Viking Air Brings Old Plane To Life

The flagship of Canada’s aerospace industry, the Twin Otter turboprop plane, appeared as though it would become history when production of the aircraft ended in 1988. However, through Viking Air, the Twin Otter is making a re-appearance into the market. The first batch of these turboprop planes made test flights in 2010, which production facilities springing up to continue manufacturing of the aircraft that same year. Viking Air managed to garner over 50 orders of these Twin Otters, primarily coming from operators of the 600 Twin Otters that are currently still in service.The new Twin Otter, which is very similar to the old ones in service, features tricycle landing gear and a stubby wing which sits on the fuselage. The only exception is that the newer models use lighter-weight composite material that replaces the aluminum originally used on the doors and the nose. Some improvements include more powerful propeller engines and more modern cockpit avionics. It made its debut along with other much more modern-looking and technologically advanced aircraft at the International Air Show in England. The re-introduction of the aircraft back into the market has been much more successful than originally anticipated. Even with the $200 million in start-up expenses to get the plane designed and up and running again, it has been very profitable. The 19-passengers plane is heavily favored by bush pilots, militaries, humanitarian organizations, commercial sky-diving teams, and mining and oil exploration companies. Viking Air is a Canadian-based aircraft manufacturer founded in 1970. Their core competency is the DHC-6 Twin Otter along with the DHC-2 Beaver. They are also a major supplier of spare parts for de Havilland Canada aircraft along with Bell Helicopter aircraft. Other aircraft they manufacture include the DHC-1 Chipmunk, DHC-3 Otter, DHC-4 Caribou, DHC-5 Buffalo, and the DHC-7 Dash 7. ASAP Semiconductor, through our proprietary website ASAP Aerospace, specializes in the distribution of aerospace products around the world for both commercial, civil, and military applications. We work with Viking Air to ensure we carry the most highly-demanded spare parts for your aircraft requirements. Browse our capabilities on www.asap-aerospace.com and contact us today at sales@asap-aerospace.com for a quote.