De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter

infobox Aircraft
name = DHC-3 Otter
type = STOL utility transport
manufacturer = de Havilland Canada

---

caption = Turbo Otter in Harbour Air livery
designer = Richard D. Hiscocks and Frederick H. Buller
first flight = 12 December 1951
introduced = 1953
retired =
status = Still active
primary user = regional and remote air carriers
more users =
produced = 1951-1967
number built = 466
unit cost = The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a single engined, high wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada. It was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, but was overall a larger plane.

Design and development

When de Havilland Canada began design work on the King Beaver (the Otter's original name) in January 1951, it was trying to extend the company's line of rugged STOL utility transports that had begun with the Beaver. The single engined, high wing, propeller-driven DHC-3 Otter was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the Beaver, but was considerably larger, the veritable "one-ton truck" (in company parlance, the Beaver was the "half-ton truck"). [Rossiter, Sean. "Otter & Twin Otter: The Universal Airplanes". Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1998. ISBN 1-55054-637-6. p.55.]

Using the same overall configuration of the earlier and highly successful DHC2 Beaver, the new design incorporated a longer fuselage, greater span wings, and was much heavier. Seating in the main cabin is for 10 or 11, whereas the Beaver could seat six. Power is supplied by a 450kW (600 hp) Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial. Like the Beaver, the Otter can be fitted with skis or floats. The Otter served as the basis for the very successful Twin Otter, which featured two wing mounted Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprops.

The Otter received Canadian certification in November 1952 and entered production shortly after.

Operational use

Although the Otter found ready acceptance in bush airlines, as in a similar scenario to the DHC-2 Beaver, the United States Army soon became the largest operator of the aircraft (184 delivered as the U-1A Otter). Other military users included Australia, Canada, and India but the primary role of the aircraft as a rugged bush plane continues to this day.

The Otter is also popular in the skydiving community and can be found in many dropzones throughout the world.

Military Operators

; ARG; AUS ; flag|Bangladesh ; flag|Burma Cambodia, ; CAN
* Royal Canadian Air Force ; flag|Chile; COL; flag|Costa Rica; flag|Ethiopia; flag|Ghana; IND; flag|Indonesia ; NZL; flag|Nicaragua; flag|Nigeria; NOR; flag|Panama; flag|Paraguay; flag|Philippines; UK
* Royal Air Force; USA
* U.S. Army
* United States Navy

Variants

* DHC-3 Otter : Single-engined STOL utility transport aircraft.
** CSR-123 Otter : STOL utility transport aircraft for the RCAF.
** YU-1 Otter : Six test and evaluation aircraft for the U.S. Army.
** U-1A Otter : STOL utility transport aircraft for the US Army.
** UC-1 Otter : STOL utility transport aircraft for the United States Navy. Later redesignated U-1B Otter in 1962.
* DHC-3-T Turbo-Otter : Otter fitted with a 494-kW (662-hp) PT6A-27 turboprop engine.

Modifications

Some aircraft were converted to turbine power using a PT6A, [http://www.vazar.com/turbo-otter-introduction.html] Walter 601 (manufactured in the Czech Republic), [http://aogair.com/dhc_3_otter.html] , or Garrett/Honeywell TPE331-10, by Texas Turbine Conversions. [http://www.texasturbines.com/] A Polish Pezetel radial engine has also been fitted. [http://www.airsaguenay.com/index_en.php?categories=4] . Re-engined aircraft have been offered since the 1980s by Airtech Canada as the DHC-3/1000 using current-production 1,000 hp (745 kW) PZL ASz-62IR radials.

pecifications

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=
crew=1
capacity=
length main= 41 ft in
length alt= 12.5 m
span main= 58 ft in
span alt= 17.7 m
height main= 13 ft in
height alt= 4 m
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main= 5,287 lb
empty weight alt= 2,398 kg
loaded weight main= 8,000 lb
loaded weight alt= 3,628 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (jet)=
type of jet=
number of jets=
thrust main=
thrust alt=
thrust original=
afterburning thrust main=
afterburning thrust alt=
engine (prop)=Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp
type of prop=radial
number of props=1
power main= 600 hp
power alt= 447 kW
power original=
max speed main= 160 mph
max speed alt= 258 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 834 nm
range alt= 960 mi, 1545 km
ceiling main= 17,900 ft
ceiling alt= 5,460 m
climb rate main= 1,000 ft/min
climb rate alt= 305 m/min
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
avionics=

ee also

aircontent

has sequence=yes
has relations=yes
links=yes
has lists=yes
see also?=yes
related=
*de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
*de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
similar aircraft=
*Cessna Caravan
*PAC 750XL
*Pilatus PC-6
lists=
*List of civil aircraft
*STOL
*Bush plane
see also=

References

* Hayes, Karl E. [http://www.oldwings.nl/content/dhc3/dhc3.htm "DHC-3 Otter - A History" (CD-ROM)] . Crakaig, Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, Co. Dublin, Ireland: Karl E. Hayes Publisher, 2006. (also available via CANAV Books, Toronto)
* Hotson, Fred W. "The de Havilland Canada Story." Toronto: CANAV Books, 1983. ISBN 0-07-549483-3.
*Milberry, Larry. "Aviation In Canada". Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-07-082778-8.
* Molson, Ken M. and Taylor, Harold A. "Canadian Aircraft Since 1909". Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982. ISBN 0-920002-11-0.
* Rossiter, Sean. "The Immortal Beaver: The World's Greatest Bush Plane". Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1999. ISBN 1-55054-724-0.

External links

* [http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/collections/artifacts/aircraft/deHavillandCanadaDHC-3Otter.shtml de Havilland Canada DHC-3 CC-123 Otter]
* [http://aeroweb.brooklyn.cuny.edu/specs/dehacana/dhc3.htm De Havilland Canada D.H.C.3 'Otter']
* [http://www.bush-planes.com Bush planes]
* [http://www.vaq34.com/vxe6/otter.htm US Navy Otter Service in Antarctica]