News Dec-June 2006

June

Rich Hulina has sent in a great shot from a recent short trip east of Sioux Lookout and encapsulates everything that I would love to be doing for a living. Nice one Rich. See Shot of the Month.

Michel Giroux rounds off this month with a picture of C-FODT with her new nose. It was taken on May 6^th at the Lac Sebastien base.

Can any of you eagle-eyed Otter hounds out there spot the unusual feature about Michel's picture? Click here to find out.

True to his word Simon Codd has emailed some further fine shots which can viewed [HERE]. Thanks Simon.

Another fine shot from Ruben of C-FODV of Wilderness Air shot 02.08.03 at Vermilion Bay by Michel Leonard. Ruben Husberg Collection.

Ruben has been hard at work again squeezing the next round of his extensive Otter collection down the broadband pipe. [VIEW HERE] As ever Ruben many thanks.

New contributor Simon Codd has sent the first couple of shots from his Otter collection, and we look forward to more Simon.

Karl Hayes has sent some ‘interesting’ photo’s of the resulting carnage from ODT skidded into KLC in Quebec recently. [VIEW HERE] A poor attempt at Otters mating perhaps?!

May

This month’s proceedings start with a bit of technology. Peter Watson kindly sent me a disc with his Otter shots and whilst some have already been uploaded I felt the time that might be taken to upload all 77 may be a bit lengthy. Enter Picassa2 from Google. This very useful means of recording and displaying all the photo’s on your computer also allows creation of a file of photo’s as a webpage. (Light bulb illuminates over head! A website within a website). So hear goes. THIS LINK connects to the first page of the file and the side bar shows all the shots with details. Just click and scroll.

Peter also provides a great shot for the Photo of the Month of C-GLCP (422) which he took at Prince Rupert on 12^th August 2005.

Thanks very much Peter for a wonderful series of very evocative photographs.

And again from John Olafson; now this takes some beating as a dealer delivery!

Hi Guys,

I traveled to Kelowna on April 24 to see Otter N336AK fitted with its floats at AOG and its departure to Duck Lake by road a short distance away. Unfortunately, this Otter was not yet ready to leave. My disappointment was short-lived when I discovered Otter C-FRHW was already in the cradle and ready for the trip to Duck Lake. It had arrived at AOG a few weeks earlier for the Baron Wing mods and it was ready to go to Manitoba. I followed C-FRHW on its very interesting journey from Kelowna airport to Duck Lake and am sending some of the many photos I took along the way. The machine they use to move floatplanes is ideally suited to this task and the operator did an incredible job of safely moving the Otter to the lake. Its first obstacle was a very rough cattle guard to cross, and a dusty trip through a cattle ranch, then a crossing over a railway which had just had its crossing dismantled, followed by a trek through a ginseng farm and finally to the lakeshore where it was fuelled up (800 bucks!) and then launched and flown out. A very rough trip, but expertly carried out by the AOG crew. Some places along that “road” the Otter was banked over at close to 45 degrees! A few poplar trees had to be sacrificed along the way. A job well done and another Otter goes back to work.

Cheers, John

The full set of John’s shots can be seen [HERE]. Nice ones John.

Our regular Otter ‘stringer’ John Olafson reports:-

Hi there,

It was a beautiful day here in Vernon to watch the departure of N336AK. This one came in to Vernon on floats at Okanagan Lake last fall and they put her on wheels and after removing the wings towed it in to Kal Air Repair, where she was given a beautiful new paint job and a very nice interior. It has gone to Kelowna where AOG will install the floats tomorrow and then transport her on the special bracket they have to Duck Lake and then she will fly to Juneau Alaska. I am attaching a "before" picture for comparison. I think I should follow her to Kelowna tomorrow and see the water departure. Five Otters still to go in Vernon and two in Kelowna. Gotta get more film!

Cheers, John O

As ever John, many thanks.

Rich Hulina reports:-

After what seems to have been a short winter we have open water in Sioux Lookout already, almost 2 weeks early. 1st bird in the water, will be training this P.M. Ice still visible under left wing!

John Olafson reports:

I was surprised to find another Otter at AOG yesterday. C-FRHW #445 is going to remain in the piston configuration but will receive the Baron Wing mods and then will go to Venture Air at Thompson, Manitoba. He landed at nearby Duck Lake and they put him on this very neat bracket with their lift truck and then by road to the airport. A very short hop.

C-FITS has now had the company titles added and sure looks nice. They say it may fly out on floats, so hopefully I will see both of these Otters make their water departure soon.(See more about ITS from John below)

Thanks for the report John and your pictures can be viewed [HERE]

Hi guys. A beautiful day to prowl around Kelowna airport today. The Beech has just been sold by Shuswap Air to NT Air in Prince George.

They are doing a nice job with ITS as can be seen from the photos [HERE]. I hope to see her sometime this spring or summer when we are down at the coast. I like the paint job on it. They do a different mount for the Walter than the Garrett I have noticed. They add a firewall forward of the original f/w and then mount to that. The Walter must be quite a lot lighter because all the cowling and shrouding is metal, compared to a composite material used on the Garrett installation. This Otter is expected to be finished in about three weeks. Bill, you may see it at Vancouver getting fitted with floats before it goes to work.

Cheers,

John

Hello Ian, a while back I requested some info on an Otter as I was building an 8' model of one. I thank you for posting my request and I am sending you some pics of it completed as promised. I just entered it in the Weak signals Toledo expo and won third place. John Mainwaring.

Congratulations John and a very well deserved placing. The attention to detail, in what is evidently a superb model, is excellent. For more shots go to [HERE]

“The photo says it all.......... Will be going to Talkeetna Air Taxi in Alaska.

Still 6 Otters in Vernon and CF-ZDV back in the hangar and the PT6 is being installed. Going to be a while yet”. John Olafson

Ruben has been busy dredging the almost limitless depths of his slide collection and another round of his Otter shots can be seen here: [SET 1] [SET 2] [SET 3]. Once again thanks very much Ruben. Keep up the scanning.

Rich Hulina emailed one very nice morning in Sioux Lookout; only minus 15 and calm winds! Here is his 2nd Cessna departing and preheating the third!

April

John Olafson reports that Otter 254 arrived in Vernon in early February.

“What beautiful music that engine made for the last time. It joins the other four Otters at Kal Air Repair and in a couple of months will fly away back to Cordova Alaska with a Garrett. No new paint this time. Pilot said she only flew 100 hrs last year”.

“Is it too much to ask that they keep all these Otters here until all completed and then have a squadron of Otters take off and do a low and over in formation before they fly away? I know, I am dreaming but..............” Great idea John.

See 254 taxying to the ramp in this month’s Shot of the Month.

Nick Nichols has emailed with some very useful details of aircraft encountered during his military service.

Hi, my name is Nick Nichols and I just wanted to pass this information on in case you don't have it. I was in the Canal Zone in 1958 and the following numbers were assigned to 937th Engr. Co. (Avn): 55-3244, 3245, 3246, 3247, 3248, 57-6117 and 57-6118.

I was crew chief on 57-6118 which crashed landed in a river in western part of Colombia the aircraft burned but there were no fatalities. I was then crew chief on 55-3244 for the remainder of my tour which ended in August 1962. At that time all the other aircraft were there and flying.

I also was crew chief on 55-2978 at fort Sill, OK. In 1962 and part of 1963 when the 57th Avn Co. exchanged Otters for Caribou's. The first Caribou for the 57th was 62-4165.

Great to hear from you Nick and many thanks for the information.

Rich Hulina made a road trip in Manitoba during late January and found a fine selection of Otters awaiting the arrival of spring. [Here]. Here’s an example showing a really great lineup that should grace every ramp! Many thanks Rich.

Brandon Freeman has kindly sent through an update of the Kenmore Otter fleet. Brandon is an employee and reports:-

“I thought I might help you out and give you a couple updates of the Otters in our fleet. First off, all of our Otters have been converted to turbines (although I don't know if they all have the Pratt & Whitney upgrade), particularly N87KA (s/n 11) and N50KA (s/n 221). Also, N707KA (s/n 106) is currently back in the Kenmore fleet in Seattle. If you get the chance, you should get a picture of 50KA in it's new paint scheme...it's quite something!”

A quick check on Airliners.com confirms a very dramatic paintjob. Many thanks Brandon and feel free to keep us posted on the Kenmore Otters.

March

A slightly late start to this month on account of a trip to New York. Not a floatplane in sight but the low level route for light aircraft down the Hudson River was in good use. Now that’s a trip any pilot would doubtless wish to make.

I have been remiss in not uploading more of Peter Watson’s excellent shots so to redress the balance he gains Shot of the Month and a further set [here] from his extensive collection.

Rich Hulina provides a winter evening shot of C-FPEN awaiting the thaw at Winnipeg Int.

And John Olafson provides some reminiscences of PEN from his collection. John shows PEN in piston configuration at Vernon Feb 11/04 and then when she left in the turbinized (Rich invented that word) version at the end of April 04. John notes that while at Kal Air Repair, the AOG Air Support crew from Kelowna came over and installed the double cargo doors (Yukon Door). That is the only time AOG will not be doing the mod in their facility apparently. The last shot is just before the test flight. In the photo left to right the first three persons are from Fast Air the owners from Winnipeg, next in the red shirt is Bobby Bishop, of Texas Turbines, next three are Kal Air chaps with Tim Ralston (President) in centre. Following the test flight they took up a load of sky divers from the local club and dropped them from 11,000ft.

John Olafson reports on the latest Otter Situation at Vernon Feb 16, 2006

C-FQOQ #46 has been here for a couple of weeks. The fuselage has been completed inside and out in Ontario and is awaiting the Garrett installation. It has the panorama windows installed and is currently painted white (new) but will be painted red for its new owner from Alaska. The wings and tail will be coming to Vernon, so I expect to see it completed and assembled before it leaves here.

C-FZDV #46 is still awaiting the firewall forward mounting kit for the PT-6, otherwise it is looking ready to go. All painted and the wings are on and interior is finished.

N362TT #312 is in the paint shop having some zinc chromate applied inside the fuselage prior to paint. It will go back to Alaska in the box, less wings etc after the Garrett has been installed. I noticed a plate with C-GLJH riveted to the fuselage side on this one. Rich probably knows this Otter.

N336AK #333 flew to Vernon on its floats, complete with previously installed Garrett and it is still in the jig having quite a bit of skin replaced. Looks like it will be ready for paint soon. It will be reassembled at the lake and then flown out of Vernon to Alaska. Interesting thing I noticed is that they level the jig at regular intervals as there is a sign-out sheet fastened to it.

N49AW #310 flew to Vernon on floats with a PZL engine and is having some fuselage repairs done and when the Garrett is installed will be reassembled at the lake and flown out of Vernon back to Alaska

N254AW #254 is parked outside awaiting its turn in the hangar for the Garrett installation. It will not be painted. It will likely be the last one to leave Vernon in the spring.

Several crates with Garrett mounting kits and props in the hangar. They sure are busy in there and also have a Cessna Conquest and a 337P Skymaster getting major work done too.

Many thanks John.

Another three sets of Ruben Husberg’s collection can be viewed here [SET 1] [SET 2] [SET 3]

Further shots by Mike Stedman of N338AK and N339AK before and just after arrival back in Juneau after Kal-Air rebuild and Texas Turbine Conversions March 2005. Now that’s a tidy cockpit!

February

Mike Stedman provides this months Shot of the Month. An excellent study of Otters earning their daily crust in Juneau. Many thanks Mike.

Thor Johnson sent a series of Otter shots in December and whilst I had prepared them all for uploading they escaped my notice. Many apologies Thor and here they are.

Thor has also sent in a great series of shots of his favourite turbine Otter N409PA taken at various locations during his floatplane existence. The life of a hardworking Otter Jock is beautifully captured here with Thor’s text adding useful detail. Thor now pilots a Boeing 767 for Browns (UPS) and has recently been emailing from Japan and the Philippines. Nice one Thor.

A thought. If global warming is likely to lead to flooding of some of the world’s major airports. What about an amphibious mod for the likes of a 767? Consider a 747-400 on floats!!

January

Hi all. Just had a quick jolly round the local area in the clubs trusty Cessna172SP. 60 Minutes-night goes in to the book. Very clear and a nearly full moon too. Pretty.

Ruben Husberg is back on shore and loading up my inbox again. Here is the next round of his scanned shots and once again thanks Ruben. [Set 1] [Set 2] [Set 3].

This session I have tried to do a bit of catching up and my first apologies go to Marc Bourdon who sent through some shots in November that missed my field of view, so here they are now [here]. Many thanks Mark.

Rich Hulina also added a couple of shots of himself hard at work brushing the snow from his Turbo-Otter. The less glamorous side of a pilot’s life!! [here]

John Olafson reported the following from Kal-Air:-

Just stopped in to Kal Air Repair here and found (349) with nice new paint and wearing registration C-FZDV. I had earlier reported in error that it was purchased by an Alaskan owner, but that is not the case as it has been purchased by Air Tindi as a replacement for their ill-fated C-FXUY (142). This ex-Ethiopian air force Otter was one of several brought to Canada some time ago. It will have the PT6 engine and a new interior. Its wings have been re-skinned and the fuselage has had some re-skinning as well as the large windows added. Going to be a beautiful Otter when done and here is an interesting note: Only 2458 hours on the airframe. Will this be the lowest time Otter out there? I can't wait to see this Otter completed and outside in the sunshine, posing for my camera.

On another note, Otter N362TT is coming soon to Vernon (sadly) in a crate to receive the Garrett turbine conversion. I think it has a PZL in it now. No details yet, but apparently another Otter will come for a turbine conversion as well.

Sorry that this report is a little late John.

January

Welcome to the New Year and for those of you unfortunate enough to try and log in yesterday evening (UK time) you, like I, no doubt found the horror of the site gone and the domain name on the market!!

Frantic emails and much web action resulted in a less than apologetic email this morning from the web host and the site back in action. Phew.

And to start the New Year some good news for all you FS2004 Sim fans out there. There is now not one but two Piston Otters for FS2004 which were published on www.avsim.com over the Christmas period and pretty good they are too.

The first file [dhc3pzl.zip] has been produced by long time Otter producer Eugene Heyart and is described as follows:-

This Otter is the 1000hp conversion from Airtech Canada (R). The FS2004 model has a dynamic virtual cockpit, 5 liveries, reflective textures, opening door, full moving parts, panel with custom gauges and custom sound.

This aircraft is on amphibious floats.

The second Otter [dhc3otter.zip] is produced by long-time Sim collaborators Steve Grant and Fed Choate and is a wheeled version. I have not tried this one yet but it looks good and has some nice features, including a better panel by the sound of it. And having just checked Avsim I see a further panel is available [dhc3.zip].

As I’m still recovering from the shock of last night I will not try and upload more photo’s in this session but rest assured there are many more to come.

December 2005

New Contributor Peter Watson kindly forwarded a CD containing his Otter photo collection and the first taster of nearly 80 shots can be found HERE. There are many more treats in store. My grateful thanks Peter for getting in touch and I will be uploading more in the New Year. (No wish to over-indulge everyone at Christmas time!!)

Santa Claus kindly brought me a DVD: “Alaska Floatplane Flying – The Mists of Ketchikan” from Virgil Peachey Productions in Anchorage, Alaska.
(www.alaskafloatplanes.com). A must-see for all you Otter / floatplane fans. Some truly excellent photography and worth every penny. Thanks again to Virgil (a bush pilot in his own right by the look of it) for putting up with my ham-fisted use of PayPal. And there appear to be more volumes to follow. Oh joy unconfined.

A new set of shots from regular contributor and Otter pilot Thor Johnson can be found HERE showing the day-to-day life of a floatplane pilot. Apologies for the delay in uploading Thor and look forward to more in the New Year.

And finally for 2005 our regular neighbourhood hanger reporter John Olafson sends the following update from Kal-Air:- [John’s shots can be viewed HERE]

Hi guys,

N362TT has arrived by truck from Alaska, less wings, tail feathers and engine. As you can see, it is long overdue for new paint! Busy at Kal Air Repair these days. 4 Otters, 1 Beaver, 1 Super Widgeon plus two small Cessna’s in the paint shop. The Beaver should leave in early Jan and Otter ZDV next, but they are still awaiting engine components. Apparently the owners made the engine purchase themselves and paid for it, but did not realize it was not the complete kit! This is an expensive mistake.

This is my last update for the year quite likely. In the meantime, Merry Christmas and all the best for 2006!

Cheers,

John

And may I add my own very best wishes to you all for a safe and prosperous 2006. Ian

It was Christmas Eve and all around the snow lay crisp and deep and even. Deep in the forest, moonlight illuminated a small woodman’s cottage. A single candle flickered in the window through which a bearded dwarf can be seen toiling over his laptop……

Yes folks it’s Christmas Eve and Julie (her in doors) has given me special dispensation to upload the first of a series of photo groups for your Yuletide enjoyment before we hit the Mulled Wine.

You can view them here: [SET 1] [SET 2] [SET 3] [SET 4]

Workload has prevented me from bending to the task earlier this month, but here we go and do check back for more over the next week or so.

May I take this opportunity of thanking all of you for visiting and contributing to the site which has really taken off this year. If it were not for you this would be a very solitary exercise. Do please keep emailing your thoughts and comments and your photographs of course.

This years special commendations for services to the De Havilland Otter go to:-

Karl Hayes – The ‘Ottermeister’ produced another stunning tour de force in CD format. Thanks for all your help Karl and for the original inspiration to start this site.

Ruben Husberg – Most prolific photo provider of the year award. (Take Care on the Rig this Christmas Ruben).

Rich Hulina – Photographer and well known Otter pilot. Keep it straight and level Rich.

Norm Dennis – for his continuing encouragement and contributions.

John Olafson – for loitering with intent at Kal Air. (and to Peggy for letting him)

And a big thank you to all of the following for making valuable contributions:-

Neil Aird – DHC-2.com

Keith Anderson – AOG

Michael St Amand

Ellen Ayer

Fred Barnes

Lenn Bayliss

Ian Beatty

Matthew Biloff

Marc Bourdon

Luc Brousseau

Barry Collman

Jeffrey DeVore

Bernard Filiatrault

Linda Freisen – Left Seat Publishing

Ola Furulund

Michel Giroux

Ron Gerth

Bill Hann

William Hohenstein

Grant Howatt – Air Nootka

Thor Johnson

Garry Lakin – DeHavilland Museum

David Mathew – Northern Aviation

Mike – AirNikon

Lars & Angelika Opland

Craig Paul

Harro Ranter

Dirk Septer

Robbie Shaw – Gatwick ATC

Mike Stedman – thanks for persevering Mike

Chris Sumner

Ken Swartz

Steven Taylor

Steve Todd

Peter Watson

Larry D West

Dave x P

If I’ve missed anyone my sincere apologies.

18/12 Peter Watson has just emailed me to say he has some 115 Otter photo’s on their way to me! A serious contribution and with Rubens and John Olafson’s further contributions awaiting my attention (at least 110 shots) I am struggling to keep up. Rest assured I will be making sure you will have something to look at over the Christmas break so watch this space.

9/12 My young son has just introduced me to the wonderful world of Google Earth. Believe me this is worth a viewing. Just go to the Google search page and click on the hyperlink below the search box, download the exe. for the free beta version. And enjoy! I won’t spoil the surprise but this is definitely a keeper.

We start this month with a series of shots taken by Marc Bourdon at Dolbeau, Quebec at the end of October 2005. Thanks Marc and more to come I understand.

The next set of Rubens Otter collection can be found here. He has yet again been deluging my inbox so I hope to have a major upload session before Christmas to catch up.

And finally this upload, the tolerance award goes to Mike Stedman for persevering over the last month with my emailing problems and sending in this month’s Shot of the Month. Cheer’s Mike.