Noted Inventor and Aviator Forrest Bird Dead at 94
He held more than 50 aircraft STCs and more than 200 patents.
Dr. Forrest Bird receives the Presidential Citizens Medal from President George W. Bush in 2008. (Photo: White House photo)
Dr. Forrest Bird receives the Presidential Citizens Medal from President George W. Bush in 2008. (Photo: White House photo)

Dr. Forrest Bird, 94, died of natural causes August 2 at his Air Lodge compound in Sagle, Idaho. A noted aviator who began flying at age 14 and continued to fly into his 90s, Bird was also an inventor who held more than 50 aircraft STCs and more than 200 patents. While serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II as a technical training officer, Bird began his research into human respirators and invented the anti-g pressure suit regulator that assisted flight crew breathing up to 40,000 feet. After the war, Bird began attending various medical schools and inventing a series of respirators. His most famous was the “Babybird” pediatric respirator in 1970, credited with reducing the infant mortality rate due to respiratory problems from 70 percent to less than 10 percent and saving millions of lives.  


Loading…