Columbia Helicopters

Columbia Helicopters
Columbia Helicopters, Inc
Type Private
Industry Aerospace
Founded 1957, Portland, OR
Headquarters Aurora, Oregon, U.S.
Key people Wes Lematta, Founder
Nancy Lematta, Chairman of the Board [1]
Mike Fahey, Pres.
Products Commercial Helicopters
Subsidiaries Helifor
Columbia Helicopters, New Zealand, LTD
Website ColHeli.com
Columbia Helicopters Inc Boeing Vertol 107 C-FHFW and Boeing 234 N245CH rest on the company pad in Aurora, Oregon.

Columbia Helicopters, Incorporated, or CHI, is an aircraft manufacturing and operator company based in Aurora, Oregon, United States. They are known for operating tandem rotor helicopters; in present times, exclusively the Boeing Vertol 107 and Boeing 234. These helicopters are used in Heli-Logging, oil exploration, fire suppression, construction and many other activities. In addition the company operates a large FAA Repair Station supporting customers around the world.

Contents

History

Founding and early days

Columbia Helicopters was founded on April 24, 1957 by Wes Lematta with a single Hiller 12B helicopter. With help from his brothers, Wes supported his young company with many odd jobs ranging from carrying Santa Claus to trapeze acts. He performed most of his flying on the weekends while still working as a truck driver during the week. Lematta gained great notoriety on September 15, 1957 rescuing 15 sailors from a sinking dredge near Coos Bay, Oregon. For his heroic actions the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded Wes the Army Air Medal. [2]

Direct Visual Observational Control

After purchasing the more powerful Hiller 12E Wes began to operate more lift jobs. One of these large jobs was working on the John Day Dam on his company's name sake Columbia River. Here Wes began performing precision lift jobs by using a longer than average cable. The concept was the pilot could lean out the side of the aircraft and see directly where they are placing the load. A few years latter Wes' brother Jim was flying a Sikorsky S-61 in the Colorado Rockies. Jim was so cold he was forced to land. In need of an enclosed cockpit Columbia went on to develop the first pilot bubble window. [2]

"First in Heli-Logging"

Jack Erickson, of Erickson Air-Crane fame, and Wes Lematta were able to demonstrate the first financially successful run of helicopter logging, or "Heli-Logging" in 1971. This was done with Wes' S-61 Sikorsky, registration number N318Y, on a USFS log sale near Tayorsville, California. The following year the 107s were used.[3]

Amusingly, since the project used Wes' helicopter and Jack had purchased the timber, both Columbia Helicopters and Erikson Air-Crane claim to be the first successful "Heli-Loggers".

Type Certificates

As of December 15, 2006 Columbia Helicopters has purchased the Type certificate of the Model 107[4] and Model 234[5] from Boeing. Currently the company is seeking FAA issuance of a Production Certificate (PC) to produce parts, with eventual issuance of a PC to produce both aircraft.

CHI in the Movies

Columbia Helicopters' Kawasaki Vertol KV-107 II painted in a special grey paint scheme at Fox Field

Columbia Helicopters has had a long history of starring and supporting the filming of motion pictures.

Fleet

Columbia currently operates 8 Model 234s and 14 Model 107-IIs tandem rotor helicopters. In addition to the flying fleet CHI in 2005 purchased 8 ex-Canadian Forces CH-113 Labrador helicopters for fleet expansion. [6] For fleet support CHI operates 2 Beechcraft 200C Super King Airs. [7]

Columbia's past fleet includes the Hiller 12B, Bell 47-G2, Hiller 12E, Hughes 369 (MD 500 variant), Sikorsky S-58, Sikorsky S-61 and Sikorsky CH-54.[8]

Wes Lematta Field at Aurora State Airport

On May 26, 2009, the Oregon State Legislature passed a resolution identifying Columbia's home airport as Wes Lematta Field at Aurora State Airport. Wes Lematta is the founder of Columbia Helicopters located on the north eastern corner of the field. [9] [10]

References

See also

External links


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