Helicopters in the high country: 40 years of mountain flying

It was hairy, of course. You never landed far from the edge of a drop-off. You just had to hop, skip, get over the edge and clear your tail rotor and get some rpm on the way down. Terrifying. BOB TAYLOR, PILOT Helicopter flying in the high country, pioneering new and dramatic techniques, brought fame and endless challenge to a small group of determined, innovative pilots in British Columbia. Beginning with Okanagan Helicopters in the late 1940s and Vancouver Island Helicopters in the early 1950s, British Columbia helicopter companies led the world in mountain flying.