The History of it All

The Late 60s, Early 70s

Homer pursues his dream of flying, like in his favorite television show WHIRLYBIRDS, by taking lessons in a small Cessna.  He received his fixed wing license in 1969, and began his pursuit of building his own aircraft.  He traveled to the 1972 EAA Airshow in Oshkosh, WI.  Originally thinking of a small plane, he looked at the BD and Mustangs, but walked away with nothing.  RotorWay was not at Oshkosh, due to a pending new platform.

In the fall of that same year, RotorWay introduced the Scorpion II.  Ads had been placed in Popular Science, and Homer sent away for information.  He visited a builder in northern Ohio that had started a Scorpion I in his motorcycle shop.  After deciding that RotorWay was indeed a viable company, he sent $750 for the first group.  After 8 months, he was ready for group 2.  Looking for some building guidance, he joined his local EAA Chapter 48 in Dayton OH, and with their help and a lot of late nights, the final 14 groups would take him into 1974.

At the EAA Airshow in 1973, he finally met BJ Schramm, owner of RotorWay Inc, and a lifelong mentorship began in rotorcraft.  Homer began teaching himself to fly helicopters in 1974, and trailered his first Scorpion to the airshow in 1975.  Two Scorpion IIs, one Grand Champion Exec, and over 200 solo flight hours later, he received his rotorcraft rating and signed on as a Commissioned Agent for RotorWay.  The Southeastern RotorWay Helicopter Club was born, and years of family-run monthly Club Meetings and Newsletters, and decades of annual helicopter “Meets” would follow.

July of 1974


Spring 1976


Spring 1977


July 1982 - First Rotorway Exec Grand Champion!


Rotorcraft Magazine, October 1996


July 2004 - Added a Helicycle to the Bell Air Ranch

Helicycle


Summer 2007  &  Spring 2010 - Initiated new toddler training programs

July2007 26P3060885


Current State of Happiness

 

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