In Australia, Brian demonstrates the Sikorsky UH-60’s fire-suppression capabilities. It was the first civil version used in that role in the country. (Wayne Rigg Photo) Brian Jorgenson: Building on a great foundation New VAI chairperson brings “let’s go” energy to serving all of vertical aviation. By Christine Knauer When faced with a challenge, Brian Jorgenson’s instinct is to act. “Let’s go,” he often says, “we’ll figure it out along the way.” Channeling that drive and relishing the challenge of utility helicopter flying led Brian to start Timberline Helicopters in Sandpoint, Idaho, at just 23 years of age. From logging in dense forests to building ski lifts on mountaintops, Brian has spent his entire career—and life—turning obstacles into success. On Jul. 1, 2026, Brian will bring his tenacity, problem-solving mindset, and operator’s perspective to his new, yearlong position as chairperson of the VAI Board of Directors. He’s excited to focus on evolving the association to better serve all of vertical aviation. I’d Just Figure It Out Brian’s connection to helicopters began early, through his father’s logging company. At age 4, while a helicopter was being prepared for ground transport, Brian took his first ride. The experience made a profound impact, shaping his future and his career. “It lasted all of 30 seconds. They moved it 10 ft. and landed on a trailer. But I can still remember it like it happened yesterday,” says Brian, saying he decided right then that he wanted to fly helicopters. Brian started flying gliders at age 14 and powered airplanes at 16. He earned his private pilot helicopter license before graduating high school. By his freshman year in college, Brian had his commercial fixed-wing and CFI helicopter licenses. Later, he earned an instrument rating for fixed-wing. Brian started helicopter logging in his late teens during summer breaks from college. During the day, he managed logging crews for his father and flew a 1959 Kaman HH-43 Huskie in the evenings and on weekends. “My dad wasn’t a pilot, so I don’t think he knew how dangerous it was,” says Brian, who started helicopter logging with a little over 300 hours of total experience in airplanes and helicopters. “I look back now and think that was insane. But I wanted to do it. And if I didn’t know how, I’d just figure it out.” The Jorgenson family: Ammy, Brian, Taya, and Dylan. (Brian Jorgenson Photo) At his father’s suggestion, Brian skipped his last three weeks of college classes to help with helicopter logging. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Brian started Timberline Helicopters with his wife, Ammy. They lived in an RV while he traveled from jobsite to jobsite conducting helicopter logging with a leased Kaman K-Max. “I was just 23 years old. What could go wrong?” says Brian with a laugh. “That first year, I flew 1,799.1 hours.” You Can’t Boil the Ocean Today, the company operates three business units—Timberline Helicopters, Timberline Aerospace, and Timberline Logging—and employs nearly 130 people, depending on the season. It provides helicopter firefighting, construction, heavy lifting, and logging across the United States. Timberline was also the first civil UH-60 operator in South America, Australia, and Indonesia. Its fleet comprises two Kaman K-1200 K-Max aircraft, four Sikorsky UH-60A+ Black Hawk helicopters, and a Bell 206 and averages over 4,000 hours a year. “We’re at about 50% firefighting, 40% construction, and 10% logging,” says Brian. “We build 95% of the ski lifts on the West Coast every year. We’ve been doing it for 20 years.” To keep its helicopters flying, the company added an FAA Part 145 repair station in spring 2014 to perform maintenance, repairs, modifications, and installations. Both the repair station and the company’s Part 133 external-load operations fall under Timberline Helicopters. “We recently worked with United Rotorcraft to modify two firefighting UH-60 Black Hawks for the Colombian Air Force and two for Kern County, California,” says Brian. In 2018, the company created Timberline Aerospace to design and engineer supplemental type certificates (STCs), primarily for Black Hawks. Timberline Aerospace holds FAA Parts Manufacturer Approval for in-house production of its STC kits. “We could see that there was a separate business there that needed its own attention and its own set of books, its own understanding of what it was,” says Brian. “Currently, we have five STCs for the Black Hawk and four or five in process. We have a list that’s a mile long of ideas and things we want to do, but you can’t boil the ocean.” The company’s third business unit—Timberline Logging—offers the last stump-to-truck helicopter logging in the United States, according to Brian. “We have our own cutting crew, helicopter logging crew, and all the equipment. We do everything but drive the truck. It gives us a little bit higher quality and more control over the whole process.” Never Say Whoa in a Mudhole Brian attributes his success to “not having any quit and getting really lucky a few times. “I’m just a guy doing a thing, and I quite enjoy what I do. It hasn’t been without its struggles at times, but I wouldn’t trade the ride for anything. I consider myself one of the luckiest people I know,” says Brian, who has weathered Timberline’s growing pains and economic downturns with single-minded determination. After college, Brian performed helicopter logging in his dad’s Kaman HH-43 Huskie. When restored this year, it will be one of only three HH-43 aircraft still flying. (Brian Jorgenson Photo) “After the pandemic, things were really tough and money was tight. Our new manager kept asking, what are we going to do? I said, I don’t know, but I’m going to get into a helicopter and fly as much as I can and make as much money as possible, and then we’ll see what happens. That’s my philosophy: Never say whoa in a mudhole.” Skill and being comfortable with assessing and managing risk also may have contributed to Brian’s success. “I’ve become a very good helicopter pilot,” he admits. “I’ve never been afraid to take a risk or try something new or do something different and see if it works. But that doesn’t mean I do it without thinking about what could go wrong. If it looks like that, that, and that could go wrong, then let’s make sure we don’t do those things. And then let’s go.” The One Thing You Can Never Do Perfectly Over the past 22 years, Brian has flown more than 20,000 hours—nearly 1,000 hours a year. “Since I was a kid, all I ever wanted to do was utility,” he says. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.” Even now, Brian continuously assesses every aspect of his flying, from how to deliver a heavy load in a more controlled manner to shaving seconds off a task to reducing the burden on ground crews. “For me, flying is the one thing that you can never do perfectly. It’s a constant mental exercise of trying to be a little bit better. I tell our pilots, you’re only as good as your last lift. Don’t ever think that it’s going to be easy. It might have gone right 100,000 times, but this time it could go wrong. When it goes wrong, it’s going to be spectacularly wrong,” says Brian. “My biggest thing with safety for our pilots and mechanics is, ‘Don’t get comfortable.’ What we do is extremely dangerous, and you have to know where the line is. It’s the hardest thing to learn: Sometimes we’re paid to say no,” he says. Brian recalls a recent job setting utility poles where the pilot paused the work because of high winds. “We actually celebrated that and sent that news to our entire company. ‘Hey, look, here’s what happened. The right call was made.’ It’s a success in our mind that you recognized something that was outside your comfort zone or outside your experience, and you decided not to do it before you proved you couldn’t. I’ve always said that I would rather tell you I can’t do this than prove it.” “My biggest thing with safety for our pilots and mechanics is, ‘Don’t get comfortable.’ … It’s the hardest thing to learn: Sometimes we’re paid to say no.” For Brian, VERTICON, VAI’s annual conference and trade show, has offered one of the best ways to grow his career and his business. “I remember attending the show with my parents when I was about 8 years old. I first attended as a company owner in 2007. I didn’t really know what it was other than a cool place to see helicopters,” says Brian. “I was blown away by the amount of technical expertise and equipment. Then I realized there are a bunch of education courses before the show. For the next several years, I took one or two classes every time, trying to broaden my understanding. After I took most of the disciplines, it became a great networking event where I could talk to manufacturers and service providers, hear what’s going on, ask others what they think, and bounce ideas off other industry professionals.” Pivotal Moment for the Industry Serving as chairperson coincides with Brian’s final year on the VAI Board of Directors. During his two three-year terms, he’s served as assistant treasurer and twice as vice chairperson. Brian’s time on the board and his role as a helicopter operator give him insight into the industry’s challenges. “It’s an important time for VAI and the industry, not only because we just selected a new CEO, but because we’re also at a point where advanced vertical aviation vehicles are closer than people think. There definitely will be a need for education, both for the public and for these new operators,” says Brian. “I want to help VAI grow and evolve so we can better serve the members and the whole vertical aviation industry.” The workforce shortage, especially among maintainers, also concerns Brian. “The average age of an aviation maintenance technician worldwide is 54, a situation that’s expected to get significantly worse,” he explains. “On the flip side, to offer a little hope, my son has been on a 200-deep waiting list for an A&P school for a year. It’s just one small anecdote, but it’s good news.” Brian notes that the retirement of experienced FAA staff is another situation where talent loss is affecting the industry. Brian lands a Sikorsky UH-60A during Timberline’s first logging project. (Timberline Helicopters Photo) “The new people coming in aren’t receiving the training and mentoring they need. Someone basically out of college is now interpreting the regulations without context or concept of what has come before, and it creates a real struggle for all facets of the aviation industry,” he says. “I think that’s where VAI can play a really important role in helping the industry stay aligned—knowing what the goals are, advocating for all classes of the industry, and providing resources and leadership to navigate those challenges as they happen.” During his term as chairperson, Brian plans to support the evolution of VAI as a strategy-focused association that continues to deliver the value that members have come to expect. “For me, that means ensuring the board stays focused on governance and strategy, as well as supporting the CEO and staff as they execute the vision that we put in place. We have a great foundation. My role is to help build on that.” At this key moment in the industry’s development, Brian plans to approach his leadership role on the board the same way he handles everything else—keep at it until he finds a way. “There’s not a whole lot of quit in me,” he says. “Let’s go.” Christine Knauer has written for major aircraft OEMs, MROs, and avionics manufacturers for more than 25 years. She holds a master’s degree in aviation safety.
