Canoe, Hunt, Fish, and Fly, by Otter

"Dang" those "muskrats"! A "word of warning" to all "Otters"! Beware of "Muskrat Dam"!

All information is from Karl Hayes' "masterful" CD entitled:

De Havilland Canada
DHC-3 OTTER
A HISTORY

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
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Otter 320

Otter 320 was delivered to the State of New York, Department of Conservation on 9th February 1960, registered N600, based at Albany in upstate New York on amphibious floats. It was the second Otter to carry the registration N600, and replaced Otter 256, also registered N600, which had crashed in September 1959. Despite the crash, the State of New York was convinced that the Otter was the tool for the job, and so they ordered a replacement. The new Otter, 320, was fitted with improved fire fighting tanks, and an automated electro-mechanical fish planting system, which eliminated the need for cabin crew on this type of operation. These improvements made the already versatile Otter a much more valuable tool, and the new N600 flew for the State of New York until July 1965, performing the same duties as the original aircraft, as already described.

In July 1965, the Otter was replaced with a Bell 204B Iroquois helicopter. As the Bell Company were not interested in a trade-in, the disposal of the Otter was given to Jack Adams & Co, aircraft brokers, of Memphis, Tennessee. They arranged for the sale of the aircraft to a company called Aerodynamics Inc of Pontiac, Michigan, to whom the Otter was registered as N6001 in January 1966. The Otter was later sold to Bradley Air Services Ltd of Carp, Ontario, to whom it was registered CF-URG on 8th July 1968.

In 1968, Bradley Air Services took over air support of the Polar Continental Shelf Project, which brought its Otters and other aircraft to the High Arctic. In September 1969, CF-URG was engaged on this Project, operating on Banks Island. The Otter was damaged landing on a sand bar at the mouth of the Bernard River and remained on the sand bar for three weeks awaiting repair. During this period, water entered the carburettor, filter screen, fuel lines and sumps. The pilot took off from the sand bar on 15th October '69 en route to Isachsen and had climbed to 400 feet when the engine suddenly lost power and could not be re-started. In an attempt to reach a suitable landing area, the pilot allowed the airspeed to decrease. The Otter stalled and hit heavily on the sea ice, collapsing the undercarriage. The accident report blamed the crash on an incomplete pre-flight inspection, during which water or ice in the fuel system was not detected. Temporary repairs were made at the scene by Ray Cox and a ferry permit issued for a flight from Burnett Bay, Banks Island to Carp, Ontario for permanent repairs.

The following year, URG was flying in Ontario when it crashed and was written off on 9th December 1970 at Muskrat Dam Lake. As the accident report summarises: “Climb; engine failure; inadequate maintenance/inspection; aircraft destroyed”. The Otter had been en route to Pickle Lake, Ontario. Shortly after take off the pilot noticed a loss of oil pressure and power. He attempted to return to the airstrip, but crashed into the trees and the Otter was destroyed by fire.

- by Karl E. Hayes
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I think the "muskrats" had something to do with it. "Jealousy", as de Havilland Canada never named an aircraft after them.............

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes

"Hey", the Boeing C-17 "Globemaster" is an "awesome" machine! Watch her in "action"!

VIDEO - "Circle The Globe"!

OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #26" in our "cockpit series", which will be a continuing "brain-strainer".

This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................


-photo by Mark Fuller

***MYSTERY SOLVED!***

Yes, it is the Cessna L-19 "Bird Dog"! "Softjug" wins the "sailboat fuel"! Here she is!


-photo by Mark Fuller


-photo by Mark Fuller


Here is one on duty!

"Adios"!

"WOP! WOP! WOP! WOP! WOP! WOP! WOP!" The sound was "unmistakeable" to me! I had finished the day's flying, and was down at the Float Base, "pickle jar" full of "liquid intellect" in hand, enjoying the "vista" of Lake Winnipeg. Then the external speaker for the Base VHF "crackled"!

"Coast Guard helicopter 306 is 17 miles northwest of Matheson Island, 1500', inbound for Pine Dock."

"Crap", Matheson Island is over 10 miles north of Pine Dock, and Coast Guard 306 was 17 miles northwest of Matheson Island! I could hear the "rotor blades", at over 27 miles! I guess radial engines haven't destroyed my hearing yet! I headed to the airport to meet the Coast Guard crew, as I figured they would need some "Jet" for their tanks!


When I got to the airport, 306 was on the "pad".


She is C-GCHT, a "Bell 212"!


Seeing the helicopter, and hearing her "unique" sound, it reminded me of a story I had read about 25 years ago. During the Vietnam War, the "Huey" was introduced. The Vietnamese word for airplane is "may bay". Once the Huey arrived, it became known to the Vietnamese villagers as "may bay WOP WOP". Very fitting.


Very "fine lines".


I talked to the crew, and they had been "slinging" marine navigation towers to, and upgrading equipment at places on Lake Winnipeg such as McBeth Point, Carson's Reef, Big Bullhead Point, and other locations.


This "wing flings".


The crew fuelled up, thanked me, and prepared to head for Winnipeg. They started "engine 1".........


......then "engine 2".


Pilot, collective, and cyclic working in "perfect harmony", Coast Guard 306 "begins to rise"..........


"Up"........


"Up"..........


...and "Away"!


The "last word" of my Post goes to Coast Guard 306, as she "violates" the windsock......


WOP! WOP! WOP! WOP! WOP! "Adios"!

***BONUS MATERIAL!***

Check out a Post I did on McBeth Point previously, one of the locations Coast Guard 306 was flying to.

HERE IS - "Mystical, Mysterious, Magical; McBeth Pt"!

This afternoon as I finished hauling the day's "moose hunters" out to "the bush", I headed back to Base at 75' AGL. I love seeing the ground up close, rivers, creeks, moose, swamps, birds, old Trapper Cabins, etc.. The higher you fly, the less you see. Anyways, the "fermented oatmeal" in my "skull" always "burbles" as I fly along, enjoying the scenery "up close", and I remembered an incident from what I figured was the early 1990s that had "stuck in my brain". I always wondered what became of "that Otter". So, tonight, I checked with Karl.................

All information is from Karl Hayes' "masterful" CD entitled:

De Havilland Canada
DHC-3 OTTER
A HISTORY

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Otter 326

Otter 326 was delivered to the United States Army on 29th April 1959 with serial 58-1710 (tail number 81710). It was assigned to the 18th Aviation Company, Fort Riley, Kansas and deployed to Vietnam with the Company during January 1962. It continued to fly for the 18th Aviation Company until May 1966 when it was returned to the United States for depot level overhaul at the ARADMAC Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas. On completion of this work in July '66, the Otter returned to Vietnam, joining the 2nd Signal Group based at Tan Son Nhut. It flew for the Headquarters Company, 1st Signal Brigade. The Brigade had an aviation detachment which operated eight UH-1 Huey helicopters, four Beavers and, in 1966, two Otters 81710 and 92225, which were used to transport troops and their equipment. 81710 was named 'Handy Capp' and 92225 the 'Red Baron'.

An incident involving 81710 was recorded in October 1966, in the course of a mission flown out of Tan Son Nhut over the southern part of the country. As Terry Love recalls: “As we were returning, we started to lose power. It soon became evident that we would not make it all the way back to Tan Son Nhut, so we started to look for a place to put it down. As we neared Saigon from the south west, there are not a lot of spots to land an Otter but luckily we found one. It was Phu Tho horse racing track in the Cholon District. It had a beautiful grass infield where we put the Otter down safely. We called our support and they flew out from the heliport at Tan Son Nhut with a repair crew. The problem was oil-fouled spark plugs. They were changed and the Otter was ready to go. It was an interesting take off in waist high grass with the propeller making a wonderful grass mowing machine. Anyway, we made it back to Tan Son Nhut in fine shape”.

81710 continued to fly for the Brigade until June 1968, when it was handed over to the 388th Transportation Company, Vung Tau to be prepared for shipment home. It arrived at the Sharpe Army Depot, Stockton, California in December 1968 and was in store there until deleted from the inventory in June '69 and put up for disposal as military surplus. It was imported into Canada in July 1971 and first registered in the name of E.C.Braithwaite & Son Ltd of Campbell River, BC, as CF-QRI on 25th April 1972 by which stage the Otter had been refurbished and converted to a civilian aircraft. On the same day it was registered to Trans Mountain Air Services Ltd of Campbell River and entered service with that company, based at Campbell River on Vancouver Island. This was a forest industry company which used the Otter, two Beavers and some single Cessnas to provide transport for its own needs, flying its personnel to lumber camps.

There was a change of name on 3rd August 1976 to Gulf Air Services Ltd, at which stage the company commenced commercial services for the public, and then another name change to Gulf Air Aviation Ltd on 18th January 1979. All the while the Otter was serving the Pacific Coast from its Campbell River base. It flew for Alert Bay Air Services during the summer of 1978, a company which Gulf Air had taken over that year, and then back to Gulf Air Aviation Ltd, which became part of Air BC Ltd, to whom the Otter was registered as C-FQRI on 9th December 1980. The Otter was badly damaged when a fire erupted as it started up at Port Hardy on 22nd January 1982. At that stage, the Otter was still painted in Gulf Air colours. The wings were taken off and it was trucked to Kimba Air Services at Calgary for repair. It emerged from the Kimba hangar in Calgary during May 1982, looking pristine in full Air BC colour scheme and re-entered service based out of Port Hardy the following month.

QRI continued to fly for Air BC until it was sold to Harbour Air Ltd of Vancouver in March 1985. Air BC titles were removed from the aircraft on 21st March at Vancouver, but the Otter would fly for its new owners in basic Air BC colour scheme until repainted in full Harbour Air scheme some months later. It was registered to Harbour Air in April 1985. An incident was recorded on 26th September 1987 while taking off from Vancouver on floats. Shortly after take off, the engine started running rough and then stopped. A forced landing was carried out, but there was no damage and the Otter was soon in service again.

The Otter continued flying for Harbour Air until an accident on 8th May 1991 at Cameron Lake, near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. To quote from the accident report: “The pilot of the single Otter with ten passengers on board was on a VFR flight from Vancouver to Tofino. He made several attempts to proceed west across Vancouver Island via preferred VFR routes. However, low ceilings prevented him from continuing westbound through the mountain passes. The flight was continued south toward Cameron Lake between two mountains. However, due to wind conditions and terrain proximity, the pilot decided to turn around. He entered a steep downwind left turn nearing the completion of which the aircraft settled into the trees. Except for the wings, which separated on contact with the trees, the aircraft remained largely intact. Four passengers were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged.”

The Otter was on charter to a film company from Los Angeles, and was carrying a film crew to Tofino for the day, to scout locations for a movie to be called, somewhat aptly, “Season of Fear”. According to a newspaper report: “The plane narrowly missed several tall tree snags and slid sideways along the mountain, shearing off its wings and tail, before coming to a precarious rest on the side of a fifty degree slope, at the 427 metre level of the mountainside”. As luck would have it, a 442 (Rescue) Squadron Labrador helicopter was in the area on a training detail from its base at Comox. It picked up the ELT signal from the downed Otter, and the occupants of the Otter were rescued within twenty minutes of the crash, much to their amazement. Due to their injuries, five of the survivors were airlifted from the site by stretcher and then taken to hospital in Comox. The Labrador then returned to the site, and managed to land on a flat part of the mountain five minutes walk from the crash site. The other six survivors managed to walk to the landing site and were also taken by the Labrador to Comox.

That accident brought to an end nearly twenty years service for QRI along the Pacific Coast. The wreck was taken first to Harbour Air's Vancouver base, and subsequently to Kenmore Air Harbor, Seattle, where it was noted in March 1993. It was purchased from the insurers by James B. Hayton and was trucked to his facility at Sedro Woolley, Washington, to the north of Seattle. The registration C-FQRI was cancelled on 22nd April 1993 “on export to the United States”. Mr Hayton's company, North Sound Aviation Inc, repairs and rebuilds DHC aircraft and the wrecked Otter was dumped in the long grass beside his hangar, alongside many more wrecked Beavers and Otters, awaiting eventual rebuild. It was still there ten years later.

- by Karl E. Hayes
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"Yup", that is the Otter incident I remembered. I wonder if she will ever "return to the skies........?"

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes

OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #25" in our "cockpit series", which will be a continuing "brain-strainer".

This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................


- photo by Michiel Harmsen

***MYSTERY SOLVED!***

Yes, she is the Lockheed C-121 "Super Constellation"! Love that "dolphin" fuselage! I will give this one to Lance, and he wins the "sailboat fuel"!


-photo by Michiel Harmsen

***CHECK OUT - More Outstanding Photos From Michiel Harmsen! "Airport Days Hamburg 2007"

I love "Red Bull"! No, not the drink, I have never even tried it! I mean "Red Bull Air Racing", Peter Besenyei's "magical idea"! Watch all the "air racers" as they begin their routine in Portugal, 2007!

VIDEO - "Red Bull"!

LINK - Red Bull Air Race 2007!

Today as I was hauling "fuel" I was thinking about "Otters I know" with "high time". Yes, there are Otters with "25,000 hrs. plus". The Otter I fly, C-FUKN, S/N 456, "born" in 1966, is pushing 16,000 hrs.. "Mid-life", I figure. Then I thought about Otters that had "expired" in "infancy". A tragic happening, usually. Here is one that left "way before her time", along with some "fine men that were serving their country".

All information is from Karl Hayes' "masterful" CD entitled:

De Havilland Canada
DHC-3 OTTER
A HISTORY

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Otter 304

Otter 304 was delivered to the United States Army on 10th December 1958 with serial 58-1693 (tail number 81693). It was assigned to the 17th Aviation Company, Fort Ord, California. It was delivered from Downsview to the Sharpe Army Depot, Stockton, California before continuing on to Fort Ord and entering service with the 17th Aviation Company.

On Friday 30th September 1960, the Otter was flying from Fort Ord to Crissy AAF, San Francisco. On board were Major General Carl F. Fritzsche, the Commanding Officer of Fort Ord, his deputy Brigadier General Thomas Hayes, an aide, the two pilots and a crew chief. The two generals had official business at Sixth Army Headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco, after which they were to attend the Army-California football game the next day.

At 3.20pm the Otter was flying over the town of Orinda, some eight miles from Oakland, apparently lost in the heavy fog which blanketed the region. It struck a water tank on 1,300 foot high Grizzly Peak in the hills overlooking Orinda Valley, then slammed into a field belonging to the East Bay Municipal Utilities District, where it exploded before skidding up a slope. The resulting fire burned twenty acres of grassy field on the edge of an exclusive residential district of ranch-type homes, before it was brought under control by firemen. Sadly, all on board perished in the crash and the Otter was completely destroyed.

Interestingly, the cockpit door, which survived the impact, bore a major general's two stars, and the aircraft was described in newspaper reports of the accident as a “plush version of the Otter”, indicating that this U-1A was in use as a VIP transport. The Army Airfield at Fort Ord was subsequently named Fritzsche AAF in the General's honour.

- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Damn", tragic "end" for all!

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes

My buddy Doug "McLeod" Burton has recently accepted a job in Phuket, Thailand, flying an amphib Caravan. He leaves today, and heads on a new adventure. Doug has been flying Northway's amphib Caravan, NWG. I have known Doug for about 15 years, and his "aviation" skills are second to none. He started flying a C-180 on floats, then the Beaver, flew Islanders, Navajos, Pilatus PC-12s, and handled them all like he owned them. I remember a good story from years back, when I was doing his "initial" company training on Navajo C-FBKK. We were over frozen Lake Winnipeg, at a decent altitude, near Hecla Island. I was making Doug do a climbing, power-on stall in a turn, with the gear and flaps "hanging". We hit the "buffet", entered the stall, and old BKK just about went inverted. As we looked "up" at Lake Winnipeg, Doug recovered the aircraft. As he pulled her back to level, right side up, and cleaned her up, we looked at each other and started laughing. Doug stated: "Can you imagine if that happened in IMC?" Then , in "unison", we both relaxed our "sphincter muscles". Anyways, before he goes, I thought I would let Doug show us how to "tie one on".




Gord Johnston was the customer, and as Doug "tied on" his canoe, Gord told us a story how another local Air Carrier had his canoe "depart" the aircraft after takeoff a number of years back. It ended up on Lake Winnipeg, and was recovered. The canoe sure looked "beat", but I think Gord had "imbibed" the story somewhat. Who knows?






The canoe "butts" against the ladder, and will not move rearward.




"Cinch" rope in place.






Lighting the "stove"......


Taxiing out.......




Doug "slaps" 675 Clydesdales.......


........and is airborne! "Good luck" in Thailand, Doug, show them how to "Thai" one on! (Doug likes to "take on" a "crowd"!)

"Adios"!

Seems like the Alabama Air Force is "no more". "Thankfully"!!

VIDEO - Meet "The Crimson Baron"! (The "Final" Chapter!)

OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #24" in our "cockpit series", which will be a continuing "brain-strainer". She is a "classic", no "junk" here.......

This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................



***MYSTERY SOLVED!***

Yes, she is the Ford 4-AT-E "Tri-Motor". What a "beauty", American engineering. Yes, that is the "parking brake" lever, which is also used on landing and taxiing, and works each brake independently depending on the angle you move the lever to. I have to give the "sailboat fuel" to Carl again!



"Hey", before I go, if I win the lottery, I will be buying this aircraft for my buddy Clive Pearce, due to a transaction we have made recently. I hope I have "flying priviledges" if the "lottery win" ever materialises. Here is some more info on the specific Tri-Motor the cockpit picture came from. Gives me a "Woodie"!

NATIONAL TREASURE - 1929 Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor

"Cheers",

Steve

Seems like they repaired "Ole Red"!

VIDEO - Meet "The Crimson Baron"! (Part 2)

As I was "flogging the bush" today, "wrestling" old UKN through the skies, it struck me I hadn't received an e-mail from Jack Lamb, of "Lambair" fame, lately. You remember Jack, don't you? "Refresh" your memory, here is a "man's story"!

STORY - "Black Ice" Rescue!

Anyways, I have profiled Otters before belonging to Lambair, but I know they had "numerous", so I looked for another one, with a "Lambair" story to tell! Here it is!

All information is from Karl Hayes' "masterful" CD entitled:

De Havilland Canada
DHC-3 OTTER
A HISTORY

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Otter 433

Otter 433 was delivered to the United Nations Organisation (UN) on 18th February 1963 with serial 305. It was one of four delivered to the UN at that time, the other three being 434 (UN serial 306), 436 (UN serial 307) and 437 (UN serial 308). All four were packed into crates at Downsview and shipped to the Congo in Africa, where they arrived at Leopoldville in June 1963. The other three were transported onwards immediately to the Yemen, where they were required for another UN support mission, but 305 was assembled at Leopoldville and entered service with the UN Support Squadron in the Congo. It remained in use until 5th September 1963, when it was withdrawn from the base at Luluabourg and flown back to Leopoldville for transport to the Yemen. It was flown to Aden in the Yemen by USAF C-130 Hercules, and entered service with the RCAF's 134 Air Transport Unit (ATU), which was operating the Otters in the Yemen on behalf of the UN.

The UN support mission in the Yemen continued until December 1963 and the Otters were then ferried to El Arish, Egypt where they were put into storage at 115 ATU, another RCAF UN support flight in connection with the Arab-Israel conflict. As the termination of UN operations in the Congo on 30th June 1964 approached, it was found that an air unit would continue to be required to support the civilian activities of UN agencies in the Congo. It was therefore decided to utilize three Otters, which would remain UN owned but would be operated on behalf of the UN by Transair Sweden under contract. UN Otters 305 and 308 were selected as two of the aircraft, because of their low airframe hours, as well as 302 (159) which at that stage was the only UN Otter left in the Congo, efforts to sell it having failed.

305 and 308 were in storage in El Arish after the Yemen campaign, and were airfreighted to Leopoldville, 305 arriving on 29th March 1964 and 308 on 2nd April '64. 305 was damaged in a rather unfortunate accident the day after its arrival. On 30th March, when the transport aircraft which had flown in the Otter was departing, its propeller blast caused one of the Otter's wings (which had been detached from the aircraft to facilitate being loaded into the transport) to become airborne and land on the other wing, puncturing it in several spots. However, the damage was soon repaired and 305 returned to service, alongside 302 and 308. These three Otters were operated in the Congo by Transair Sweden from 1st July to 30th December 1964 in support of the civilian assistance programme of the UN. However, following the UN troop withdrawal of June 1964, the security situation again deteriorated, with a move towards rebellion yet again. The unfortunate 305 was again damaged when on 10th October 1964 it was shot up by rebel gunfire at Lodja during a ground stop. A Swedish engineer was killed in that incident. 305 was repaired and returned to service.

The contract with Transair was terminated in December 1964 and the three Otters were sold during 1965. 308 was sold in Canada, to where it was shipped for rebuild by Field Aviation in Toronto. The other two, 302 and 305, were purchased by Frank Ferrer of Miami, Florida who was actively dealing in Otters, and returning many of them home to Canada from abroad. The two Otters were registered to a Mr Philip Mann of Miami, an associate of Frank Ferrer's who was involved in the financing, 305 being registered to Mr Mann as N12533 on 15th July 1965 and 302 being registered to him as N12665 on 18th October 1965. A ferry pilot was employed to fly the Otters, one at a time, all the way from the Congo, across to South America and up to Miami. N12533 (formerly UN 305) still bore the bullet holes from its attack at Lodja. Having arrived at Miami, both Otters were put up for sale, N12665 being sold to a Mr Ben Ginter of Prince George, BC and N12533 being sold to Thomas Lamb Airways of The Pas, Manitoba.

Temporary marks CF-CDL (standing for Conrad Delbert Lamb) were issued to the Otter, and a ferry permit for a flight from Miami to The Pas via a customs stop at Winnipeg was issued on 14th April 1966. Greg Lamb describes taking delivery of the Otter: “Ron Davie, our chief engineer, and I went down to Miami to pick CDL up. We had to spend a few days there until the money cleared the banks. While there, Ben Ginter (who was picking up his Otter 159) treated us to a trip to Nassau for the weekend. Our route from Miami was pretty straight to Winnipeg. The only radio we had was a VHF that didn't work and an ADF. We just kept flying until we needed fuel and then looked for a fuel pump. One landing was at a small private strip about 1,500 feet long. It was used by weekend pilots and when we landed I think half the town came to see what came to town. We took on more fuel than they sold in a month. This big, white funny looking airplane with bullet holes in the back door really created a stir. When the tanks were full, we released the brakes, rolled down a rise from the pump, started up again and were off the ground in about 500 feet”.

“Our next stop was in Evansville, Kentucky for fuel and overnight in bad weather. The next day we made only a few miles and had to land again. We spent a day or so around there trying to head north, but the weather was pretty bad. Our next stop was on a small short strip, alongside a strip of water. There were a lot of boats running up and down the lake. It was all enclosed by a high mesh fence where we were met by armed guards and they wouldn't let us out of the airplane. It turned out to be a Mercury outboard test site. They were polite but told us we better go. We found a more friendly place later on for fuel. Our stop in Winnipeg was short. The customs met us and I told them we were simply returning the airplane back into Canada where it was built. All we had was a case of oranges and one of grapefruit and a Lava lamp I had bought in a bar in Miami”.

“We arrived in The Pas after a fun trip, as we had never flown in the USA before. It took up 21 hours flying from Miami to The Pas. The airplane had around 650 hours on it when we picked it up. There were some bullet holes around the rear left hand door and the inside was splattered with blood spots. A Swedish engineer had been shot in the Congo while sitting in the rear seat. Once we had it in The Pas, we installed dual ADFs, single side band HF and dual VHF coms. We flew it to Calgary where Field Aviation painted it and we were ready to go to work. CF-CDL was officially registered to Thomas Lamb Airways on 27th May 1966. It was a real good airplane. I flew it most of its life out of Thompson, Manitoba except for a number of Arctic jobs we did”.

CF-CDL continued in service until it was destroyed in an accident on 14th February 1968. It was taking off that day from Thompson, Manitoba with nine Hydro employees as passengers, en route to Kelsey, Manitoba. A cylinder failed and the engine caught fire. The Otter crashed three miles off the end of Runway 23 at Thompson, fortunately without any injuries, but it was consumed by fire and totally destroyed. The registration CF-CDL was then used on Otter 441, which Lambair acquired from Norway in April 1968.

- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------

From "The Congo", to "Yemen", full of "bullet holes and blood", to The Pas, Manitoba, this Otter contributed to the Otter's "history" and "legend"........

"Great research", Karl!

"Adios"!

CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes

Who says there is no "humour" in aviation? "Hey", it takes "all types"!

VIDEO - Meet "The Crimson Baron"! (aka Cousin Billy Bob von "Ricky" Toffen!)

This past week I had to take UKN for her 100 Hour "Medical". We had a few "Snags", so we decided to use Riverside Aircraft Maintenance's facilities on the Red River, as they were convenient and well-equipped. I landed on the "Red", and tied up. I gazed down-river......




Selkirk Air's Otter CDX wearing her "Babushka", to keep her "Mags" dry. Now for the "dilemma". How do you get a "straight-floated" Otter from the "Red" to the hangar, which is 50' higher? I knew the answer, just as Gary Polinuk showed up with an "old Massey" and "Otter beaching gear"!




Installing the "inboard" beaching gear........


Kelly, one of Northway's Engineers, installs the "tail gear"......


The outboard gear.....


....installed by Gary Polinuk.....


......and locked into place.


We had a "spectator", a Canada Goose with a "bad wheel"......


As we pulled UKN to shore, we got "hung up" because of the wind.


Time for someone to "get wet"....


....but not me.


Harness attached, the Massey "yanked" UKN......


Gary and the Massey....


Up the hill.......


...over the highway.........




....under the Hydro wires......


...and into the "hangar yard".


"Success"!




.....and the "last word" of my "Post" goes to the goose with a "blown mocassin"......


"That's how you do it, "Folks"! Crazy humans"!

"Adios"!

LINK - Riverside Aircraft Maintenance