Up, Up and Away with a High-Flying Friend

Up, Up and Away with a High-Flying Friend

At the South Terminal of Byrd Airport in Richmond: Douglas B. Fugate (right) greets U.S. Secretary of Transportation John. A. Volpe as pilot Trowbridge Littleton in the background readies his helicopter for an aerial tour. Joe Hirn, far left.

Photo courtesy Virginia Department of Highways

By Mike du Pont

In the 1970s, Trowbridge Littleton provided his friends in the Middleburg area with lots of high-flying fun. Far more significantly, he also provided the community with important services. After all, he flew his own helicopter.

After graduating from college in the late ‘60s, Littleton, a widely-respected local builder and long-time member of the Middleburg Town Council, attended flight school and learned to fly. He was employed by several companies early on, and among his various tasks were spraying cranberry bogs and then, working for Petroleum Helicopters in Morgan, Louisiana, flying executives out to oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and gaining even more flight time and experience.

After several years, Littleton developed a relationship with Fairchild Hiller in Hagerstown, Maryland, second only to Bell for helicopter sales in the U.S.

Littleton joined the company, quickly proved himself and soon was elevated to a position as a demonstrator pilot/salesman. The job sometimes occasionally entailed some unusual assignments. In December 1970, shortly before Christmas, he was asked by Washington’s favorite NFL team to drop Santa Claus from his helicopter so he could parachute into RFK Stadium.

Later in the game, he flew back into the venue to pick up Santa. It was a tricky maneuver because the air in the stadium, filled with thousands of

fans, was substantially warmer than the ambient air outside, causing some interesting air currents. But Littleton managed his way down and it was mission accomplished.

Later in his flying career, Littleton provided a valuable service to Musselman Orchards in southern Pennsylvania. If a cold snap appeared in the spring, Littleton flew in his helicopter, hovered over the orchards and drove the warm air down to protect the trees.

Littleton provided critically important ambulance service for persons injured in auto wrecks, picking them up at the scene of the wreck and quickly flying them to the hospital. Many lives were saved.

One January, my father, his wife, brother Vic and I drove to Wilmington, Delaware, for some family business. We hoped to return the next day.

On the way home, as we cleared Washington, D.C., it began to snow and soon the weather developed into a true blizzard. By mid-afternoon, we were about three miles east of Middleburg and the snow became so deep, all traffic completely stopped.

Not daring to leave our warm car, we sat in the middle of Route 50 for the night. Morning came, but no snow plows. And then, along came Trowbridge Littttleton and his helicopter to rescue my parents. Vic and I stayed with the car until midday when the plows finally dug us out. There were some fun flying times, as well. He took friends on occasional joy rides, occasionally to Maryland’s Eastern Shore for a bushel of crabs or a few dozen oysters.

One day, he picked me up and said, “You want to see what this ‘copter can really do?”

I immediately agreed. We headed straight for a wooded area 25 feet off the ground at helicopter speed, about 125 miles per hour. At the last moment, we elevated straight up and over the trees. We did loops and several other maneuvers and flew to Paris (Virginia) through the Ashby Gap where Route 50 cuts through the mountain.

Littleton eventually changed careers and became one of Middleburg’s most successful home builders, very much anchored to the ground.