Richard (Dick) Werling

Born in Adams County, Indiana, in 1932, Richard Werling began his aviation career in

1952 with the US Army in Alaska where he maintained both fixed and rotary wing

aircraft. After the Army, Dick joined World Wide Helicopters, a French company, where

he served as a maintenance supervisor pioneering helicopter operations in Borneo and

East Pakistan. Upon his return to the states, he became general manager of Helicopter

Services, Minnesota.

In 1961, Dick founded Lake Line Helicopters in Rosemont, Minnesota, with one leased

helicopter, and developed his business into a six-helicopter operation. He sold this

business in 1964 to become President of Omniflight Helicopters in Janesville,

Wisconsin.

At Omniflight, with three Bell 47 helicopters employed principally in agricultural and

utility work, Dick pioneered new frontiers within commercial helicopter operations. He

opened new markets for the helicopter industry in the Midwest, including the first

extensive use of turbine-powered Bell JetRangers in agricultural spraying, forestry,

survey, photography, and training. Dick also paved the way for helicopter operations for

executive and business charter, medical transport, and electronic news gathering.

Dick Werling designed and led flight tests for a spray system for helicopters, a system

designed for Bell JetRanger helicopters that he holds the patent on. He also served on

the Bell 222 Operators Design Group and Maintenance Steering Group for Bell

Helicopter Corporation.

Dick retired from Omniflight in 1980 but continued to give his time in the aviation

community. In addition to contracting with the Wisconsin DNR, Dick committed over 30

volunteer years with the Experimental Aircraft Association. At EAA he served as

Assistant Chairperson of helicopter operations at AirVenture and provided countless

rides for the EAA Young Eagles program.

For more than 68 years and over 4,500 flying hours, Dick Werling embraced the

aviation industry as a pilot, mechanic, and business owner. The capstone of his aviation

career was building a Van's RV-7.