Canoe, Hunt, Fish, and Fly, by Otter

OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #92" 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 de Havilland DH.87 "Hornet Moth"! Nice try guys! "Sailboat fuel" doubles next week!

When I first started my aviation career flying "trappers" and "rice-pickers" in the Little Grand Rapids - Pauingassi - Deer Lake - Poplar Hill - Pikangikum area 25 years ago, there was an Otter I would hear regularly in the summer "flogging" north to Dogskin Lake Lodge and associated outcamps. She used to operate from Bird River near Lac du Bonnet, and I always wondered what happened to her. Well, I just found out.............

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 438

Otter 438 was delivered to Hudson Bay Air Transport Ltd of Flin Flon, Manitoba on 24th May 1963, registered CF-PEM. Also delivered to the company the same day was number 439 CF-PEN. These two Otters were ordered as replacements for Otters CF-JOR (212) and CF-KTI (269) which had both been destroyed in a fire at the company's hangar at Flin Flon on 4th April 1963. They had replaced the destroyed Otters less than two months after the tragic fire, an indication of the importance of the DHC-3 to the Hudson Bay Air Transport operation.

These two Otters flew alongside the company's surviving Otter CF-MIQ (336) until the need for bush aircraft diminished during the early 1980s. CF-PEM was sold in April 1983 to Tall Timber Fly-In Service of Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba with a change of name to Tall Timber Aviation Ltd in March 1992. It was sold on to Thunderbird Aviation (590730 Alberta Ltd) of Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan in May 1994 and carried Athabasca Fishing Lodges titles. The company also operates a Cessna 206 and is a division of Blackmur's Athabasca Fishing Lodges. Both the Otter and the Cessna are used to service the company's lodges, which are located in the vicinity of Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan.

*** LATEST UPDATE!***

Otter 438

January 1st, 2008. C-FPEM. Thunderbird Aviation, Stony Rapids, Saskatchewan. R-1340. The Otter flies for Athabaska Fishing Lodges.

- by Karl E. Hayes
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Wow! Glad she is still in Canada, and still "sporting" her 1340. There is something about the "lines" of the "Standard Otter"........


- CF-PEM of Athabasca Fishing Lodges (Anthony J. Hickey)

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 #91" 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 Fouga CM-170 "Magister"! Sippo wins the "sailboat fuel"! Greetings from Manitoba, Canada, Sippo!

Congratulations to our good friends in the U.S. on the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama, and I was overjoyed to see the surviving members of the famed "Tuskegee Airmen" present! Obama's amazing story can be directly traced to my favourite American, "Honest" Abe Lincoln. What a story! The grandson of an African "goatherd" becomes "Leader of the Free World"! Hopefully his presidency brings "honour" to their "Ragged Old Flag"......

LINK - "Tuskegee Airmen"!

VIDEO -

"Ragged Old Flag"

Ain't life "funny"!? Start your career overseas in a hostile environment, serve well, make a "trans-Atlantic" flight to get back home, only to "expire" shortly thereafter in your own "backyard". Ain't life a "bummer" for some..........

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 430

Otter 430 was delivered to the Ghana Air Force on 25th July 1962 with serial G310. It was the eleventh of an order for twelve Otters, all of which were packed into crates and shipped to Ghana, where they were re-assembled and entered service. They were based at Takoradi Air Base. During 1970, Lambair of Manitoba negotiated with the Ghana Air Force with a view to purchasing a number of their Otters, including 430 and marks CF-ZFO were reserved but no deal was concluded and G310 remained in the service of the Ghana Air Force. The Otters continued in service until 1973, when they were withdrawn and put up for sale.

As explained in relation to Otter number 418, eight of the Ghana Air Force Otters were acquired by brokers Masin Aircraft of Cologne and Otter 430 was registered to Joseph V. Masin of Rodenkirchen, West Germany as N17688. These eight Otters together with a former US Army Otter which Masin Aircraft had acquired, were sold to Air Craftsmen Ltd of St.John, New Brunswick, a company which specialised in buying, refurbishing and selling on ex-military Otters. On 26th April 1974 Air Craftsmen Ltd reserved Canadian marks for all nine Otters. Marks C-GLCT were reserved for 430. Together with C-GLCO (420, ex G304), C-GLCT routed from Gibraltar to Marseille on 15th June 1974, in the course of the long ferry flight from Ghana to Canada. On 17th June both Otters arrived at Biggin Hill airfield near London. Also arriving at Biggin Hill that day from Germany was Otter C-GLCV (189), the former US Army Otter which Air Craftsmen had bought from Masin Aircraft. All three Otters were fitted with ferry tanks for the trans-Atlantic crossing and departed together for Prestwick, Scotland on 21st June '74. They then continued together across the Atlantic via Iceland and Greenland to the Air Craftsmen Ltd base at St.John, New Brunswick.

C-GLCT then continued on from St.John to Oshawa, Ontario and was registered to Eclipse Consultants Ltd of Oshawa, a company that was working in association with Air Craftsmen Ltd on the ex-Ghana Otters. At Oshawa, the Otter was overhauled and civilianised on behalf of Eclipse Consultants by Weston Aircraft Company Ltd. On completion of this work, by Bill of Sale dated 12th July '74, the Otter was sold by Eclipse Consultants Ltd to B.C.Yukon Air Services Ltd of Watson Lake, Yukon and entered service with them. It continued in service until sold to Bannock Aerospace Ltd of Toronto on 17th December 1976, another company which traded in Otters, and on 21st February 1977 it was leased to Patricia Air Transport Ltd of Sioux Lookout, Ontario.

C-GLCT flew for Patricia Air Transport until an accident at Pickle Lake, Ontario on 25th August 1977. The Otter was to fly a round trip to Bearskin Lake, transporting cargo and passengers. The pilot elected to take on a full load of fuel because of strong headwinds and a limited refuelling capability en route. He did not compensate by off-loading cargo and the take-off was attempted 800 pounds overweight. Shortly after becoming airborne, the Otter struck trees and the shoreline. The pilot had not used all of the available take-off distance. There were no injuries to the three on board, but the Otter was destroyed.

- by Karl E. Hayes
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This story is another example of why the old Otter should have had "1000 Clydesdales" from Day 1..........


- C-GLCT, ex-Ghana Air Force, at Prestwick, Scotland on delivery back to Canada (MAP)

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 #90" 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 Avro "Lancaster", an Allied "heavy" bomber. Lance wins the sailboat fuel!

Self-explanatory! So cold you could "freeze the balls off a brass monkey"!

METAR CYWG 141400Z 30010KT 15SM SKC M36/M40 A3054 RMK VIS E 6 BR SLP380=

Good "Manitoba boys" are still "flying the bush", though, in these temps!


- photo by Jason "Spanky" Henkel


- photo by Jason "Spanky" Henkel (pictured)

A number of years back, in the early 1990s, Jim Johnson, Northway Aviation owner and my employer, and I, weighed the "pros and cons" of suppyling his Beaver, C-FQQG, to a company doing an engine conversion. The engine was a V-8 piston automotive racing engine adapted for aviation. Knowing the "bureaucratic barbed-wire" and "government minefields" we would have to navigate, we decided against making QQG available, as the "Float Season" was fast approaching. It was a wise decision. There were many delays encountered in certifying the engine for aviation, and when the conversion was finally done, an Otter was used instead of a Beaver. The engine was the "Thunder" engine, which later became the Orenda OE-600. Check out the prototype "Orenda-powered" Otter, and the "rest of the story"...........

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 19

Otter number 19 was delivered on 21st September 1954 as CF-EYY to Miron et Freres Ltee of Montreal, a construction company. It was delivered on floats and based at St.Augustin near Montreal, being used to move construction crews in the bush country of Quebec. The company also operated a C-47 and a Canso.

By 1957 'EYY had joined the fleet of Wheeler Airlines of St.Jovite, Quebec. As well as using their fleet of Otters to support the northern DEW Line sites (as described in relation to Otter number 2), Wheeler also had Otters flying from its St.Jovite base to service the Quebec interior. The scene of operations at St.Jovite was Lac Ouimet, one of the many lakes in the Mont Tremblant Provincial Park region of the Laurentian Mountains, an area well known to sportsmen for its excellent hunting and fishing. Here was located a 3,000 foot airstrip with hangarage and airport facilities, a seaplane dock and the Lac Ouimet Club, a sporting and recreational resort which functioned as the main base for Wheeler's network of fishing and hunting camps served by aircraft.

CF-EYY was based here, serving the Quebec bush. Hunting and fishing trips (to as far away as James Bay, where goose hunting camps were located), fire patrols, survey and exploration work, sightseeing flights and general charter work formed the major part of the company's day to day operations for the Otter, as well as the company's Beavers and Norsemen. The Otter was used for the larger parties, but was also prized by hunters as a moose could be accommodated within its cabin.

In January 1960 EYY went to Austin Airways Ltd of Timmins, Ontario, on lease from Ray McLeod of Montreal. It then served the bush regions of Ontario, just as it had done before in Quebec. It returned to Quebec when acquired by A.Fecteau Transport Aerien of Senneterre and by 1970 had joined the fleet of another Quebec operator, Northern Wings Ltd (Les Ailes du Nord) based at Sept Iles. This company was the main operator serving the small communities along the North Shore of the Gulf of St.Lawrence. A subsidiary of Quebecair, it included Otters in its fleet throughout the 1960s/1970s, alongside DC-3s, Cansos, Beavers, Cessnas etc. Scheduled passenger and cargo services linked Havre St.Pierre, Natashquan, Kegaska, Gethsemanie, Harrington Harbour, La Tabitiere, Old Fort Bay, St.Paul, Blanc Sablon, Whalehead, St.Augustin, Riviere au Tonnere, Mingan and the base at Sept Iles. The Otters were also used on charters.

On 17th July 1974 EYY on floats suffered a hard landing at La Romaine, Quebec due to the pilot's delay in initiating a go-around. By 1979, then registered C-FEYY, the Otter was again operated by Air Fecteau, which became part of Propair Inc, to whom the Otter was registered in May 1982. On 12th October '82 it was damaged at Lixi Pond, Newfoundland. During the landing, the right float struck a submerged rock. The right float then failed and rolled outboard to be under the wing. Stress corrosion was found in the strut. A Service Bulletin by DHC had recommended inspection of the struts every twelve months, but over four years had elapsed since EYY had been inspected. The damage was repaired and the Otter returned to service.

Over the following years, EYY continued to serve the Quebec bush country with Propair, until June 1988 when it was sold to Alexandair Inc of Sept Iles, one of a number of Quebec carriers to fly the aircraft. On 27th February 1991 at Chevery, Quebec the pilot lost control on take off, the Otter leaving the runway and striking a fence, causing quite an amount of damage. The Otter lay at Chevery in its damaged condition for some months, while negotiations took place on its future. An agreement was eventually reached with Air Wilga Inc of Laval, Quebec to purchase turbine Otter CFJFJ (147) and Air Wilga took the damaged Otter EYY in part payment. EYY was registered to Air Wilga in June 1991 and was loaded on a boat and taken to Rimouski and then towed behind a jeep to the Air Wilga base at Laval St.Francois airfield outside Montreal, where it was rebuilt. Air Wilga was a leasing company which specialised in leasing out Otters to operators. EYY was leased to Aviation Boreal (1988) Inc of Val d'Or, Quebec in November 1991 and the following month, on 12th December '91 it was damaged again at Lac Mollet in northern Quebec when it hit a snowbank on take-off from the frozen lake, damaging the landing gear.

The Otter was repaired again during the winter of 1991/92 and was then leased by Air Wilga to a number of Quebec operators, Air Wemindji of Wemindji to whom it was registered in December 1992 and then Aero Golfe Ltee of Havre St.Pierre to whom it was registered in May 1994. In February 1998 it returned to Air Wilga, for conversion as the prototype Orenda-engined Otter and work commenced on the aircraft at Laval St.Francois airfield. Air Wilga commissioned Airtech Canada Aircraft Services of Peterborough, Ontario to carry out the engineering for the project and for this purpose EYY was trucked from Laval to Peterborough. The Orenda OE-600A engine was fitted to C-FEYY at Peterborough and the Otter made its first flight from there with the new engine on 9th November 1998, after which test flying for the certification process commenced.

In the course of the certification, it transpired that the McAuley propeller had not been certified for use with the Orenda engine. Accordingly, in March 1999 Otter EYY was flown to Dayton, Ohio where McAuley carried out this certification. As the aircraft had to be tested with wind coming from different angles and as a particularly calm period of weather was being experienced in Dayton at that time, an ATR-42 airliner had to be used to provide wind blown at the Otter on the ramp at Dayton, to provide the required test data. EYY then returned to Peterborough.

There were a number of mishaps during the testing phase, the first of these on 5th April 1999 at Smith Falls - Montague (Russ Beach) Ontario. The Otter was loaded to maximum gross weight, with the C.of G. at the aft limit. While conducting the flutter and vibration portion of the test flight, the pilot placed the Otter in a dive from 7,000 feet, increasing the aircraft speed by 10 mph increments, with the intention of attaining a speed of 213 mph. At 205 mph the control column produced a sharp, longitudinal control buzz for a period of six seconds. Engine power was reduced and the aircraft was levelled from the dive. Flight control checks were carried out and after determining that the aircraft was responding to control inputs, the pilot returned and landed at the Smith Falls airport. Ground inspection revealed that the left elevator servo tab had separated from the aircraft in flight, which tore away the elevator trailing edge skin for the full length of the servo tab.

Another much more serious incident occurred on 13th June 1999 at Riviere des Prairies, Montreal still in the course of the test programme for the new engine. The Otter on floats was being taxied to the service dock when flames were noticed coming out of the cowl flap in front of the windshield. The engine was shut down and secured. The pilot discharged the portable extinguisher into the opening. It took a few minutes to get the crew to the shore and to use the other extinguisher to fight the fire. The City firemen showed up some nine minutes later. The aircraft sustained damage forward of the firewall, at the rear of the engine installation, as a result of a broken fuel fitting. The damage was repaired and EYY returned to the flying test programme on 13th September '99. The Orenda engine was ultimately certified by Transport Canada on 17th January 2000.

With their first Orenda-engined Otter now available for use, Air Wilga arranged a lease of EYY to Johnny May's Air Charter Ltd, based at Kuujjuaq in remote northern Quebec, to whom the Otter was registered in March 2000. An hour into the delivery flight from Laval to Kuujjuaq, it had to make a precautionary landing on a frozen lake, but was able to continue and it entered service with Johnny May's Air Charter on 17th March 2000, on wheel-skis. It continued flying based out of Kuujjuaq until an incident on 20th June, when the Otter suffered engine failure and had to make forced landing. It transpired that it had been wrongly fuelled with jet fuel. It was flown back to Laval St.Francois where the engine was replaced with another Orenda engine on loan from the Orenda company and EYY then returned to Kuujjuaq on 15th July on floats, where it continued to fly for Johnny May's Air Charter until the end of October 2000. It then returned to Laval St.Francois where it was in storage over the winter of 2000/2001.

For the summer season of 2001 it was to undertake “an aggressive commercial schedule in the Canadian north”, according to a press release put out by the Orenda Recip company, who were very keen to promote the project. Air Wilga arranged a lease of EYY to Aero Golfe Ltee based at Havre St.Pierre on the north shore of the St.Lawrence, to whom the Otter was registered on 19th July 2001 and it was delivered from Laval to Havre St.Pierre. Aero Golfe were familiarising themselves with the Otter when on 22nd July, only three days after its delivery, it was again in difficulties. EYY had just taken off from Lac des Plaines at Havre St.Pierre, enroute to Lac Foie-de-Veau, when it experienced difficulty in climbing. It struck a mound of earth at the lake shore with the floats, and came down in an adjacent swamp, scraping a wingtip and damaging the cowling. After temporary repairs on site, it was flown back to Laval for permanent repairs, before it returned to Havre St.Pierre to resume the lease to Aero Golfe.

Aero Golfe flew the Otter north to Puvurnituk, where it was used for one hundred hours flying in support of mining prospectors. It was then used by Aero Golfe based at Riviere Portneuf for tourist sight seeing flights until 1st October 2001, when it was returned off lease to Air Wilga and again stored at Laval St.Francois for the winter of 2001/2002. There was no lease customer for the Otter for the summer of 2002, and so EYY was made available to Orenda Recip Inc to be exhibited at the Oshkosh Air Show in July 2002. For that purpose the Otter was registered to Propair Inc and flown from Laval to Oshkosh, where it was exhibited. It was advertised as “The world's most affordable and advanced high power reciprocating engine. Complete firewall forward kit for US$229,000. Turbine power for piston price”. At Oshkosh the Otter was parked beside an Air Tractor agricultural aircraft, which had also been converted with an Orenda engine, at the Orenda Recip display area.

EYY then returned to Laval, and while it remained registered to Propair Inc it was operated for Air Wilga, based out of LG4 in northern Quebec during the caribou hunting season of August/September 2002, after which it returned to Laval for storage for the winter of 2002/2003. A lease was then arranged to Waasheshkun Airways of Mistassini, Quebec to whom EYY was registered on 4th February 2003 and it headed north to St.Felicien, Quebec. It was to join Waasheshkun's own Otter C-FDIO (452) flying in support of native trappers and diamond prospectors in the remote northern bush country of Quebec, but before it got started on this business, disaster struck.

In December 2002, the owners of the Orenda Recip Inc company decided to close the company down, as it had failed in commercial terms to successfully exploit the Orenda engine. Even though the engine had been certified for use in the Otter by Transport Canada, the fact that the manufacturer of the engine was no longer in business and was no longer in a position to support the engine and accept responsibility for it, led to the withdrawal of certification and to the grounding of the two Otters which had been converted to the Orenda engine, EYY (19) and AZX (458), both owned by Air Wilga. EYY was stranded in St.Felicien, Quebec, where the wings were taken off and the engine removed, and it was put into storage pending a decision on its future. Otter C-FVVY (410) was chartered from Big River Air to fulfill the commitments which EYY should have undertaken. As at June 2004, EYY was still stranded at St.Felicien.

*** LATEST UPDATE!***

Otter 19

January 1st, 2008. C-FEYY. This was one of the two Orenda engined Otters, grounded since December 2002 following the closure of the company which manufactured the engine. EYY was in storage since then, with the engine removed, at Dolbeau/St.Felicien, Quebec. In June 2007 the Otter was sold to Harbour Air and it departed St.Felicien on 29th June 2007 loaded into a truck for the long cross-country drive to Vancouver. Over the following months it was converted by Harbour Air as a Vazar and given fleet number 316. It was registered to Harbour Air as C-GHAZ on 23rd August 2007, their sixteenth turbine Otter.

- by Karl E. Hayes
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Of course, you can't keep a "good girl down"! Back in the air, flying the "Wet" Coast! The "Thunder/Orenda" engine? Like a "phoenix", from the ashes......

LINK - Trace Engines L.P.


- C-FEYY with Orenda engine at Dayton, Ohio March 1999 (Donald Berube)



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 #89" 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 Blohm und Voss BV.222 "Wiking"! It was a six-engined German flying boat! Double the "sailboat fuel" for next week!

Isn't "human nature" grand? Give someone the ability to "soar" high above the earth, and they will envariably "don spurs" and return to the "close confines" of "immoveable ground"! "Hey", this is experience talking! "Been there, done that...."

VIDEO -

"The Low Pass!"

***BONUS MATERIAL!***

The "backing" music on the above video was performed by one of my "Top 3" favourite bands, "The Who"! The song is entitled "Baba O'Riley" and was written by Pete Townshend for a "rock opera" entitled "Lifehouse", that was never completed. Check out "The Who" and "Baba O'Riley", ......"LIVE"!!!

VIDEO -

"The Who"... and "Baba O"Riley"!

Yes, January in Manitoba! Tonight's "low" in Gimli is forecast to be -35*C! Well, the old Otter was certified under ICAO Transport Category D requirements, able to operate in temperatures from +50*C to -50*C. So, seeing as how we have been in a "deep-freeze" for over a month, I figured I would look for another Otter that survived "the Antarctic", returned to North America, and still "lives and breathes" today! Here she 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
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Otter 30

Otter number 30 was one of the first six of ten DHC-3 delivered to the Royal Norwegian Air Force, as explained in relation to Otter 18. The batch of six were delivered in crates by ship and formally handed over on 2nd March 1954. They arrived in Oslo Harbour on 8th April '54 and were assembled at Kjeller Air Base, Oslo. The Otter took serial 5330 and code 0-AF. On 16th July '54 it joined the Communications Flight at Jarlsberg Air Base, which in November '54 moved to Gardermoen Air Base.

Otter number 30 was one of two Norwegian Air Force Otters (the other was number 31) selected to support a Norwegian scientific expedition to the Antarctic during the International Geophysical Year of 1958/59. One of the Expedition's tasks was to map large sections of Queen Maud Land, for which the Otters were to be used. The aircraft unit was given the designation Support Flight 7070. In March 1958 the Otter deployed to Tyin for winter training for the Antarctic mission. The two Otters had to undergo some modifications to equip them for the mission. Additional fuel tanks were installed in the cabin to increase range. A radio compass, gyrosyn remote compass, sun-compass, directional gyro, radio altimeter, periscope drift measuring equipment, HF radio and camera equipment were all installed. This work was undertaken at the Horten Marine Base, where the two Otters were crated and loaded aboard ship.

The deployment was code named “Operation Penguin”. The expedition left Oslo on board the vessel Polarbjorn on 1st November 1958. Nearly two months later they arrived in the Antarctic. The two Otters were unloaded on the ice and re-assembled. An automatic radio beacon was positioned at the base as a navigation aid. For five weeks missions were flown for photographic purposes in the area 70 to 74 degrees South, 0 to 15 degrees East. When the mission was finished, the aircraft were disassembled and shipped back to Oslo on board the Polarbjorn, arriving home on 5th March 1959 after a successful job. The Otters were again unloaded at the Horten Marine Base and re-assembled there.

In May '59 the Otter joined the 7193 Stotteving (Support Flight) at Bodo Air Base in northern Norway. It was to continue to serve with this unit until April 1965, making periodic trips to the Horten Marine Base, Kjeller Air Base and Wideroes at Fornebu for depot maintenance. After overhaul at Fornebu in April '65 it was assigned to 7192 Support Flight at Orland Air Base, and was to serve at Orland for the remainder of its military career. On 1st January 1967 7192 Support Flight was redesignated 720 Squadron at Orland, the Otter joining the Squadron's D Flight. On 25th January '67 the Otter made its first flight with its new squadron code of JT-R. On 30th May 67 its military career came to an end when it was struck off charge, having flown 5,293 hours in Air Force service. As with all the other Royal Norwegian Air Force Otters, it was handed over to Halle & Peterson, Oslo the DHC agents in Norway for disposal.

The Otter was sold to Varangfly A/S of Kirkenes, to whom it was registered LN-IKI, the registration date being 31st May 1967. The Otter was to serve this operator for the next 15 years, although the company underwent several changes of name, becoming Varangfly-Norwings A/S on 1st April 1971 and Norving A/S on 4th July 1975. The company specialised in passenger and cargo and air ambulance work in northern Norway. During its years of service with Norving, LN-IKI was used for air taxi and ambulance work. It suffered a taxying accident at Varanger on 11th July 1970 but was repaired. A somewhat more serious accident occurred at Ornes on 25th October 1972 when the Otter landed on the water on amphibious floats with the wheels down, but despite substantial damage was repaired and returned to service.

By 1980 this hard-working Otter had put up more than 10,000 flying hours, and by that stage was the last active Otter in Norway and indeed the only active Otter in all of Europe. It was then based at Bodo. Operating Europe's only active Otter from a base in remote northern Norway was not without its problems. As Norving observed :”The engine is a thirsty devil and parts are unbelievably costly. It will be a sad day when our company will have to sell the Otter. An era will then be over and a very fine flying machine will then forever be lost from our country. It is sad because this machine was one of the very first to pick up scheduled flights after WW2. It served our part of Norway with a regularity only next to seagulls. Thousands of people in northern Norway still remember the green machine turning finals two feet above the water in their familiar harbour, bringing news, people and post to and from” (this being a reference to the Wideroe Otter operation which started in 1954).

Norving continued to fly LN-IKI until July 1982, when it was sold to another Norwegian operator, Sirdalsfly A/S of Tjorhom, along with two Beavers. LN-IKI was registered to its new owners, who traded as Transit Air, on 26th July '82 and was based at Stavangar-Sola. It was re-painted in an attractive colour scheme of white undersides, red cheat line and blue upper fuselage with “Transit Air Inter City Sky Taxi” on the tail, indicating its use. The Otter remained in service with Transit Air for nearly a year, until the operation went bankrupt. On 11th April 1983 the Otter was put up for sale by auction in the course of the bankruptcy, but a bid of 105,000 crowns was rejected by the bank who had a charge on the aircraft. On 2nd June 1983 it was registered to the Oslo Handelsbank, the main creditor. There was a second auction on 20th June '83 and it was sold to Norronafly A/S of Rakkestad and on 4th July '83 it was registered to its new owners. During July it was transported from Norway to Stockholm, from where it sailed to the United States. The Norwegian registration was officially cancelled on 18th August 1983. That left Europe without any active Otters, a situation that was to obtain for the next seven years until two Otters (274 and 406) arrived in Sweden.

The purchaser of Otter number 30 was Dodson Aviation Inc of Ottawa, Kansas who reserved registration N4683K on 7th February 1984 and registered the Otter with these marks the following month. The period from August 1983 to March 1984 when the aircraft was without a registration represented the time it was in transit by sea from Europe to the US and its re-assembly in the US. The Otter remained registered to Dodson Aviation for two and half years, until sold to Newcal Aviation Inc of Little Ferry, New Jersey in September 1986. Newcal Aviation are a major supplier of parts and equipment for DHC aircraft.

In July 1988 the Otter was sold on to a Mr Eugene Q.Weiler of Anchorage, Alaska, who was well familiar with Otters, being an Instructor Pilot on the type with the Alaska Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. He leased the aircraft to Diamond Aviation, based out of Wrangell, Alaska. N4683K was noted at Vancouver on 10th August 1988. Diamond Aviation supported a gold mine in the mountains of northern British Columbia, flying in fuel and supplies and flying out the gold concentrate. Their first Otter was N61LC (393) operated from August 1987 until it crashed in November '87. This was replaced by N55CX (139) operated from December 1987 until it crashed in July 1988. N4683K was acquired as the replacement and remained in service with Diamond Aviation from August 1988 until June 1992, when support of the mine was taken over by another operator.

N4683K was sold on to Waglisla Air Inc, trading as Wagair of Bella Bella, BC. It arrived at Vancouver on 15th June '92 on delivery to Wagair, to whom it was registered as C-FWAF on 20th July '93, after overhaul and repaint into their colours. Wagair were one of several Canadian native-owned First Nations operators which were formed during the 1980s. C-FWAF joined their fleet, painted in their striking yellow and green colour scheme and for two years provided charter services along the BC Pacific coast from its base at Bella Bella, flying alongside the company's other Otter CF-MPY (324) and also C-FRHW (445) which flew out of Prince Rupert.

Sadly, things did not work out for Wagair which ceased trading during 1995. The fleet was disposed of, Otter WAF being sold to Edward K.Kiesel, trading as Ward Air, based at Juneau, Alaska to whom the Otter was registered N63354 on 26th April 1996. Ward Air was a business which had been formed in 1974 by Ken Ward to provide a bush charter service out of Juneau serving the Alaskan panhandle, and had previously operated Otter N62355 (262). Mr Kiesel took over the business in 1993 and added Otter N63354 to the fleet of Beavers and single Cessnas in April 1996. As its website proclaims: “Ward Air offers unmatched excellence in floatplane and amphibious air charter service for Juneau's outlying wilderness areas. Aircraft such as the Otter, Beaver or Cessna 185 provide the flexibility for Ward Air to travel almost anywhere within Southeast Alaska”.

*** LATEST UPDATE!***

Otter 30

January 1st, 2008. N63354. In service with Ward Air, Juneau, Alaska. This Otter arrived Vernon, BC on 4th October 2006 for conversion to a Texas Turbine by Kal-Air and to have a new interior installed. This work was carried out over the winter of 2006/07 and N63354 departed Vernon on 7th April 2007 returning to its base at Juneau as a Texas Turbine and re-entered service with Ward Air.

- by Karl E. Hayes
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From Norway to the Antarctic, to British Columbia, to Alaska, this Otter knows how to operate in "frigid climates"!


- photo by Bjorn Olav Mojord, 1982.


- photo by John Kimberley at Vancouver, BC.

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