Alpha Aviation takes the Alpha Position

Georgina Hunter-Jones

Helicopter Life visits Whirly Girl Shizuka Saito to see how her school in Japan has developed against considerable odds

Shizuka Saito was the second woman in Japan to fly helicopters. Learning to fly in the early 1980s, she started her flying school and helicopter business in 1984.

"The Japanese," she says, "are still very traditional in their thinking, men and women have set roles. In the 1980s there were still only a few pilots. World War 11 pilots had a monopoly of the skies and they didn't want women to fly."

Shizuka learnt to fly in the United States, fixed wing flying. She says, "I met many helpful people who suggested I should think about starting my own aviation business in Japan. I also met many sour ones whose bad attitude made me very determined to succeed."

In Japan it is very rare to find businesses run by women and even more unusual in the world of aviation.

She was given the name of a man in Arizona who had a flight school and was looking to encourage Japanese students to come and learn to fly there. Shizuka suggested that if he was prepared to train helicopter pilots, then she would be interested. He could and after much negotiation gave her the money to start the Japanese end of...