News Archive 2005

November 2005	Craig Paul has noticed an error one of the pictures he sent recently. The one of C-FNFI at Hutchison Lake Geraldton should be C-FWRA. Karl Hayes has kindly added to the recent information from David Matthews. The Otter owned by Mr Kakeldey, N197TT was actually written off in a crash on 27 August 2004 while being flown by Mr Kakeldey who was injured and another person on board was killed. Full details are on his recently published CD. Karl also notes that Otter 338, registered N338D, had quite an interesting history which again is on the CD, and has been lying derelict for many years. He spoke to the owners, who say that a few months ago they sold it to a Mr Mike Spisak. It is now registered to a leasing company, but hopefully the new owners are going to restore it to airworthy condition. Thanks Karl. John Olafson has just returned from a visit to the airport and Kal Air Repair. Here is the Otter situation there as of this date which updates his reports earlier in the year: “N49PW has had the PZL engine removed and the naked, stripped fuselage awaits prep for painting. It will receive a Garrett turbine. C-FZDV has been painted (beautifully) but there is still much work going on in the interior. It will be an all new interior. It has been fitted for the PT6 engine. I can’t wait to see this beauty outside in the snow on a bright sunny day. N336AK is presently in the fuselage jig. The Garrett has been mounted, but much work is needed on the fuselage. Quite a lot of skin will be replaced and the inside has been fairly well stripped. N362TT is coming to Vernon very shortly. Unfortunately it will arrive in a crate. Not sure if the wings and empennage will come too. It will receive the Garrett engine. Still don’t know if there are any Otters coming to AOG in Kelowna for work or engine changes. Further updates and photos as progress continues. By the way, they also have a Beaver and a Grumman Widgeon at Kal Air both on complete rebuilds. A busy place.” Great report John. A tough job making all those visits but someone has to do it!! Rich Hulina has shed some light on one of the Oddest Shots found by William; because he took it! The Otter shot on floats on the ice/snow was C-FPEN, one of his classic images. Nice one Rich. New contributor William Hohenstein has kindly sent through some shots of his favourite Otter C-FNFI (379) which he has had the delight of watching in action for over 35 years. [here]. He has also sent what must qualify as the oddest Otter shots of the year. Can anyone top these? Many thanks William. Another new contributor Craig Paul has sent shots of FMIQ, FNFI, GLCS and FSOX. He lives and works in Thunder Bay, Ontario for Environment Canada in the Water Survey Division and has the opportunity to travel all over North Western Ontario. He says he is an avid floatplane enthusiast as he does a lot of trips using floatplanes. His main charter service being Rich Hulina's Slate Falls Airways. “I am great admirer of his work” says Craig. More shots to come it would appear. Thanks Craig. Here is the next instalment from Ruben Husberg. Some excellent shots and don’t forget I have reduced them in size to fit the screen better so they can be enlarged for a much better look! Michael St Amand has note the NTSB report on C-GOFF (65) which is contained here. Otter pilot and regular contributor Rich Hulina has sent in some ‘on-duty’ shots from a recent trip on what can only be described as the perfect flying day. Nice one Rich. Much envy! I was delighted to hear from Kenneth Swartz the Director of the Toronto Aerospace Museum at Downsview Park this week and have added a link to the museum on the Links page. Kenneth points out that Downsview in Toronto is the birthplace of the DHC-3 Otter. The museum is located in the original factory of The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. where the Otter was first designed and built. A definite pilgrimage for all those Otterphiles visiting Toronto. David Mathew of Northern Aviation has been in touch to update information about certain of his client’s aircraft and provide some excellent additional photo’s here. Many thanks David and I’m grateful for the heads up! David reports; N362TT (362) is owned by Ron Kakeldey of Anchorage, AK and is in the process of being converted to a garret turbine powered aircraft. Enclosed is a shot of it when it was a piston. 197TT (197) is also owned by Ron Kakeldey of Anchorage, AK. N17689 (431) is owned by Katmai Lodge. N361TT (361) is also owned by Ron Kakeldey. Charles Wisner has sent a great shot of N1018B (392) landing at the Pullout at Ketchikan which can be viewed here. Many thanks Charles. A further round of Rubens photos including a recently acquired shot of LN-LMM (31) here. As promised last month Ruben Husberg has been deluging my inbox with further Otter shots from his library and the next instalment can be found here. This is by no means all the shots received to date and to keep you coming back for more I will release them in batches up to Christmas. For a guy who spends much of his time in the middle of the sea on a rig his time for Otters is unbelievable. Thanks so much Ruben. Matthew Biloff has the answer to Thor’s question last month on the where abouts of N1018B. He tells us that N1018B can be found operating for Emerald Air Service in Homer, Alaska. www.emeraldairservice.com Larry West, an FAA Safety Inspector based at Juneau, Alaska has emailed to offer his services. He has been involved with aviation in Southeast Alaska since May 1990, both as a mechanic, Director of Maintenance, and now as FAA Inspector. He has worked on or been associated with several Otters during this time, and would be glad to help with any information that he might be able to provide based on his personal knowledge. Glad to have you on board Larry and if any of you have a question that Larry might be able to assist with then do please email me and I’ll put you in touch. Michel Giroux has sent in a great shot of C-FDAK (157) which can be found on the individual aircraft page here. Michel tells me this shot was taken on July 10^th 2005 at the Air Saguenay base on lac Sebastien. Nice one Michel.
October 2005	Thor Johnson has sent through several new shots from his collection which can be accessed here. Thor’s first shot is of Ketchikan Air Service's first Vazar Otter 58JH.  Thor believes it maybe the first one in commercial service in Alaska; maybe anywhere?  He reckons this shot must have been taken sometime in early 1990 and says “If I remember correctly I think this airplane had been in service  as a piston -3 with Glacier Bay Air out of Gustavus Alaska prior to KTN Air getting her.  Later in 1990 She went to Antarctica on wheel skis and was lost shortly after getting there in a big wind.  Not sure if it was salvaged or not”.  In relation to some earlier photo’s Thor has asked the Taquan maintenance director about the identity of an Otter lost after being sold it to a Canadian operator and he confirmed that it was 9895B and not 1018B.  He thinks 18B ended up at Wings in Juneau but is not sure. Other shots show 342KA from the summer of 2003 airborne and tied to the dock at the Pond at Juneau airport.  Leased by ProMech of Ketchikan from Ketchums of Anchorage.  The airplane is still operating for PM in KTN. Thor says “She was kind of a tired and doggy as I remember”. Appearances can evidently be deceptive. Thanks Thor. STOP PRESS: With grateful thanks to Karl Hayes I have just received a copy of his Otter CD and there is no doubt that it is THE most comprehensive record of every Otter ever made. Over 800 pages with plenty of excellent photo’s and detailed text. A must for any Otter fan and ideal if only to find out where your old steed might be now. Ruben Husberg has been busy again with a further 12 shots arriving in the inbox on Friday. Check back soon to view the latest offering from Ruben’s extensive library. Thor Johnson has also sent more photo’s through which will be up on the site shortly. John Olafson has been busy at Kal Air again, this time sending in a series of shots of N336AK (333) arriving for some T.L.C. He reports that:- “N336AK arrived on Okanagan Lake at Vernon this morning from Juneau via YVR. Beautiful day to watch the crew bring it ashore and remove the floats. After the wheels were put on and the a/c brought onto the sand they removed the wings and then towed it the short distance to the Kal Air Repair hangar where she will receive a nice new paint job and some other work. It carried a whole lot of control surfaces from the other company Otters for some work too. I waited for this one to arrive a couple of days and the wait was worth it! Thanks for the note Bill. I thanked the pilot for bringing in the whole a/c this time instead of parts in crates as in the last two”. Nice one John and many thanks. To view his shots click here. Karl Hayes has been in touch and details of how to obtain his Otter CD are set out below. The CD has the complete historical data for all 466 Otters and this site will endeavour to continue to update the histories over time. Karl’s CD is the first comprehensive update of Otter aircraft since his well regarded book in the early 1980’s and is a ‘must have’ for all Otter aficionado’s. Do support Karl’s work if you can. The CD is available from:- Karl Hayes, Crakaig, Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, Co.Dublin, Ireland Cost EURO 20/£14 sterling/CAD$28 to include return postage. Many thanks Karl and if any visitors have news and views then do please let me know. This months Shot of the Month is provided by Thor Johnson. An excellent takeoff shot of N11250 at Nooya Lake near Ketchikan. Thanks Thor. See more of his shots below. Bill Hann from Vancouver reports:- “Traditionally September is Harbour Air's busiest month for scheduled flights and Thursday is generally the busiest day of the week.  This past Thursday Harbour Air operated 95 scheduled flights in Turbo Otters (63 on the Vancouver/Victoria run; 24 on the Vancouver Harbour/Nanaimo run; and 8 on the Vancouver Airport/Nanaimo run).  HA carried over 600 passengers on the Victoria/Vancouver run.  In addition to this were the 5 Otter charter flights and numerous Beaver scheduled flights and charters (there, I mentioned the Beaver to legitimise this post!!). Also of note... Otter LCP (422) had her last flight as a piston Otter on Wednesday before heading in for a pointy nose and big windows” Bill reports that HA may be acquiring even more Otters soon!! Thanks for the update Bill. Ruben Husberg has sent through another raft of photo’s that I am hopefully uploading very shortly. Definitely worth the wait! He also noted in the last Aviation Letter that the ‘Ottermeister’ Karl Hayes is offering an 840 page cd-rom with 300 colour photos and history of all 466 Otters build. Karl very kindly kicked me off with some suggestions for this site and I’m more than happy to recommend Karl’s hard work which I can only hope to scratch the surface of on this site. [Karl, the email I have for you keeps bouncing back, so if you could let me know your current point of contact I would be happy to forward any purchase enquiries] New visitor Thor Johnson has sent through some shots from his collection [click here]. He grew up in the Ketchikan area and flew there 87-90, 95-99 and again during the summer of 03. He tells me he spent a lot of time in the Beaver and 185 early in his career and subsequently in the -3 and 3T; mostly for Taquan and ProMech. He is now flying a 767 internationally for UPS.  Thor rightly points out that it’s a good job with a secure future but not anywhere near as much fun as flying the Otter on floats!  His picture first picture shows N472PM (472) before being turbinized and was taken back in 1995.  This airplane had belonged to ProMech and was sold to Wipline and then purchased by Taquan in early 95.  The turbine was installed in 1996 and put back on straight Edos.  The second set show an aircraft that Thor thinks was N1018B that was rebuilt and subsequently lost in Canada. The final set show a couple of shots of N11250 (171).  These were taken at Nooya Lake on the mainland east of Ketchikan probably in summer of 1988.  Sadly she crashed in Tongass Narrows on Jan 15 1989 killing the pilot Ray Malone and his passenger.
September 2005	You want Otters, you’ve got them! Another round of Ruben Husberg’s excellent Collection of shots from the last 20 years or so can be accessed here. Thanks again Ruben. Post holiday workload is leaving little time for website action but in the mean time Otter pilot Steve Taylor has kindly referred to his Otter rich Blog at :- http://flythebush.blogspot.com/ His latest entry shows a delightful trip to drop campers in the wilds with a blow by blow photo record of Otter HYB carrying two canoes, and scroll down for IAF being worked on and VDQ landing on grass with loads of internal and external shots. Nice one Steve. Ruben Husberg has just emailed another round of Otter photo’s which will be uploaded shortly. In honour of his recent prolific contributions I have put one of his shots as Photo of the Month. Michel Giroux has emailed and maybe there is someone out there who can help. He asks :- I am in the process of building a radio controlled Otter and would need some detail drawings of the plane. I don’t know if you have drawings, pictures, cross section views etc. So if you have any information you could pass me I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance. Michel Giroux, TScA Conception R&D - R&D Design Téléphone (Phone) : (418) 549-6879 _ 231 michel@devinci.com Cycles Devinci Inc. 1555, Manic Chicoutimi (Québec) G7K 1G8 CANADA Téléphone (Phone) : (418) 549-6218 Télécopieur (Fax) : (418) 549-3991
August 2005	A rather Scandinavian flavour to this month. Fred Barnes has emailed: “Seeing the news about c/n 397 C-FQEI jogged my memory as I saw the aircraft in Bergen, Norway on 19 Aug 1969 when it was LN-TSC.  The Otter was operated on floats by Ocean Products and was still in basic R. Norwegian Air Force livery. That trip and subsequent visits to Oslo Fornebu and the two floatplane bases there started my interest in floatplanes”. On his next trip to Oslo he will check out the old floatplane base. From his lofty perch on board an oil rig in the Norwegian Sea Ruben Husberg has been busy burning the midnight oil to send 26 photos from his slide and photo collection with many taken by John Kimberley. This is a veritable smorgasbord of Otter memorabilia, enough to keep even the most ardent DHC3 fan interested. I have set these out on a separate page. My very grateful thanks to Ruben, John Kimberley Ron Mak and Richard Hunt. Ruben Husberg has forwarded several shots from his friend Mr John Kimberley, who has photographed bushplanes over many years, and Ruben has obtained his permission to display his shots on the site. My grateful thanks to both John and Ruben for the excellent contributions; CF-BCG (408) in Burrard Air colours at Vancouver June 83 C-GCMY (22) of Wolverine Air still in CMA (Central Mountain Air) colours at Vancouver 92 C-FUJM (159) of Trans-Provincial at Vancouver September 1986 I should go away more often. There have been a number of new contacts, photos and Otter information which I shall be applying myself to in the next week or so. Normand has sent an excellent set of C-FAZX (458) spotted at a local airfield. Henry Friesen and his wife, Lin I have self-published a book entitled "The Beaver Bush Plane at Home in Ontario" which also includes a complete history of the Otter and pictures of most Otters still flying in Ontario. You can preview the book at their website www.beaverbushplane.com. Welcome to new visitor Ruben Husberg from Norway who is a self confessed bushplane enthusiast with 200 Otter slides (and 800 Beaver shots). Ruben has kindly offered to send some through in due course. John Olafson reports that Otter 349 has finally been resurrected from long-time storage and will be soon become an operational Otter courtesy of Kal Air Repair at Vernon BC. It was purchased by an Alaskan operator believed to be Tyee Airlines, which operates quite a few Otters. Under the former ownership, most of the restoration work had been completed. It has received new skin on much of the fuselage and wings and it would appear that it won't be long until it is finished. At present, they are inventorying the a/c to see what it needs in the way of parts and they are deciding which engine will be installed. John reckons it will probably be a PT6 as it would be consistent with their other a/c. He will keep an eye on this one and send updates. Thanks John. Dirk Septer is another new visitor who also has a huge (15 years) collection of Otter photo’s. (can we cope!!) and he has kindly agreed to send some through in due course. In the mean time he has a couple of queries: In 1997 I took a picture of an Otter fuselage along the fence at the Saskatoon SK airport. dark blue and white. No markings. Any idea? Also fate of c/n 453 FDIV now N6868B being rebuilt? Any suggestions out their chaps (and chapesses)? Finally most of you will by now have heard about the crash of Otter C-FQEI 397 (Air Nootka, Gold River, BC) which apparently experienced an engine failure on the west coast of Vancouver Island near Louie Bay. The aircraft was force landed and collided with the beach causing damage to the airframe. All passengers and crew apparently exited OK with minor bumps and bruises. Any landing you can walk away from etc…. Well done to the pilot on a successful job. I’m off on vacation for a couple of weeks so the site will be silent for a while but do keep the shots and information coming and I’ll be back in harness later in the month. Dennis Newell has sent an intriguing photo of an Otter in formation with a Boeing Vertol. When you realise what they are doing it will make the pilots amongst you consider a land based job! In an idle moment you might like to consider the logistics of how they actually managed to do what they are doing. No peeking at published texts. Suggestions on a postcard to…any reasonably insane ideas welcomed.
July 2005	Well, June was certainly a busy month for new photo’s and Otter information and thanks to all contributors. John Olafson reports that unfortunately he missed the departure of this beautiful Otter CF-APQ, but fortunately Tim Ralston of Kal Air Repair got some photos of it before leaving. Shown is the aircraft arriving in Vernon on a truck 1 April 2005 and the others were taken as it departed for King Salmon, Alaska on June 26, 2005. John notes that she was given a beautiful new interior as well. That really is a fantastic finish guys. Thanks to Neil Aird ( www.dhc-2.com )for recommending Lars & Angelika Opland to the site and Lars kindly provides some initial shots to whet the appetite. More are available I understand Lars. Do keep them coming. A nicely completed model too. Where is this one available? New visitor Chris Sumner has sent in several shots of the K2 Otters operating from Talkeetna in Alaska together with a short video of a K2 Beaver Glacier takeoff!! Many thanks Chris He also asks, “I’m looking to build an R/C model of the Otter and I have found it with 6ft wing span. But I have found a Beaver with 8ft wingspan. If you happen to know where I can find a kit with an 8ft wingspan Otter I’d be grateful. The idea is to make a replica of the one in the pictures I’m sending”. If you can help then you can email Chris here.
June 2005	No sooner said than done. Garry Lakin of the de Havilland Heritage Museum has kindly allowed me to upload details of ‘FAK’ which you can see here. A link to the museum has also been added to the links section. Many thanks to Garry and all at the dHHM and good luck with putting FAK back together again. Fred Barnes reports an article in Aeroplane Magazine July 2005 Page 6 concerning Otter VP-FAK (294) which arrived at the de Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre at Salisbury Hall Hertfordshire England on May 9 2005. The aircraft arrived from Grimsby Docks by ship from Deception Island Antarctica having been operated by the British Antarctic Survey aircraft. Its first flight was 17 Oct 1959, being delivered by ship to Deception Island 26 Jan 1960.  Total hours 981, landings 853 prior to being grounded after damage in March 1967.  Flown by RAF crews on secondment to BAS. The aircraft is on long term loan from BAS and will be part of a display representing DH aircraft and their work. Fred asks “Is this the longest ever recovery returning to the UK?” and points out that it will probably will NOT get a turbo conversion!!! I have contacted the Museum asking for permission to use their photos and other details and hope to post more next month.  Harro Ranter has been researching information on accidents for his database at http://aviation-safety.net/ and points out that Otter N17689 (431) has been repaired - and re-engined to DHC-3T. Rich Hulina has provided the photo of her in fine fettle. Thanks Harro. Robbie’s been busy again and sent through a nice set of Kenmore’s N234KA (here); Ketchum’s N342KA (465); and a fine shot of former Kenmore N888KA now N707KA (106). A further new contributor Ron Gerth has sent through a fine set of photo’s (here); in particular a great series of shots of C-GSUV (376) at work and at rest. Very many thanks Ron. New contributor Robbie Shaw normally guides aircraft at London (Gatwick) as part of the Air Traffic Control team but also takes excellent photos of Otters. His first set is of N103SY (296) (now C-FFIJ) when being operated by Bald Mountain Air Services in 1998. Click here for his photo set. Robbie’s next set is of N491K (434) and 929KT (461) at Lake Hood May 2005, N455A (206) in Anchorage May 2005 and N727KT (419) of K2 Aviation at Talkeetna, Ak, 4 May 2005. Many thanks Robbie for some great shots. Information Request: New visitor John Mainwaring is currently building an 8' wingspan, remote controlled DHC-3 Otter. He has chosen the colour scheme to be like the RCMP C-FMPY, s/n 324. He has searched high and low for detailed pics for panel and rivet lines etc. to no avail. John asks:- “Do you know of anyone who could supply close-up pics of # 324 or any other single engine otter so as I can detail mine. I will gladly send pics and return the favour when mine is completed and flying. Just to let you know that my otter will have functioning fore flaps and will be the amphib type with floats, wheels and steerable nose gear. The accumulator stacks will also provide cooling for the 1.2 cc engine installed. I am at the point where I am ready to paint it and in desperate need of some reference photos. I hope you can help”. I know there are friendly Otter folk out there who would just love to see his work airborne. Any helpers?? John can be emailed direct on jmainwaring@uhc.ca or let me know. No sooner had I uploaded FIUZ but John Olafson sends some more great shots of Coal Harbour, Vancouver with the Harbour Air fleet in action on a lovely spring day. Here they are. John Olafson has just sent in a great shot of Harbour Air’s C-FIUZ (135) taken just touching down on the Fraser River. 25 May at Vancouver S. Ian Beatty kicks off the month with an atmospheric shot of C-FIOF (24) taxiing on a misty morning and C-FQND (233) just rising onto the step on takeoff. Many thanks Ian and also for approval to use your other shots on airliners.net. Luc Brousseau has also kindly agreed for allow the use of his airliners.net photos and these will be uploaded shortly. Many thanks for the support Luc. Mike at AirNikon has approved the use of his photos from airliners.net. Very many thanks Mike. Some great Otter shots coming to this website very soon!! I have added an accident report for C-GGON (225) of Whiteshell Air Services Ltd that had an engine failure at 400 ft on takeoff (a pilot’s worst nightmare) and force landed straight ahead into a swamp. All on board escaped with some injuries, but I seem to think from the report that the aircraft is a write-off.
May 2005	Ron Gerth has kindly approved the use of his shot of C-GGOR (97) taken in June 2004. Thanks for the approval Ron. Barry Collman has just sent through a shot of N90422 (152) taken on Friday 13^th May 2005 late in the evening. Many thanks Barry and more to come I believe! Matthew Biloff has sent through three photos of Rusts N2899J (425) taken in 1995 as a piston and in 2000 after conversion to a Turbo-prop. Many thanks Matthew. View his shots here. The Piston shot is by AirNikon and is also shown on www.airliners.net C-FNWX (412) as recently captured by Rich Hulina in some excellent shots here. Once again a feast of evocative Otter and I must express all our thanks to Rich for his superb contributions. Rich has also taken ‘Whiskey X-ray’ on arrival back at home base and the aircraft page (412) contains a good ‘before and after’ comparison with Rich’s earlier piston shots. There are more shots on Rich’s websites:- www.slatefallsair.com www.richhulina.com To recognise the growing selection of photographs within the site I have introduced a ‘Shot of the Month’ page. This is entirely subjective and I’m open to any suggestions, but to reflect his contribution to the site I start with Rich’s recent air to air of WX. Matthew Biloff has recently found a photo of N433GR which crashed near Togiak in Alaska in 1980 when operating for Yute Air and was according to reports written off. Anyone know the construction number? Any chance of the photo Matthew? Rich Hulina has also just returned from an Alaska trip and sent in another round of excellent shots which can be seen here. Thanks once again Rich. John Olafson has sent in some great shots of another Texas Turbine converted Otter which has flown away from Kal Air Repair in Vernon, BC. Thanks John, keep them coming. He rightly points out there is quite a different look with the new engine. Apparently it will be operating out of the Wood River Lodge in Alaska during the fishing season starting shortly. John says there is still one Otter at Kal Air being converted and possibly another coming soon from Alaska.
April 2005	Bill Hann has recently reported to www.dhc-2.com that Harbour Air has recently purchased another Turbo Otter appropriately named C-FHAS (382) (HA already has C-GHAS).  The fleet now stands at eleven Turbo Otters, one Piston Otter, fifteen Beavers, and two C185s. One Turbo Otter, the Piston Otter, and six Beavers will operate out of Prince Rupert under the North Pacific Seaplanes title.  The ten remaining Turbo Otters with operate on the South Coast flying what looks to be almost 90 scheduled flights a day on weekdays this summer.  Eight Beavers and one C185 will round out the South Coast fleet with the remaining Beaver still in overhaul and one C185 for sale.   Looks to be a busy summer say Bill and I hope he doesn’t mind me copying you Otter fans in on the news. John O reports that CF-APQ (201) came to Kal Air Repair on a truck, all the way from California where she has been sitting, acting as a birds nest for some time. She will receive the Texas Turbine conversion and be re-registered as a US Otter and flown back to California. John thinks she will be receiving a new paint job. (thankfully he says!) John says this is probably the last Otter here until the fall.
March 2005	John Olafson in BC happened (!!) to drive by Kal Air Repair hangar recently and saw N455A (206) outside on a beautiful warm sunny day. Kal Air had just done a pressure test on the floats and was soon to be pushed back in to the now almost empty hangar for a turbine conversion. John understands that it will not be receiving a new paint job at this time. John has also taken some excellent shots of C-GBNA (125) at the AOG facility in Kelowna. As always John many thanks. Dave Paull from New Zealand has reported that there is one Otter in the country: ZK-VAS (35) which flies with Vulcanic Air Safaris on Lake Rotorua. Thanks for the update Dave and he has promised to try and photo this aircraft when next in the area.
February 2005	My grateful thanks to Grant Howatt of Air Nootka Ltd for letting me copy some excellent photo’s of their Otter C-FQEI (397) still doing stirling service behind a radial. Click here. John Olafson in BC recently reported at www.dhc-2.com on the following Otter:- I'm awaiting the arrival in Vernon soon of Otter VH-OTR 373 coming in a container from Cairns. It left on Friday and when it arrives it will be given the Texas Turbine conversion and eventually be flown to its new owners in Alaska. Only one Otter left in Australia according to Karl Hayes. (VH-OTV) Do keep us posted John. I have also just finished reading a couple of good books that might while away the winter hours:- “No Numbered Runways” by former Coast Dog Jack Schofield is an interesting little book on the history and characters surrounding the development of floatplane services with some excellent black and white photography, including contributions I see from Rich Hulina. Photo’s include C-GLCP and C-FJUH in the last couple of pages. Another excellent read is “Bush and Arctic Pilot” by the well known pilot writer A.R.(Al) Williams who describes his life as a bush pilot in the 50’s and 60’s flying a number of floatplanes including the Norseman, Beaver and Otter. Some excellent adventures. He flew CF-CZO 71 quite a bit and Rich Hulina kindly provided a photo for the site last year. If anyone knows Al perhaps you could let him know about the photo of his old steed. Work has been a tad manic over the last few weeks so updates to the site have taken something of a backseat. Keep the information coming though.
January 2005	A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU OTTER FANS With the website having been alive now for 18 months I decided to invest in a more user friendly title and have therefore launched www.dhc3otter.com Hopefully you will have already discovered this and I hope this will help the site to grow accordingly. Keith Andersen – CFO of A.O.G. Air Support Inc. at www.aogair.com has been in touch to point out details about their Walter Turbine conversions of both Otters and Beavers. The Otter conversions so far are:- C-FIOF (24); C-FVQD (466); C-GOFF (65) - Crashed last winter; C-GSUV (376); C-GKYG (261); N103SY (296); C-GBTU (209); C-GBNA (125) I have been trying to sort out the database and have produced a first stab at a Master Construction List. This can be accessed via the Database link on the home page. A long way to go but all contributions gratefully received.