Columbia Helicopters....40 Years of Tandem Rotor Flying

[SASless]

The link will take you to an article about Columbia's Forty Year Anniversary of Tandem Rotor Flying.

The original three BV-107's are still flying daily and are not scheduled for retirement.

Pretty amazing accomplishment considering the kind of work they do with them.....logging has to be the most punishing work one can do with a helicopter.:D

Columbia Helicopters Celebrates 40 Years of Tandem Rotor Helicopters - Vertical Online (http://www.verticalmag.com/control/news/templates/?a=10525)

[widgeon]

Nice article , does anyone know how they deploy the aircraft overseas . Do they ferry them ?

[206Fan]

Awsome.

SAS. You didn't happen to see the documentary on sky/cable recentley about the S-64 crane? It shows the crane doing its different roles, one was the logging in canada, amazing how the pilot controls the spin of the hook by opening and closing the claw and catching the log first go, very impressive.

[Savoia]

Gordiano! Most amusing!

I have to ask this question because its a thought I've possessed for decades .. how come the BV107 didn't see greater utilisation? Apart from Columbia I believe the only other civilian operator was the historic New York Airways and yet .. the drivers in PNG would swear by the 107 extolling its lift capacity and general reliability. So, again I ask .. how come this type wasn't more popular on the civilian market?

HeliBuster: Buona fortuna!

[SASless]

Columbia made the 107 into a very good machine....lots of improvements!

An interesting comparison is the first 107's are still going strong at Columbia and the USMC/USN are getting rid of the 46's as they are too hard to maintain, are worn out, have reached the end of their time life....yet the Columbia machines that get far harder treatment, fly more hours monthly, keep on keeping on!