1956 de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Turbine Otter, c/n 105, C-GVNL, “304”, Harbour Air Seaplanes

Westward view of Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre docks with seaplanes seen from public waterfront promenade of West Building, Vancouver Convention Centre at 11:05 PST

After a year of refusing to relocate due to safety concerns of exposure to wind and waves, Harbour Air Group (Harbour Air Seaplanes/West Coast Air/Whistler Air) reached an agreement with Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre and PavCo (British Columbia Pavilion Corporation) on September 10, 2012 and relocated in December 2012, from their temporary location adjacent to Harbour Green Park, to the new Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre, Unit #1 Burrard Landing, 1055 Canada Place, Vancouver Harbour Water Airport (CXH/CYHC), Coal Harbour, Burrard Inlet, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Departure of 1956 de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Turbine Otter, c/n 105, C-GVNL, “304”, Harbour Air Seaplanes at 11:05 PST

1956 de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Turbine Otter, c/n 105, C-GVNL, “304”, Harbour Air Seaplanes (Harbour Air Ltd.), South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada, based at Vancouver Harbour Water Airport (CXH/CYHC), Coal Harbour, Burrard Inlet, Vancouver, B.C.

• titled HARBOUR AIR
• powered by one 750-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprop engine with constant-speed, full-feathering reversible-pitch, three-blade Hartzell propeller
• pilot, 14 passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) utility transport
• Edo 7490 straight floats, Vazar bubble scenic cabin windows, bubble rear cabin windows, ventral fin under tail
• built by The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited, Downsview, Ontario, Canada at Downsview Airport (YZD/CYZD), Downsview, Ontario
• built as DHC-3 Otter, powered by one 600-hp Pratt & Whitney R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp supercharged nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed three-blade Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller
• delivered as U-1A-DH Otter, s/n 55-3261 to US Army on April 12, 1956
• fixed conventional landing gear and tailwheel
• 14th Army Aviation Company (Fixed Wing—Tactical Transport), Fifth US Army, US Army, based at Fort Riley, Kansas, USA
• 14th Army Aviation Company assigned to Third US Army on May 1, 1956
• 14th Army Aviation Company assigned to US Army Infantry Center on May 10, 1956
• 14th Army Aviation Company temporarily based at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, USA from June 1, 1956 to October 1, 1956
• 14th Army Aviation Company redesignated as 1st Army Aviation Company (Fixed Wing—Tactical Transport) on August 15, 1956
• 1st Army Aviation Company based at Fort Benning, Georgia, USA from October 1, 1956 to June 21, 1962
• U-1A-DH Otters flew with 1st Army Aviation Company until 1961 when it converted to the de Havilland Canada CV-2A-DH (DHC-4) Caribou
• as test support aircraft at US Army Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, USA from 1961 to April 1976
• minor accident at Yuma Proving Ground on February 26, 1974 on take-off with a gusty crosswind, became airborne prematurely and settled, one wheel touched runway and propeller damaged on contact with runway
• repaired and returned to service
• transferred to CAP (Civil Air Patrol), United States Air Force Auxiliary (civilian auxiliary of USAF), Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Alabama, USA in April 1976
• N5341G, Texas Wing, Southwest Region, CAP, Wichita Falls, Texas, USA in June 1976
• imported in 1978
• C-GVNL, Air Saguenay (Air Saguenay Inc.), Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada on March 16, 1978 and cancelled on December 5, 1984
• based at Hydroaérodrome Lac St-Sébastien (CTD3), St-David-de-Falardeau, Lac St-Sébastien, Québec
• Edo 55-7170 straight floats, ventral fin under tail/skis
• leased to Cargair (Cargair Ltée), St-Michel-des-Saints, Québec, Canada on May 19, 1978 for the summer season
• based at Hydroaérodrome Lac Kaiagamac (CSF8), St-Michel-des-Saints, Québec
• returned to Air Saguenay
• Air Saguenay (Air Saguenay Inc.) renamed as Air Saguenay (Air Saguenay 1980 Inc.) in 1980
• involved in an incident during a proficiency flight check at Hydroaérodrome Lac St-Sébastien (CTD3) on May 13, 1980 when on final approach for a simulated engine failure with throttle retarded, pilot rounded out the aircraft too high, check pilot did not recognise the error in sufficient time to take corrective action, damage to aircraft structure in the hard landing that followed
• repaired 
• C-GVNL, CEPAL (Centre d’Expédition et de plein air Laurentien), Jonquière, Québec, Canada on April 11, 1985 and cancelled on July 28, 1998
• based at Lac Kénogami, Jonquière, Québec
• while in cruise flight an emergency landing on Lac Manouane, Québec on July 10, 1990 when an engine cylinder failed and engine was shut down
• C-GVNL, Air Bellevue (Air Bellevue Inc.), St-Félicien, Québec, Canada on July 28, 1998 and cancelled on March 16, 2001
• based at Aéroport de Dolbeau-Saint-Félicien (YDO/CYDO), St-Félicien, Québec
• fixed conventional landing gear and tailwheel
• ferried along with 1956 DHC-3 Otter, c/n 135, C-FIUZ, Air Bellevue from Aéroport de Dolbeau-Saint-Félicien (YDO/CYDO) to Calgary International Airport (YYC/CYYC), Calgary, Alberta, Canada by Air Bellevue pilots arriving on March 14, 2001, stayed overnight, then the next day to Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR) by Harbour Air Seaplanes pilots
• Vazar turbine conversion for both Otters by Harbour Air Seaplanes at the Aeroflite Industries Ltd. hangar, South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR)
• registered to Harbour Air Seaplanes on March 28, 2001
• active

[Nikon Coolpix L20 point-and-shoot 10 MP digital camera, Nikkor 38–136-mm f/3.1–6.7 lens]

© Copyright photographs by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, March 2013