It was years later when I was flying the S-61 on a sling job in the Arctic [that] I had Peter Berendt as our engineer. My dad thought this was wonderful and knew I was in good hands. Peter was very shy when I asked him for his side of the story. He was certainly one of the best Sikorsky engineers and loadmasters and I was very lucky to work with him . . .
The final note: not only was my dad found after 11 days with a tan, but he was also clean shaved, and that’s why mother got me a battery razor the year I started flying in NWT.39
Although Okanagan Helicopters was growing year by the year, they were beginning to face competition, especially in the West where Vancouver Island Helicopters (VIH) had signed contracts with forestry companies, and Pacific Western Airlines (PWA), where Bill McLeod, now manager, was using helicopters to work on the Bennett Dam in the Peace River area. Later PWA, which also had a large fleet of fixed-wing aircraft moving crews and materials around the DEW Line (Distant Early Warning) sites, opted to stick with fixed-wing and sold off its bush operation, including its helicopters.
▲ Igor Sikorsky says farewell to Okanagan Helicopters chief pilot Fred Snell in 1956 at the Sikorsky plant in Stratford, Connecticut. Photo courtesy of Jack Milburn
1956 Annual Report
In spite of the competition, by the end of 1956 Okanagan Helicopters had become the world’s largest commercial helicopter operator with a fleet of 36 machines: one S-58, 13 S-55s (10 RCAF and 3 Okanagan) and 22 Bell 47s, most of them converted to G-2 models with the more powerful Lycoming engine. The company’s four-passenger Bell 47 Ranger was in use on the Trans Mountain pipeline to provide a better inspection platform, while four of the S-55s and four of the Bell 47s were at work on the Mid-Canada line. That year, working in seven of Canada’s ten provinces, Okanagan machines had flown 16,000 hours, for a grand total of 48,000 to date. The company had increased staff to 108 with 12 new pilots in training in Penticton.
Trans Mountain Pipe Line from Edmonton to Vancouver, a distance of 712 miles (1,145.8 kilometres):
| Number of patrols | 355 |
| Hours flown | 1,234.5 |
| Days down | 380 |
| Take offs and landings | 1,415 |
| Miles of pipeline patrolled | 805.1 |
▲ Igor Sikorsky visits Okanagan Helicopters in Vancouver. Photo courtesy of Gordon Askin
In a sign of recognition, that fall Igor Sikorsky paid a surprise visit to the board of directors at the company’s annual general meeting in Vancouver, and at the annual convention of the Helicopter Association of America (HAA) held in San Francisco, Carl Agar was elected as its first non-American president.
1957
As the new year began, Okanagan Helicopters joined other operators in filing a complaint with the Conservative government’s Minister of Transport, George Hees, about a new commercial aviation policy that allowed start-up companies to bid on government contracts before they had bought any aircraft or hired any crews. The established operators were concerned that this would compromise safety by allowing small, one-man operations with no backup and limited staff to cut corners on maintenance and use unqualified crews when under the pressure of deadlines.
The Okanagan name began appearing in advertisements for aviation products in magazines such as Canadian Aviation where an ad for a hose-line replacement showed a Bell 47 on floats with the name “Okanagan” written on it. The caption read: “We use Aeroquip exclusively on our helicopter fleet” and quoted Alf Stringer, as vice-president in charge of operations.
Nine Okanagan helicopters continued work on the Mid-Canada Line, an S-55 was still involved in mineral development with Canadian Nickel in northern Manitoba, and a new venture, fire lookouts, would eventually become a regular contract with the BC Forest Service. The company fleet was also busy with aerial surveys for forestry companies, geological surveys for oil and gas exploration and mining companies, an electro-magnetic survey, several hydroelectric surveys and railroad construction. Another new project was taking soundings on the St. Lawrence River at Lachine Rapids to measure the water depth to update navigation charts. The S-58 was the only machine that could take the strain in this operation, which involved carrying a four-man crew plus equipment consisting of a 600-pound (272-kilogram) winch, two 100-pound (45-kilogram) batteries and spare cable while hovering for approximately an hour and 15 minutes at an altitude of 300–1,300 feet (90–400 metres). The technique involved dropping a weighted wire into the water every 1,500 feet (456 metres). A red marker was attached 150 feet (45 metres) above the weight, and when the weight touched bottom, the slip clutch on the winch was turned on and the helicopter lifted up until the clutch indicated it was slipping. The radio operator in the cabin then gave the pilot a signal to stop and notified the land station, which in turn, signalled the three other stations to transmit readings on the marker and calculate the depth at that point.
1957 Annual Report
By 1957 the hourly cost of hiring a helicopter had increased to $105 for the Bell 47D, $230 for an S-55 and $480 for the S-58. Monthly charges ranged from $5,000 plus $17 per hour for a Bell up to $15,000 plus $40 per hour for the S-55 and $30,000 per month plus $95 per hour for the S-58. The year-end report showed that both revenue and profit had increased, and annual total flying hours had reached 22,000. During the year the company had trained 14 new pilots in Penticton and increased its fleet to 48, now made up of one S-58, 21 S-55s and 26 Bell 47s.
1958
In mid-July 1958 at the annual Farnborough Airshow—it would not become biennial until 1962—Fairey Aviation demonstrated the world’s first vertical takeoff transporter. The VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) Rotodyne was powered by two Napier Eland turboprop engines, which together delivered 7,000 horsepower, allowing it to carry 48 passengers or five tons (4.5 metric tonnes) of freight. The pilot demonstrated its horizontal and vertical manoeuvrability turning at high speed and coming in for a vertical landing with the gear up until it was just inches from the ground. Impressed, Okanagan’s management placed an order for three with the expectation of taking delivery within two to three years, although the purchase was dependent on its performance in a number of tests still to be undertaken by Fairey Aviation. However, a feasibility study carried out in Vancouver later in the year indicated that the Rotodyne would be ideal for a scheduled service between Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle.
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On July 4, Bell 47 CF-HNW with pilot M. Hern and engineer Ron Sturges aboard left Kamloops to fly to Tuktoyaktuk on the shores of the Arctic Ocean about 200 miles (320 kilometres) east of the Alaska border. The purpose of the 1,864-mile (3,000-kilometre) flight was to support DEW Line supply ships. Hern and Sturges documented their trip in an internal report entitled “Diary of the Sea Lift to DEW Line: Summer 1958.” In it they described how, while en route to the Arctic, they stopped in Fort St. John to have floats installed before carrying on to Fort Good Hope. They arrived in Tuktoyaktuk on July 9:
July 10: Took Captain Thomas onto LST [Landing Ship, Tank] 692, also R. Sturges and gear, following inspection of landing area amidships.