As an FBO at Lansdowne Field at Youngstown by a group of local businessmen in the spring of 1930. Paul Wick is chairman with W. Edgar Leedy Jr. as CEO.
A Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker is acquired, painted black with gold cowl, trim, and titles. An Argo biplane is also acquired. With Leedy as pilot, the Bellanca inaugurates scheduled return service to Columbus on June 10.
With breaks during the winter, flights between the two Buckeye cities are continued until the company, for lack of patronage in a deepening Depression, is forced out of business in March 1931.
OK AIR (OAHU AND KAUAI AIRLINES): United States (19751980). Robert Fraker establishes OK Air at Honolulu in the fall of 1975 to provide scheduled passenger and cargo flights to Lihue and Princeville. Cessna 402 services begin on October 1 and continue until January 1980, when the company is purchased by and merged into Air Hawaii (2).
OKADA AIR, LTD.: 178 Sapele Road, Benin City, Bendei, Nigeria; Phone 234 (19) 241 054; Code 9H; Year Founded 1983. Organized by Chief Peter Igbinedion, the Esama of Benin City (capital of Bendel state) in 1983, the new entrant undertakes domestic and international charter passenger and cargo flights in addition to scheduled domestic intercity jet services. The initial fleet of four British Aerospace BAe (BAC) 1-11-320AZs is acquired from British Caledonian Airways, Ltd. (BCAL) in September and launch services before October. The company begins to service regional points in early December with an Aerospatiale (SudEst) SE-210 Caravelle VIN.
A Boeing 707-355C freighter is acquired in 1984 to handle the company’s all-cargo contracts. Operations continue with charters flown to a variety of destinations, including London, Frankfurt, Zurich, Rome, and Paris and a host of cities throughout Africa and the Middle East. Subcharters are also flown for other airlines.
In October 1985, the carrier is able to acquire three more BAC 1-11s from Quebecair, Ltd. Operations continue apace in 1986-1987 and four additional BAC 1-11s are delivered. Domestic points visited include Abuja, Lagos, Benin, Jos, Enugu, and Port Harcourt.
The fleet in 1988 includes 11 BAC 1-11s, 2 BAe (HS) 748-B2s, 1 B-707-355C, 1 Sud Est SE-210 Caravelle VIN, and 1 Dornier 228-212.
During the first quarter, permission is received from the government for the inauguration of scheduled domestic competition with Nigeria Airways, Ltd.
Hard-hit by a financial downturn, the flag carrier institutes costcutting measures. Its staff is cut and a number of unprofitable local and regional routes are ended or ordered transferred to Okada. Okada does not want the unprofitable routes and sues to prevent their acquisition.
By the fall of 1989, the privately owned carrier, unable to find foreign currency, is not able to buy spare parts and can keep only four of its planes in flying condition.
A BAC 1-11-320AZ with 92 passengers is badly damaged while landing at Port Harcourt on September 7 when its main landing gear jams; there are no fatalities.
Operations continue with difficulty during the remainder of the year and into the early 1990s.
In 1990-1991, Managing Director Igbinedion’s fleet is significantly upgraded. The Caravelle is replaced by seven BAe 1-11-400s and two Dornier 228-212.
While en route from Benin City to Kano on June 26 of the latter year, a BAC 1-11-402AP with 3 crew and 52 passengers is required, by bad weather, to divert to Sokoto, which also turns out to be closed due to the elements. The jetliner circles for an hour until its fuel is exhausted and then makes a forced landing (3 dead).
Despite this loss, the company remains the largest BAe 1-11 operator in Africa.
In 1992, a B-747-146 is purchased and christened Lady Cherry; it immediately becomes the fleet flagship and is assigned Hadj pilgrimage work from May-July. The BACs are assigned to the development of domestic scheduled services between Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, and Port Harcourt.
In 1993, the airline is one of the largest BAe (BAC) 1-11 operators left in the world. Among its flight equipment are numbered 3 of the original Dash-320AZs, along with 2 each Dash-217EAs, Dash-304AXs, Dash-401AKs, Dash-420ELs, Dash-432FDs, and Dash-539GLs, plus 1 each Dash-301AG, Dash-408EF, Dash-409AY, and Dash-524FF. Additionally, a leased Boeing 707-355C freighter is available, along with 4 B-727-231As and 1 each B-747-146, BAe (HS) 125-3B, and 125-600B.
During July, the company is granted authority to inaugurate weekly return services to Rio de Janeiro.
The fleet is cut back in 1994 by the deletion of two B-727-231As. It is reported that 6 of the 20 BAe (BAC) 1-11s have been cannibalized or lack spare parts. A new government places a moratorium on plans announced by its predecessor to allow Okada to commence international services. At the end of the year, the fleet is increased by the addition of a B-727-251.
Flights continue in 1995, although the B-707-355C is withdrawn. In 1996-1999, the concern is one of the largest private airlines in Africa and operates a fleet that includes 23 BAe (BAC) 1-11s, 1 B-727-251,2 B-727-230As, 1 B-747-146, and 2 BAe (HS) 125 executive jets. Destinations visited include Abuja, Benin, Calabar, Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Yola.
At the beginning of 2000, Managing Director Igbinedion’s workforce totals 2,600. In November, as the government takes long overdue steps to improve the nation’s air safety, aviation authorities begin to de-register aircraft regarded as wrecks or derelicts or those in need of huge repairs. Under this program, Okada loses 23 planes from the national aircraft register. Some expect that the airline will soon lose its operating certificate as well.
OKANAGAN HELICOPTERS, LTD.: Canada (1947-1987). Former farmer and ex-RCAF flight instructor Carl C. Agar, Alfred Stringer, and two others establish Okanagan in Kelowna as an air charter and fixed-wing crop-spraying operation in early 1947. Following a helicopter demonstration at Yakima, Washington, Agar and his partners establish a public company. The three men sell sufficient shares to purchase the carrier’s first rotary-wing aircraft, a Bell Model 47B, and begin nonsched-uled flights in October.
In 1948, the Bell logs a total of 31 hours flying time, most of which is devoted to timber cruising, crop spraying, and mosquito spraying during the disastrous Fraser Valley flood. Additional piston-engine Bell helicopters are acquired in 1950-1953.
Canadian Helicopters/Helicopteres Canadiens, Ltd. of Montreal is purchased and merged in 1954. Operated as a subsidiary, it is the example upon which later mergers will be based. The first successful experiment is carried out in the seeding of Vancouver Island forest areas by helicopter. A training school is established at Penticton; teaching mountain flying, it will become world famous and will be continued even after its parent company is merged into a larger success. Okanagan machines are also employed in the construction of an oil pipeline from Edmonton to Vancouver.
In 1955, a company Sikorsky S-55 becomes the first helicopter to operate within a few hundred miles of the North Pole during a geological survey. The first Canadian scheduled helicopter service is inaugurated on January 4, linking Terrace and Prince Ruper with Kitimat.
During 1956-1958 an extensive network of domestic and Pacific coast charter operations are handled as additional Bell and Sikorsky helicopters join the fleet. In 1959, one of the carrier’s Sikorsky S-58Bs participates in the first power line construction by helicopter, installing concrete bases, transmission towers, and wooden poles in the mountains northeast of Los Angeles, California. Operations Manager Alfred Stringer departs to become president of newly organized Vancouver Island Helicopters, Ltd. Okanagan is hired in 1960 by a Montreal radio station to handle the first aerial traffic reporting service in Canada.
Employing new Sikorsky S-64E Skycranes, Okanagan, in 1962, becomes the first helicopter operator in Canada to lift and set large guyed aluminum towers for 500-kv. transmission lines. Also during the year, a company pilot develops the Monsoon Bucket, which is soon widely employed in forest fire control. The first step into the international market is taken in 1963 when a Bell Model 47J is shipped to East Pakistan for a land-use survey.
One of history’s largest rescue operations by a single helicopter occurs at the site of the Granduc Mine slide disaster on the British Colombia coast in 1964. An Okanagan S-58B is the first rescue craft to arrive, and despite bad weather and continuous whiteout conditions, it is able to lift out 100 survivors and 28 bodies. Sikorsky S-61N crews are given the first civilian instrument flight rules (IFR) training in Canada in 1965-1966, after which a machine is flown from Stratford, Connecticut to London, England, in the first unescorted helicopter flight across the North Atlantic. Late in the year, the carrier’s initial offshore oil industry support activities commence in the North Sea.
During 1967-1968, Okanagan strengthens a string of bases across Canada, including those at Banff, Calgary, Campbell River, Canmore, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Dryden, Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, Fort Simpson, Gander, Golden, Goose Bay, Halifax, Inuvik, Kamploops, Milltown, Nelson, Norman Wells, Ottawa, Penticton, Port McNeil, Prince George, Revelstoke, St. John’s, Smithers, Terrace, Thunder Bay, Vancouver, Whistler, and Williams Lake. Domestic offshore support operations commence in December of the former year under contract to Shell Oil. The largest single order by a commercial operator to date is now made for 30 Fairchild Hiller FH-1100s. Founder Agar dies in March of the latter year at the age of 67.
In 1969, company S-61Ns are the first in Canada to fly IFR service to offshore Atlantic drilling rigs and the first flown on ice surveys in the Arctic during the dark winter months. Phaseout of the piston-engine fleet is begun in 1970. In 1971, the operator begins a decade-long process of acquiring competitors and smaller Canadian helicopter carriers with the takeover of Ottawa-based Universal Helicopters, Ltd.
In 1972, a two-year contract is signed with the Danish government and other parties for the sole provision of a transportation link during the construction of a lead and zinc mine on Greenland’s west coast, north of the Arctic circle. Lac St. Jean Aviation, Ltd. of Montreal and Haida Helicopters, Ltd. of Ottawa are purchased in 1973.
Although the Greenland contract is completed in 1974, a new international division is established at Vancouver. A major overseas expansion program is launched as operations are extended into Thailand, Cambodia, Haiti, Peru, Morocco, Burma, The Philippines, Guyana, and Zaire.
Dominion-Pegasus Helicopters, Ltd. of Toronto and Sept. Iles Helicopters, Ltd. of Sept. Iles are taken over in 1975. During the year, a survival division is established and headquartered at Halifax. An Okanagan crew sets a world record for the longest helicopter flight by ferrying an S-61N over a 12,659-mile route from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to Songkhla, Thailand.
Night visual flight rules (VFR) slinging is introduced to the high Arctic in 1976 on ice movement studies. Chairman/President J. W. Pitts oversees a workforce of 550. His fleet now comprises 4 Sikorsky
S-61Ns,1 S-61L, 1 S-62A, 6 S-58Ts, 1 S-55,6 Bell 212s, 3 Bell 205As, 3 Bell 204Bs, 87 Bell 206B JetRangers, and 16 Aerospatiale Alou-ette IIs.
Associated Helicopters, Ltd. of Edmonton is purchased in 1977. An
S-61N is tasked to the commuter-style transport of Edson, Alberta, coal miners, 39 miles one way to and from their job site on a daily basis. Okanagan begins participation in an experimental air ambulance service sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of Health.
A helicopter logging division is established in 1978. A joint venture company, Okanagan Australia (Pty.), Ltd., is formed at Perth in association with Brambles Industries, Ltd. and from the main base at Vancouver, Chairman/President J. W. Pitts oversees a workforce of 550. His fleet now comprises 6 Sikorsky S-61Ns, 1 S-61L, 4 S-58Ts, 9 Bell 212s, 5 Bell 205As, 2 Bell 204Bs, and 110 Bell 206B JetRangers.
Bow Helicopters, Ltd. of Toronto is purchased in 1979. Okanagan’s helicopters, worldwide, log one million flight hours, including 100,000 IFR hours in the service of Canadian industry. Based at Thunder Bay, a new Sikorsky S-76A “Bandage 3” air ambulance is placed in service in 1981 over 50% of the province of Ontario. The year’s financial loss, due to the world economic downturn and higher fuel prices, is significant.
John M. S. Lecky, a 30% shareholder, increases his ownership to 51% control in 1982, assumed through his Resources Service Group. Okanagan becomes a subsidiary of RSG with Lecky as president. The fleet now includes 12 S-61s, 4 of which are nonamphibious S-61Ls.
In 1983, three new helicopter types are introduced in support of the Canadian offshore oil industry: the Bell 214ST and the Aerospatiale AS-32L and AS-35OD. Airline employment is cut by 20% to 700 and 30 older helicopters are retired. The S-76 fleet now includes 12 machines, 3 in Canada, 4 in Australia, 3 in Thailand, 1 in India, and 1 in Venezuela.
Operations continue apace in 1984. In December, United Helicopters, Ltd., a subsidiary of the U. K.’s Bristow Helicopters, Ltd., purchases 49% minority shareholding. While transporting 15 workers from Shell Canada Resources, Ltd.’s Sedco 709 rig to Halifax on March 18, 1985, a company Sikorsky S-61N makes a forced landing 34 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia. All aboard are rescued by the Canadian Armed Forces and the damaged aircraft is towed to shore through light seas. The next month, one of the company’s two Bell 214STs crashes into Newfoundland’s Pacentia Bay, killing all six aboard. On October 23, the last Bell 214ST, on a training flight outside Edmonton, Alberta, crashes, killing both crew members aboard.
During the first quarter of 1986, a company AS-332L Super Puma completes a 2,780-mile flight from Aberdeen, Scotland, to St. John’s, Newfoundland, via Reykjavik, Iceland, and Narssasuak, Greenland, in 17 hrs. 30 min.
Employing a medically equipped S-76A, Okanagan begins an experimental air ambulance service for the Vancouver area in March 1987. The employee population is stabilized at 650 and the worldwide network includes 50 bases in such additional nations as India, Trinidad, Singapore, Malaya, and Venezuela. The fleet grows to include 10 Bell 206L LongRangers, 44 Bell 206B JetRangers, 2 Bell 214STs, 2 Bell 214Bs, 3 Bell 205s, 1 Bell 204B, 12 Bell 212s, 1 Bell 47J, 12 Sikorsky S-76s, 12 Sikorsky S-61Ns, 5 Aerospatiale AS-35ODs, 2 Aerospatiale AS-332s, and 3 Hughes 369Ds.
During the summer, the carrier is merged with Sealand Helicopters, Ltd. and Toronto Helicopters, Ltd. to form CHC Helicopter Corporation, Ltd. The combined fleet of the new company is 163 helicopters. The Vancouver area air ambulance service is halted in February 1988 and the S-76A is sold to Englewood, Colorado-based Air Methods for use in a Minnesota EMS program.
World History
