HAI President Matt Zuccaro, his wife Doreen, and the female staff of HAI attending EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh Wis. joined the highly energized Women in Aviation International (WAI) AirVenture annual breakfast.

Led by Dr. Peggy Chabrian, WAI is a unique subset of the pilot community. From an amazing woman like Marty Wyall who served as a WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilot) during WWII, to a young flight instructor from Guyana bringing the dream to other young women in her country for the first time, or NTSB Chairman Debbie Hersman, almost 300 women pilots and aviation enthusiasts of all ages, and a few men too, were present. Hersman commented to the group that the goal is to fly safely, and that everyone should “reach out and teach someone else to fly safely.”

Chabrian introduced Zuccaro and they both shared plans for collaboration at HELI-EXPO 2012 in Feb. and the WAI conference in March 2012 – both in Dallas. After sharing complimentary copies ofROTOR® magazine featuring a woman pilot on the front cover, and HAI’s newly produced Spotlight on Women in Helicopter Aviation DVD for everyone at the breakfast, Zuccaro announced that an HAI HELI-CENTERâ„¢ will be coming to the WAI conference and will feature a panel of women from the helicopter world. He concluded by inviting all the WAI members to stop by the HAI HELI-CENTERâ„¢ to watch the Oshkosh Airshow.

The HAI HELI-CENTER™ proved to be the ideal venue to introduce visitors to the Helicopter Foundation International (HFI). Marty Pociask, vice president and curator of HFI, spoke about the Foundation’s many projects, including its mentoring program, the scholarships the Foundation supports as part of its mission, and plans for a virtual history of the helicopter museum. In turn, AirVenture staff allowed him the opportunity to peek behind the scenes and share ideas at the EAA museum, learning a little more about how they cover the helicopter side of flight.