On the shop floor of Viking Air Ltd.’s sprawling Calgary plant, Ken Copiak makes his way from one work station to another, inspecting the aluminum shells of Twin Otter planes as they begin to take shape.
The manager of the final assembly plant sometimes has to pinch himself when he sees the fabled bush plane back in production – 22 years after the last Twin Otter, serial number 844, came off the line in Ontario.
Viking workers are now putting the finishing touches on the first Twin Otter assembled in Alberta, the 845th built in Canada since 1965. Subject to certification from Transport Canada, the turboprop will be delivered next month to Switzerland’s Zimex Aviation Ltd., which has earmarked the new-generation plane for oil and gas exploration duties in Algeria.
The delivery to Zimex will kick off a new era for the iconic Canadian plane known worldwide for its ability to handle extreme climates, from jungles to deserts to ice caps. Privately owned Viking plans to capitalize on the demand that never died for a plane that some considered obsolete. It believes that while the Twin Otter may not have made sense for a giant aerospace company like Boeing Co., it can turn into a profitable niche for a smaller player like Viking.
Boeing shut down Twin Otter manufacturing in 1988, just two years after buying de Havilland from the Canadian government. Boeing wanted to stick with its forte of building larger aircraft.
But a funny thing happened on the Twin Otter’s way to the aviation museum. Over the years, the plane proved its resilience, with more than 600 of the 19-seat planes still operating around the world. Pilots who fly to remote areas love the way the landing gear can be fitted to suit the environment, whether its wheels for gravel or skis for snow or floats for water.
Bringing the plane back into production has been a test of endurance for Viking, which didn’t have many of the original manufacturing jigs – templates used to help produce certain parts and components at de Havilland’s Downsview plant in Toronto.
“The reason why we had to make a lot of jigs over was because Boeing figured no one was going to build the planes again and started chopping the jigs up,” said Mr. Copiak, 50, a former production supervisor at Winnipeg-based Bristol Aerospace, which was acquired by Magellan Aerospace Corp. in 1997.
Videos shot at the de Havilland plant and old microfilm unearthed clues for “engineering archeology” to rebuild the Twin Otter jigs.
This year, after overcoming a series of engineering delays, the Calgary plant is finally producing the Twin Otter, which carries a list price of roughly $4.5-million (U.S.). Viking has been able to temper the financial costs of the rising loonie by acquiring certain parts and components in U.S. dollars, including engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp.’s plant in Lethbridge, Alta.
Viking’s plant near Calgary International Airport has even become a tourist attraction of sorts for aviation buffs, especially retired de Havilland employees who marvel at the Twin Otter’s comeback.
The aircraft would have remained dormant were it not for Westerkirk Capital Inc., which recognized the Twin Otter’s rich history and future prospects. In 2003, Toronto-based Westerkirk bought Viking, a long-time supplier of spare parts for de Havilland planes, and in 2006, began studying the merits of manufacturing Twin Otters again. Later that year Viking acquired the rights to do so.
The strategy is to use the same basic, robust design as in the original plane, but to integrate upgrades such as modern avionics in the cockpit. Other updates include improved wiring and lightweight composite material in the nose as well as the exit and baggage doors, said Robert Mauracher, Viking’s vice-president of business development.
