engineers

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Pete Peterson: A Flying Story

Helair

Pete Peterson has been a part of the Canadian helicopter scene for many years, but did you know that he began his aviation career as a young teenager, eventually flying Corsairs off carriers in the second World War as a U.S. Marine?

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My last 47 contract

People

In 1973 I was still flying Bell 47s. I had a grand total of 1,400 hours of flight time and was raring to go on summer contracts. That summer it would be with the Ontario Department of Mines and their Ignace-Armstrong project, so named for the two geological regions the geologists and summer students would be investigating.

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Meanwhile, back in Moosonee…

Midwest Helicopters

Moosonee was quite a busy place for helicopters heading south in 1968. We crossed paths with Okanagan, MidWest Helicopters and Skyrotors, respectively. Bruce McPherson was in the Midwest S55. Jack McCormack was piloting the Vertol.

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Stories need telling

Midwest Helicopters

A lot of the stories are the background and history of some great helicopter companies that operated in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s that are no longer around today. They and their employees pioneered inventions, techniques, operating standards and working conditions for today.

Thumbnail image for The early days of Helair Ltd.

The early days of Helair Ltd.

Helair

Pete Peterson’s Helair Ltd. was originally located out of his home on Keewatin Beach Road, just west of Kenora. Pete gave me my first flight from there in a G2 equipped with dual flight controls during the winter of 1967.

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