Carl Agar Carlyle Clare Agar AFC ( November 28 , 1901 – January 27 , 1968 ) was a pioneering Canadian aviator . Early years . Agar was born on November 28 , 1901 at Lion ' s Head , Bruce County , Ontario , and moved to Edmonton , Alberta in 1905 where he was educated . He farmed on the outskirts of the city until 1928 , when he learned to fly under the tutelage of Moss Burbidge at the Edmonton Aero Club . He earned his private pilot ' s license the following year and in 1932 accepted a position with the Department of Indian Affairs as an agricultural instructor at Wabamum , Alberta . Two years later , he returned to full time farming . Second World War . At the outbreak of the Second World War , he attempted enlistment in the Royal Canadian Air Force as a pilot but was rejected for being over age . In 1940 he reapplied to the RCAF , was accepted for pilot training and posted to Moose Jaw , Saskatchewan and Trenton , Ontario , from where he graduated as an instructor . He was stationed at Edmonton and High River , Alberta and Abbotsford , British Columbia until 1944 and was awarded the Air Force Cross for outstanding contributions as a flight instructor . He was discharged from the RCAF in 1945 when he received the maximum age for aircrew . Post - War . At Penticton , British Columbia , he formed the South Okanagan Flying Club in partnership with two ex - RCAF members . A lack of commercial flying business forced them into reassessing their position , so they moved to Kelowna and formed Okanagan Air Service . Their plan was to engage in instructional activities , charter flying and crop spraying , but they were again forced to reconsider their plans due to high maintenance costs . He then investigated the possibility of using the newly designed helicopter as an airborne spraying device . The Company was converted to public ownership , and in 1947 he flew the first commercial helicopter in Canada , to spray orchards with insecticides . When it became evident the operation would not support the firm , he contracted with the Government of British Columbia to spray infested forest areas . When not engaged in these economically crucial operations , he learned the secrets of helicopter flying in the high reaches of the Rocky Mountains , and perfected new skills and operational techniques . When the government ' s topographical department needed a special survey of the Wahleach Mountain area , he was prepared . The operation was a complete success and his techniques for high altitude landings and takeoffs from hitherto inaccessible locations , became the accepted worldwide standard . Having conquered the altitude barrier , he then proved the effectiveness of contour flying for timber operations , and followed this successful gambit by transporting prospecting parties to and from remote bush areas . He accepted a contract from the Water Board of Vancouver in 1949 to airlift 400 , 000 pounds of construction material , equipment and personnel to the 3 , 500 - foot level of a mountainside and completed a dam building operation on schedule . It was the first time a helicopter had been used in such a manner , and more than 200 takeoffs and landings were required to finalize the lift . The Palisade Lake Dam stands as a monument to his mastery of vertical flight . The international publicity accorded this outstanding achievement caused industry and the military to re - think their operational transportation methods . As a result , his Penticton based company trained selected commercial and military pilots in mountain flying techniques . His experience was then contracted to the Aluminum Company of Canada in 1951 to assist in the construction of their giant smelter complex at Kitimat . His firm went on to become one of the largest commercial helicopters operations in the world .