Chelsea Abingdon Welch created the first female pilot watch with the launch of her business, Abingdon Co. Welch said she wants the company, which is currently in its 10th year, to expand its reach into rotorcraft industry. Abingdon Co. has been issuing an international scholarship for six years, and the award includes a trip to the Women in Aviation International (WAI) annual conference. But the majority of participants have been from the fixed-wing industry. So starting next year, Abingdon plans to issue a second scholarship, and the prize would include a trip to Heli-Expo.
“I sit on the board for Women in Aviation, and we had our fall meeting at [Helicopter Assn. International] headquarters last year. Upon seeing the headquarters, I realized that helicopter [professionals] are their own group,” said Welch. “The helicopter industry doesn’t go to Oshkosh. They don’t go to [Sun n’ Fun International Fly-in and Expo]. They don’t go to the [Aircraft Owners and Pilots Assn.] fly-ins. All of that is fixed-wing … We just weren’t reaching [the helicopter industry] specifically.”
Welch is a fixed-wing pilot and is currently working on achieving a rotary-wing rating. She said she hopes that in expanding Abingdon Co.’s reach in the helicopter industry, she can also encourage more women to become part of the industry. When the company introduced a scholarship for dive watches — Abgindon Co. offers diving watches as well — Welch said she observed an increase of fixed-wing pilots becoming interested in achieving a scuba-diving rating.
“If customers and past scholarship winners and fans of the Abington Co. started looking at helicopters in a more attainable way — that they can get a rotor rating along with a fixed-wing — then we’ve done a good job,” said Welch. “We brought people in; we put it on their radar; we brought it to their clutches.”
Abingdon Co.’s “It’s about Time” scholarship is open to women worldwide. Being an aviation professional is not a requirement. There are no applications or essays to fill out. Instead, applicants are asked to submit a demonstration of their talents, which could be anything. The company is currently accepting applications for the 2018 scholarships, which includes full registration to the WAI — and now Heli-Expo — with round trip airfare, and room and board. The 2017 winner is Audrey Swatson, a 20-year-old from Accra, Ghana. Swatson is an aspiring pilot who is currently working on her commercial pilot certificate in Africa.
