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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 atFornebu 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”.
History courtesy of Karl E Hayes from DHC-3
Otter: A History (2005) |
