Born: United States of America
Primarily active in: United States of America

George Murray Powell, Jr. grew up in the New Jersey, Manhattan, and the Philadelphia areas. In 1943 he graduated from Lower Merion High School at Lower Merion, PA, where he was a standout athlete and scholar, and was selected for the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which enrolled him in engineering at Cornell University. The V-12 then transferred him to Rensselear Polytechnic Institute
in Troy, NY. He graduated in 1947 with a degree in aerospace engineering and was commissioned to the U.S. Naval Base at San Diego.

Mr. Powell began his lifelong career in aviation in the early 1950’s at Piasecki Helicopter Corporation and the Vertol Division of Boeing, both in Philadelphia, before joining Bell Helicopter in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1964, where he spent over three decades in product support roles in pursuit of improved pilot safety. A highlight of his tenure at Bell was Mr. Powell’s 1975-1977 appointment as head of Bell Helicopter International in Tehran, Iran. Following his retirement from Bell in 1990, he joined Air Services International in Scottsdale, Arizona, and also he served the Federal Aviation Administration as a member of the Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee. Mr. Powell was an active member of AHS International.

Mr. Powell died peacefully at his home in Gold Canyon, Arizona on September 6, 2013.

AHS Update: Vertiflite January/February 2014