Dr. John Leverton will receive the 2017 Bell Helicopter Lifetime Achievement Award here at Heli-Expo. The award, which recognizes the achievements of individuals and organizations in the international helicopter community, will be presented at the Salute to Excellence Awards dinner at the Hilton Anatole Dallas on March 8. With a bachelor’s degree in engineering, a master’s degree in acoustics and a doctorate in helicopter aero-acoustics, Leverton has served as a consultant, lecturer, chair, director and vice president throughout his influential career in the helicopter industry.
Leverton’s interest in aviation started at an early age. Because he lived close to the Royal Air Force base in Devon, England, he was constantly surrounded by helicopters. The nearest aircraft manufacturer was Westland Helicopters, so he applied for an apprenticeship and stayed with the company until 1984 when he moved to the U.S. to work with Westland Inc.
While spending several years at the Institute of Sound and Vibration at Southampton University, Leverton became interested in helicopter noise and environmental issues. He started studying impulsive noise associated with the military Bell UH-1B and Chinook helicopters at the request of professor E.J. Richards. Since community noise was being considered a serious issue in the U.K. at the same time, Leverton decided that the issue should be considered from both the helicopter design and helicopter operations point of view. His idea became a significant design aspect when Westland started producing the Westland 30, based on the military Lynx helicopter.
Later on, Leverton was asked to work on international noise certification, helicopter operations and heliport/helideck designs. He explained, “I soon found that having worked in the UK and U.S. was a major advantage, since although it was—and is—often stated that the European and North American operators and authorities have vastly different views, this is not the case.”
His environmental work did not stop there. Leverton published papers and gave lectures on aspects of helicopter noise and heliport design throughout the U.S. and UK as well as Australia, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy. As a consultant for manufacturers including Bell Helicopter, he advised companies about noise measurement, public acceptance of helicopters, environmental assessment issues and civil regulations. He went on to serve as an advisor to the American Petroleum Institute on helidecks and HAI regarding ICAO and FAA regulations as well as helicopter noise.
“The most challenging task I have been involved in," he said, "was working as the industry IFHA [International Federation of Helicopter Associations] representative to develop common standards for heliport design for the U.S. FAA and ICAO. This extended over 20 years, and although when I started there were large differences, the standards are now very similar.”
Leverton served as chair of the HAI Acoustics, Acoustics/Environmental, Offshore, Heliport and Fly Neighborly committees. While with the American Helicopter Society International, he acted as director, v-p and advisor on infrastructure/environmental development. He also continued on to serve as the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations representative to ICAO on Annex 16.
How does one achieve a successful career in the helicopter industry like Leverton? In his own words: “Make sure that everything you do has an element of fun, and do not take too much notice of many in the industry, particular when dealing with domestic and international regulations, who will say their approach is the only one which should be followed. Also, remember that to get changes in helicopter/heliport regulations; do your homework first, put together a solid technical case and do not simply make a broad-brush statement.”
