Been around the longest

[wcobra]

2 hours ago, DGP said:

Can anyone remember how that Canadian thing came about...did it start at Ranger Heli and then spread?

Wasn't it Mr. Dobbin with the old Canadian banner buying Sealand and then buying Okanagan (or combining them?).  I was with Associated Helicopters at that time which was owned by Okanagan during the initial western assimilations.  When Ranger was being assimilated we were checking over some of their machines bringing them into the western operations.  That became a pandemic of it's own sorts eh?

[jullian]

I believe Mr. Dobbin owned Sealand. In 89 he bought Okanagan. The first a/c with Canadian on the side of it was c-gmhs, just out of refurb in Goose.

[Elvis]

[bluethunder]

9 hours ago, wcobra said:

Wasn't it Mr. Dobbin with the old Canadian banner buying Sealand and then buying Okanagan (or combining them?).  I was with Associated Helicopters at that time which was owned by Okanagan during the initial western assimilations.  When Ranger was being assimilated we were checking over some of their machines bringing them into the western operations.  That became a pandemic of it's own sorts eh?

I think Wcobra is pretty close here.  I came from the Lakeland camp, then buying Ranger then buying Northstar era, only to go bust and then gobbled up by Canadian.  

[ray]

I started with Ranger in 1987 after they had just bought out Maple Leaf. In 1988, Sealand bought Okanagan and became Canadian, and they also bought out Ranger.

[Outwest]

Craig Dobbin formed Canadian Holding Company around 1986-87 and with the money he talked a bunch of Bay Street bankers into loaning him he bought Sealand (from himself) and Okanagan in 1987. That was the start, and then he added Toronto Helicopters, etc, etc.....

[ThreePer]

“One **** of a ride” is an interesting read. More of a “how to borrow money to keep from going bankrupt and try to take over the world at the same time” book than anything but it sorts it all out. I have it here on my bookshelf but read it many years ago now and don’t remember all the details. 

[DGP]

My buddy has the book...he said when the banks wanted to shut him down and repo the ships he said fill your boots...ships were all over the world and no Canadian pilots would be available to drive them out off the boonies or tell anyone where they were...they gave him more money!

[xrkyle]

On 4/26/2020 at 9:28 AM, ThreePer said:

“One **** of a ride” is an interesting read. More of a “how to borrow money to keep from going bankrupt and try to take over the world at the same time” book than anything but it sorts it all out. I have it here on my bookshelf but read it many years ago now and don’t remember all the details. 

I'll have to check this out. I really like John Lawrence Reynolds' books on finance. The Naked Investor is a book I cite and revisit often.

[Winnie]

Custom in Manitoba has been around more than 40 years...