A combination of my passion for aviation and for New Zealand. This is the de Havilland Otter sea plane on Lake Tarawera, North Island in 2010. the video is reasonably high definition and is 5:17 minutes long. Brilliant bit of kit.
WOW What a beauty! I had a Canadian friend who's family owned a remote seasonal fishing camp in northern Quebec, fly in only, and they owned a DeHavilland Otter to fly clients in.
What a wonderful video. I had the pleasure of taking a flight in this very float plane with Capt. Becky back in 2014. The Otter is a real beauty with a great history. Built in Canada in 1958 used there for years. Then sold, disassembled and shipped to NZ sometime in the 70's. When I was there it flew off of Lake Rotorura and was operated by Volcanic Air Safaris. What a great piece of flight history and the views of NZs northern volcanos were amazing.
Wow - I am glad to see an old friend semi-retired in the warm climate of Northern New Zealand. I first met ZK-VAS in 1976. She, and six other sister aircraft, were recently acquired from the Canadian Royal Air Force surplus storage. Me - I was a junior AME (Canada’s equivalent to New Zealand LAME) with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) - Air Services. At that time, I only knew VAS and her sisters as Work-Order numbers. The OMNR operates throughout Ontario with its main hangar in Sault Ste. Marie. Here the maintenance team was tasked with converting old Air Force Otters to civilian standards; and installing the special mods for the OMNR's forest fire fighting water bombers. First, we stripped all the Air Force's avionics and systems. Then, we repaired and/or replaced the structure and existing systems. Afterwards, we configured the aircraft for floats, and installed the electric driven hydraulic system, which operated the water bombing system; all this with a modern avionics system (modern for the 1970’s). In 1977, I was assigned to an OMNR base in Kenora, Ontario. Shortly after C-GOFA (the maiden name for ZK-VAS) was assigned to the base. While in Kenora (located on Lake of the Woods), we operated off the water in the summer (May to Oct). In the winter we operated off the ice (Dec to March) with wheel/skis. In the summer my task was to maintain and service the aircraft to ensure it was always ready for forest fighting or general transportation. In the winter months OFA was used for government transportation and aerial surveys. My winter tasks were to ensure that the aircraft was maintained. In addition, after the pilot returned, I would put the aircraft to bed. This involved: running the engine and diluting the oil with fuel to ensure the oil would be thin in the morning; installing the engine covers and heaters; and installing the wing covers to keep the frost off the wings. In the morning, I would have to pre-heat the engines using a kerosene heater with ducts into the augmenter tubes; remove and store the wing and engine covers; then run the engine to burn off the fuel-dilution in the oil. If the flight was cancelled, I would have to put it back to bed. In 1981, I relocated to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Here the assigned Otter was C-GOFG, along with a Turbo Beaver and a Twin Otter, all on floats in the summer. Shortly afterwards OFA replaced OFG - we were back together. In the 1990’s I left the OMNR, however, I remember all the great aircraft I worked with. C-GOFA loved the North and small towns. I am glad to see her still in the North (of New Zealand) operating on floats from a small town. P G
Today (23/12/2018) i saw this same plane, and she is still flying scenic flights in New Zealand. What a lovely machine! Specially the sound of the engine is one of the best!
Serendipity moment, when you least expect it. Floats and round engines....the way it was meant to be, except maybe the beaver turbo conversion....all hail the DHC 2 :-)
The Beaver is a similar but smaller personal aircraft. The DHC-3 Otter is full sized commercial float plane. This one seated about 9 of us and I was the lucky one sitting in the co pilots seat.
@@charlie-obrien Ah, yeah after i posted this comment i realized that this was a Piston otter lol. Im used to Turbine otters because my dad works on them along with turbine beaver Most of the time.
Once I was on the shore of Lac-Sébastien, Québec, near the base of Air Saguenay, a bush airline. And I saw that Otter preparing for take-off. Even if it was so loaded that the floats barely emerged above the water, that beast took-off in only half the length normally needed by a Cessna. I was deeply impressed.
@@alainrobillard4300 I've heard it said of Beavers "If it will float, it will fly" and I'm sure it's true of Otters as well. A rampie once told me about a situation involving a Beaver on amphibious floats that was loaded up on land and then sank on coming off the step after arrival on water. Could be apocryphal, but lots of people would believe it.
This is for 110% sure the normal, original engine installation, it is not the PZL 995hp radial engine. There was also an aftermarket STC deal to use a ORENDA liquid cooled V8-or what it was but that was never used in any big number. To my knowledge only one plane in Canada got the Orenda engine install. Here in AK most Otters are modified with 1000+hp Turboprop engines...Easy to identify by the outrageous long pointy nose...and the friggin turbine whine...wailing...
The 900hp Garrett is hellishly noisy...but the Walter and PT-6 are TOO quiet...I buzzed lodges five feet above the roof but still could not wake them to go to the dock to go home!
Many years flying float planes west coast Canada, can't recall bare footin it, even for beach ops. My kids missed their comfy lase-less skater shoes, sensitive feet !
Engine fires can turn the rudder pedals too hot to touch very quickly, while there are no regulations that would prevent bare feet ; however, it would be stupidity if you were in some kind of emergency or a crash landing, you would be useless. JMHO
The airplane that shows the encyclopedia wikipedia like DHC OTTER, is a airplane with turboprop engine. . . It also explains that it is larger than the Beaver, but the most noticeable difference is noticed in the engine. As I say: The Beaver has a radial engine. The otter, turboprop engine
@@leonavsol It's true that most Slotters that you see these days are turbos, but originally they were piston pounders. Both aircraft are thick as starlings around here (British Columbia) and this one is assuredly an Otter. There are a fair number of turbo Beavers as well.
@@johnchristie1948 Yeah, Otter for sure! The Beaver is the smaller version of the Otter or, if you prefer, the Otter is the larger version of the Beaver! Apart from size they do look very alike though.
