Bob Hawkins Has Been Flying For Over 50 Years

The Wyoming Aviation Hall of Fame congratulates Bob Hawkins, who has been selected as its inductee for 2021.

Hawkins has been operating many types of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters across Wyoming and the West for more than 50 years. He excelled in specialized applications, including high-altitude mountain flying, heavy-lift hauling, firefighting, long line, surveying, and wildlife management. He was co-owner of Hawkins & Powers Aviation, Inc., in Greybull, from 1992-2005 and was general manager and director of operations of Sky Aviation, in Worland, from 2005-2018. He also flew with Bighorn Airways in Sheridan.

In high school, Hawkins soloed after 11 hours of flight time in 1967, followed by his first helicopter solo in 1975. He attended Casper College before joining the Air Force, where he served his country from 1970 to 1974. Hawkins flew frequently in Yellowstone, hauling firefighters in the 1988 fires, working with the National Parks Service to take measurements, and participated in the wolf reduction program. Additionally, he has been a part of wild horse and buffalo roundups, has flown for Wyoming Game & Fish Departments planting fish, conducting surveys.

Hawkins also served the industry as president of the American Helicopter Services and Aerial Firefighting Association, and he continued a fun tradition of his father, Dan, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020, by flying Santa Clause to several Big Horn Basin communities to greet children during the holiday season.

During his flying career, Hawkins operated 19 different helicopters and 34 different airplanes. Before retiring from commercial flying on October 1, 2018, and before offering his last Part 135 check ride for Sky Aviation in April 2019, he had logged nearly 21,000 hours of flight time – about 17,000 of those in a helicopter. Hawkins and his wife Becky have four children named Erik, Aaron, Daniel and Nicole.

FMI: https://www.dot.state.wy.us/home/aeronautics/aviation_hall_of_fame.html