laughs. "In fact, he encourages me in my flying." Recalls Most Interesting Experience Her most interesting experience, says the diminutive woman pilot, was "ferrying a Piper Tri-Pacer to a missionary in South America." She also has participated in four all-women trans-continental air races and one international air race. Questioned about accidents or near-accidents, Mrs. Bryan recalled two dead-stick landings and a few anxious moments last December in a plane she was ferrying from Tennessee to California. "Twenty-two miles west of Mineral Wells, the engine 'swallowed a valve.' The plane began vibrating, quickly lost altitude, coming down to 1,000 feet, but I finally made it back to Mineral Wells." That and the other incidents caused her anxious moments, admits Mrs. Bryan, but she shrugs it off with "it's just part of flying." Of flying, Mrs. Bryan says she "likes it better than anything." "The only dangerous thing about flying," she'll tell you, "is driving to the airport." May 16, 1958
