1944 Grumman G-21A Goose, c/n B-101, CF-VFU, FIFT. Dockside somewhere up Knight Inlet, B.C., Canada in spring 1969.

[1959 Kodak Retina IIIS (Type 027) rangefinder 35-mm roll film camera, s/n 86125, with Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Xenon 50-mm f/1.9 Synchro Compur lens, s/n 6841319; Kodak Plus-X Pan (ISO 125/22°) 36-exposure black & white negative film]


© Copyright photograph by Uwe Kündrunar Scharnberg, 1969 / Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, March 2011





“The whole history of the Canadian North can be divided into two periods—before and after the aeroplane.”
Hugh L. Keenleyside, Deputy Canadian Minister of Mines and Resources, October 1949




Tuesday, September 6, 2011

de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter

de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, construction number and registration unknown; powered by one 600-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp supercharged nine-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller; pilot, ten passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) utility transport; built by de Havilland Canada, Toronto, Ontario, Canada at Downsview, Ontario.

The Annual Duncan Flying Club Fly-In, Duncan Airport (DUQ), Duncan, Vancouver Island, B.C. in June 1980.

* I was unable to decipher the Otters registration on the tail fin when I enlarged this scanned photograph. The only possible clues I do have are: 

- the pilot and possibly owner had the surname of Roberts, who I seem to recall living on Miller Rd. between the Glenora Rd. turn-off to Langtry Rd. and the airport, and Allenby Rd. that runs parallel to the Cowichan River at the outskirts of Duncan.

- the pilots son was at the Fly-In that day, riding his red bicycle with a banana seat, a few years younger than my brother and me. I seem to recall his name was Brad Roberts. I was almost 18 years old at the time. 

- Otters c/n 131 and c/n 307 were located and purchased in Nicaragua in 1979, shipped from Managua to Miami, trucked north to Montreal, then sold to York Realty Ltd. of Duncan, B.C. for parts used in rebuilding Otter c/n 288 into 1980. Is there a connection between the above Otter and York Realty? Is the above Otter c/n 288? The only Canadian registration I have unearthed for c/n 288 is C-GXRY, but the last two letters of the above-photographed Otter appear to be “YB”, “YD”, “YO”, or “YR”.

If anyone has any information as to which Otter this could possibly be, it would be much appreciated. I have searched several websites and blogs for clues, but it looks like I need to order a CD of Karl E. Hayes’ extensive Otter research, de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter: A History.

[Agfa Agfamatic 100 sensor viewfinder 126 cartridge film camera, 42.1-mm f/11 lens; Agfa Agfacolor Special CNS 126 20 DIN/80 ASA 20-exposure colour negative cartridge film]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, June 1980

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