Sunday, November 30, 2008
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
Hey, the old Otter even made "trans-Atlantic" flights. Alcock, Brown, and Lindbergh would be "proud" of this old Otter! Later on she crashed in "sea ice", survived, but then met a "fiery" end!
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 189
Otter 189 was delivered to the United States Army on 19th December 1956 with serial 55-3321 (tail number 53321). It first served with the 3rd Aviation Company, Fort Riley, Kansas and moved with the unit when it deployed to Germany in July 1957, establishing at Illesheim. The 3rd Aviation Company disbanded in November 1959. 53321 was then assigned to the 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion, Sembach Air Base, Germany where it continued to serve until February 1966. After a few months at the depot at Mannheim, the Otter was assigned to US Logistics Group, Turkey (TUSLOG), Detachment 4, based at Sinop Army Airfield.
Also based at Sinop were a pair of Beech U-8 Seminoles which, together with the Otter, served this remote outpost. Detachment 4's aviation section became known informally as “Esek Airlines” (an esek being a Turkish donkey). The Otter replaced a U-6A Beaver. Initially the Otter was painted in standard Army olive drab and carried the logo “Esek Airlines - Stumblin' Stud” on the engine cowling. Later the Otter was painted in the red/white colour scheme. 53321 took the honour of being the very last active US Army Otter in Europe. The remaining Army Otters, which were all based in Germany, eight of them, were withdrawn from service during 1971 and sold on the civilian market in December 1971. They had all been flown back to Canada during January/March 1972, leaving 53321 still serving in Turkey until May 1972. It passed through Athens Airport, Greece on 7th June 1972 on its ferry flight from Sinop to the Depot at Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, Germany where it was put into storage. It remained on Army charge until December 1972 and was then offered for sale. For a long time, it sat forlornly at Coleman Barracks, parked in the long grass, surrounded by no less than 86 U-6A Beavers which were also awaiting disposal. The Otter was still in the red/white colour scheme and had been 'zapped' with a small TWA Airlines sticker on the tail.
The Otter was sold during 1973 to brokers Joseph V.Massin of Rodenkirchen, Germany and registered to them as N93441. By 15th January 1974 the aircraft was parked at Maastricht airfield in Holland and by 6th May '74 was at Bonn-Hangelar airfield, Cologne, Germany. Massin Aircraft had also purchased eight Otters from the Ghana Air Force, and these eight Otters as well as N93441 were sold to Air Craftsmen Ltd of St.John, New Brunswick, a company which traded in Otters. On 21st May '74 marks C-GLCV were provisionally allocated to the Otter and a ferry permit issued for a flight from Cologne to St.John, New Brunswick. On 17th June '74 C-GLCV flew from Bonn-Hangelar to Biggin Hill airfield, near London. Also arriving at Biggin Hill that day were two of the former Ghana Air Force Otters C-GLCO (420) and C-GLCT 9430), which had flown up from Africa via Gibraltar and Marseille. All three Otters were fitted with ferry tanks for the transatlantic crossing and departed together from Biggin Hill for Prestwick, Scotland on 21st June '74. All three set off for Reyjkavik, Iceland the following day and successfully completed the transatlantic flight to St.John.
C-GLCV underwent a major inspection and conversion to civilian configuration at St.John and flew to Oshawa, Ontario during August 1974 for further work, returning to St.John. On completion of the work, it made a test flight on 12th January '75 and was registered to Air Craftsmen Ltd on 27th January '75. Its total time at that stage was 4,691 hours. The Otter was sold on 5th February '75 to Les Fonds Nordic Ltd of Sept Iles, Quebec, a leasing company, and leased by them to Air Gava Ltee, based at Schefferville, Quebec, to whom it was registered on 27th March '75. For nearly a year, LCV served the bush country of northern Quebec, until it met with an accident on 3rd February 1976. The Otter was flying from Payne Bay to Fort Chimo. Twenty minutes after departure, the weather deteriorated rapidly. The pilot did not turn back, hoping to find better conditions ahead. He continued at 11,000 feet in cloud for several hours. With darkness approaching, he descended until he had visual contact and made an approach to land, through blowing snow and in twilight, on the rough sea ice of Ungava Bay, twenty miles south of Koartac. The whiteout conditions made it impossible to judge altitude and the Otter landed heavily on the rough surface, being substantially damaged in the process. The two on board were rescued two days later by a Survair DC-3.
Temporary repairs were made on site, and a ferry permit issued for a flight on 24th February to St.Jean airfield, Montreal where St.Louis Aviation repaired the Otter, which had suffered damage to the main gear, propeller and engine mount. The Otter was soon back in action, but only a few days later, on 12th March 1976, it was destroyed by a fire at Sept Iles, Quebec on its way back from Montreal to Schefferville. At 0515 hours that morning, the pilot was preparing the Otter for departure from Sept Iles airport. An electrical fire originated in the baggage compartment, where there was a ten gallon fuel drum and a tarpaulin. The smoke was noticed some minutes after the main switch had been selected on and while the pilot was turning the propeller by hand. Unfortunately the fire took hold, and there were no emergency services on duty at the airport at that early hour of the morning. Sadly, Otter C-GLCV was totally consumed by the fire.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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"Tough" environments for the "old girl" from "Day 1", unfortunately which she "didn't survive"..........
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
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 189
Otter 189 was delivered to the United States Army on 19th December 1956 with serial 55-3321 (tail number 53321). It first served with the 3rd Aviation Company, Fort Riley, Kansas and moved with the unit when it deployed to Germany in July 1957, establishing at Illesheim. The 3rd Aviation Company disbanded in November 1959. 53321 was then assigned to the 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion, Sembach Air Base, Germany where it continued to serve until February 1966. After a few months at the depot at Mannheim, the Otter was assigned to US Logistics Group, Turkey (TUSLOG), Detachment 4, based at Sinop Army Airfield.
Also based at Sinop were a pair of Beech U-8 Seminoles which, together with the Otter, served this remote outpost. Detachment 4's aviation section became known informally as “Esek Airlines” (an esek being a Turkish donkey). The Otter replaced a U-6A Beaver. Initially the Otter was painted in standard Army olive drab and carried the logo “Esek Airlines - Stumblin' Stud” on the engine cowling. Later the Otter was painted in the red/white colour scheme. 53321 took the honour of being the very last active US Army Otter in Europe. The remaining Army Otters, which were all based in Germany, eight of them, were withdrawn from service during 1971 and sold on the civilian market in December 1971. They had all been flown back to Canada during January/March 1972, leaving 53321 still serving in Turkey until May 1972. It passed through Athens Airport, Greece on 7th June 1972 on its ferry flight from Sinop to the Depot at Coleman Barracks, Mannheim, Germany where it was put into storage. It remained on Army charge until December 1972 and was then offered for sale. For a long time, it sat forlornly at Coleman Barracks, parked in the long grass, surrounded by no less than 86 U-6A Beavers which were also awaiting disposal. The Otter was still in the red/white colour scheme and had been 'zapped' with a small TWA Airlines sticker on the tail.
The Otter was sold during 1973 to brokers Joseph V.Massin of Rodenkirchen, Germany and registered to them as N93441. By 15th January 1974 the aircraft was parked at Maastricht airfield in Holland and by 6th May '74 was at Bonn-Hangelar airfield, Cologne, Germany. Massin Aircraft had also purchased eight Otters from the Ghana Air Force, and these eight Otters as well as N93441 were sold to Air Craftsmen Ltd of St.John, New Brunswick, a company which traded in Otters. On 21st May '74 marks C-GLCV were provisionally allocated to the Otter and a ferry permit issued for a flight from Cologne to St.John, New Brunswick. On 17th June '74 C-GLCV flew from Bonn-Hangelar to Biggin Hill airfield, near London. Also arriving at Biggin Hill that day were two of the former Ghana Air Force Otters C-GLCO (420) and C-GLCT 9430), which had flown up from Africa via Gibraltar and Marseille. All three Otters were fitted with ferry tanks for the transatlantic crossing and departed together from Biggin Hill for Prestwick, Scotland on 21st June '74. All three set off for Reyjkavik, Iceland the following day and successfully completed the transatlantic flight to St.John.
C-GLCV underwent a major inspection and conversion to civilian configuration at St.John and flew to Oshawa, Ontario during August 1974 for further work, returning to St.John. On completion of the work, it made a test flight on 12th January '75 and was registered to Air Craftsmen Ltd on 27th January '75. Its total time at that stage was 4,691 hours. The Otter was sold on 5th February '75 to Les Fonds Nordic Ltd of Sept Iles, Quebec, a leasing company, and leased by them to Air Gava Ltee, based at Schefferville, Quebec, to whom it was registered on 27th March '75. For nearly a year, LCV served the bush country of northern Quebec, until it met with an accident on 3rd February 1976. The Otter was flying from Payne Bay to Fort Chimo. Twenty minutes after departure, the weather deteriorated rapidly. The pilot did not turn back, hoping to find better conditions ahead. He continued at 11,000 feet in cloud for several hours. With darkness approaching, he descended until he had visual contact and made an approach to land, through blowing snow and in twilight, on the rough sea ice of Ungava Bay, twenty miles south of Koartac. The whiteout conditions made it impossible to judge altitude and the Otter landed heavily on the rough surface, being substantially damaged in the process. The two on board were rescued two days later by a Survair DC-3.
Temporary repairs were made on site, and a ferry permit issued for a flight on 24th February to St.Jean airfield, Montreal where St.Louis Aviation repaired the Otter, which had suffered damage to the main gear, propeller and engine mount. The Otter was soon back in action, but only a few days later, on 12th March 1976, it was destroyed by a fire at Sept Iles, Quebec on its way back from Montreal to Schefferville. At 0515 hours that morning, the pilot was preparing the Otter for departure from Sept Iles airport. An electrical fire originated in the baggage compartment, where there was a ten gallon fuel drum and a tarpaulin. The smoke was noticed some minutes after the main switch had been selected on and while the pilot was turning the propeller by hand. Unfortunately the fire took hold, and there were no emergency services on duty at the airport at that early hour of the morning. Sadly, Otter C-GLCV was totally consumed by the fire.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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"Tough" environments for the "old girl" from "Day 1", unfortunately which she "didn't survive"..........
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #83" in our "cockpit series", which will be a continuing "brain-strainer".
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Messerschmitt Me 262 "Schwalbe" (Swallow)! The German pilots called the aircraft "Sturmvogel" (Stormbird)! Lance wins the "sailboat fuel"!
(*EXTRA!* Please take time to read the petition below, sign if you like, forward the URL, and thanks for your time!)
SEND - Reggie "The Rifle" Leach to "The Hall"!
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Messerschmitt Me 262 "Schwalbe" (Swallow)! The German pilots called the aircraft "Sturmvogel" (Stormbird)! Lance wins the "sailboat fuel"!
(*EXTRA!* Please take time to read the petition below, sign if you like, forward the URL, and thanks for your time!)
SEND - Reggie "The Rifle" Leach to "The Hall"!
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
THE VIRGIN
Lambair will always hold the #1 spot in the Manitoba aviation "Hall of Fame", in my eyes. The Lambair story is spell-binding, and a "blueprint" of hard work and "real" men. Anyways, they operated 13 Otters during their days, but they only bought one that was new, straight from de Havilland. Here is the story of Lambair's only "virgin" Otter...........
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 446
Otter 446 was delivered to Thomas Lamb Airways Ltd of The Pas, Manitoba on 29th May 1964, registered CF-DCL. This company, later re-named Lambair, was a major user of the Otter, with no less than thirteen Otters registered to it over the years, but number 446 was the only Otter it purchased new from DHC, all its other acquisitions being pre-owned. This was a family business run by Thomas Lamb and his children. DCL stood for Douglas Carl Lamb. CF-DCL was fitted with amphibious floats, and was acquired to support an initial one year contract for the Department of Northern Affairs, based out of Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island in the Northwest Territories.
As Jack Lamb, one of the sons of Thomas Lamb, later wrote: “These floats cost $25,000, which was a quarter of the price of the brand new Otter they were fitted to. Due to the high cost of the floats, we filed a separate tariff of $205 per hour to help recoup this extra cost. In July 1964 I had to fly to Ottawa, spending two days explaining to the Rates & Fares Department how I arrived at the amphibious float figure. That fall, after spending the summer servicing all the settlements on Baffin Island, I took the Otter two thousand miles back to home base at The Pas. We used this Otter on local trips but only charged the normal float rate, as the amphibious configured floats were not required. The Air Transport Committee auditor noted that we did a trip with DCL but did not charge the amphibious rate. I wrote back that we had substituted DCL on that trip because there wasn't any other Otter available. They wrote back wanting my assurance by Statutory Declaration that the air was let out of the tires on the amphib floats thereby making sure we would not be able to use the amphib float configuration. This gives a brief idea as to the mind-set of the people who were in charge of Canada's aviation policies in those days”!
The following year, on 17th November 1965, flown by Conrad Lamb, DCL was damaged on take-off from Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories en route to Whale Cove and Churchill. There were five passengers on board and the Otter was on wheel-skis. During the take off run in a strong cross wind, the aircraft turned to the right and struck a runway light post. It then crashed onto the frozen surface of a small lake off the end of the runway and suffered damage to the left undercarriage, left wing and propeller. The airstrip that was being used was 3,800 feet long and 150 feet wide. Runway lights at the side of the runway were attached to metal pipes embedded in the ground which rose to a height of four feet. When the tail wheel left the ground, the Otter turned sixty degrees to the right into the strong crosswind. The pilot reported that when he observed a runway light in his path, he was committed to continue the take off and applied full power and additional flap to climb over the light. The tail gear struck the light, which ripped the gear from the aircraft. The Otter began to stall, swung into the wind and the left wheel struck the ground, which caused it to collapse. The accident report concluded that the pilot had “attempted to take off in unsuitable conditions”. Damage was not that extensive and company Otter CF-MEL (222) flew up from The Pas with a repair party.
DCL continued in service with the company, which was re-named Lambair in December 1968. In May 1969 the Otter went on lease to Norcanair for some months, returning to Lambair after the summer. It suffered another accident at Grace Lake, The Pas, Manitoba on 12th July 1970. The Otter, with nine passengers on board and two hundred pounds of baggage, had just taken off en route to Norway House. It started to settle and came down in dense willows on the shore of the lake, fortunately without injury to anyone on board. On 16th July '70, after temporary repairs at the site, it was ferried via Saskatoon to Calgary for repair by Field Aviation. It then returned to Lambair and continued flying for them until sold to Athabasca Airways Ltd, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan by Bill of Sale dated 28th December 1974.
The Otter was put on floats and went to work in northern Saskatchewan. It continued flying for Athabasca Airways until destroyed in an accident on take off from Emma Lake, Saskatchewan on 1st June 1976 on a flight to Patuanak. Prior to the flight, the Otter was loaded with four passengers and their baggage, boxes of canned goods, fresh meat, tool kits, plus four steel road-grader blade components, each eight feet in length. The pilot checked the weight and balance by “guesstimating” the weight and ensuring the floats “looked good”. On the first take off attempt the aircraft failed to get airborne. On the second attempt, the aircraft managed to get airborne, however, insufficient distance remained to the shore line and the take off was aborted. “Being persistent, and oblivious to the obvious” as the Accident Report puts it, the pilot taxied back into a small inlet to gain more room. On his third and final take off attempt, the aircraft got airborne but unable to climb, it crashed into the trees on the far shore and burned. One passenger subsequently died from severe burns. The pilot and the other three passengers were seriously injured. The Otter was destroyed.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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What a story! Can you believe the " 'Air Transport Committee wanting a Statutory Declaration that the air was let out of the tires on the amphib floats thereby making sure we would not be able to use the amphib float configuration.....?' " Yes, our tax dollars at work! Canada's "regulators" in the aviation industry have always been "adversarial", too bad, surmising "what could have been"...........
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Lambair will always hold the #1 spot in the Manitoba aviation "Hall of Fame", in my eyes. The Lambair story is spell-binding, and a "blueprint" of hard work and "real" men. Anyways, they operated 13 Otters during their days, but they only bought one that was new, straight from de Havilland. Here is the story of Lambair's only "virgin" Otter...........
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 446
Otter 446 was delivered to Thomas Lamb Airways Ltd of The Pas, Manitoba on 29th May 1964, registered CF-DCL. This company, later re-named Lambair, was a major user of the Otter, with no less than thirteen Otters registered to it over the years, but number 446 was the only Otter it purchased new from DHC, all its other acquisitions being pre-owned. This was a family business run by Thomas Lamb and his children. DCL stood for Douglas Carl Lamb. CF-DCL was fitted with amphibious floats, and was acquired to support an initial one year contract for the Department of Northern Affairs, based out of Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island in the Northwest Territories.
As Jack Lamb, one of the sons of Thomas Lamb, later wrote: “These floats cost $25,000, which was a quarter of the price of the brand new Otter they were fitted to. Due to the high cost of the floats, we filed a separate tariff of $205 per hour to help recoup this extra cost. In July 1964 I had to fly to Ottawa, spending two days explaining to the Rates & Fares Department how I arrived at the amphibious float figure. That fall, after spending the summer servicing all the settlements on Baffin Island, I took the Otter two thousand miles back to home base at The Pas. We used this Otter on local trips but only charged the normal float rate, as the amphibious configured floats were not required. The Air Transport Committee auditor noted that we did a trip with DCL but did not charge the amphibious rate. I wrote back that we had substituted DCL on that trip because there wasn't any other Otter available. They wrote back wanting my assurance by Statutory Declaration that the air was let out of the tires on the amphib floats thereby making sure we would not be able to use the amphib float configuration. This gives a brief idea as to the mind-set of the people who were in charge of Canada's aviation policies in those days”!
The following year, on 17th November 1965, flown by Conrad Lamb, DCL was damaged on take-off from Rankin Inlet, Northwest Territories en route to Whale Cove and Churchill. There were five passengers on board and the Otter was on wheel-skis. During the take off run in a strong cross wind, the aircraft turned to the right and struck a runway light post. It then crashed onto the frozen surface of a small lake off the end of the runway and suffered damage to the left undercarriage, left wing and propeller. The airstrip that was being used was 3,800 feet long and 150 feet wide. Runway lights at the side of the runway were attached to metal pipes embedded in the ground which rose to a height of four feet. When the tail wheel left the ground, the Otter turned sixty degrees to the right into the strong crosswind. The pilot reported that when he observed a runway light in his path, he was committed to continue the take off and applied full power and additional flap to climb over the light. The tail gear struck the light, which ripped the gear from the aircraft. The Otter began to stall, swung into the wind and the left wheel struck the ground, which caused it to collapse. The accident report concluded that the pilot had “attempted to take off in unsuitable conditions”. Damage was not that extensive and company Otter CF-MEL (222) flew up from The Pas with a repair party.
DCL continued in service with the company, which was re-named Lambair in December 1968. In May 1969 the Otter went on lease to Norcanair for some months, returning to Lambair after the summer. It suffered another accident at Grace Lake, The Pas, Manitoba on 12th July 1970. The Otter, with nine passengers on board and two hundred pounds of baggage, had just taken off en route to Norway House. It started to settle and came down in dense willows on the shore of the lake, fortunately without injury to anyone on board. On 16th July '70, after temporary repairs at the site, it was ferried via Saskatoon to Calgary for repair by Field Aviation. It then returned to Lambair and continued flying for them until sold to Athabasca Airways Ltd, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan by Bill of Sale dated 28th December 1974.
The Otter was put on floats and went to work in northern Saskatchewan. It continued flying for Athabasca Airways until destroyed in an accident on take off from Emma Lake, Saskatchewan on 1st June 1976 on a flight to Patuanak. Prior to the flight, the Otter was loaded with four passengers and their baggage, boxes of canned goods, fresh meat, tool kits, plus four steel road-grader blade components, each eight feet in length. The pilot checked the weight and balance by “guesstimating” the weight and ensuring the floats “looked good”. On the first take off attempt the aircraft failed to get airborne. On the second attempt, the aircraft managed to get airborne, however, insufficient distance remained to the shore line and the take off was aborted. “Being persistent, and oblivious to the obvious” as the Accident Report puts it, the pilot taxied back into a small inlet to gain more room. On his third and final take off attempt, the aircraft got airborne but unable to climb, it crashed into the trees on the far shore and burned. One passenger subsequently died from severe burns. The pilot and the other three passengers were seriously injured. The Otter was destroyed.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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What a story! Can you believe the " 'Air Transport Committee wanting a Statutory Declaration that the air was let out of the tires on the amphib floats thereby making sure we would not be able to use the amphib float configuration.....?' " Yes, our tax dollars at work! Canada's "regulators" in the aviation industry have always been "adversarial", too bad, surmising "what could have been"...........
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Thursday, November 20, 2008
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #83" in our "cockpit series", which will be a continuing "brain-strainer".
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY UNSOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Avro "Anson"! The "sailboat fuel" doubles for next week!
Oh, the Crane may fly much faster
Inside she may be neat,
But to me the draughty Anson
Is very hard to beat.
Her plywood may be warping,
Her window glass may crack,
But when you start out in an Anson.
You know that you'll come back.
-Andy, No. 7 SFTS (Fort Macleod) 1943
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY UNSOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Avro "Anson"! The "sailboat fuel" doubles for next week!
Oh, the Crane may fly much faster
Inside she may be neat,
But to me the draughty Anson
Is very hard to beat.
Her plywood may be warping,
Her window glass may crack,
But when you start out in an Anson.
You know that you'll come back.
-Andy, No. 7 SFTS (Fort Macleod) 1943
Monday, November 17, 2008
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
Recently I had a request to detail the history of one specific Otter. Here is the comment that was left on my Blog.........
Hey Steve,
please pick C-GYKO (River Air's Otter) as your "Otter of the Week". I'd love to know about her history.
Bruce
Mtka. MN
-----------------------
Good choice, Bruce, as I personally have met this Otter a number of times just this past year. I always knew she had a fine "pedigree", but who would have known that "she" could be mentioned in the same "breath" as Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, George S. Patton, Omar Bradley, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, and Norman Schwarzkopf? Yes, this Otter served honourably at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for 15 years, making a valued contribution to "The Long Gray Line"!
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 287
Otter 287 was delivered to the United States Army on 17th October 1958 with serial 58-1682 (tail number 81682). The Otter was allocated to the US Army Military Academy at West Point, New York, where it was to spend the entire of its military career. It was delivered from Downsview directly to West Point. The Otter was operated by the 2nd Aviation Detachment, which also had a UH-1A Huey helicopter, Cessna 0-1 and a Beech U-8D and a U-8F Seminole on strength. All these aircraft were based at Stewart AFB in upstate New York, but operated for the nearby Academy. At Stewart, the Detachment had taken over an old Air Force alert hangar, where they housed the Otter and other aircraft. The mission of the Detachment was the support of training of the West Point cadets, and for this purpose the Otter flew demonstration flights and parachute drops and flew freight. 81682 was in standard Army olive drab scheme, but sported the Academy crest on the tail.
The Otter continued in service until April 1973, before commencing the long cross-country flight to Tucson, Arizona where it entered the storage compounds of the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Centre (MASDC) at Davis-Monthan AFB on 10th June 1973, being allocated inventory code UA005. It was the fifth and last Army Otter to be stored there and its period of retirement in the Sonora Desert was less than a year. It left on 11th April 1974, having been allocated to the University of Tennessee Space Institute at Tullahoma, Tennessee to whom it was registered N22UT in April 1974. The Otter was substantially damaged in a crash at the Franklin County Airport, Winchester, Tennessee on 17th March 1975. In the course of a short field take off, during the initial climb in a left turn, the left wing dropped, the aircraft stalled and crashed back to the ground. The pilot, the only occupant, was seriously injured. That ended the Otter's career with the University of Tennessee, although they did obtain a replacement Otter, N2750 (261).
The Otter was purchased by Ontario Central Airlines of Winnipeg, Manitoba who brought the wreck to Winnipeg and rebuilt it. On 24th January 1977 a temporary Certificate of Registration as C-GYKO was issued, and a permit to test fly. Formal registration to Ontario Central Airlines was on 28th June 1977 and C-GYKO entered service, based at Gimli, Manitoba. Over the years that followed, YKO has been operated by quite a number of Canadian bush carriers. It was registered to Central Air Transport Ltd of Sioux Lookout, Ontario in 1980; Gold Belt Air Transport Ltd of Sioux Lookout in April 1987; Ashuanipi Aviation Ltd of Labrador City - Little Wabush Lake in December 1988 and Alexandair Inc of Sept Iles, Quebec in August 1990. On 5th October 1990, while flown by Alexandair, during climb out, at an altitude of two hundred feet, a loss of engine power was experienced. A forced landing was made in an alder grove one mile west of Lac Sale, Quebec. The damage was repaired. It was again registered to Ashuanipi Aviation Ltd in February 1993 and to Walsten Aircraft Parts & Leasing Inc, trading as Mandair, of Kenora, Ontario in September 1994. In June 1996 it was sold to River Air Ltd of Pistol Lake, Minaki, Ontario.
As its website proclaims: “Based in Minaki, just fifteen air miles south of the English River, is River Air, the charter service owned and operated by George and Gene Halley. Their red and white planes provide a scenic transport to whichever fly-in camp you are going to. Once there you may wish to arrange a daily fly-out fishing trip for Lake Trout, Muskie or Smallmouth Bass or to one of the more than thirty outlying lakes where we have cached boats and motors”. During 2002, the Otter flew down to Salina, Texas where it was converted to turbine power with a Garrett TPE-331 engine, becoming the fourth Texas Turbine conversion. Flown by George Halley, the return routing from Salina was via Sioux Falls, South Dakota-Mount Video, Minnesota-International Falls, Minnesota-Minaki, where it re-entered service with River Air.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 287
January 1st, 2008. C-GYKO. River Air, Minaki, Ontario. Texas Turbine.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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- 81682 of the US Army Military Academy, West Point (its unit crest is on the tail) in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona April 1973. Inventory Code UA005 is carried -photo by Arnold Booy
- C-GYKO of River Air with the Texas Turbine engine conversion at Minaki, Ontario May 2004 -photo by Karl Hayes
-photo by Steve Taylor, 10/08/08
Yes, she sure is one "proud soldier".......
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Hey Steve,
please pick C-GYKO (River Air's Otter) as your "Otter of the Week". I'd love to know about her history.
Bruce
Mtka. MN
-----------------------
Good choice, Bruce, as I personally have met this Otter a number of times just this past year. I always knew she had a fine "pedigree", but who would have known that "she" could be mentioned in the same "breath" as Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, George S. Patton, Omar Bradley, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower, and Norman Schwarzkopf? Yes, this Otter served honourably at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point for 15 years, making a valued contribution to "The Long Gray Line"!
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 287
Otter 287 was delivered to the United States Army on 17th October 1958 with serial 58-1682 (tail number 81682). The Otter was allocated to the US Army Military Academy at West Point, New York, where it was to spend the entire of its military career. It was delivered from Downsview directly to West Point. The Otter was operated by the 2nd Aviation Detachment, which also had a UH-1A Huey helicopter, Cessna 0-1 and a Beech U-8D and a U-8F Seminole on strength. All these aircraft were based at Stewart AFB in upstate New York, but operated for the nearby Academy. At Stewart, the Detachment had taken over an old Air Force alert hangar, where they housed the Otter and other aircraft. The mission of the Detachment was the support of training of the West Point cadets, and for this purpose the Otter flew demonstration flights and parachute drops and flew freight. 81682 was in standard Army olive drab scheme, but sported the Academy crest on the tail.
The Otter continued in service until April 1973, before commencing the long cross-country flight to Tucson, Arizona where it entered the storage compounds of the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Centre (MASDC) at Davis-Monthan AFB on 10th June 1973, being allocated inventory code UA005. It was the fifth and last Army Otter to be stored there and its period of retirement in the Sonora Desert was less than a year. It left on 11th April 1974, having been allocated to the University of Tennessee Space Institute at Tullahoma, Tennessee to whom it was registered N22UT in April 1974. The Otter was substantially damaged in a crash at the Franklin County Airport, Winchester, Tennessee on 17th March 1975. In the course of a short field take off, during the initial climb in a left turn, the left wing dropped, the aircraft stalled and crashed back to the ground. The pilot, the only occupant, was seriously injured. That ended the Otter's career with the University of Tennessee, although they did obtain a replacement Otter, N2750 (261).
The Otter was purchased by Ontario Central Airlines of Winnipeg, Manitoba who brought the wreck to Winnipeg and rebuilt it. On 24th January 1977 a temporary Certificate of Registration as C-GYKO was issued, and a permit to test fly. Formal registration to Ontario Central Airlines was on 28th June 1977 and C-GYKO entered service, based at Gimli, Manitoba. Over the years that followed, YKO has been operated by quite a number of Canadian bush carriers. It was registered to Central Air Transport Ltd of Sioux Lookout, Ontario in 1980; Gold Belt Air Transport Ltd of Sioux Lookout in April 1987; Ashuanipi Aviation Ltd of Labrador City - Little Wabush Lake in December 1988 and Alexandair Inc of Sept Iles, Quebec in August 1990. On 5th October 1990, while flown by Alexandair, during climb out, at an altitude of two hundred feet, a loss of engine power was experienced. A forced landing was made in an alder grove one mile west of Lac Sale, Quebec. The damage was repaired. It was again registered to Ashuanipi Aviation Ltd in February 1993 and to Walsten Aircraft Parts & Leasing Inc, trading as Mandair, of Kenora, Ontario in September 1994. In June 1996 it was sold to River Air Ltd of Pistol Lake, Minaki, Ontario.
As its website proclaims: “Based in Minaki, just fifteen air miles south of the English River, is River Air, the charter service owned and operated by George and Gene Halley. Their red and white planes provide a scenic transport to whichever fly-in camp you are going to. Once there you may wish to arrange a daily fly-out fishing trip for Lake Trout, Muskie or Smallmouth Bass or to one of the more than thirty outlying lakes where we have cached boats and motors”. During 2002, the Otter flew down to Salina, Texas where it was converted to turbine power with a Garrett TPE-331 engine, becoming the fourth Texas Turbine conversion. Flown by George Halley, the return routing from Salina was via Sioux Falls, South Dakota-Mount Video, Minnesota-International Falls, Minnesota-Minaki, where it re-entered service with River Air.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 287
January 1st, 2008. C-GYKO. River Air, Minaki, Ontario. Texas Turbine.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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- 81682 of the US Army Military Academy, West Point (its unit crest is on the tail) in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona April 1973. Inventory Code UA005 is carried -photo by Arnold Booy
- C-GYKO of River Air with the Texas Turbine engine conversion at Minaki, Ontario May 2004 -photo by Karl Hayes
-photo by Steve Taylor, 10/08/08
Yes, she sure is one "proud soldier".......
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #82" in our "cockpit series", which will be a continuing "brain-strainer".
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY UNSOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Stinson V-77 "Reliant"! Lots of "sailboat fuel" up for grabs next week! "Adios"!
What a "beaut"!
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY UNSOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Stinson V-77 "Reliant"! Lots of "sailboat fuel" up for grabs next week! "Adios"!
What a "beaut"!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
"Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour"......
.....and the guns fell "silent". The "War to End All Wars" was over. Well, history shows us this wasn't the case, unfortunately, as man is such a "faulty being". WWII would follow, Korea, and "our finest" are in "harm's way" again today in Afghanistan. Today I attended the Remembrance Day Ceremony at Camp Morton, along with my son, Cadet Sergeant Shane Taylor, and Korean War Veteran and proud PPCLI soldier Corporal Ernie Fontaine. We all took pause to honour the brave that made the "supreme sacrifice". I would ask that all pause to remember, and be thankful for the greatest asset our fighting men and women passed on to us....."FREEDOM"! I feel I have a great "spiritual kinship" for some reason with the WWII Veterans, alive and departed, even though I arrived 40 years too late to be a member of the Allied "Bomber Command". Anyways, no lengthy "post" today, just join me in listening to a "voice of hope" from a "difficult time", as she kept up the morale of our fighting soldiers and their Allies. Enjoy! Here is.........."VERA LYNN"!
Corporal Fontaine and Sergeant Taylor "remember".............
VIDEO -
Vera Lynn: "White Cliffs Of Dover"
Corporal Fontaine and Sergeant Taylor "remember".............
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
There are many "events" and "moments in time" that an Otter experiences as it builds it's own personal "history", some of which we can "imagine" in our minds, although the accuracy could be "suspect". I am just thankful that the pilots who flew (and fly) the Otters, and others, decided to capture many images in photos of the "grand old girl" as her "legend" grew. Check out the next Otter and photo, "mesmerizing".
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 259
Otter 259 was delivered to the United States Army on 1st May 1958 with serial 57-6123 (tail number 76123). It was one of sixteen Army Otters delivered from Downsview to Addison, Texas for work to be done on them by Collins Radio Corporation. Most of these Otters were then delivered to Europe and by 1959 76123 was attached to the 572nd Engineer Platoon (Topographic Aviation) based at Wheelus Air Base, Tripoli, Libya. By January 1962 it was serving with the Corps of Engineers in Iran. It continued with this unit until April 1967 when it was damaged in an accident. It remained on charge until it was deleted from the inventory in April 1968, having been scrapped.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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Not a "lengthy history", but check out this "moment in time" and accompanying description sent to me be Karl Hayes.
- photo provided by Don Bailey
Subject: Don Bailey getting a shave & haircut from local barber. (Gravity spike camp- Chah-Bahar, Iran) "Redwood" (Otter- 76123) in background. 1967.
FYI:
A local barber would walk about 1 mile (from Chah-Bahar village to the local airport) to give our Gravity spike camp crew (5) a haircut and a shave ...for just a few rials (15-20 cents U.S.). The barber's chair was an empty 20 litre AVGAS can. The barber carried his barber tools and a bottle of water to prepare shaving cream in a small, black satchel similar to one used by a doctor in the U.S.
DB
-----------
Like I said, an "unbelievable moment in time".......
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
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 259
Otter 259 was delivered to the United States Army on 1st May 1958 with serial 57-6123 (tail number 76123). It was one of sixteen Army Otters delivered from Downsview to Addison, Texas for work to be done on them by Collins Radio Corporation. Most of these Otters were then delivered to Europe and by 1959 76123 was attached to the 572nd Engineer Platoon (Topographic Aviation) based at Wheelus Air Base, Tripoli, Libya. By January 1962 it was serving with the Corps of Engineers in Iran. It continued with this unit until April 1967 when it was damaged in an accident. It remained on charge until it was deleted from the inventory in April 1968, having been scrapped.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Not a "lengthy history", but check out this "moment in time" and accompanying description sent to me be Karl Hayes.
- photo provided by Don Bailey
Subject: Don Bailey getting a shave & haircut from local barber. (Gravity spike camp- Chah-Bahar, Iran) "Redwood" (Otter- 76123) in background. 1967.
FYI:
A local barber would walk about 1 mile (from Chah-Bahar village to the local airport) to give our Gravity spike camp crew (5) a haircut and a shave ...for just a few rials (15-20 cents U.S.). The barber's chair was an empty 20 litre AVGAS can. The barber carried his barber tools and a bottle of water to prepare shaving cream in a small, black satchel similar to one used by a doctor in the U.S.
DB
-----------
Like I said, an "unbelievable moment in time".......
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #81" in our "cockpit series", which will be a continuing "brain-strainer".
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Ryan "NYP" monoplane, the "Spirit of St. Louis", that Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic! "Anonymous" wins the "sailboat fuel"! Not much forward "vis", Bruce, but it had a periscope! Unreal! "Adios"!
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Ryan "NYP" monoplane, the "Spirit of St. Louis", that Lindbergh flew solo across the Atlantic! "Anonymous" wins the "sailboat fuel"! Not much forward "vis", Bruce, but it had a periscope! Unreal! "Adios"!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
"Ghosts" Of Herod Lake!
The "day in pics" shown below would be our last day at Herod Lake, which we had used as our "Base of Operations" as we shut down Nestor Falls Fly-In Outposts's fishing camps, 2008. As with all the other lakes, McGyver and I volunteered to go "secure" the "portage boats" at the "portage lakes" for the winter. The day was very pleasant, and we headed out right after breakfast. We had two different portages to go to.
We pull away from shore, noticing Dave and Buster beginning the last tasks to secure the cabin at Herod.
Our "float base"!
McGyver and I quickly made the first portage lake, hiked through the bush, and pulled up the boat. The outboard had been returned to the camp earlier by a group of fishermen. Returning to our boat, we decided to navigate up a creek that connects the portage lake to Herod Lake, as we had heard there were "Native Pictographs" on some of the vertical rock shorelines on the portage lake. The paintings were done with a "red ochre-based" paint the Natives invented and used, which has withstood a thousand years of "seasons" and weather "elements", as the paintings were done between 900 AD and 1200 AD. Unbelievable that today, exterior paint might last 5 years before it starts to "deteriorate". Alas, we made it up the creek to the last beaver dam, but due to time constraints, we never crossed, as we also didn't want to get muddy and wet. Disappointment was present, but we headed back "down-creek" in reverse, as we couldn't turn around.
This "broken" dam was easy to "bypass".
We made it, pulling some debris with us.
Back at Herod Lake. We headed for the next portage!
Here it is, and we hiked through the bush, following a "game trail". I can just imagine this rapids after "Spring break-up" when the water is four feet higher.
We secured the portage boat, and headed back to our camp. On the way back, the wind picked up, and my "spidey-sense" started to tingle. 25 years ago I flew this area on floats and skis as a young "Bush Rat", and I used to bring trappers from Little Grand Rapids into this lake. The trapline belonged to William B. Keeper, and still belongs to his family to this day. Our return "track" to our camp would take us close to the trapper cabins, there were two, where I used to take the trappers, so I told McGyver to "deviate", as I wanted to go spend a few minutes at the old site. I knew the cabins would be "returning to the elements", as after the decline of the fur trade, and packaged foods, Pepsi, electric baseboard heaters, and video games "infiltrated" the Reserves, the "trapping infrastructure" suffered deeply. We made the shoreline where I figured we would be close to the original cabin, tied up our boat, and climbed the hill. It was quite overgrown in spots.
"What's that ahead?"
William B. Keeper's cabin, collapsed. A "tinge" of remorse overwhelmed me.
Part of the old chimney pipe still visible........
The old "meat hanging" rack still holding on.........
Check this out. An old "sleigh" used at "first ice" to pull supplies or animals and furs across the glare ice, obviously very compact, as "first ice" can only take so much weight.
"Seating" for William B. and his family, to enjoy the lake and the evening, as this camp had a "western exposure". I can still picture William sitting there, his long grey hair pulled into a pony tail, wearing a baeball cap, telling me about the legendary "Keeper River gold". We then headed to look for the other cabin, which had been built later than the "collapsed" cabin we just viewed.
"Hey, this one is still standing!"
This one is starting to collapse also.........
"Artifacts.......
...... galore!"
We decided to head back to our camp, as we had more work to do, and would be leaving Herod Lake this day and heading to a camp on Larus Lake, 50 miles to the south, as we had two camps there to clean and close down. As we left, I took one more photo that seems to "sum up" the "trapping culture and heritage" of the Native people today........
It was such a great, traditional lifestyle. So sad.........
"Adios"!
CHECK OUT - Flying Trappers! 20 Plus Years Ago...
We pull away from shore, noticing Dave and Buster beginning the last tasks to secure the cabin at Herod.
Our "float base"!
McGyver and I quickly made the first portage lake, hiked through the bush, and pulled up the boat. The outboard had been returned to the camp earlier by a group of fishermen. Returning to our boat, we decided to navigate up a creek that connects the portage lake to Herod Lake, as we had heard there were "Native Pictographs" on some of the vertical rock shorelines on the portage lake. The paintings were done with a "red ochre-based" paint the Natives invented and used, which has withstood a thousand years of "seasons" and weather "elements", as the paintings were done between 900 AD and 1200 AD. Unbelievable that today, exterior paint might last 5 years before it starts to "deteriorate". Alas, we made it up the creek to the last beaver dam, but due to time constraints, we never crossed, as we also didn't want to get muddy and wet. Disappointment was present, but we headed back "down-creek" in reverse, as we couldn't turn around.
This "broken" dam was easy to "bypass".
We made it, pulling some debris with us.
Back at Herod Lake. We headed for the next portage!
Here it is, and we hiked through the bush, following a "game trail". I can just imagine this rapids after "Spring break-up" when the water is four feet higher.
We secured the portage boat, and headed back to our camp. On the way back, the wind picked up, and my "spidey-sense" started to tingle. 25 years ago I flew this area on floats and skis as a young "Bush Rat", and I used to bring trappers from Little Grand Rapids into this lake. The trapline belonged to William B. Keeper, and still belongs to his family to this day. Our return "track" to our camp would take us close to the trapper cabins, there were two, where I used to take the trappers, so I told McGyver to "deviate", as I wanted to go spend a few minutes at the old site. I knew the cabins would be "returning to the elements", as after the decline of the fur trade, and packaged foods, Pepsi, electric baseboard heaters, and video games "infiltrated" the Reserves, the "trapping infrastructure" suffered deeply. We made the shoreline where I figured we would be close to the original cabin, tied up our boat, and climbed the hill. It was quite overgrown in spots.
"What's that ahead?"
William B. Keeper's cabin, collapsed. A "tinge" of remorse overwhelmed me.
Part of the old chimney pipe still visible........
The old "meat hanging" rack still holding on.........
Check this out. An old "sleigh" used at "first ice" to pull supplies or animals and furs across the glare ice, obviously very compact, as "first ice" can only take so much weight.
"Seating" for William B. and his family, to enjoy the lake and the evening, as this camp had a "western exposure". I can still picture William sitting there, his long grey hair pulled into a pony tail, wearing a baeball cap, telling me about the legendary "Keeper River gold". We then headed to look for the other cabin, which had been built later than the "collapsed" cabin we just viewed.
"Hey, this one is still standing!"
This one is starting to collapse also.........
"Artifacts.......
...... galore!"
We decided to head back to our camp, as we had more work to do, and would be leaving Herod Lake this day and heading to a camp on Larus Lake, 50 miles to the south, as we had two camps there to clean and close down. As we left, I took one more photo that seems to "sum up" the "trapping culture and heritage" of the Native people today........
It was such a great, traditional lifestyle. So sad.........
"Adios"!
CHECK OUT - Flying Trappers! 20 Plus Years Ago...
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
Here is another "proud" Vietnam vet who served honourably and faithfully, even being "shot in the ass", and she even attained a speed of 200 Knots while being piloted by Ira "Supersonic" Stein. She know "lives and works" in Ontario, Canada.
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 172
Otter 172 was delivered to the United States Army on 7th November 1956 with serial 55-3310 (tail number 53310). It first served with the 3rd Aviation Company at Fort Riley, Kansas and moved with the unit when it deployed to Germany in July 1957, establishing at Illesheim. The 3rd Aviation Company disbanded in November 1959 and 53310 was then assigned to the 708th Maintenance Battalion, Germany as a support aircraft, where it served until June 1964, then going into storage awaiting disposal. In February 1966 it arrived at the ARADMAC Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas where it was prepared for service in Vietnam. The following June, having been transported to Vietnam, the Otter entered service with the 18th Aviation Company, based at Pleiku.
The Otter is mentioned in the unit history for June 1966: “Some 140 miles north of Pleiku, CWO Ira Stein was involved in a test flight accident. Ira, hereafter known as “Supersonic Stein” and “The Flash”, in a burst of speed accelerated 53310 to 200 knots. At this speed certain vibrations were experienced which are foreign to Otter type aircraft. Upon landing, an inspection revealed that the overspeed had left all the wire antennas dragging on the ground, popped numerous rivets, severely wrinkled the wings and stabilizers and had completely torn off the elevator servo tab. As a result of the flight the aircraft will require extensive inspection and rebuild. The accident was not chargeable to the 18th in as much as the aircraft had been turned over to the 604th General Support Company and had not been released at the time of the test flight”.
Tom Hull, who was the Crew Chief on “Reliable 310”, has provided some more information: “We took a small arms round through the elevator trim tab, located on the trailing edge of the left elevator. After replacing the trim tab, a functional check flight was required. Ira Stein flew the flight, with me in the right seat, in the local Pleiku area. Prior to the flight, another aviator advised him to put the aircraft into a dive and exceed the VNE (velocity never exceed) speed by 5 to 10%. If the aircraft had no vibration, it was rigged right. This was not in the Army Technical Manual. As a result, the trim tab and approximately one third of the elevator were torn off and we landed back at Pleiku with no further incident. The aircraft was grounded and the overhaul facility from Thailand (44th Engineer Group) sent a team over to replace the elevator assembly and do a dye penetration check on the wing attachment bolts and fittings for stress cracks. None were found. I think Mr Stein got a letter of reprimand. I got to remove and replace about a million screws without the benefit of an electric screwdriver”.
53310 re-joined the 18th Aviation Company after the repairs were completed. Tom Hull recalls one other incident with the Otter, on a rainy night on a return flight home from Saigon.” The magnetic chip detector light came on and oil pressure went up ten degrees. The flight-following radar knew we were just south of Phan Thiet, about 40 miles south of Nha Trang but could not determine if we were over water or land. It was raining so hard we had turned off the red rotating beacon because of vertigo and couldn't see anything. The problem was there were mountains that came near the coast at an elevation of 6,500 feet. We put on our parachutes and swung way east and hoped for the best. It was the only time I ever considered jumping, but we managed to land safely.”
The Otter continued to fly for the 18th Aviation Company until November 1968, when it was assigned to the 2nd Signal Group (HHC, 1st Signal Brigade) at Tan Son Nhut. It went to the 56th Transportation Company for overhaul in March '69, re-joining the HHC, 1st Signal Brigade the following month. It continued to serve until September 1969 when it went to the 142nd Transportation Company, Da Nang to be prepared to be shipped home. It arrived at the Sharpe Army Depot, Stockton, California in December 1969, where it remained in storage for some time, before being put up for disposal.
The Otter was purchased by Air Craftsmen Ltd of St.John, New Brunswick, a company heavily involved in the acquisition of ex military Otters. A temporary Certificate of Registration as C-GLCW and Flight Permit was issued on 29th May 1974 to Air Craftsmen Ltd for the importation of the aircraft to Canada. Having been refurbished and civilianised at St.John, it was registered C-GLCW and sold to Ontario Northern Airways Ltd of Jellicoe, Ontario to whom it was registered on 30th July 1974. It flew for them until sold to Leuenberger Air Service Ltd of Nakina, Ontario in August 1976. This operator flies fishermen to remote outpost camps during the summer months, its Otters usually stored at Geraldton Airport, Ontario during the winter.
C-GLCW met with an accident at Geraldton, where it had been stored for 33 days, on 2nd December 1988. The pilot took off from runway 26 at Geraldton for a VFR flight to Nakina, the Otter's base. At approximately 75 feet above the ground, the engine lost all power. The pilot made a forced landing onto the remaining runway and the Otter touched down with high vertical speed, in a right wing-low attitude and rolled to a stop. The right main landing gear attachment fitting and bulkhead were damaged. The engine had lost power due to water contamination in the fuel. The damage was repaired.
The Otter met with a similar incident at Nakina on 8th June 1991. Shortly after take-off, the engine lost power. The pilot turned the boost pump on and the engine re started but the Otter landed heavily resulting in damage to the float struts and fuselage fittings. The damage was repaired and C-GLCW was converted to a Vazar turbine Otter by Recon Air, Geraldton. It continued to fly for Leuenberger Air Service alongside Otters C-GLCS (428) and C-FSOX (437) during the summer months, flying on behalf of Leuenberger Fly-In Lodge & Wilderness outposts -- “As all our cottages are accessible by air only, one of our Turbo De Havilland aircraft will fly you and your party into the finest Walleye and Northern Pike fishing in unspoiled wilderness you can experience in Northern Ontario”.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 172
January 1st, 2008. C-GLCW. Leuenberger Air Service, Nakina, Ontario. Vazar.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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I actually met this "proud Veteran" this year in early May, a "fine female", the second photo below is mine.
- photo by ?
- photo by Steve Taylor
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
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 172
Otter 172 was delivered to the United States Army on 7th November 1956 with serial 55-3310 (tail number 53310). It first served with the 3rd Aviation Company at Fort Riley, Kansas and moved with the unit when it deployed to Germany in July 1957, establishing at Illesheim. The 3rd Aviation Company disbanded in November 1959 and 53310 was then assigned to the 708th Maintenance Battalion, Germany as a support aircraft, where it served until June 1964, then going into storage awaiting disposal. In February 1966 it arrived at the ARADMAC Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas where it was prepared for service in Vietnam. The following June, having been transported to Vietnam, the Otter entered service with the 18th Aviation Company, based at Pleiku.
The Otter is mentioned in the unit history for June 1966: “Some 140 miles north of Pleiku, CWO Ira Stein was involved in a test flight accident. Ira, hereafter known as “Supersonic Stein” and “The Flash”, in a burst of speed accelerated 53310 to 200 knots. At this speed certain vibrations were experienced which are foreign to Otter type aircraft. Upon landing, an inspection revealed that the overspeed had left all the wire antennas dragging on the ground, popped numerous rivets, severely wrinkled the wings and stabilizers and had completely torn off the elevator servo tab. As a result of the flight the aircraft will require extensive inspection and rebuild. The accident was not chargeable to the 18th in as much as the aircraft had been turned over to the 604th General Support Company and had not been released at the time of the test flight”.
Tom Hull, who was the Crew Chief on “Reliable 310”, has provided some more information: “We took a small arms round through the elevator trim tab, located on the trailing edge of the left elevator. After replacing the trim tab, a functional check flight was required. Ira Stein flew the flight, with me in the right seat, in the local Pleiku area. Prior to the flight, another aviator advised him to put the aircraft into a dive and exceed the VNE (velocity never exceed) speed by 5 to 10%. If the aircraft had no vibration, it was rigged right. This was not in the Army Technical Manual. As a result, the trim tab and approximately one third of the elevator were torn off and we landed back at Pleiku with no further incident. The aircraft was grounded and the overhaul facility from Thailand (44th Engineer Group) sent a team over to replace the elevator assembly and do a dye penetration check on the wing attachment bolts and fittings for stress cracks. None were found. I think Mr Stein got a letter of reprimand. I got to remove and replace about a million screws without the benefit of an electric screwdriver”.
53310 re-joined the 18th Aviation Company after the repairs were completed. Tom Hull recalls one other incident with the Otter, on a rainy night on a return flight home from Saigon.” The magnetic chip detector light came on and oil pressure went up ten degrees. The flight-following radar knew we were just south of Phan Thiet, about 40 miles south of Nha Trang but could not determine if we were over water or land. It was raining so hard we had turned off the red rotating beacon because of vertigo and couldn't see anything. The problem was there were mountains that came near the coast at an elevation of 6,500 feet. We put on our parachutes and swung way east and hoped for the best. It was the only time I ever considered jumping, but we managed to land safely.”
The Otter continued to fly for the 18th Aviation Company until November 1968, when it was assigned to the 2nd Signal Group (HHC, 1st Signal Brigade) at Tan Son Nhut. It went to the 56th Transportation Company for overhaul in March '69, re-joining the HHC, 1st Signal Brigade the following month. It continued to serve until September 1969 when it went to the 142nd Transportation Company, Da Nang to be prepared to be shipped home. It arrived at the Sharpe Army Depot, Stockton, California in December 1969, where it remained in storage for some time, before being put up for disposal.
The Otter was purchased by Air Craftsmen Ltd of St.John, New Brunswick, a company heavily involved in the acquisition of ex military Otters. A temporary Certificate of Registration as C-GLCW and Flight Permit was issued on 29th May 1974 to Air Craftsmen Ltd for the importation of the aircraft to Canada. Having been refurbished and civilianised at St.John, it was registered C-GLCW and sold to Ontario Northern Airways Ltd of Jellicoe, Ontario to whom it was registered on 30th July 1974. It flew for them until sold to Leuenberger Air Service Ltd of Nakina, Ontario in August 1976. This operator flies fishermen to remote outpost camps during the summer months, its Otters usually stored at Geraldton Airport, Ontario during the winter.
C-GLCW met with an accident at Geraldton, where it had been stored for 33 days, on 2nd December 1988. The pilot took off from runway 26 at Geraldton for a VFR flight to Nakina, the Otter's base. At approximately 75 feet above the ground, the engine lost all power. The pilot made a forced landing onto the remaining runway and the Otter touched down with high vertical speed, in a right wing-low attitude and rolled to a stop. The right main landing gear attachment fitting and bulkhead were damaged. The engine had lost power due to water contamination in the fuel. The damage was repaired.
The Otter met with a similar incident at Nakina on 8th June 1991. Shortly after take-off, the engine lost power. The pilot turned the boost pump on and the engine re started but the Otter landed heavily resulting in damage to the float struts and fuselage fittings. The damage was repaired and C-GLCW was converted to a Vazar turbine Otter by Recon Air, Geraldton. It continued to fly for Leuenberger Air Service alongside Otters C-GLCS (428) and C-FSOX (437) during the summer months, flying on behalf of Leuenberger Fly-In Lodge & Wilderness outposts -- “As all our cottages are accessible by air only, one of our Turbo De Havilland aircraft will fly you and your party into the finest Walleye and Northern Pike fishing in unspoiled wilderness you can experience in Northern Ontario”.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 172
January 1st, 2008. C-GLCW. Leuenberger Air Service, Nakina, Ontario. Vazar.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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I actually met this "proud Veteran" this year in early May, a "fine female", the second photo below is mine.
- photo by ?
- photo by Steve Taylor
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
