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D.L. “Whitey” Varney, who built a legacy of safe flying over a 40-year career as a corporate pilot and director of aviation, passed away on January 17 from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 86.
Born on April 20, 1931 in Logan, West Virginia, Varney became interested in flying while serving as flight deck director on the USS Kula Gulf in the U.S. Navy in the 1950s. Following his service, he earned a commercial pilot certificate at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and embarked on a career in business aviation in 1957.
Over the next four decades, Varney flew as copilot, captain, and chief pilot and served as director of aviation for a number of top corporations, amassing more than 18,000 accident-free flying hours in a range of business aircraft. During his time, he flew CEOs, celebrities, foreign dignitaries, and former U.S. presidents, and was rated on aircraft that included Boeing DC-3, Rockwell Sabreliner, Lockheed JetStar, Dassault Falcon, Convair, Hawker, and Gulfstream models. He supported aviation at Allied Chemical Corp., American Can Co., General Foods, Combustion Engineering, Dun & Bradstreet, National Intergroup, and Coastal Oil Corp.. He retired as director of aviation for a 28-person flight department.
In 1967, Varney helped guide a lost single-engine airplane to safety in poor weather in Wisconsin while piloting his own turboprop. In 1990, he participated in flight operations that involved the successful transport of U.S. American hostages who had been held in Iraq by Saddam Hussein.
Over his career, Varney had received numerous pilot safety awards from FlightSafety International, as well as from NBAA. In 1974, then Finland President Urho Kekkonen recognized Varney with the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Lion.
Varney is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ruth Varney; daughter Leigh Anne Varney; and two granddaughters, Ava and Madelyn Vilhauer. A celebration of Varney’s life will be held at the Hiller Aviation Museum on February 25 in San Carlos, California.