Above and Beyond

Nearly a Century of Service from the Skies

Morning rain falls steadily on a quiet street in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.

On Second Street, just east of downtown, a green sign with white lettering points visitors to one of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s most storied landmarks: "TVA Hangar."

Nestled within the Northwest Alabama Regional Airport, the hangar’s white, patinated facade still holds the original bricks laid in 1937 – just four years after TVA’s inception.

Nearly a century later, this place remains a hub of innovation, its past and present bound in steel and stone.

On this morning, maintenance crews work meticulously to troubleshoot the delicate components of an open engine. They labor to the rhythmic patter of rain against the metal roof, and the soft melodies of a radio set to easy listening.

From its earliest days, TVA’s Aviation team has embraced innovation, leveraging the latest technologies to improve lives across the seven-state service area.

For aircraft maintenance supervisor Gordon Richey, it’s a legacy he’s proud to be a part of.

“When you look at the aviation group, it’s mind-boggling to think that we were an idea at the start of TVA,” Richey said. “And to think that, as TVA’s mission has grown, we’ve also continued – it’s impressive.”

TVA's helicopters are vital in emergencies, such as power restoration work in communities affected by severe weather.

‘Setting the Groundwork’

Thirty-three years after the Wright brothers’ historic flight over Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, TVA began its foray into aviation by acquiring surplus military biplanes.

The enterprise’s early days in the skies were marked by resourcefulness and resiliency, Richey said.

Against the backdrop of World War I and World War II, workers made do with limited resources.

“When something (broke), you went to the boneyard and pulled out a piece to fix it,” Richey said. “We’re at a better place now with our equipment and how we utilize it. But the people that came before us set the groundwork.”

Initially, TVA used airplanes for aerial mapping and malaria control, spraying insecticide over mosquito-affected areas of the Valley region.

Until the 1930s, malaria had plagued large portions of the American South, particularly in rural areas like north Alabama, TVA historian Pat Ezzell said.

Thanks to public health programs and federal relief efforts – including TVA’s aviation-based malaria control – the disease was eradicated in the U.S. by 1951.

TVA's work in aerial mapping helped develop a comprehensive understanding of the area’s topography, aiding in erosion control, flood reduction and reservoir construction.

By 1939, TVA’s service region became one of the nation’s best-mapped areas. Those early innovations helped shape not just TVA’s Aviation team but the Tennessee Valley region as a whole, Ezzell said.

“TVA had the leeway to do things like that,” she said. “It was very innovative because it went across those political barriers. And it was really about regional resource management and changing the face of the whole region.”

Gordon Richey, aircraft maintenance supervisor, said he's proud to be part of the Aviation team's long-standing tradition of service and innovation.

Liftoff

The 1950s marked TVA’s entry into helicopters, which proved extremely valuable for building and operating the Valley region’s expanding electrical grid.

Folks across the country had seen the versatility of helicopters during the Korean War – they were used for medical evacuations – and TVA’s leaders, too, quickly recognized the unique advantages over airplanes.

“Fixed-wing aircraft are suited for transportation or tasks where the aircraft can keep moving,” TVA aircraft service manager Phil Kanagy said. “But the ability to hover and carry external loads elevated the usefulness of helicopters in the electric business.”

Affectionately known as whirlybirds, TVA’s helicopters amazed local onlookers.

The flight crews would occasionally receive unusual requests. In one community, a church asked for help lifting a steeple into place. In another, local authorities asked for help tracking escaped inmates. Some folks even asked if helicopter crews could arrange for Santa Claus to deliver Christmas presents.

While TVA declined most of those types of requests, the enterprise always found plenty of remarkable uses for helicopters.

They inspected smokestacks, surveyed building sites and transmission routes and conducted air pollution studies. They even helped perform emergency rescues during floods and forest fires.

Helicopters were more cost-effective, too. They allowed TVA to inspect what at the time was a 12,000-mile network of transmission lines, all at a fraction of the price of ground-based inspections.

By 1961, TVA had incorporated nine helicopters into its fleet, enabling easier construction of transmission lines during a period of aggressive expansion and regional growth.

As with any new technology, helicopters came with risks.

Newspapers of that era alternated between praising the capabilities of helicopters and reporting on their dangers.

But TVA leaders recognized that the ultimate rewards of a prosperous Valley region outweighed early challenges.

“The thing that strikes me about those early (TVA) leaders is that they were visionaries, and they would take a risk,” Ezzell said. “They were moving fast – they had to. They wanted to get these dams built and wanted to do everything they could to improve that quality of life and move forward.”

The Tecnam P2012 twin-engine aircraft is used for data collection and aerial surveillance of transmission lines.

Up and Away

In the 1990s, TVA started moving away from surplus military helicopters to commercial equipment with better capabilities, modern electronics and advanced radio systems.

While Richey and Kanagy appreciate the nostalgia of earlier TVA Aviation eras, both said they’d prefer flying in the modern era over any other.

“We have nothing but respect for the people who went before us and flew things and worked on things a whole lot harder than we do,” Kanagy said. “But I prefer the modern conveniences we have today.”

“I grew up in a military family, so I love the (Vietnam-era) Huey,” Richey said. “But, technology wise, I think moving from surplus to commercial equipment was a big step for our aviation department.”

Today, TVA’s Aviation fleet features two commercial jets, including a Tecnam P2012 twin-engine aircraft with lidar capabilities. The plane is used for data collection and aerial surveillance of transmission lines.

The enterprise also operates 10 helicopters: three Bell 429s used for transportation and site selection in economic development; three Bell 407s; and four McDonnell Douglas MD 530Fs, which are smaller and nimbler for work around TVA’s nearly 17,000 miles of transmission lines.

The helicopters prove especially vital in emergencies, including power restoration work in communities affected by severe weather.

In addition to the original hangar in Muscle Shoals, TVA’s Aviation team also operates out of facilities in Lebanon, Chattanooga and Knoxville, providing convenient mobility options during emergency operations or transmission work.

In 2019, cost-saving and safety-enhancement efforts prompted TVA to incorporate unmanned aircraft systems into its aviation fleet.

In many ways, drones mark the next step forward for TVA Aviation, Kanagy said.

“We’re all aviators at heart, and drones are part of this group, too,” he said. “It’s part of that next legacy of how we continue to innovate and incorporate new technology.”

While TVA's use of aircraft has varied over the decades, the enterprise’s commitment to improving lives across the Valley region remains unchanged.

A 1948 TVA flight manual is testament of this. In listing the qualities of a good pilot, the manual emphasized mature judgement, good physical habits and an attitude characterized by willingness to serve.

That commitment to service is seen in every TVA Aviation team member to this day, Kanagy said.

“It still all comes down to a mindset of service,” he said. “Whatever tools we have from an aviation standpoint, how do we then apply those to go serve? That’s always been the mindset.”

The hangar in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, has been a hub for innovation for nearly a century.  

Aviation team members maintain aircraft inside the hangar.  

A 1957 illustration highlighting the TVA Aviation team.