Two Deliveries Continue Across Mid, and North Pacific

The DHC-6 Operators Tables for the following regions have been updated:

• Asia
• Australia/PNG/Oceania
• Canada
• Caribbean/Central America/Mexico
• Europe
• Indian Ocean
• South America
• U.S.A.

766 - DHC-6-300 C-GKPV Unity Group Ltd., Airdrie, AB

31-Aug-2015 Planned

• North Bend, OR (KOTH/OTH) - Honolulu, HI (PHNL/HNL)

C-GKPV is flight planned for the first transpacific sector today. with a flight plan just shy of 14 hours en route. Of course, the departure from the mainland is dependent on both en route and destination weather.

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

923 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

30-Aug-2015

• Kodiak, AK (PADQ/ADQ) - Adak, AK (PADK/ADK)

31-Aug-2015 Planned

• Adak, AK (PADK/ADK) - Petropavlovsk-Yelizovo, Russia (UHPP/PKC)
• Petropavlovsk-Yelizovo, Russia (UHPP/PKC) - Sapporo-Chitose (RJCC/CTS)

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

After a short hold in Kodiak for en route weather, C-FVGY yesterday continued on down the Aleutian chain to Adak. Today it has filed to continue on to Petropavlovsk, Russia and on to Sapporo, Japan.

620 N888PV Arrives in Indonesia for Dimonim Air

http://www.dimonimair.com/

620 - DHC-6-300 N888PV Montecito New York LLC, Scottdale, AZ

Arrived Biak-Frans Kaisiepo 29-Aug-2015 on delivery to DimonimAir. The company currently operates a fleet which includes Cessna 208B Grand Caravans, a PAC750 and an ATR-72. Their headquarters is in Jakarta with service to Nabire, Wamena, Tanah Merah, Timika and Bali.

The aircraft will become PK-HVM, and can be seen in the photo below after arrival in Biak. It also appears that they are using the former Merpati hangar.

Dimonim Air have also leased an additional DHC-6-300 from CAAMS Leasing, (MSN 389 N288SA) which will become PK-HVN.

This aircraft is expected to be on static display in Victoria, BC 08/10-Sep-2015 at Viking's Operators Forum, and will be ferried to Indonesia by Southern Cross Aviation after the conference.

766 C-GKPV Set to Depart from Airdrie, AB

766 - DHC-6-300 C-GKPV Unity Group Ltd., Airdrie, AB

28-Aug-2015

• Olds/Didsbury, AB (CEA3) - Airdrie, AB (CEF4)
• Airdrie, AB (CEF4) - Spokane-Int'l, WA (KGEG/GEG)
• Spokane-Int'l, WA (KGEG/GEG) - North Bend, OR (KOTH/OTH)

Although originally filed as direct from Olds to Spokane, the aircraft made a brief stop in Airdrie again, before settling off for Spokane and North Bend, OR.

The delivery flight is being undertaken by Calgary's World Wide Ferry, and the routing will take it initially to the Oregon coast before proceeding across the Pacific to Indonesia. On arrival there the

aircraft will become PK-VIL, which is already carried under stickers.

Information on the new operator can be found in the blog entry just below.

MSN 766  - DHC-6-300 C-GKPV
Unity Group Ltd.
Olds/Didsbury, AB 27-Aug-2015

New Indonesian Twin Otter Operator Skycab Aviation

New Indonesian carrier Skycab Aviation is set to begin scheduled operations shortly with two DHC-6-300's. Although based in Jakarta, Skycab's operation will be in the Indonesian province of Papua, with bases at Merauke's Mopah Airport and Nabire.

The company is expecting delivery of their two aircraft shortly. One of the two has been identified as MSN 766 currently pending departure from Canada, which will become PK-VIL. The second aircraft is set to become PK-VKL.

http://www.skycabaviation.com

Bad Week for Keeping Your Twin Otter on the Pavement

915 - DHC-6-400 JA201D First Flying, Osaka

Two days after MASWings 9M-SSB departed the runway landing at Mukah, Sarawak, Japan's First Flying DHC-6-400 JA201D has experienced a runway excursion at Aguni, Japan.

The aircraft was arriving from Naha-Okinawa with 12 passengers and two crew onboard, when it departed the right side of the runway, impacted a drainage ditch and then collided with adjacent bushes. All passengers & crew received minor injuries and were transported to hospital, while the aircraft has reportedly received substantial damage.

First Flying had only begun scheduled Twin Otter operations earlier this month.

MSN 915 - DHC-6-400 JA201D
First Flying
Aguni, Japan

Series 400's 929 & 930 Officially Registered

929 - DHC-6-400 C-FAFI Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

Registered 24-Aug-2015 (will be for CAVU Aviation Finance)



930 - DHC-6-400 C-GVEP Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

Registered 24-Aug-2015

620 N888PV Continues to Pohnpei

620 - DHC-6-300 N888PV Montecito New York LLC, Scottsdale, AZ

27-Aug-2015

• Majuro, Marshall Islands (PKMJ/MAJ) - Kosrae, FSM (PTSA/KSA)
• Kosrae, FSM (PTSA/KSA) - Pohnpei, FSM (PTPN/PNI)

*FSM=Federated States of Micronesia

With the arrival in Pohnpei, N888PV nears its final destination of Biak, Indonesia. The delivery began in Rutherfordton, NC on 14-Jul-2015.

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

923 C-FVGY Departs for Fiji

923 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

28-Aug-2015

• Calgary-Int'l, AB (CYYC/YYC) - Ketchikan, AK (PAKT/KTN)
• Ketchikan, AK (PAKT/PTN) - Kodiak, AK (PADQ/ADQ)

Today marks the start of the delivery flight of C-FVGY to Melbourne's Walker Corporation, which will be operated in the Fijian islands from the Kokomo Yaukuve Resort as DQ-OMO.

The delivery is being undertaken by Calgary's World Wide Ferry, and over the next few days is expected to touch down in Ketchikan, Kodiak, Petropavlovsk and Sapporo.

MSN 923 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY
Viking Air (Kokomo Yaukuve Resort Fiji)
Calgary-Int'l, AB 25-Aug-2015

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

Russia's Rosneft to Acquire Ten Viking Series 400's

RN Aircraft, a division of Russia's gaint Rosneft petroleum company have ordered a total of ten DHC-6-400's from Viking Air. The order was announced by Rosneft at the currently ongoing MAKS 2015 airshow in Moscow.

Deliveries of the aircraft will commence in Nov-2015 and run through Feb-2017. The aircraft will be used primarily in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region.

I would guess that MSN 928 C-GFAP which arrived unpainted in Victoria a couple days ago may be the first aircraft, given the timing of the first delivery in Nov-2015.

928 C-GFAP Flies Calgary, AB - Victoria, BC

928 - DHC-6-400 C-GFAP Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

27-Aug-2015

• Calgary, AB (CYYC/YYC) - Victoria, BC (CYYJ/YYJ)

Last evening MSN 928 flew direct from Calgary to Victoria without the normal visit to the paint shop in Spokane. This should be the first aircraft for AeroGeo in Russia.

MSN 928 - DHC-6-400 C-GFAP
Viking Air Ltd.
Victoria, BC 27-Aug-2015
Tim Martin Photo

MASWings DHC-6-400 9M-SSB off the runway at Mukah

26-Aug-2015

883 - DHC-6-400 9M-SSB MASWings, Kota Kinabalu

MASWings DHC-6-400 9M-SSB has been involved in a runway excursion at Mukah, Sarawak. The aircraft was arriving from Miri in heavy rain and strong winds. It would appear the aircraft suffered little to no damage in the event, and there were no injuries to the 8 passengers and 2 crew.

MSN ?   DHC-6-400   9M-
MASWings
Mukah, Sarawak
Mukah Fire & Rescue Photo

923 C-FVGY Prepares for Delivery to Fiji

923 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

As seen in the photograph below, the aircraft is currently having the ferry tanks installed in Calgary, AB. Once preparations have been completed the aircraft will be delivered by Worldwide Ferry to the owner in Fiji.

MSN 923 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY
Viking Air (Kokomo Resort Fiji)
Calgary-Int'l, AB 25-Aug-2015

__________________________________________________________________________________________

There is a significant amount of movement under way with the fleet at the moment, and further details will be forthcoming as information is firmed up, and Customer details are allowed to be made public. In general terms, in addition to MSN 923 above we have imminent Series 400 deliveries to Tara Air in Nepal, and Air Seychelles, and another pending for a currently undisclosed operator. 

Within the legacy fleet, we can expect to see movement on a couple aircraft from Mexico, the completion of one delivery to Indonesia and the start of another, and potentially one aircraft coming out of South America.

Ikhana continues to prepare the next 200HG™ for European Coastal, and also have MSN 40 (N902RT) and 51 (N903RT) available for sale. Series 200X2 MSN 87 (N807RT), Series 300X2 MSN 247 (N224SA) and MSN 470 (N805RT) are all also available.

N888PV Continues to Majuro, N826X Continues to West Georgia, and TC-KHC Heads to Vilnius

620 - DHC-6-300 N888PV Montecito New York LLC, Scottsdale, AZ

26-Aug-2015

• Honolulu, HI (PHNL/HNL) - Majuro, Marshall Islands (PKMJ/MAJ)

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

826 - DHC-6-300 N826X Transport Services LLC, Birmingham, AL

23-Aug-2015

• Fort Lauderdale, FL (KFLL/FLL) - West Georgia Regional, GA (KCTJ/CTJ)

857 - DHC-6-400 TC-KHC Körfez Havaçlik, Istanbul

23-Aug-2015

• Altenrhein, Switzerland (LSZR/ACH) - Ostrava, Czech Republic (LKMT/OSR)
• Ostrava, Czech Republic (LKMT/OSR) - Vilnius, Lithuania (EYVI/VNO)

620 N888PV Now Bound for Honolulu

620 - DHC-6-300 N888PV Montecito New York LLC, Scottsdale, AZ

22-Aug-2015

• McMinnville, OR (KMMV/MMV) - Honolulu, HI (PHNL/HNL)

At the time of writing, N888PV is now 500+ miles from McMinnville, OR and off the coast of northern California, so it appears that the aircraft is in fact going to continue on to Honolulu. N888PV originally left Rutherfordton, NC on 14-Jul-2015, and had made its first attempt to depart McMinnville, OR on 30-Jul-2015. The ferry flight is being conducted by Southern Cross Aviation, using the flight number SXA1232.

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

826 N826X Returns to U.S.A. from Colombia

826 - DHC-6-300 N826X Transport Services LLC, Birmingham, AL

22-Aug-2015

• Montego Bay, Jamaica (MKJS/MBJ) - Fort Lauderdale, FL (KFLL/FLL)

Today, N826X one of the two Colombian based Drummond Company DHC-6's is scheduled to arrive back in the U.S., likely for maintenance work to be carried out. N826X was last at West Georgia Regional (KCTJ) from March to June of 2014.

European Coastal, Tara Air and Hevilift Photos

Twin Otter #3 for European Coastal has now been placed on Wipline amphibious floats in preparation for departure to Croatia. Thanks to Matthias Michel for the nice photo below.

MSN 244 - DHC-6-300 HB-LRJ
RUAG Schweiz AG (European Coastal Airlines)
Bern, Switzerland 21-Aug-2015
Matthias Michel Photo

As always, with thanks to Tim Martin a great shot of MSN 926 C-GUVT taken at Victoria yesterday. This aircraft will be delivered to Nepal by World Wide Ferry shortly.

MSN 926 - DHC-6-400 C-GUVT
Viking Air (Tara Air)
Victoria, BC 21-Aug-2015
Tim Martin Photo

MSN 509 P2-KSG of Hevilift departed Cairns, QLD yesterday, returning to Papua New Guinea. It is seen below taxiing for departure with thanks to Far North Queensland Skies.

MSN 509 - DHC-6-300 P2-KSG
Hevilift
Cairns, QLD 21-Aug-2015
FNQ Skies Photo

Washington Corporations DHC-6-300 N167WC

The Washington DHC-6-300 N167WC has been a regular fixture at Vancouver for the past 22 years. but still looks like it just rolled off the production line. It is used to reach the family owned compound on Stuart Island, BC and with the super yacht Attessa IV.

MSN 343 - DHC-6-300 N167WC
Washington Corporation
Vancouver, BC 07-Aug-2015
Kenneth I. Swartz Photo

MSN 343 - DHC-6-300 N167WC
Washington Corporations
John Dillon Photo

240 C-FWAH of the Province of Manitoba at Winnipeg

MSN 240 - DHC-6-300 C-FWAH
Province of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB 11-Sep-2014
Andy Vass Photo

696 G-BZFP Officially Registered in Switzerland, 766 Restored as C-GKPV

696 - DHC-6-300 G-BZFP Loganair Ltd., Glasgow

Registration cancelled 03-Aug-2015, and registered to RUAG Schweiz AG, Emmen 17-Aug-2015 as HB-LRQ. The aircraft had recently been flown to the RUAG facility in Bern, to be prepared for European Coastal Airlines in Croatia.

The aircraft can be seen below after arrival from Loganair, and prior to the application of the new Swiss identity.

MSN 696 - DHC-6-300 G-BZFP
ex-Loganair
Bern, Switzerland 04-Aug-2015
Matthias Michel Photo

766 - DHC-6-300 C-GKPV Unity Group Ltd., Airdrie, AB

Officially registered 17-Aug-2015, ex J8-GLS

205 EC-ISV at Empuriabrava on 14-Aug-2015

The Skydive Empuriabrava DHC-6-200 EC-ISV is seen at its base on Spain's Costa Brava last Friday with thanks to Frank Jäger.

MSN 205 - DHC-6-200 EC-ISV
Skydive Empuriabrava
Empuriabrava, Spain 14-Aug-2015
Frank Jäger Photo

330 P2-MCZ Departs Oklahoma for Georgia

Following removal of the ferry tanks at Murrieta, CA P2-MCZ departed again fairly quickly and covered another 1,100 miles yesterday before a night stop in Elk City, OK.

330 - DHC-6-300 P2-MCZ Airlines PNG, Boroko

16-Aug-2015

• Murrieta, CA (F70) - Saint Johns, AZ (KSJN/SJN)
• Saint Johns, AZ (KSJN/SJN) - Elk City, OK (KELK/ELK)

Today the aircraft should arrive at the National Aerotech facility in Hampton, GA (barring any en route weather issues). The delivery flight from Port Moresby will have taken six days and covered about 9,000 miles.

17-Aug-2015

• Elk City, OK (KELK/ELK) - Lyon-Fletcher Field, MS (KCKM/CKM)
• Lyon-Fletcher Field, MS (KCKM/CKM) - Hampton, GA (4A7)

Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper - copyright © Karl L. Swartz

330 P2-MCZ Heads to the U.S. Mainland

330 - DHC-6-300 P2-MCZ Airlines PNG, Boroko

15-Aug-2015

• Honolulu, HI (PHNL/HNL) - Murrieta, CA (F70)

After a brief break in Honolulu, today P2-MCZ is continuing on to the U.S. mainland with the next stop set to be at the Ikhana Group facility at Murrieta, CA. Once there the ferry tank installation will be removed and the aircraft will continue on.

766 J8-GLS Returns to Canada Following Lease

766 - DHC-6-300 J8-GLS SVG Air, Saint Vincent

Officially imported to Canada 13-Aug-2015 on return to Unity Group after lease, and has already been delivered to Airdrie, AB.

It is seen below in Bridgetown, Barbados on 29-Jan-2015

MSN 766 - DHC-6-300 J8-GLS
SVG Air
Bridgetown, Barbados 29-Jan-2015
Aerocorp Avionics Photo

330 P2-MCZ Continues to Hawaii

330 - DHC-6-300 P2-MCZ Airlines PNG, Boroko

12-Aug-2015

• Honiara, Solomons (AGGH/HIR) - Majuro, Marshall Islands (PKMJ/MAJ)

13-Aug-2015

• Majuro, Marshall Islands (PKMJ/MAJ) - Honolulu, HI (PHNL/HNL)

330 P2-MCZ Departs Port Moresby on Delivery to U.S.

330 - DHC-6-300 P2-MCZ Airlines PNG, Boroko

P2-MCZ has now departed Port Moresby embarking on its delivery flight to North America. The aircraft is expected to be ferried to National Aerotech, who will prepare it for delivery to the new operator.

11-Aug-2015

• Port Moresby, PNG (AYPY/POM) - Honiara, Solomons (AGGH/HIR)

MSN 330 - DHC-6-300 P2-MCZ

Airlines PNG

Cairns, QLD 09-Nov-2011

Paul Howard Photo

620 N888PV Still in Oregon & 923 C-FVGY Goes to Calgary for Paintwork

620 - DHC-6-300 N888PV Montecito New York LLC, Scottsdale, AZ

For anyone who has been following the progress of N888PV since the beginning of August, the aircraft currently remains at McMinnville, OR with Southern Cross Aviation.


923 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

10-Aug-2015

• Victoria, BC (CYYJ/YYJ) - Calgary, AB (CYYC/YYC)

MSN 923 - DHC-6-400 C-FVGY
Viking Air Ltd.
Victoria, BC 09-Jul-2015
Tim Martin Photo

696 G-BZFP Leaves UK for Switzerland

696 - DHC-6-300 G-BZFP Loganair Ltd., Glasgow

Flew to Bern, Switzerland 04-Aug-2015, and UK registration cancelled 05-Aug-2015 on export to Switzerland. Expected to enter RUAG in preparation for delivery to European Coastal Airlines in Croatia. As of today, there is no new Swiss registration showing on the FOCA database.

Below, a nice shot of MSN 667 of the Ecuador Air Force

MSN 667  - DHC-6-300  FAE451
Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana

European Coastal DHC-6-200HG™ 9A-TOC Arrives in Split

Congratulations to European Coastal on the arrival of 9A-TOC at Split today after recently having its floats installed.

MSN 45  DHC-6-200HG™ 9A-TOC
European Coastal Airlines
Split, Croatia 07-Aug-2015
European Coastal Airlines Photo

905 C-FVAT & 906 C-GVTU Registered to Planes & Parts Ltd.

905 - DHC-6-400 C-FVAT Planes & Parts Ltd., Turner Valley, AB

Registered 05-Aug-2015; this aircraft flew Victoria, BC - Springbank, AB on 11-Jul-2015 for storage, it had previously been parked at Victoria since 07-Aug-2014.

906 - DHC-6-400 C-GVTU Planes & Parts Ltd., Turner Valley, AB

Registered 05-Aug-2015; this aircraft flew Victoria, BC - Springbank, AB on 11-Jul-2015 for storage, it had previously been parked at Victoria since 23-Aug-2014.

MSN 634 of Aero Contractors is seen below at Lagos, Nigeria back in 2005. This aircraft remained in Africa until 2008, and after a brief period in the U.S. it went on to Papua New Guinea and then Indonesia.

MSN 634 - DHC-6-300 5N-AVG
Aero Contractors Nigeria
Lagos, Nigeria 18-Apr-2005
Konstantin von Wedelstaedt Photo

721 XA-UOA Recovery for Rebuild

MSN 721 XA-UOA sustained major damage in an accident at the Vista Hermosa airstrip, located at Tequesquitengo back on 22-Dec-2014. The recovery and preparation for shipment to Viking Air via container is seen in the series of photos below. (the bottom middle photos are from the original accident scene).

MSN 721 - DHC-6-300 XA-UOA
Transportes Aéreos Terrestres S.A.
Via S. A. Aguirre

MSN 721 began life as a survey aircraft for Geosurvey International, delivered in 1980, after a short stint in Australia it spent most of its life in the Seychelles. It was delivered to Mexico for Transportes Aéreos Terrestres in 2010, joining their existing fleet of Twin Otters and Dash-8's.

915 JA201D Receives Additional Paintwork, 120 N718KW Heads back to Honduras

First Flying's DHC-6-400 JA201D is seen below on approach to Naha, Okinawa yesterday with the addition of cartoon characters. Presumably, JA202D will receive a similar treatment.

MSN 915 - DHC-6-400 JA201D
First Flying
Okinawa-Naha 04-Aug-2015
Masa737NG Photo

120 - DHC-6-200HG™ N718KW Warren Transportation LLC, Dallas, TX

05-Aug-2015

• Dallas-Addison, TX (KADS) - Brownsville, TX (KBRO/BRO)
• Brownsville, TX (KBRO) - Minititlan, Mexico (MMMT/MTT)

The Warren Vistaliner is today heading back home to Honduras; it had been in the U.S. since 22-Jun-2015, and had been flown into Wipaire's Leesburg facility in late Jun/early Jul for maintenance work. It can be seen in the photo below while in Leesburg.

MSN 120 - DHC-6-200HG™ N718KW
Warren Transportation
Leesburg, FL Jul-2015
Wipaire Photo

Vanuatu and New Caledonia Twotters

With thanks to Paul Howard, a nice selection of aircraft from Vanuatu, and New Caledonia.

MSN 564 - DHC-6-300 YJ-AV11
Air Vanuatu
Port Vila, Vanuatu 21-Jul-2015
Paul Howard Photo

MSN 679 - DHC-6-300 YJ-RV10
Air Vanuatu
Port Vila, Vanuatu 21-Jul-2015
Paul Howard Photo

MSN 840 - DHC-6-300 F-ONCA
Air Loyauté
Nouméa-Magenta, New Caledonia 29-Mar-2015
Paul Howard Photo

MSN 927 Exits the Paint Shop, MSN 244 Exits RUAG hangar in Bern, Pictures from France & Ethiopia

It didn't take long for Icarius Aerotechnics to begin work on F-RACD at Tallard, the aircraft can be seen in the blog entry for 01-Aug-2015 on its arrival; and now below after entering the hangar.

MSN 298 - DHC-6-300 F-RACD
French Air Force
Tallard, France 01-Aug-2015
Icarius Aerotechnics Photo

244 - DHC-6-300 HB-LRJ RUAG Schweiz AG, Bern

Rolled out of RUAG facility in Bern 01-Aug-2015 in full European Coastal Airlines c/s, and being prepared for delivery.

MSN 244 - DHC-6-300 HB-LRJ
RUAG Schweiz AG (European Coastal Airlines)
Bern, Switzerland 02-Aug-2015
Matthias Michel Photo

927 - DHC-6-400 C-GVOT Viking Air Ltd., Sidney, BC

02-Aug-2015

• Spokane, WA (KGEG/GEG) - Victoria, BC (CYYJ/YYJ)

C-GVOT departed the paint shop last evening and arrived in Victoria as can be seen in the second photo below. This will become the fourth Series 400 for Air Seychelles, and carries the name "Isle of Denis" - like the other three it is expected that the Seychelles registration will be some derivation of the aircraft's name. Upon delivery to Air Seychelles it will likely allow for the release of another DHC-6-300 to leave the fleet.

C-GVOT is seen below prior to departure to the paint shop on 19-Jul-2015.

MSN 927 - DHC-6-400 C-GVOT
Viking Air Ltd. (Air Seychelles)
Victoria, BC 02-Aug-2015
Tim Martin Photo

Taken back in 2006, below is Ethiopian's MSN 822 ET-AIU which operated for the Ethopian Mapping Agency.

MSN 822 - DHC-6-300 ET-AIU
Ethiopian Airlines
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 13-Apr-2006
Raimund Stehmann Photo

French Air Force DHC-6-300 F-RACD at Tallard

MSN 298 - DHC-6-300 F-RACD
French Air Force
Tallard, France 30-Jul-2015
Icarius Aerotechnics Photo