-- A longtime Canyon County pilot, aircraft designer and businessman died doing his life's passion when his helicopter crashed into the Payette River near Montour.
Buford John Schramm, known to most people as B.J., was killed Tuesday afternoon when his single passenger helicopter crashed into the Payette River above Black Canyon Reservoir.
The helicopter -- described by police as an experimental single-person aircraft -- was spotted from an airplane Wednesday afternoon, upside down in less than three feet of water, with only the skids visible.
Investigators said Schramm, who was found still strapped into the machine, died on impact.
The crash left several members of the local aviation community reflecting on the loss.
Schramm was known worldwide for his work as a helicopter pilot and designer. He had spent 35 years designing, manufacturing and test flying his own creations. His last six years were spent as owner of Eagle Research and Development, a helicopter design and manufacturing company located in Nampa.
"He was such a good pilot," said Stuart Fields, a California broker for Safari kit helicopters, who knew Schramm from summer air shows. "He knew the helicopter business as well as anybody."
Schramm's wife, Carolyn, said her husband was flying a single-person helicopter at the time of his death. The aircraft is called the Helicycle.
Schramm designed and manufactured the Helicycle and insisted on testing the models himself as a safety precaution. On several occasions, Schramm had crashed his own creations and walked away.
Carolyn indicated she was at peace with her husband's decision to be a test pilot.
"That was part of his life," she said. "That's what he did."
But Tuesday's ride in the Helicycle was not a test run.
On that particular day, Schramm was accompanied by a commercial chopper and photographer who was assisting with a promotional piece for the Helicycle. Carolyn said the first helicopter turned back, but Schramm, who stayed to get one last shot with his helmet camera, failed to return.
Gem County Sheriff Lt. Jim Barnhart said authorities became aware of the situation Tuesday just before 5 p.m., through a phone call. The caller said Schramm had left with one hour of fuel in his tank, but it had been two hours since he had taken off from the store in Montour.
Sheriff's deputies spent the remainder of Tuesday and several hours Wednesday searching for the downed aircraft. The helicopter was spotted by a state Division of Aeronautics search aircraft Wednesday afternoon.
Barnhart said the Federal Aviation Administration is conducting an investigation to determine what caused the crash.
Carolyn Schramm said she and her husband had been married for 33 years, the last 13 of those living in Caldwell. They have two grown children and two grandchildren. She said Schramm also loved to ski and was a devout Christian.
But flying and designing were all he had ever wanted to do in his life, she added.
"Some of us were meant to be farmers," she said. "Some of us were meant to fly."