Post by flyboy on Apr 8, 2019 9:17:23 GMT
The DHC-3 or U-1A Otter.
This was a type seldom seen at Blackbushe but being capable of carrying up to eleven passengers and as a development of the DHC-2 Beaver it is worthy of inclusion.
Having been designed to be a rugged single engined, high-winged, STOL aircraft it was dubbed the "King Beaver" while in the design stage. During November 1952 it obtained Canadian certification and went into production shortly afterwards.
The aircraft was of a much heavier design than the Beaver but used the same overall configuration but included an extended fuselage, longer wings and redesigned tail. It was not designed to fly quickly but rather as a slower go anywhere bush aircraft able to carry a useful freight load or up to eleven passengers or even a mix of both.
The US Army obtained 184 in total, with a number of U-1As operating in Europe and it was these aircraft that could be seen at Blackbushe. The civilian demonstrator G-AOYX is recorded as diverting in on one occasion. Other military users of the military version included Australia,Canada and India.
Note: Of interest the RAF only operated one Otter this being XL710 (c/n 126) which was used to support the 1956 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition.is aircraft eventually returned to the USA to join the US Navy development squadron VX-6 in July 1958.Eventually operated by the RNZAF from November 1961 and then returned to USA for turbo-prop conversion. It was still active in 2018 operating with Seatac in Washington, USA!
Like the Beaver the Otter can be fitted with skis or floats and has been developed over the years to utilize turbo-prop engine power. A number of the various versions can still be found today mainly operating in the USA and Canada.
Design:
The Otter was conceived in January 1951 by de Havilland Canada as a larger and more powerful version of their STOL DH Beaver. A first flight was achieved on December 12th 1951 with an introduction to service in 1953. It was powered by a single 600hp (450kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 geared radial engine which gave it a remarkable performance for a STOL utility aircraft of it's size. In total there were 466 built and a number remain in service today in a number of different civilian variants.
Variants:
DHC-3 Otter Single-engined Stol utility aircraft.
CSR-123 Otter As DHC-3 - for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
YU-1 Otter Six test and evaluation aircraft for the US Army.
U-1A Otter STOL utility aircraft for US Army.
UC-1 Otter STOL aircraft for the US Navy later re-designated U-1B in 1962.
DHC-3-T Turbo Otter Fitted with either Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 or -34 turboprop engines.
Airtech Canada DHC-3/1000 Otter Conversion powered by PZL Kalisz ASz-621R engines.
Specification:
Crew 1
Capacity 9-10 passengers.
Length 41' 10'' (12.80m)
Wingspan 58' 00'' (17.69m)
Height 12' 07'' (3.83m)
Weight empty 4,431lb (2.010kg)
Weight Max T/O 8000lb (3,629kg)
Power 1x Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp ->
9 cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 600hp (448kW).
Max Speed 160mph (257km/h).
Cruise 121mph (195km/h).
Stall 58mph (93km/h).
Range 945mi (1,520km).
Ceiling 18,800ft (5,730m).
Rate of Climb 850ft/min (4.3m/s).
Continued:
This was a type seldom seen at Blackbushe but being capable of carrying up to eleven passengers and as a development of the DHC-2 Beaver it is worthy of inclusion.
Having been designed to be a rugged single engined, high-winged, STOL aircraft it was dubbed the "King Beaver" while in the design stage. During November 1952 it obtained Canadian certification and went into production shortly afterwards.
The aircraft was of a much heavier design than the Beaver but used the same overall configuration but included an extended fuselage, longer wings and redesigned tail. It was not designed to fly quickly but rather as a slower go anywhere bush aircraft able to carry a useful freight load or up to eleven passengers or even a mix of both.
The US Army obtained 184 in total, with a number of U-1As operating in Europe and it was these aircraft that could be seen at Blackbushe. The civilian demonstrator G-AOYX is recorded as diverting in on one occasion. Other military users of the military version included Australia,Canada and India.
Note: Of interest the RAF only operated one Otter this being XL710 (c/n 126) which was used to support the 1956 Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition.is aircraft eventually returned to the USA to join the US Navy development squadron VX-6 in July 1958.Eventually operated by the RNZAF from November 1961 and then returned to USA for turbo-prop conversion. It was still active in 2018 operating with Seatac in Washington, USA!
Like the Beaver the Otter can be fitted with skis or floats and has been developed over the years to utilize turbo-prop engine power. A number of the various versions can still be found today mainly operating in the USA and Canada.
Design:
The Otter was conceived in January 1951 by de Havilland Canada as a larger and more powerful version of their STOL DH Beaver. A first flight was achieved on December 12th 1951 with an introduction to service in 1953. It was powered by a single 600hp (450kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 geared radial engine which gave it a remarkable performance for a STOL utility aircraft of it's size. In total there were 466 built and a number remain in service today in a number of different civilian variants.
Variants:
DHC-3 Otter Single-engined Stol utility aircraft.
CSR-123 Otter As DHC-3 - for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
YU-1 Otter Six test and evaluation aircraft for the US Army.
U-1A Otter STOL utility aircraft for US Army.
UC-1 Otter STOL aircraft for the US Navy later re-designated U-1B in 1962.
DHC-3-T Turbo Otter Fitted with either Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 or -34 turboprop engines.
Airtech Canada DHC-3/1000 Otter Conversion powered by PZL Kalisz ASz-621R engines.
Specification:
Crew 1
Capacity 9-10 passengers.
Length 41' 10'' (12.80m)
Wingspan 58' 00'' (17.69m)
Height 12' 07'' (3.83m)
Weight empty 4,431lb (2.010kg)
Weight Max T/O 8000lb (3,629kg)
Power 1x Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp ->
9 cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 600hp (448kW).
Max Speed 160mph (257km/h).
Cruise 121mph (195km/h).
Stall 58mph (93km/h).
Range 945mi (1,520km).
Ceiling 18,800ft (5,730m).
Rate of Climb 850ft/min (4.3m/s).
Continued: