RIP Dr. Forrest Bird, pilot and live saving inventor.

By: J Boyle - 4th August 2015 at 15:49

Dr. Forrest Bird, inventor of portable low-cost respirator, and long time pilot, passed away this weekend at his estate in Idaho at the age of 94. He's a great example of how an interest in aviation led to other advances.

His father had been a combat aviator in France in World War I, owned an open-cockpit biplane and taught his young son to fly. Inspired by the lessons and a boyhood meeting with Orville Wright, Forrest fell in love with aviation.

In 1935, he graduated at age 14 from high school in an accelerated academic program. He also soloed in his father’s biplane. By 16, he was a certified pilot. He flew helicopters for 64 years and was a helicopter instructor pilot for much of that time.
He once flew with Howard Hughes, and recalled the reclusive tycoon and aerospace engineer as “a magnificent pilot.”

Mr. Bird was an experienced pilot by the time he joined the Army Air Corps a week after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. For much of World War II, he was assigned to training and transport commands, studying aeronautics and ferrying bombers, fighters and transport planes from aircraft factories to airfields across the United States, and to operational squadrons in Europe, the Pacific and Asia.

During the war he studied high-altitude respiration problems, he said in an interview with The New York Times for this obituary in 2010. American pilots were using breathing regulators that restricted altitudes to 28,000 feet, but modifications he made to a captured German regulator were adopted by the Army. With the new jet turbine allowing for flight at higher altitudes, Bird realized pilots would need new gear to breathe without becoming hypoxic. He delved into research into respirators and anti-gravity devices and invented the anti-g pressure suit regulator, which helped pilots fly to an altitude of 40,000 feet. He said his research proved invaluable years later when he began to design medical respirators.

In 1946, Bird invented the first Positive Pressure Inhalation Device, followed by the 1950 first prototype of the Bird Respirator with advanced positive pressure.
In 1955 he released the Bird Mark 7 Respirator, a small green box that became familiar to hospital patients. Among those aided by his invention was his first wife, Mary, who learned she had pulmonary emphysema in 1964; his respirators, including one that used percussion to loosen secretions in her lungs, helped prolong her life until 1986.

My wife, a former QARANC and NHS nurse, mentioned that the "Bird" was the first piece of high tech equipment she learned to operate. During the opening of his museum, we were introduced to the doctor and told him that story. He was pleased to meet her and said the UK was one of his favorite places.

In 1967, Bird converted a Consolidated PBY Catalina amphibian aircraft and used it to travel around the world to teach young doctors how to use his low-cost medical respirator. Later, the aircraft was converted to have an additional two engines for better performance.

The Babybird respirator, introduced in 1970, was the first low-cost, mass-produced pediatric respirator, which has been credited by medical experts with reducing the mortality rates of infants with respiratory problems from 70 percent to less than 10 percent.

During the Vietnam War, Bird respirators revolutionized intensive care aboard helicopters transporting injured servicemen. A profile in Flying magazine mentioned he had a privately owned bell 212 "Twin Huey" outfitted as a prototype medical response helicopter. He still owned it at the time of his death and I believe it's is the lowest time Huey in the world. He also had a Bell 47 with turbine powerplant. The Flying article mentioned that when a forest fire broke out near his home, he helped douse it with lake water carried in a "Bambi Bucket" collapsible bucket. His New York Times obituary notes he was a helicopter instructor pilot into his 80s.

After selling his Bird Corporation to 3M, Bird moved to North Idaho and lived on a ranch with private airstrip and hangars. He started a manufacturing company Percussionaire Corporation, which continues to operate in Sagle, producing medical pulmonary devices. Bird also collected and restored old planes, cars and motorcycles.

In July 2007 he and his wife Pamela opened the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center, displaying his inventions and aircraft, including his father’s ‘38 Piper. The opening of the museum was a huge event fly-in of vintage airplanes with a special performance by aerobatic pilot Patty Wagstaff and attended by everyone from a "Flying Tigers" ace to astronauts and other notable flyers including airline pilot/charter firm operator/film/race pilot Clay Lacey.

We rightfully remember the aviation heroes who served our nations in combat. But aviation is at its best when its used to help people. Dr. Bird put his aviation experience to use helping people throughout the world, not a bad legacy for any pilot.

Information from The New York Times and the Spokesman Review/AP obituaries.