Gyro Pilot, Former Smoke Jumper

Darrell K. Wittke is not typical of the folks we eulogize here at Aero-News, but then again, he is. He never started a company or had a lot of FAA ratings (he was a senior parachute rigger and student pilot). But he loved to fly, and loved to associate with flying folks, and his heart was as big as the whole sky.

Some people I know fear gyroplanes. "Aren't they dangerous?" they ask. But the same people would probably call Darrell a daredevil: he served as a paratrooper in the Army, then spent 12 years as a smoke jumper -- those are the crazies who parachute down next to fires when everybody with sense was going the other direction as fast as the speed of heat. He still loved skydiving, riding his motorcycle, and flying his gyroplane, perhaps the nearest thing there is to a three-dimensional motorcycle.

With a wife and two daughters, he'd slowed down a little, working as a firefighter and paramedic, and then for a VA hospital in Montana. On February 20th, he had a fatal accident. On the motorcycle, of course; that's the dangerous one. He was only 40 years old.

Darrell was an active participant on the Rotary Wing Forum, an online gathering place for gyro pilots. In an internet world where many use fanciful names, Darrell's online alias was "darrellwittke." With Darrell, everything was up front.

"Darrell never knew how much he inspired me to start my gyro build," one member wrote in a memorial thread. Darrell had just sold some of the parts from his modified Bensen gyro, a machine his father had built, but he had long-term plans to construct a new one, and remained active in the forum until his death.

It was on that forum that he recounted his journey in 2005 as he left his job and rode his motorcycle from Montana to Louisiana to assist after the region was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Although the posts were later deleted (he was concerned for the privacy of others he had discussed in the thread), no one who read them can remember those posts today without realizing what a kind and generous soul Darrell had. That soul has now left this world for the one that lies beyond.

Darrell is survived by Shairon, his wife of ten years, and two daughters, Willow and River.  He is also mourned by a brother and four sisters, and by many friends in Helena, Montana and in his former homes, including Great Falls and Power, MT. His absence will further be felt across the sky, in all the places that his other families of skydivers and gyro pilots gather.

By the time we learned of his passing, he had already been memorialized in the rites of the Baptist Church, and a reception held in the West Valley Fire Hall in Helena. A memorial fund to provide for his daughters' education has been established at the Elkhorn Federal Credit Union at Fort Harrison, MT 59636. If you knew Darrell and are inclined to contribute, please do; make checks payable to the Darrell Wittke’s Children Education Fund.

FMI: www.rotaryforum.com