AirWolf: From
Punta Gorda to Africa with love
SUN PHOTO BY BILL JONES
Richard Howe and his daughter, Nicole Howe Williams, stand before Howe's Huey helicopter, used in the spraying millions of acres to kill mosquitoes in Florida. They plan to transfer operations to Africa, where Richard says children younger than 5 die from mosquito-borne malaria every 30 seconds.
EAST OF PUNTA GORDA — A story that almost defies telling involves a Vietnam veteran combat Huey helicopter mechanic originally from Vermont, his spunky daughter from Punta Gorda, and a successful, for-profit mosquito-spraying operation turned nonprofit, bent on eradicating malaria 5,000 miles away in western Africa.
The story begins with Richard Howe working last week on a lifelong ambition at the Spartan AirWolf Malaria Vector Control Research Institute office at the Shell Creek Airpark off U.S. 17.
