Above: A Columbia Helicopters Vertol 107 is shown dumping water on a 1980 forest fire in Ontario, Canada. Columbia 107s average 2000 flight hours a year, four of these aircraft have over 50,000 total flight hours. A fifth 107 has over 70,400 total hours and is the highest time helicopter in the world.


Opposite: Wes Lemata pioneered Direct Visual Operating Control or DVOC. DVOC is a piloting technique in which the pilot flies while looking down at the external load and the ground rather than straight ahead at the horizon. Today all Columbia Helicopter pilots are trained to use DVOC and Columbia's heavy lift helicopters are fitted with special DVOC bubble windows to allow pilots to see below the aircraft without being exposed to the ele- ments. Columbia pilot Rex Van Kempen is shown using the DVOC bubble.


Photos: Courtesy of Cloumbia Helicopters, Inc.


Skinner, 2007). On April 24, 1957, Wes and Ed Lematta officially formed Columbia Helicopters Incorporated. Business started out slow for Columbia Helicopters. Ed Lematta was transferred away by the Coast Guard so Wes’s youngest brother Jim began working part time for Columbia as soon as he finished high school. Jim Lematta would become one of Columbia Helicopters’ first pilots and would help make a name for the company flying on many heavy lift helicopter construction projects. Jim went on to become Columbia’s first director of safety and later served on the Columbia Board of Directors. Initially Wes was flying the Hiller out of his backyard but later moved oper- ations to Troutdale Airport. Wes continued driving the fruit truck and occasionally worked with Jim as a longshoreman when helicopter work


ROTORCRAFTPROFESSIONAL


was slow. Flying jobs were hard to come by and Wes knew that he had to get the helicopter into the public eye to drum up business. Lematta took every opportunity that came his way which included flying customers at a local store, delivering the Easter Bunny to an Easter egg hunt and even flying two trapeze artists suspended under the helicopter. Business slow- ly picked up and Wes found work fly-


ing Army Corps of Engineers per- sonnel to inspect construction and dredging projects. It was during one of these Corps of Engineers flights that Wes and his helicopter gained significant publicity. On September 10, 1957, Wes was flying the chief of the Portland District of the Corps of Engineers back from inspecting a project when they learned that the dredge William T. Rossell had been struck by a freighter at the mouth of Coos Bay and was sinking. Wes flew to the Rossell and rescued 15 crew mem- bers by hovering dangerously close to the sinking ship allowing the crew members to grab onto the skids (Petersen, Vezmar & Skinner, 2007). For his gallant efforts, the U.S. Army awarded Wes the Air Medal. Although work remained slow, Wes was demonstrating that the helicopter could be used successfully on a myri- ad of demanding jobs. One of which was helping recover grounded ships. Wes used the helicopter to string lines between salvage ships and grounded vessels, which were otherwise inacces- sible due to shallow water. Another operation involved transporting scuba divers and dynamite out past the rough surf of the Oregon shore- line. The divers were then able to use the dynamite to blast a channel in a coral reef. The channel was needed for an effluent pipe being run out from a local paper mill. Wes also tried his hand at crop dusting and gave helicopter rides at the Oregon Centennial Exposition in 1959. Columbia Helicopters was mere- ly two years old when Wes made good


FLYING JOBS WERE HARD TO COME BY AND WES KNEW


THAT HE HAD TO GET THE HELICOPTER INTO THE PUBLIC EYE TO DRUM UP BUSINESS. LEMATTA TOOK EVERY OPPORTUNITY THAT CAME HIS WAY WHICH INCLUDED FLYING CUSTOMERS AT A LOCAL STORE, DELIVERING THE EASTER BUNNY TO AN EASTER EGG HUNT AND EVEN FLYING TWO TRAPEZE ARTISTS SUSPENDED UNDER THE HELICOPTER.


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