Peter Barratt is at home at the controls of an Astar or casting for a salmon in a pristine river beyond the reach of the average angler. He and Craig Murray established the helicopter-fishing adventure at Nimmo Bay Resort back in the 1980s and along the way Peter founded West Coast Helicopters who now operate from bases at Campbell River, Nanaimo, Port McNeill and Bella Coola on the BC Coast. Peter's book tells of his beginning days with the Canadian Fleet Air arm where he learned to fly fixed and rotary wing aircraft.
Peter's Book, Fling Wing-The New Age Bush Pilots opens with a concise history of helicopter history in the province of British Columbia, which was the most significant place during the advent of the commercial use of rotary wing aircraft, then a look at how the early fling wing pilots were trained and then Peter's days with Okanagan Helicopters, and the ultimate adventure of establishing his own commercial helicopter operation. A great book to read with pages of magnificent photographs to make you wish you had been there when the adventures of vertical flight began.