Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Steve's "Otter Of The Week"! .....by Karl E. Hayes
The Otter touched every continent on earth. Here is one that made her way back home from Africa, again, flying the Atlantic.
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 453
Otter 453 was delivered to the Tanzanian Air Force on 8th March 1966 with serial 9103. It was crated and shipped to Tanzania where it was re-assembled and entered service, based at Dar Es Salaam. The history of the Tanzanian Otters has been explained in relation to Otter 451. Of the eight Otters acquired, three were retained in Canada for training purposes, and the other five, including 9103, went to Tanzania where they continued in service until April 1972, when they were purchased by Bannock Aerospace Ltd of Toronto.
The five Otters were flown from Dar Es Salaam to Nairobi-Wilson airfield, Kenya in April 1972 and during May were prepared for the long ferry flight back to Canada. They were registered to Bannock Aerospace Ltd, 9102 (452) becoming CF-DIO; 9103 (453) CF-DIV; 9104 (454) CF-DIY; 9106 (459) CF-DJA and 9107 (460) CF-DIZ. Four of these Otters passed through Shannon in Ireland on the delivery flight home, the fifth passing through Prestwick in Scotland. CF-DIV (453) passed through Malta on 14th May '72 and routed Paris (Orly)-Shannon-Reykjavik on 17th May. It had arrived at Toronto's Malton Airport by 29th May '72.
The Otter was sold on to Bradley Air Services Ltd of Carp, Ontario on 14th June 1972 and after overhaul and repaint into Bradley colours, entered service as part of their Otter fleet. It was damaged in a crash at Coburg Island, Northwest Territories on 4th September '72, summarised as “selected unsuitable terrain; hard landing”. It was repaired, re-registered C-FDIV and operated by Bradley on behalf of Bell Canada Ltd, based at Kenora, Ontario. This was a long-term contract, for which the Otter was painted orange overall, with black cheat-line and Bell Canada's logo. It was used to fly Bell technicians to native reservations throughout north-western Ontario in connection with the installation of the phone network.
This was a summer only operation, at least towards the end of the contract, and the Otter was in storage at Reddit, Ontario over the winter of 1980/81. It suffered a minor incident at Reddit on 24th April '81. After touching down on the runway, the rear check cable broke, causing the tail wheel to collapse. The damage was repaired and in June '81 DIV was sold to Tobin Lake Air Services Ltd, Nipawin, Saskatchewan. The following year, on 1st July 1982, it crashed at Black Lake, Saskatchewan. While on final approach to land on the isolated lake, the engine stopped. Attempts by the pilot to restart the engine were unsuccessful and he landed the aircraft in dense bush near the shoreline. The engine was not recovered from the crash site and so the reason for the failure could not be determined.
That accident marked the end of DIV's flying career for a long time. The fuselage was retrieved from the crash site and by 1987 it had arrived at Salinas, California where it was used for engineering test work in connection with the Vazar turbo Otter project. By October 1991 it had arrived at the Aeroflite Industries facility at the Vancouver International Airport where it was in store for an eventual rebuild and was also used for training purposes in connection with the Vazar conversions undertaken at Aeroflite. The Otter was sold to Air Tindi Ltd of Yellowknife, operators of turbine Otter C-FXUY (142) but remained in store at the Aeroflite hangar in Vancouver awaiting rebuild. It was still there in 2004, twenty two years after its crash.
- by Karl E. Hayes
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C-FDIV of Bradley Air Services but painted in the colours of the Bell Telephone Company, at Reddit, Ontario December 1980 (Robert S.Grant)
"Hey", time to rebuild this Otter and get her back flying!
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 453
Otter 453 was delivered to the Tanzanian Air Force on 8th March 1966 with serial 9103. It was crated and shipped to Tanzania where it was re-assembled and entered service, based at Dar Es Salaam. The history of the Tanzanian Otters has been explained in relation to Otter 451. Of the eight Otters acquired, three were retained in Canada for training purposes, and the other five, including 9103, went to Tanzania where they continued in service until April 1972, when they were purchased by Bannock Aerospace Ltd of Toronto.
The five Otters were flown from Dar Es Salaam to Nairobi-Wilson airfield, Kenya in April 1972 and during May were prepared for the long ferry flight back to Canada. They were registered to Bannock Aerospace Ltd, 9102 (452) becoming CF-DIO; 9103 (453) CF-DIV; 9104 (454) CF-DIY; 9106 (459) CF-DJA and 9107 (460) CF-DIZ. Four of these Otters passed through Shannon in Ireland on the delivery flight home, the fifth passing through Prestwick in Scotland. CF-DIV (453) passed through Malta on 14th May '72 and routed Paris (Orly)-Shannon-Reykjavik on 17th May. It had arrived at Toronto's Malton Airport by 29th May '72.
The Otter was sold on to Bradley Air Services Ltd of Carp, Ontario on 14th June 1972 and after overhaul and repaint into Bradley colours, entered service as part of their Otter fleet. It was damaged in a crash at Coburg Island, Northwest Territories on 4th September '72, summarised as “selected unsuitable terrain; hard landing”. It was repaired, re-registered C-FDIV and operated by Bradley on behalf of Bell Canada Ltd, based at Kenora, Ontario. This was a long-term contract, for which the Otter was painted orange overall, with black cheat-line and Bell Canada's logo. It was used to fly Bell technicians to native reservations throughout north-western Ontario in connection with the installation of the phone network.
This was a summer only operation, at least towards the end of the contract, and the Otter was in storage at Reddit, Ontario over the winter of 1980/81. It suffered a minor incident at Reddit on 24th April '81. After touching down on the runway, the rear check cable broke, causing the tail wheel to collapse. The damage was repaired and in June '81 DIV was sold to Tobin Lake Air Services Ltd, Nipawin, Saskatchewan. The following year, on 1st July 1982, it crashed at Black Lake, Saskatchewan. While on final approach to land on the isolated lake, the engine stopped. Attempts by the pilot to restart the engine were unsuccessful and he landed the aircraft in dense bush near the shoreline. The engine was not recovered from the crash site and so the reason for the failure could not be determined.
That accident marked the end of DIV's flying career for a long time. The fuselage was retrieved from the crash site and by 1987 it had arrived at Salinas, California where it was used for engineering test work in connection with the Vazar turbo Otter project. By October 1991 it had arrived at the Aeroflite Industries facility at the Vancouver International Airport where it was in store for an eventual rebuild and was also used for training purposes in connection with the Vazar conversions undertaken at Aeroflite. The Otter was sold to Air Tindi Ltd of Yellowknife, operators of turbine Otter C-FXUY (142) but remained in store at the Aeroflite hangar in Vancouver awaiting rebuild. It was still there in 2004, twenty two years after its crash.
- by Karl E. Hayes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
C-FDIV of Bradley Air Services but painted in the colours of the Bell Telephone Company, at Reddit, Ontario December 1980 (Robert S.Grant)
"Hey", time to rebuild this Otter and get her back flying!
CONTACT KARL, CD PRICING and ORDERING INFO - De Havilland DHC-3 OTTER - A HISTORY by Karl E. Hayes
Comments:
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Steve,
I've noticed you're not blogging about flying fishermen (and women) into the bush this summer. What's up? I hope you're OK.
Bruce Adams
Minnetonka, MN
I've noticed you're not blogging about flying fishermen (and women) into the bush this summer. What's up? I hope you're OK.
Bruce Adams
Minnetonka, MN
Hi guys, still alive, flying an Otter, and full of piss and vinegar. Limited internet access, and very busy, but taking lots of pics, will post some soon. Flying ODQ, Otter #111, from Red Lake, Ontario..........
Steve it has been so long! Are you still ok? I miss the updates. Hope you and yours are well.
Blois
Blois
# posted by 
: 3:08 AM
: 3:08 AM
Hey Steve,
Long time since your last post or comment.
Hope your doing well.
Blois
Post a Comment
Long time since your last post or comment.
Hope your doing well.
Blois
# posted by : 3:47 AM
: 3:47 AM << Home
