"I’m 48 and becoming deaf," writes Edgardo Maffia of Buenos Aires, Argentina. "It began when I was a child, with what I know now was tinnitus. I carry the noise of rain around in my head all the time.

"I learned to fly when I was 45, and now I own an autogyro and a Rans Coyote 6 with full Lotus floats.

Edgardo Maffia, a hard of hearing pilot from Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his autogyro.

"During my last medical my hearing fell within the required limits, but this year I’ll try to avoid the audio test. In Argentina you almost need to qualify as an astronaut to obtain your pilot’s license!

"At present my deafness isn’t 'social.' I’m hard of hearing and say 'What' frequently, but I don’t yet use a hearing aid.

"I’ve contacted a group of deaf teen-agers to take along as passengers and to give flight lessons. I hope to contact the Argentine Air Force (our local FAA) soon to obtain an exception to the hearing rule and create a license for deaf pilots."

Welcome, Edgardo!

CHOPPER PATROL: Suddenly deaf helicopter pilots seem to be emerging from the woodwork everywhere. Last summer at the 1999 IDPA fly-in in Frederick, Md., Michael Freiss entertained us with his demonstration in a rented Enstrom 280C helicopter. We had thought he was the first ever deaf helicopter pilot in the United States, but in March Gary Devlin of Bowie, Md., reported that he had been one for 13 years.

Soon there will be a third. The June issue of AOPA Pilot magazine carried a page-long article by Alton K. Marsh about deaf cinematographer Peter Weschsberg, who is taking helicopter training at Sun Air in Camarillo, Calif. Peter, who was born to hearing parents in England, decided at age 55 to learn to fly, and has been training with former Ventura (Calif.) policeman Dave Williams along with Peter’s wife, Margaret Sych, who acts as Peter’s sign language interpreter. Margaret is taking helicopter training at the same time so that she can explain to Peter "what she saw and felt before Peter flies," according to the article.

Coincidentally, shortly after the article appeared, a hearing helicopter pilot from Parkesburg, Pa., named Chris Rice wrote to us, saying that Harry Griffith, owner and chief flight instructor for Horizon Helicopters in Newark, Del., had trained a deaf helicopter pilot using an electronic communication system that consists of a control panel with special lights that indicate what operation needs to be corrected or what maneuvers he is to perform. We wrote to Harry asking for information-and learned that the pilot he trained with this method was none other than Michael Freiss.

A few days afterward, Mark Valencik of Horizon Helicopters sent us a photograph of the light system Horizon devised. As you can see from the photo, it’s a self-contained unit with batteries in a control box (at left in the photo) that is mounted on a kneeboard. The instructor presses ten buttons on the control box, which sends signals to a light board (at right in the photo) that is clipped to the top of the instrument glare shield in front of the student pilot.

The light system for training deaf helicopter pilots that was devised by Horizon Helicopters in Newark, Del.

The light board displays signals for four primary controls:

1. RPM-up and down;
2. Collective-up and down;
3. T/R Pedals-left and right;
4. Cyclic-forward, aft, left and right.

For more information, contact Valencik at Horizon Helicopters, 2035 Sunset Lake Road, Newark, Del. 19702; phone 302-368-5135 or fax 302-368-4438.

FIRST FLIGHT: Last May 29, Henry Kisor’s wife, Debby, took her first hop in his 1959 Cessna 150 after six years of telling her husband she would never get in an airplane that wasn’t big enough to have at least one rest room. The half-hour flight around Westosha Airport (5K6) near Wilmot in southern Wisconsin came on a beautiful windless morning. Henry hopes to take her on trips with him soon.

Debby Kisor is all smiles after her first flight in husband Henry's 1959 Cessna 150 at Wilmot, Wis., last May 29.

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2001: Last June 9, Clyde Smith, IDPA President, and Teddy Clemons, IDPA Fly-In Coordinator, flew a rented Warrior to Lee’s Summit, Mo. (LXT), where they met Jeff Willoughby, the 2001 Fly-In host at that airport. They met with John Ohrazda, the airport manager, to discuss details, and he suggested that IDPA participate in a Young Eagles program in which youngsters aged 8 to 18 take introductory rides with private pilots. (Participants must be members of the Experimental Aircraft Association, which underwrites free $1 million insurance for each flight.) Jeff will contact a deaf school at Olathe, Kan., as well as other nearby programs to urge deaf youngsters to come to Lee’s Summit and take a ride with an IDPA pilot.

Afterward, Clyde, Teddy and Jeff visited the Garmin aviation electronics plant. There they met Jim Brown, production manager, who knows how to sign. He not only took the group on a tour of the plant but also introduced Clyde to an employee named Sam, who fixed Clyde’s ailing hand-held GPS, and to two deaf employees.

Naturally Clyde and Teddy flew home safely with the GPS.

CARRYING THE FLAG: Becky Center, IDPA Secretary, and Cathy Roach, IDPA Librarian, displayed an informational table on our organization at Deaf Awareness Day last May 29 at Carillon Historical Park, Dayton, Ohio. They pitched IDPA’s fly-ins in the U.S. and in Australia and spoke highly about the European deaf pilots’ skills and willingness to attend American fly-ins. They also sold 79 IDPA T-shirts at $15 each to raise hundreds of dollars for our association. Many thanks to Cathy and Becky for their hard work on our behalf.

INTERNATIONAL GROWTH: Among our new members is a deaf student pilot from Nepal, Jag Dawadi, who lives in Alaska. Welcome, Jag.