Most of the first Certified American designed and manufactured Bell Helicopters were sold into Canada. The first went to British Columbia on our West Coast. On your map you will find British Columbia a couple of inches north of California.
Men like Carl Agar, Alf Stringer, and Barney Bent brought the first machine to BC in August 1947.
I was not even born yet but that doesn't matter because I was destined to be a helicopter guy and part of this information pertains to my story.
They called their company Okanagan Helicopters. I think they are still in business today.
More to come , in the meantime I will try to post a picture of CF -FZX , one of the earliest commercially certified helicopters in the world.
Thanks for the thread Stan , my story is not very exciting but it eclipses the years from 1947 to 2009 and I always find it interesting how each one of us aviators got to be here on this day , November 23 2003 , on Rotary wing forum.
Thanks also to Peter-Corley Smith , and David N. Parker for this early photograph and for preserving our history.
I was a kid on a farm who saw the first helicopter to fly over Manitoba Canada around 1958 , I was 7 years old , that is where it started for me. More later.
Many thanks
Arnie