kickingfrog Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Story in the Globe and Mail about the twin otter. Next... the beaver??? I don't have the expertise of many on the site, but I think the beaver and the twin otter are hard to beat for what they were built for. http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/st...l_gam_mostview# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radnine Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 A great article and a great plane. It is sad though, how the first bit of the article makes you feel good about the ramping up of production in BC and Calgary, only to have your hopes dashed later in the article when they say “While it could be another five or 10 years away, Mr. Curtis envisages India as a potential site for a second assembly site, to complement the Canadian manufacturing operations.” I can see the headlines now “Twin Otter Production Moves to India, Calgary Looses 200 More Jobs” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Great article KF ! I've wondered for 5 years where Viking pulled the rabbit out of the hat ( the Type Cert) and now know.... thanks to someone that cares less where her money is spent. I really doubt they'll ever bring back the beaver. Viking uses the type cert to make some parts for fleet maintenance and darn near went bust doing a wing incident mod and it's approval hoops on the beaver (with minimal sales other than to Harrison Ford)... but cost of a new one would be hard justfied based on passenger carrying numbers. Possibly a Turbo Beaver.. but again doubtfull. As for fears of losing everything to India... never gonna happen. The type certificate is a Canadian one and is reciprical with the USA. So they can mfg them in either place and still fly them in the majority of UN nations. If they manufactured in India alone they would most likely have to recertify and unlike a car safety at $100... that would set them back in the neighbourhood of 2 to 4 million these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whopper Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 Good article! I get really excited stepping up into a float plane. I mean really excited Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted March 10, 2008 Report Share Posted March 10, 2008 (edited) Thanks for the link to the site and will be nice to see the plane living on. I know what you mean Wayne. I have pics of all the planes I've flown in but this is my favorite shots before they flew us out. Edited March 10, 2008 by Smokey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishindevil Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Great planes for sure !!!!!...a true canadian icon, and the workhorse of the north !!! they are some of the best planes ever built,and they are without a doubt the best planes in the world for the jobs the still do everyday,year after year !!! man i bet there will still be a few flying around 100 yrs from now,look at how long they have been around for now,isnt it amazing !!!! great article and pictures too...cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radnine Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Great article KF ! As for fears of losing everything to India... never gonna happen. The type certificate is a Canadian one and is reciprical with the USA. So they can mfg them in either place and still fly them in the majority of UN nations. If they manufactured in India alone they would most likely have to recertify and unlike a car safety at $100... that would set them back in the neighbourhood of 2 to 4 million these days. Yah, we've hardly lost any jobs to India Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Okay.. Sorry.. didn't realize you knew how the airplane certification hoops worked ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radnine Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Alright, so my post might have been a little cheeky. I think the future doesn’t look good though, when the company the article is about is already mentioning manufacturing in India as a future goal. I also have never thought of Calgary as being a hotbed of surplus skilled tradesmen, or Victoria for that matter. Anyway enough pontificating; I too am an aviation guy! An EAA member and am currently teaching a manufacturing course based on aviation at my high school (I will drop the segment on Type Certificates from the program . We are building a ½ scale Bowers Fly Baby as our go to project and the plane is coming along nicely. The kids are enjoying it and I am doing my best to convert a couple of “I wanna be a car mechanic” types to “wow! look at all of the careers in aviation!” types. I am looking for guest speakers Irishfield. You could land a J3 on our football field and write the whole trip off as a business expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tootsie II Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 (edited) There is a company in Parry Sound , Found Aircraft, that is building a plane that is very close to the DeHavilland DH-2 Beaver. Many companies that need an aircraft comparable to the Twin Otter are buying the Cessna "Caravan". It's a single engine job that comes close to the Twin. For those of you who pine for "The Beaver" not just beaver, there is a website that shows the history of just about very one built, where it currently is or what has happened to it. I'll post its name later, Google just won't find it right now. Found it: it's www.dhc-2.com and it uses the name Beaver Tails Edited March 11, 2008 by Tootsie II Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Alright, so my post might have been a little cheeky. I think the future doesn’t look good though, when the company the article is about is already mentioning manufacturing in India as a future goal.I also have never thought of Calgary as being a hotbed of surplus skilled tradesmen, or Victoria for that matter. Anyway enough pontificating; I too am an aviation guy! An EAA member and am currently teaching a manufacturing course based on aviation at my high school (I will drop the segment on Type Certificates from the program . We are building a ½ scale Bowers Fly Baby as our go to project and the plane is coming along nicely. The kids are enjoying it and I am doing my best to convert a couple of “I wanna be a car mechanic” types to “wow! look at all of the careers in aviation!” types. I am looking for guest speakers Irishfield. You could land a J3 on our football field and write the whole trip off as a business expense. Every trip is a "business expense".. isn't it? Hmm maybe I'd better look at my company books again! lol Good to see you leading some kids in the right direction. I've gone back to enjoying it on my own after spending 14 years as an RAA chapter president. Life's too short for all the politics... but I still have most of my contacts inside TC. The issue with India is they have their own air regs that are beyond ours and the USA's.. amazing as that may seem. I think what Viking is looking at is the fact of how big the market is within that one little country and that what they (could) build there would strictly be used in India. Everywhere else would be covered from Canada. Victoria seems to have a lot of skilled lads that maintain Harbour Air/Kenmore Air/etc's fleet and rebuild beavers etc. I still can't undestand for the life of me why you'd add to the bill to ship all the components to Calgary to assemble. Make more sense to ship the Alberta engines West... but I'd bet a lot has to do with airport access/costs in BC vs Calgary. That and some provincial goverment "hand shake". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irishfield Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 You beat me to the link for Beaver Tails Tootsie http://www.dhc-2.com/current_cover_page.htm As for the Found... it's no where near the size of a beaver or it's load carrying capacity/performance. Has some flight quirks as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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