More detail on this person: Don C Hildebrand, 50 of Grand Prairie, Texas Don C. Hildebrand, 50, of helicopter firm, dies Arizona Daily Star, The (Tucson, AZ) - Sunday, December 4, 1994 Don C. Hildebrand, a Tucson helicopter company president and the first pilot of Tucson Police Department helicopters, died Wednesday. He was 50. Hildebrand, co-owner of Southwest Helicopters Inc., died of a heart attack while he and a mechanic were in Grand Prairie, Texas, inspecting a helicopter the company was buying, said Tom Moorehead, Southwest's vice president. Hildebrand was a native of Camp Cook, Calif., who learned to fly helicopters while in the Army, Moorehead said. He served as an Army helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968 and flew helicopters for the Army in Alaska from 1968 to 1970. When Hildebrand ended his Army tour in 1970, he moved to Tucson and became a city police officer. The Police Department launched its helicopter program in 1974, with Hildebrand as its first pilot. He served as chief Police Department pilot until he left the force in 1980 to help found Southwest. Moorehead said Hildebrand was a Federal Aviation Administration-certified pilot examiner who taught ''hundreds'' of people how to fly helicopters. He held memberships in the Elks Club and the Airborne Law Enforcement Association, and served a term as the first president of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association. Hildebrand is survived by his wife, Kathy; his father, Cecil; a son, Jeff; and a daughter, Denise Guerrero. They all live in Tucson. There will be a memorial service at 3 p.m. tomorrow in East Lawn Mortuary's chapel, 5801 E. Grant Road.
This information was last updated 12/19/2017
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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