Columbia Helicopters, Incorporated (CHI) is an

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

manufacturing and operator company based in

Aurora, Oregon Aurora is a city in Marion County, Oregon, United States. Before being incorporated as a city, it was the location of the Aurora Colony, a religious commune founded in 1856 by William Keil and John E. Schmit. William named the settlement after h ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is known for operating tandem rotor helicopters; in present times, exclusively the Boeing Vertol 107 and

Boeing Vertol 234 The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name ...

. These helicopters are used in stream restoration and forestry including

heli-logging Heli-logging, or helicopter logging, is a method of logging that uses helicopters to remove cut trees from forests by lifting them on cables attached to a helicopter. Helicopter logging is often used in inaccessible areas of forests. Because the us ...

aerial firefighting Aerial may refer to: Music * ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush * ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down Bands *Aerial (Canadian band) * Aerial (Scottish band) * Aerial (Swedish band) Performance art * Aerial sil ...

, oil exploration, construction, government support, film production, disaster response and many other activities. In addition, the company operates a large FAA repair station supporting customers around the world.

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, he 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, by rescuing 15 sailors from a sinking

dredge Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

near

Coos Bay, Oregon Coos Bay ( Coos language: Atsixiis) is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one ent ...

. For his heroic actions the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

awarded him the Army Air Medal.

Direct Visual Observational Control

After purchasing the more powerful Hiller 12E, Lematta began to operate more lift jobs. One of these large jobs was working on the

John Day Dam The John Day Dam is a concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River in the northwestern United States. The dam features a navigation lock plus fish ladders on both sides. The John Day Lock has the highest lift (at ) of any U.S ...

on his company's namesake, the Columbia River. Here Lematta began performing precision lift jobs by using a longer than average cable. The concept was that the pilot could lean out the side of the aircraft and see directly where the load would be placed, rather than relying on visual instructions from ground crew or a mirror. A few years later, Wes' brother, Jim, was flying a

Sikorsky S-61 The Sikorsky S-61L and S-61N are civil variants of the SH-3 Sea King military helicopter. It was developed and produced by the American helicopter manufacturer Sikorsky Aircraft. The commercial version of the Sea King was developed during the ...

in the Colorado Rockies. He was so cold that he was forced to land. To fill the need for an enclosed cockpit, Columbia developed the first pilot bubble window.

"First in Heli-Logging"

Jack Erickson, of

Erickson Air-Crane Erickson Incorporated is an American aerospace manufacturing and aviation service provider based in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1971, it is known for producing and operating the S-64 Aircrane helicopter, which is used in aerial fi ...

fame, and Lematta were able to demonstrate the first financially successful run of helicopter logging, or "heli-logging", in 1971. This was done with Lematta's

registration number N318Y on a U.S. Forest Service log sale near Taylorsville, California, in the

Plumas National Forest Plumas National Forest is a 1,146,000-acre (4,638 km2) United States National Forest located at the northern terminus of the Sierra Nevada, in northern California. The Forest was named after its primary watershed, the Rio de las Plumas, or Fe ...

. The following year, the 107s were used. Since the project used Lematta's helicopter and Erickson had purchased the timber, both Columbia Helicopters and Erikson's Air-Crane claim to be the first successful "heli-loggers". Another unusual feat was pulling a hoverbarge on snow, ice and water in 1982."Happy birthday to Columbia Helicopters! Oregon-based company celebrates its 50th anniversary"
''Vertical (magazine)'', 18 April 2007. Retrieved: 24 August 2012."The hover barge"
''Columbia Helicopters''. Retrieved: 24 August 2012.

Type certificates

As of December 15, 2006 Columbia Helicopters had purchased the

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

of the Model 107 and Model 234 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.

In popular media

Columbia Helicopters aircraft have appeared in several

motion pictures A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

: * ''

Coogan's Bluff Coogan's Bluff is a promontory near the western shore of the Harlem River in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. Its boundaries extend approximately from 155th Street and the Macombs Dam Bridge viaduct t ...

'' * '' Demolition Man'' - BV-234 N241CH serves as a

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

helicopter. * '' King Kong Lives'' - BV-107 N191CH, a former

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

CH-46 The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft engines. It was designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol's acquisition by Boeing. Development of ...

, carries away

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

in his cage. * '' The Lost World: Jurassic Park'' - BV-234 N241CH flies in a large cage to capture dinosaurs. * ''

More American Graffiti ''More American Graffiti'' is a 1979 American coming-of-age comedy film written and directed by Bill L. Norton, produced by Howard Kazanjian. It is the sequel to the 1973 film ''American Graffiti''. Whereas the first film followed a group of frie ...

'' * ''

Runaway Train A runaway train is a type of railroad incident in which unattended rolling stock is accidentally allowed to roll onto the main line, a moving train loses enough braking power to be unable to stop in safety, or a train operates at unsafe speeds d ...

'' * '' Starman'' - KV-107 N185CH can be seen in company colors hauling away actor

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

' spaceship. * ''Straight Up: Helicopters in Action'' - CHI BV-234 N239CH demonstrates the lifting capability of the Super Grapple during heli-logging operations. * ''

Under Siege ''Under Siege'' is a 1992 American action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis, written by J. F. Lawton, and starring Steven Seagal as a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, led by Tommy Lee Jones, after they commandeer the ...

'' - KV-107 N192CH flies

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...

' band out to the battleship. * '' X2: X-Men United'' - KV-107 N192CH performs various flight sequences and serves in the background of several scenes.

Fleet

Columbia currently operates eight Boeing-Vertol Model 234s and 14 Boeing-Vertol 107-IIs tandem rotor helicopters. Many of the latter were obtained from

New York Airways New York Airways was a helicopter airline in the New York City area, founded in 1949 as a mail and cargo carrier. On 9 July 1953 it may have been the first scheduled helicopter airline to carry passengers in the United States, with headquarters ...

. In addition to the flying fleet, in 2005 CHI purchased eight surplus

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Forc ...

CH-113 Labrador The Boeing Vertol CH-46 Sea Knight is a medium-lift tandem-rotor transport helicopter powered by twin turboshaft engines. It was designed by Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Vertol following Vertol's acquisition by Boeing. Development of th ...

helicopters for fleet expansion. For fleet support CHI operates a Beechcraft 200C Super King Air. When the 234s operate internationally, five containers are used for support tasks. Columbia's past fleet includes the Hiller 12B, Bell 47-G2, Hiller 12E, MD 500, Sikorsky S-58,

and Sikorsky CH-54. In October 1991 Columbia Helicopters bought four Boeing Vertol 107II-14s from the Swedish Government, all formerly operated by the Swedish Air Force as the HKP 4A. In December 2012 Columbia bought four Boeing Vertol 107II-14s (originally Swedish Air Force HKP 4As, modified from 1988 to 1991 to Swedish Navy standards as HKP 4Ds), two Boeing Vertol 107II-15s (HKP 4Bs) and four Kawasaki KV-107IIA-16s (HKP 4Cs) from the Swedish Government, all ten formerly operated by the Swedish Navy. In 2014, Columbia bought five

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Chinooks for utility service, as they are not allowed to carry passengers.

Wes Lematta Field at Aurora State Airport

On May 26, 2009, the

Oregon State Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the H ...

passed a resolution identifying Columbia's home airport as Wes Lematta Field at Aurora State Airport.Senate Joint Resolution 8

References

External links

Official company website
{{aircontent Helicopter operators Helicopter airlines Companies based in Marion County, Oregon Airlines established in 1957 Aurora, Oregon Private military contractors Aerial firefighting Logging Privately held companies based in Oregon 1957 establishments in Oregon Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1957 American companies established in 1957