Wednesday, February 25, 2009
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #96" 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 Sikorsky "S-42", which would become one of the famed "Pan-Am Clippers"! Aboard are Captains Ed Musick and R.O.D. Sullivan. Mike wins the "sailboat fuel", good job! I tell you, that is a "man's cockpit"!
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Sikorsky "S-42", which would become one of the famed "Pan-Am Clippers"! Aboard are Captains Ed Musick and R.O.D. Sullivan. Mike wins the "sailboat fuel", good job! I tell you, that is a "man's cockpit"!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Steve's "Otters Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
The de Havilland Otter has a "rich" recorded history. Unfortunately, "scant" details are known about some of the individual Otters. Here are two of them......
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 317
Otter 317 was delivered to the United States Army on 27th February 1959 with serial 58-1701 (tail number 81701). It was assigned to the 17th Aviation Company, Fort Ord, California. It was delivered from Downsview to the Sharpe Army Depot, Stockton, California before continuing on to Fort Ord. It was still flying for the 17th Aviation Company when it was destroyed in an accident during May 1962, details unfortunately unknown. It was deleted from the Army inventory the following month.
Otter 321
Otter 321 was delivered to the United States Army on 23rd March 1959 with serial 58-1706 (tail number 81706). It was assigned to the 18th Aviation Company, Fort Riley, Kansas and deployed with the Company to Vietnam in January 1962. It was destroyed in an accident at Hang Buc, Vietnam on 1st July 1963. The following extract is from the 18th Aviation Company history: “On 1st July 1963, this unit sustained its first fatal accident, when Captain Stackbauer was killed at Hang Buc in gusty turbulence on take off from the airstrip, which has an elevation of 4,000 feet and is about 1,200 feet long. This airfield was subsequently closed to Otter operations. He was not wearing either helmet or shoulder straps and was the only one of the six on board to be killed. The others walked out although one passenger had a broken leg from the crew chief's flying tool box. The aircraft 81706 was totalled, also the first for the unit”.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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In "memoriam" of Capt. Stackbauer..... "R.I.P."
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 317
Otter 317 was delivered to the United States Army on 27th February 1959 with serial 58-1701 (tail number 81701). It was assigned to the 17th Aviation Company, Fort Ord, California. It was delivered from Downsview to the Sharpe Army Depot, Stockton, California before continuing on to Fort Ord. It was still flying for the 17th Aviation Company when it was destroyed in an accident during May 1962, details unfortunately unknown. It was deleted from the Army inventory the following month.
Otter 321
Otter 321 was delivered to the United States Army on 23rd March 1959 with serial 58-1706 (tail number 81706). It was assigned to the 18th Aviation Company, Fort Riley, Kansas and deployed with the Company to Vietnam in January 1962. It was destroyed in an accident at Hang Buc, Vietnam on 1st July 1963. The following extract is from the 18th Aviation Company history: “On 1st July 1963, this unit sustained its first fatal accident, when Captain Stackbauer was killed at Hang Buc in gusty turbulence on take off from the airstrip, which has an elevation of 4,000 feet and is about 1,200 feet long. This airfield was subsequently closed to Otter operations. He was not wearing either helmet or shoulder straps and was the only one of the six on board to be killed. The others walked out although one passenger had a broken leg from the crew chief's flying tool box. The aircraft 81706 was totalled, also the first for the unit”.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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In "memoriam" of Capt. Stackbauer..... "R.I.P."
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #95" 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 Boeing KC-97 "Stratotanker"! The "Stratotanker" was an aerial refueling tanker variant of the Boeing C-97 "Stratofreighter", which in turn was the militarised version of the Boeing 377 "Stratocruiser". So, I have to give this one to Sippo, I hope he has some use for "sailboat fuel" during winter! "Cheers"!
Beautiful photo, Misha!
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Boeing KC-97 "Stratotanker"! The "Stratotanker" was an aerial refueling tanker variant of the Boeing C-97 "Stratofreighter", which in turn was the militarised version of the Boeing 377 "Stratocruiser". So, I have to give this one to Sippo, I hope he has some use for "sailboat fuel" during winter! "Cheers"!
Beautiful photo, Misha!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
I always figured you would need a special aircraft to survive and navigate around "The Rock" and "Labrador". Well, the Otter fit the bill, although there were a few mishaps along the way. Check out this "Newfie" 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 398
Otter 398 was delivered to the RCAF on 31st October 1960 with serial 9418. It was allocated to 418 Squadron, Namao. It sustained 'B' category damage on 14th September 1961 in the course of a training flight. On landing back at base at Namao, the student levelled off too high and stalled in. The heavy landing badly damaged the landing gear. As the accident report summarised: “The student misjudged his height above the ground and the captain failed to take over in time to avoid the accident”. The Otter was trucked to the Canadian Pacific Airlines depot at Lincoln Park, Calgary for repair, where it arrived on 29th September 1961. After repair it was re-issued to 418 Squadron, Namao on 11th January 1962. During 1963 it was involved in two SAR missions, in February '63 for Howard DGA N58856 and in September '63 for Cessna 175 CF-LBF. On both of these missions it flew alongside 418 Squadron Otter 9417 (396). It continued flying for 418 Squadron until it met with another 'B' category crash on the airbase at Namao on 15th October 1967.
Circuits and landings were being practiced. After a landing using full flap, the flap was pumped to the climb position and the next circuit was started. On the downwind leg, the pilot decided to carry out a practice forced landing. At a point on final approach, approximately eight feet above the ground and at 65 knots, the Otter banked rapidly and struck the ground heavily. The accident report found that the aircraft was established on final approach with the flaps still in the climb position and with the flap selector still in the up position. At an altitude of approximately eight feet, the pilot elected to put down more flap. Without repositioning the selector, he operated the hand pump, but instead of the flaps going down as he intended, they came up. The aircraft sank rapidly and although full throttle was applied, the descent could not be arrested and some serious damage was caused to 9418. That accident ended its RCAF career, during which it had flown 2,127 hours.
The damaged Otter was put into storage at Namao and in September 1968 was moved to the Mountain View depot in Ontario and put up for disposal, in its damaged condition, through the Crown Assets Disposal Corporation. It was one of three damaged Otters sold on 8th February 1971 to Gander Aviation Ltd of Gander, Newfoundland. The three aircraft were trucked from Mountain View to Weston Aircraft Ltd, Oshawa, Ontario where they were rebuilt for Gander Aviation. On 13th May 1971, as the rebuilds were in progress, marks were allocated for the three Otters, CF-QOQ (46) ex 3685, CF-QOR (375) ex 9409 and CF-QOS (398) ex 9418. Two of the aircraft, QOQ and QOR, were sold on but QOS was registered to Gander Aviation Ltd in June 1971, intended for operation by the company. On 3rd July '71 William Bennett, the owner of Gander Aviation, performed a fifty five minute test flight at Oshawa in QOS, and on 6th July he flew the Otter to Carp, Ontario where Bristol amphibious floats were fitted. On 8th July he set off on the Otter's delivery flight, routing that day from Carp to Fredericton, New Brunswick and the following day via Charlottetown to Gander, total flying time for the delivery flight being 8 hours 50 minutes. QOS then entered service with Gander Aviation Ltd.
The Otter was used for general charter work around both the island of Newfoundland and in mainland Labrador. It also supported outpost fishing camps in Labrador, at Michael River and Sand Hill River. It was used to fly freight and personnel to Baie d'Espoire, Newfoundland where a power station was being built. Another task was to bring patients in from outlying nursing stations to St.Johns. It was on such a flight that QOS crashed on landing at St.Johns on 11th January 1972. The Otter was flying under charter to the Department of Health. There were seven souls on board, including two pilots and a medical attendant. Two stretcher patients had been picked up at Burgeo, and two more at Harbour Breton. The Otter landed 300 feet short of runway 29 at the St.Johns International Airport, shortly after 5pm that afternoon. The accident report cited as a factor the pilot's lack of familiarity with the aircraft. The Otter came down on rough gravel and was badly damaged, although no one was injured. The ambulances which had been waiting at the airport for the arriving patients drove to the scene and were able to take the patients to hospital.
The Otter was shipped to Montreal for repair, after which it returned to Gander and continued in service with Gander Aviation until August 1974. It had flown 1,304 hours while in service with Gander Aviation. It then went to the mainland for structural modifications before being sold to Direquair Inc of Chibougamau, Quebec in 1975, registered C-FQOS. It was based at Lac Cache and served alongside the company's other two Otters C-FDIO (452) and C-FAPQ (201). There was a change of name to Air Mistassini Inc in 1981. The following year, Air Mistassini went bankrupt and the Otters were lying at Lac Cache for a time. QOS was sold to Air Melancon Inc of St.Anne du Lac, Quebec to whom it was registered in August 1983. It was to fly for Air Melancon for many years and in 1992 was converted to a Vazar turbo Otter.
QOS continued in service with Air Melancon until June 1998, when it was sold to Labrador Airways Ltd, trading as Air Labrador and moved to its new base at Goose Bay. The owners of Air Labrador had an associated company called Tamalik Air, used primarily to support hunting and fishing camps, and QOS was assigned to Tamalik Air and painted in its striking red overall colour scheme. When not flying for Tamalik Air, it flew as part of the Air Labrador fleet. For example, during April 2001 it was heavily tasked flying fuel in barrels and groceries from Goose Bay to Border Beacon as the native Innu were moving there from Davis Inlet.
QOS continued flying for Air Labrador/Tamalik Air until an accident on 12th September 2001, which occurred as the Otter was taking off from Otter Creek at Goose Bay en route to a fishing lodge. The pilot reported he was in climb mode when the aircraft pitched forward and then nosed up before entering an uncontrollable nose-down descent, although it did not exhibit characteristics normally associated with an aerodynamic stall. It impacted the water hard, resulting in structural failure of the float supports and extensive damage to the fuselage. “Lab Air 911”, a Twin Otter medevac flight bound for Nain witnessed the incident and raised the alarm. The pilot and three passengers were rescued by boat, but QOS sank in 55 feet of water. It was raised up, and the wreck sold to aircraft dealer Glen W.Ernst of Temecula, California.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 398
January 1st, 2008. C-FQOS. Vazar. Following its crash in September 2001 at Goose Bay, Labrador while operated by Air Labrador, the wreck of the Otter was sold to aircraft broker Glen W. Ernst of Temecula, California. The Otter somewhat disappeared from view until July 2007 when during a visit to the Kenai Airport in Alaska it was noted in a hangar there under rebuild.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, a visit to "Davey Jones' Locker", and soon will be flying the "wilds" of Alaska! The old Otter sure has "penned" many a great story..........
- C-FQOS of Air Labrador/Tamalik Air at Goose Bay April 2001 (Karl Hayes)
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 398
Otter 398 was delivered to the RCAF on 31st October 1960 with serial 9418. It was allocated to 418 Squadron, Namao. It sustained 'B' category damage on 14th September 1961 in the course of a training flight. On landing back at base at Namao, the student levelled off too high and stalled in. The heavy landing badly damaged the landing gear. As the accident report summarised: “The student misjudged his height above the ground and the captain failed to take over in time to avoid the accident”. The Otter was trucked to the Canadian Pacific Airlines depot at Lincoln Park, Calgary for repair, where it arrived on 29th September 1961. After repair it was re-issued to 418 Squadron, Namao on 11th January 1962. During 1963 it was involved in two SAR missions, in February '63 for Howard DGA N58856 and in September '63 for Cessna 175 CF-LBF. On both of these missions it flew alongside 418 Squadron Otter 9417 (396). It continued flying for 418 Squadron until it met with another 'B' category crash on the airbase at Namao on 15th October 1967.
Circuits and landings were being practiced. After a landing using full flap, the flap was pumped to the climb position and the next circuit was started. On the downwind leg, the pilot decided to carry out a practice forced landing. At a point on final approach, approximately eight feet above the ground and at 65 knots, the Otter banked rapidly and struck the ground heavily. The accident report found that the aircraft was established on final approach with the flaps still in the climb position and with the flap selector still in the up position. At an altitude of approximately eight feet, the pilot elected to put down more flap. Without repositioning the selector, he operated the hand pump, but instead of the flaps going down as he intended, they came up. The aircraft sank rapidly and although full throttle was applied, the descent could not be arrested and some serious damage was caused to 9418. That accident ended its RCAF career, during which it had flown 2,127 hours.
The damaged Otter was put into storage at Namao and in September 1968 was moved to the Mountain View depot in Ontario and put up for disposal, in its damaged condition, through the Crown Assets Disposal Corporation. It was one of three damaged Otters sold on 8th February 1971 to Gander Aviation Ltd of Gander, Newfoundland. The three aircraft were trucked from Mountain View to Weston Aircraft Ltd, Oshawa, Ontario where they were rebuilt for Gander Aviation. On 13th May 1971, as the rebuilds were in progress, marks were allocated for the three Otters, CF-QOQ (46) ex 3685, CF-QOR (375) ex 9409 and CF-QOS (398) ex 9418. Two of the aircraft, QOQ and QOR, were sold on but QOS was registered to Gander Aviation Ltd in June 1971, intended for operation by the company. On 3rd July '71 William Bennett, the owner of Gander Aviation, performed a fifty five minute test flight at Oshawa in QOS, and on 6th July he flew the Otter to Carp, Ontario where Bristol amphibious floats were fitted. On 8th July he set off on the Otter's delivery flight, routing that day from Carp to Fredericton, New Brunswick and the following day via Charlottetown to Gander, total flying time for the delivery flight being 8 hours 50 minutes. QOS then entered service with Gander Aviation Ltd.
The Otter was used for general charter work around both the island of Newfoundland and in mainland Labrador. It also supported outpost fishing camps in Labrador, at Michael River and Sand Hill River. It was used to fly freight and personnel to Baie d'Espoire, Newfoundland where a power station was being built. Another task was to bring patients in from outlying nursing stations to St.Johns. It was on such a flight that QOS crashed on landing at St.Johns on 11th January 1972. The Otter was flying under charter to the Department of Health. There were seven souls on board, including two pilots and a medical attendant. Two stretcher patients had been picked up at Burgeo, and two more at Harbour Breton. The Otter landed 300 feet short of runway 29 at the St.Johns International Airport, shortly after 5pm that afternoon. The accident report cited as a factor the pilot's lack of familiarity with the aircraft. The Otter came down on rough gravel and was badly damaged, although no one was injured. The ambulances which had been waiting at the airport for the arriving patients drove to the scene and were able to take the patients to hospital.
The Otter was shipped to Montreal for repair, after which it returned to Gander and continued in service with Gander Aviation until August 1974. It had flown 1,304 hours while in service with Gander Aviation. It then went to the mainland for structural modifications before being sold to Direquair Inc of Chibougamau, Quebec in 1975, registered C-FQOS. It was based at Lac Cache and served alongside the company's other two Otters C-FDIO (452) and C-FAPQ (201). There was a change of name to Air Mistassini Inc in 1981. The following year, Air Mistassini went bankrupt and the Otters were lying at Lac Cache for a time. QOS was sold to Air Melancon Inc of St.Anne du Lac, Quebec to whom it was registered in August 1983. It was to fly for Air Melancon for many years and in 1992 was converted to a Vazar turbo Otter.
QOS continued in service with Air Melancon until June 1998, when it was sold to Labrador Airways Ltd, trading as Air Labrador and moved to its new base at Goose Bay. The owners of Air Labrador had an associated company called Tamalik Air, used primarily to support hunting and fishing camps, and QOS was assigned to Tamalik Air and painted in its striking red overall colour scheme. When not flying for Tamalik Air, it flew as part of the Air Labrador fleet. For example, during April 2001 it was heavily tasked flying fuel in barrels and groceries from Goose Bay to Border Beacon as the native Innu were moving there from Davis Inlet.
QOS continued flying for Air Labrador/Tamalik Air until an accident on 12th September 2001, which occurred as the Otter was taking off from Otter Creek at Goose Bay en route to a fishing lodge. The pilot reported he was in climb mode when the aircraft pitched forward and then nosed up before entering an uncontrollable nose-down descent, although it did not exhibit characteristics normally associated with an aerodynamic stall. It impacted the water hard, resulting in structural failure of the float supports and extensive damage to the fuselage. “Lab Air 911”, a Twin Otter medevac flight bound for Nain witnessed the incident and raised the alarm. The pilot and three passengers were rescued by boat, but QOS sank in 55 feet of water. It was raised up, and the wreck sold to aircraft dealer Glen W.Ernst of Temecula, California.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 398
January 1st, 2008. C-FQOS. Vazar. Following its crash in September 2001 at Goose Bay, Labrador while operated by Air Labrador, the wreck of the Otter was sold to aircraft broker Glen W. Ernst of Temecula, California. The Otter somewhat disappeared from view until July 2007 when during a visit to the Kenai Airport in Alaska it was noted in a hangar there under rebuild.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow, a visit to "Davey Jones' Locker", and soon will be flying the "wilds" of Alaska! The old Otter sure has "penned" many a great story..........
- C-FQOS of Air Labrador/Tamalik Air at Goose Bay April 2001 (Karl Hayes)
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Thursday, February 12, 2009
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #94" 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 Fairchild F-11 "Husky"! Another aircraft like the Otter that should have had at least "1,000 Ponies" since day 1! Curt wins the "sailboat fuel", good job Curt!
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Fairchild F-11 "Husky"! Another aircraft like the Otter that should have had at least "1,000 Ponies" since day 1! Curt wins the "sailboat fuel", good job Curt!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
U.S. Airways "Retrofit".........
Personally, with 14,200 hours flying, 14,070 hours PIC, and 9600 hours on "Floats", I believe this new "retrofit" being performed by U.S. Airways on it's "Heavies" is long overdue. "Float" manufacturers are "tooling up" to "boost" production, hire thousands of new employees, lead North America "out" of the "recession", and return us to the "glorious age" of the global "Clippers"! "Hey", I am serious............
"Thanks", Clive!
"Thanks", Clive!
Monday, February 09, 2009
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
Here is a fine specimen that "resided" in Canada her whole life, serving the north year-round, until that "hot" summer day in 2002........
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 402
Otter 402 was delivered to the RCAF on 5th December 1960 with serial 9421. It was assigned to 424 Squadron at Hamilton, Ontario. It served with this unit until February 1964, when it was transferred to 400 Squadron at Downsview, where it was to serve for the remainder of its military career. It also flew for 411 Squadron, the other Downsview-based unit.
On 22nd June 1973, 411 Squadron set off for summer camp deployment to Fort Churchill, Manitoba, as it had done the previous year. Part of its task was to construct a community centre at the northern community of Baker Lake, a futuristic geodesic-domed building which could be built out of material that could easily be flown up to the remote community. During the summer camp, a Hercules and 411 Squadron's Otters carried all of the pieces of the dome, ready to be assembled, into Baker Lake. The 1973 Churchill summer camp was known as Exercise Aurora II and during the two week period, various detachments of the squadron visited other northern settlements as well, such as Pelly Bay, Igloolik, Gjoa Haven, Gladman Point and Whale Cove. They carried out census, survey and environmental work for Northern Region Headquarters. 9421 was part of this deployment and its flights included: 25 June '73 Churchill-Eskimo Point-Whale Cove-Baker Lake, returning Baker Lake to Churchill the next day. On 16th July '73 it routed Churchill-Baker Lake-Cambridge Bay in ten hours fifty minutes, returning to Churchill on the 18th.
9421 continued in service at Downsview until 26th August 1981, when it went into storage at the Mountain View depot. It was put up for disposal through the Crown Assets Disposal Corporation and was one of a number of Otters sold at auction in February 1982, advertised as having total airframe time of 8,182 hours. The purchaser was Nahanni Air Services Ltd of Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to whom the Otter was registered C-GUTQ in February 1983. Nahanni Air Services had also purchased two other ex Canadian military Otters, 9406 (365) which became C-GUTL and 9423 (405) which became C-GUTW. A company in Colombia agreed to purchase all three Otters from Nahanni Air Services. The proposed purchaser had the exotic name of Aerolineas de la Orinoquia & Amazonia Limitada and early in 1984 paid a deposit and obtained Colombian registrations for the three Otters. C-GUTQ (402) was to become HK-3049X. The three Otters were made ready for delivery but the final payment was never made and nothing further was heard from the would-be purchaser.
After the sale to Colombia fell through, UTQ was registered to St.Louis Aviation Inc, Hangar 4, St.Jean Airport, Quebec who overhauled the Otter and it was then sold to Air Saguenay (1980) Inc of Chicoutimi-Lac St.Sebastien, Quebec in June 1986, joining the Air Saguenay Otter fleet. It suffered a minor incident at St.Honore, Quebec on 16th March 1987. En route, the aircraft lost a ski and landed at St.Honore. Inspection revealed that the axle on the ski had broken. UTQ was to continue in service with Air Saguenay for many years, but went on lease to Northern Lights Air Service Ltd, Goose Bay, Labrador during the summer of 1996, before returning to the Air Saguenay fleet.
C-GUTQ continued flying for Air Saguenay until destroyed in an accident on 30th June 2002. It had just taken off from Lac Cojibo, Quebec with three souls on board and a full load of freight, destined for a fishing camp. It was a hot summer's day and the pilot found he could not maintain a rate of climb due to the temperature and the weight he was carrying. Unable to climb, he flew into a valley but could not clear rising terrain and crashed into the top of a mountain. Those on board escaped injury, but the Otter crashed and burned and was consumed by the fire.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Talk about a "fiery end". Yup, like I stated before, the old Otter should have had "1,000 Belgians" from "Day 1"!
- C-GUTQ of Air Saguenay at Chicoutimi, Quebec April 1993 (Anthony J. Hickey)
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 402
Otter 402 was delivered to the RCAF on 5th December 1960 with serial 9421. It was assigned to 424 Squadron at Hamilton, Ontario. It served with this unit until February 1964, when it was transferred to 400 Squadron at Downsview, where it was to serve for the remainder of its military career. It also flew for 411 Squadron, the other Downsview-based unit.
On 22nd June 1973, 411 Squadron set off for summer camp deployment to Fort Churchill, Manitoba, as it had done the previous year. Part of its task was to construct a community centre at the northern community of Baker Lake, a futuristic geodesic-domed building which could be built out of material that could easily be flown up to the remote community. During the summer camp, a Hercules and 411 Squadron's Otters carried all of the pieces of the dome, ready to be assembled, into Baker Lake. The 1973 Churchill summer camp was known as Exercise Aurora II and during the two week period, various detachments of the squadron visited other northern settlements as well, such as Pelly Bay, Igloolik, Gjoa Haven, Gladman Point and Whale Cove. They carried out census, survey and environmental work for Northern Region Headquarters. 9421 was part of this deployment and its flights included: 25 June '73 Churchill-Eskimo Point-Whale Cove-Baker Lake, returning Baker Lake to Churchill the next day. On 16th July '73 it routed Churchill-Baker Lake-Cambridge Bay in ten hours fifty minutes, returning to Churchill on the 18th.
9421 continued in service at Downsview until 26th August 1981, when it went into storage at the Mountain View depot. It was put up for disposal through the Crown Assets Disposal Corporation and was one of a number of Otters sold at auction in February 1982, advertised as having total airframe time of 8,182 hours. The purchaser was Nahanni Air Services Ltd of Norman Wells, Northwest Territories to whom the Otter was registered C-GUTQ in February 1983. Nahanni Air Services had also purchased two other ex Canadian military Otters, 9406 (365) which became C-GUTL and 9423 (405) which became C-GUTW. A company in Colombia agreed to purchase all three Otters from Nahanni Air Services. The proposed purchaser had the exotic name of Aerolineas de la Orinoquia & Amazonia Limitada and early in 1984 paid a deposit and obtained Colombian registrations for the three Otters. C-GUTQ (402) was to become HK-3049X. The three Otters were made ready for delivery but the final payment was never made and nothing further was heard from the would-be purchaser.
After the sale to Colombia fell through, UTQ was registered to St.Louis Aviation Inc, Hangar 4, St.Jean Airport, Quebec who overhauled the Otter and it was then sold to Air Saguenay (1980) Inc of Chicoutimi-Lac St.Sebastien, Quebec in June 1986, joining the Air Saguenay Otter fleet. It suffered a minor incident at St.Honore, Quebec on 16th March 1987. En route, the aircraft lost a ski and landed at St.Honore. Inspection revealed that the axle on the ski had broken. UTQ was to continue in service with Air Saguenay for many years, but went on lease to Northern Lights Air Service Ltd, Goose Bay, Labrador during the summer of 1996, before returning to the Air Saguenay fleet.
C-GUTQ continued flying for Air Saguenay until destroyed in an accident on 30th June 2002. It had just taken off from Lac Cojibo, Quebec with three souls on board and a full load of freight, destined for a fishing camp. It was a hot summer's day and the pilot found he could not maintain a rate of climb due to the temperature and the weight he was carrying. Unable to climb, he flew into a valley but could not clear rising terrain and crashed into the top of a mountain. Those on board escaped injury, but the Otter crashed and burned and was consumed by the fire.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Talk about a "fiery end". Yup, like I stated before, the old Otter should have had "1,000 Belgians" from "Day 1"!
- C-GUTQ of Air Saguenay at Chicoutimi, Quebec April 1993 (Anthony J. Hickey)
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
It's Time To Play..... Otterflogger's "Name That Cockpit"!
OK, "Ladies and Gentlemen", time for "installment #93" 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 Convair B-58 "Hustler"! Lance wins the "sailboat fuel"! Good job!
This is the "cockpit" of "the" ......................
***MYSTERY SOLVED!***
This is the cockpit of the Convair B-58 "Hustler"! Lance wins the "sailboat fuel"! Good job!
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
Here is another proud RCAF "Veteran", having served with Winnipeg's "402 Squadron", Saskatoon's "406 Squadron", and Downsview's "400 and 411 Squadrons". Whatever became of her after her military service.......?
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 394
Otter 394 was delivered to the RCAF on 26th October 1960 with serial 9416. It was allocated to 402 Squadron, Winnipeg and for the first few years of its RCAF service its career would parallel that of 9415 (393). Both Otters were transferred to 406 Squadron, Saskatoon in January 1961 and both went back to 402 Squadron, Winnipeg in March 1964. 9416 continued to fly for 402 Squadron until November 1975, when it was transferred to Downsview, for use by 400 and 411 Squadrons. It continued to fly from Downsview until 17th February 1981 when it went into storage at the Mountain View depot. It was disposed of through the Crown Assets Disposal Corporation, one of a number of Otters sold at auction in February 1982, advertised as having a total airframe time of 7,592 hours. It was one of seven Otters purchased by Newcal Aviation Inc of Little Ferry, New Jersey, to whom it was registered N3125N in June 1982. These Otters were ferried from Mountain View to an airstrip at Decatur, Texas where they were put into open storage. It appears that the market for Otters was poor at that time, as these Otters were to spend several years in store at Decatur before being sold on.
The purchaser of Otter 394 was 40 Mile Air Ltd of Tok, Alaska. They arranged for the Otter to be overhauled and prepared for service for them by Victoria Air Maintenance Ltd of Victoria, BC. The Otter was ferried from Decatur to Victoria and in January 1988 was registered C-FAXD to Victoria Air Maintenance. This was necessary, as the company could only certify a Canadian registered aircraft. When the work was completed, the Otter reverted to N3125N and was registered in May 1988 to 40 Mile Air and was delivered to its new base at Tok, Alaska. It was in service only a few weeks when it crashed at Eagle, Alaska on 1st June 1988. The pilot was attempting to land the heavily loaded Otter on the gravel strip at Eagle. Upon touchdown, the airplane veered slightly to the right. The pilot unlocked the tail wheel centering device and attempted to correct to the left, into the prevailing crosswind. The Otter continued to the left, however, out of control and went down a steep embankment before coming to a stop.
N3125N was lifted from the crash scene by helicopter but was dropped in the process, sustaining further damage. It was dismantled and transported by train and truck back to Victoria Air Maintenance at Victoria. The wings were further damaged en route as they were rubbing together, having been badly packed. As a result the Otter needed a complete re-build at Victoria. While this work was going on, the Otter was re-engined with a Polish PZL 1,000 horse power engine. Airtech Canada sent their technicians to do this work at Victoria. When the work was completed, N3125N re-entered service with 40 Mile Air. It met with another accident on 27th April 1999, landing on a remote airstrip thirteen miles northeast of Healy, Alaska. The Otter was flying from Fairbanks, transporting building supplies and workers to the area. It was landing at Daniels Strip, 1,500 feet long but only ten feet wide. It was a 'one way' airstrip, with landings performed towards the west. The airstrip was flat for half its length and then proceeded uphill. According to the pilot, on the third landing of the day, at about 1315 hours, he touched down on the main landing gear. Before the tail wheel touched down, a gust of wind pushed the aircraft off the left side of the strip. The leading edge of the left wing struck a tree, damaging the wing. The damage was repaired and N3125N was restored to service.
While flying for 40 Mile Air, the Otter was usually based at Tok, supporting mineral exploration camps in the bush, and flying hunters during the summer. It also spent much of its time based at Prudhoe Bay, and at a nearby camp called Kavik. The work out of here was supporting 'cat trains' and exploration camps, continuing the work which had been performed by other 40 Mile Air Otters, for example N1037G (77). Other Otters operated by 40 Mile Air were N5056Q (296) and N2899J (425). Eventually the users in Prudhoe Bay insisted that they wanted turbine equipment, so Otter N3125N could no longer be used. The loss of the Prudhoe Bay contract meant that 40 Mile Air's Otter operation was no longer viable, as the work out of Tok was insufficient to support the Otter. Reluctantly, a decision was taken to sell the aircraft, bringing to an end over twenty years of DHC-3 operations by 40 Mile Air. N3125N was sold in October 2003 and flown to Anchorage for overhaul. It was registered to its new owners, Alaska Air Taxi LLC, on 3rd December 2003. It had a BARON/STOL kit installed and a gross weight upgrade to nine thousand pounds, and entered service based out of Anchorage. In November 2004 the Otter was advertised for sale by Alaska Air Taxi, with an asking price of $780,000. At that stage of its career, it had 14,166 hours on the airframe.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 394
January 1st, 2008. N3125N. Alaska Air Taxi, Anchorage, Alaska. PZL. Following an accident on 2nd September 2006 at Wainright, Alaska the Otter was returned to Anchorage on board a Lyndon Air Cargo Hercules and was under rebuild during 2007 at Anchorage.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A real fine "specimen"! 15,000 hours and still not ready for "retirement"...........
- N3125N of 40 Mile Air at Tok, Alaska July 1990 (John Kimberley)
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 394
Otter 394 was delivered to the RCAF on 26th October 1960 with serial 9416. It was allocated to 402 Squadron, Winnipeg and for the first few years of its RCAF service its career would parallel that of 9415 (393). Both Otters were transferred to 406 Squadron, Saskatoon in January 1961 and both went back to 402 Squadron, Winnipeg in March 1964. 9416 continued to fly for 402 Squadron until November 1975, when it was transferred to Downsview, for use by 400 and 411 Squadrons. It continued to fly from Downsview until 17th February 1981 when it went into storage at the Mountain View depot. It was disposed of through the Crown Assets Disposal Corporation, one of a number of Otters sold at auction in February 1982, advertised as having a total airframe time of 7,592 hours. It was one of seven Otters purchased by Newcal Aviation Inc of Little Ferry, New Jersey, to whom it was registered N3125N in June 1982. These Otters were ferried from Mountain View to an airstrip at Decatur, Texas where they were put into open storage. It appears that the market for Otters was poor at that time, as these Otters were to spend several years in store at Decatur before being sold on.
The purchaser of Otter 394 was 40 Mile Air Ltd of Tok, Alaska. They arranged for the Otter to be overhauled and prepared for service for them by Victoria Air Maintenance Ltd of Victoria, BC. The Otter was ferried from Decatur to Victoria and in January 1988 was registered C-FAXD to Victoria Air Maintenance. This was necessary, as the company could only certify a Canadian registered aircraft. When the work was completed, the Otter reverted to N3125N and was registered in May 1988 to 40 Mile Air and was delivered to its new base at Tok, Alaska. It was in service only a few weeks when it crashed at Eagle, Alaska on 1st June 1988. The pilot was attempting to land the heavily loaded Otter on the gravel strip at Eagle. Upon touchdown, the airplane veered slightly to the right. The pilot unlocked the tail wheel centering device and attempted to correct to the left, into the prevailing crosswind. The Otter continued to the left, however, out of control and went down a steep embankment before coming to a stop.
N3125N was lifted from the crash scene by helicopter but was dropped in the process, sustaining further damage. It was dismantled and transported by train and truck back to Victoria Air Maintenance at Victoria. The wings were further damaged en route as they were rubbing together, having been badly packed. As a result the Otter needed a complete re-build at Victoria. While this work was going on, the Otter was re-engined with a Polish PZL 1,000 horse power engine. Airtech Canada sent their technicians to do this work at Victoria. When the work was completed, N3125N re-entered service with 40 Mile Air. It met with another accident on 27th April 1999, landing on a remote airstrip thirteen miles northeast of Healy, Alaska. The Otter was flying from Fairbanks, transporting building supplies and workers to the area. It was landing at Daniels Strip, 1,500 feet long but only ten feet wide. It was a 'one way' airstrip, with landings performed towards the west. The airstrip was flat for half its length and then proceeded uphill. According to the pilot, on the third landing of the day, at about 1315 hours, he touched down on the main landing gear. Before the tail wheel touched down, a gust of wind pushed the aircraft off the left side of the strip. The leading edge of the left wing struck a tree, damaging the wing. The damage was repaired and N3125N was restored to service.
While flying for 40 Mile Air, the Otter was usually based at Tok, supporting mineral exploration camps in the bush, and flying hunters during the summer. It also spent much of its time based at Prudhoe Bay, and at a nearby camp called Kavik. The work out of here was supporting 'cat trains' and exploration camps, continuing the work which had been performed by other 40 Mile Air Otters, for example N1037G (77). Other Otters operated by 40 Mile Air were N5056Q (296) and N2899J (425). Eventually the users in Prudhoe Bay insisted that they wanted turbine equipment, so Otter N3125N could no longer be used. The loss of the Prudhoe Bay contract meant that 40 Mile Air's Otter operation was no longer viable, as the work out of Tok was insufficient to support the Otter. Reluctantly, a decision was taken to sell the aircraft, bringing to an end over twenty years of DHC-3 operations by 40 Mile Air. N3125N was sold in October 2003 and flown to Anchorage for overhaul. It was registered to its new owners, Alaska Air Taxi LLC, on 3rd December 2003. It had a BARON/STOL kit installed and a gross weight upgrade to nine thousand pounds, and entered service based out of Anchorage. In November 2004 the Otter was advertised for sale by Alaska Air Taxi, with an asking price of $780,000. At that stage of its career, it had 14,166 hours on the airframe.
*** LATEST UPDATE!***
Otter 394
January 1st, 2008. N3125N. Alaska Air Taxi, Anchorage, Alaska. PZL. Following an accident on 2nd September 2006 at Wainright, Alaska the Otter was returned to Anchorage on board a Lyndon Air Cargo Hercules and was under rebuild during 2007 at Anchorage.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
A real fine "specimen"! 15,000 hours and still not ready for "retirement"...........
- N3125N of 40 Mile Air at Tok, Alaska July 1990 (John Kimberley)
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
