įorrest and Pamela Bird opened the Bird Aviation Museum and Invention Center in July 2007, with aviator Patty Wagstaff cutting a ceremonial ribbon at the end of the runway while flying. Bird collected and restored old planes, old cars, and motorcycles. īird resided in Sagle, Idaho, close to the Canada–US border which is where his home, production facilities, museum and ranch were located. His company was Bird Oxygen Breathing Equipment Inc, later renamed Bird Corporation, the aircraft being based at Palm Springs until 1976. In 1967, Bird developed the Bird Innovator, a conversion of the Consolidated PBY Catalina amphibian aircraft. This led to him developing efficient respirators and ventilators. to understand the human body and its stress in flight". It became the standard design for high-altitude oxygen regulators for most military aircraft until recent time. He took the oxygen regulator home, studied it, and made it more functional. for study seemed to contain a pressure breathing circuit. Bird discovered an oxygen regulator in a crashed German bomber he was ferrying to the U.S.
The newest models of aircraft were capable of exceeding altitudes at which humans can breathe, even with 100% oxygen supplementation, introducing the risk of hypoxia. This rank, combined with the onset of World War II, gave him the opportunity to pilot almost every aircraft in service, including early jet aircraft and helicopters. īird enlisted with the United States Army Air Corps, and entered active duty in 1941 as a technical air training officer due to his advanced qualifications. By age 14, he flew his first solo fight.īy age 16 he was working to obtain multiple major pilot certifications. Bird became a pilot at an early age due to his fathers encouragement. Bird was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts.