Palmer woman showcasing talents as pilot, artist

ANCHORAGE — It’s about helicopters and art these days for Palmer resident Tosha Cypher.

First, her drive to be a commercial helicopter pilot was rewarded earlier this year with two scholarships from an international women’s aviation group. Then, a milestone was added to her graphic art portfolio this month when her logo design was incorporated into a full-size graphic for the Anchorage helicopter company where Cypher has done most of her flight training.

“It has been a really great couple of months,” Cypher said last week at the offices of Tanalian Aviation at Merrill Field in Anchorage. “I am really excited to make the push to get my commercial license and get out there. I have learned so much and want to encourage others — especially other female pilots.”

Commercial helicopter aviation is primarily a male-dominated field filled mainly by ex-military pilots, Cypher said, adding she wanted to achieve a commercial certification without taking the military path.

Cypher, 32, received a pair of scholarships in February from Whirly-Girls, an international nonprofit organization that promotes advancing women in helicopter aviation. The package included a $5,000 award from the Bristow Group as well as an Embry-Riddle commercial helicopter ground school scholarship. Both involved a comprehensive application process, Cypher said.

“They want to make sure you are serious about getting that commercial license,” she said.

“The Bristow scholarship will go toward flight time, and the Embry-Riddle piece is essentially free access to their online ground school,” Cypher said. “I am really thankful to be able to get involved with the Whirly-Girls and being awarded these scholarships has been huge for me.”

While Cypher said helicopters have intrigued her from an early age, the decision to pursue the effort to gain a pilot’s license came a few years ago while working on the North Slope, where she still works a monthly two-week shift in Deadhorse.

“I met a female helicopter pilot that was a civilian doing her training on the North Slope, and we became good friends,” Cypher said. “It made me realize I could do this and not join the military. It was a big deal for me.”

As the old saying goes, if there is a will, there is a way — but the way to helicopter training isn’t cheap.

“Helicopters probably cost twice as much as airplanes when it comes to training,” Cypher said, adding that helicopters can cost as much as $300 an hour.

“It has been huge for me to meet other people and figure out how they have done it, because there is no easy or perfect way to go about flight school,” Cypher said, which meant learning from organizations like the Whirly-Girls or — in Alaska — the local chapter of the Ninety-Nines, another international organization of women pilots.

Cypher has chipped away at the process since 2014, first earning her private pilot’s license in six months. Next up is the commercial certificate as well as instructor and instrument ratings. She said the commercial license should come by the end of the year, but could be earlier.

“I have stayed involved and kept on progressing (with training) but wasn’t financially able to hit it that hard,” she said. “But now with the scholarships it was like ‘We can do this, let’s get my commercial knocked out.’”

Cypher primarily flies a Robinson R-22 or the larger R-44 at Tanalian Aviation. She said the Robinson is better suited for training.

“They say it (the Robinson R-22) is ideal because it is actually quite challenging to fly,” Cypher said. “I have seen Blackhawk (helicopter) pilots come in here who fly for the Air Guard have a hard time with it because it is small and challenging. They say if you can fly the R-22 you can fly anything. The majority of my 150 or so hours are in Robinsons.”

She has worked with Tanalian since 2014, a relationship that led to her art being showcased as part of the company’s logo and eventually expanded to decals on one of the company’s helicopters.

“They have been like a family here and really took an interest in my art,” she said. “The art was something that I always just did for fun. I designed the logo for their hoodies and they said ‘We want to put that on our helicopter, too.’”

Cypher worked with Bryan Becker of Diesel Design Co. in Wasilla to incorporate her helicopter into an overall scene that fit on the side of a Robinson R-44.

She said helicopter aviation, especially in Alaska, has a range of possibilities.

“There are so many things that you can do with a helicopter,” she said. “I would love to fly for wildland fire or some heliskiing or life flight down the road. But early on, it will probably be more work as an instructor or maybe flying tours.”

She said the path to certification has been fulfilling.

“It has been very rewarding and something that I have been the most proud of that I have done in my life,” she said.

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com