1958 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk. I, c/n 1249, C-FAOP, Empress of Ganges, Saltspring Air

1958 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk. I, c/n 1249, C-FAOP, Empress of Ganges, Saltspring Air at docks of Harbour Air Seaplanes Passenger Terminal and Flying Beaver Bar & Grill, Vancouver International Water Airport (CAM9), Moray Channel, Richmond, B.C., adjacent to South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada on Friday, January 18, 2013 at 11:27 PST

1958 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver Mk. I, c/n 1249, C-FAOP, Empress of Ganges, Saltspring Air (Salt Spring Island Air Ltd.), Ganges, Saltspring Island, B.C., Canada, based at Ganges Water Aerodrome (YGG/CAX6), Ganges Harbour, Saltspring Island, B.C.

• titled saltspringair.com
• powered by one 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-14B Wasp Junior supercharged nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed three-blade Hartzell propeller
• pilot, six passengers, STOL (short take-off and landing) utility transport
• Edo 679-4930 straight floats, Holmes nine-inch extended engine mount, bubble cabin door windows, enlarged rear cabin windows, seaplane fins on horizontal stabilizer
• built by The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited, Downsview, Ontario, Canada at Downsview Airport (YZD/CYZD), Downsview, Ontario
• built, powered by one 450-hp Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-14B Wasp Junior supercharged nine-cylinder, single-row, air-cooled radial piston engine with constant-speed two-blade Hamilton Standard propeller
• delivered as CF-AOP to Algoma Steel Corporation Ltd., Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada on October 31, 1958
• fixed conventional landing gear and tailwheel
• re-registered as C-FAOP
• (?) C-FAOP, Crown Zellerbach (Crown Zellerbach Canada Ltd.)
• Edo 58-4580 straight floats, ventral fin under tail
• (?) leased to Island Air (Island Airlines Ltd.), Campbell River, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada
• based at Campbell River Seaplane Base (CAE3), Tyee Spit, Campbell River, Vancouver Island, B.C.
• Airwest Airlines (Airwest Airlines Ltd.), Gulf Air (Gulf Air Aviation Services Ltd.), Haida Airlines (Haida Airlines Ltd.), Island Air (Island Airlines Ltd.), Pacific Coastal Airlines (Pacific Coastal Airlines Ltd.), and West Coast Air (West Coast Air Services Ltd.) purchased by Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. between April 1979 and June 1980, and merged to form Air BC (Air BC Ltd.) on December 1, 1980 
• Trans-Provincial Airlines (Trans-Provincial Airlines Ltd.) purchased by Jim Pattison Industries Ltd. but operated separately
• leased to Air BC (Air BC Ltd./Subsidiary of Jim Pattison Industries Ltd.), South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada from December 1, 1980 to 1982
• C-FAOP, Framar Aviation Ltd., Campbell River, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada cancelled on May 27, 1982
• C-FAOP, Tyee Airways (Tyee Airways Ltd.), Sechelt, B.C., Canada cancelled on May 17, 1983
• based at Porpoise Bay Water Aerodrome (CAX3), Sechelt, B.C.
• C-FAOP, Brenco Investments Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada cancelled on December 4, 1987
• C-FAOP, Thunderbird Air (Thunderbird Air 1987 Ltd.), Sechelt, B.C., Canada on December 4, 1987 and cancelled on March 8, 1990
• based at Porpoise Bay Water Aerodrome (CAX3)
• C-FAOP, Baxter Aviation (Baxter Aviation Ltd.), Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada on March 8, 1990 and cancelled on March 20, 1996
• based at Nanaimo Harbour Water Airport (ZNA/CAC8), Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, B.C.
• Edo 679-4930 straight floats, bubble cabin door windows, enlarged rear cabin windows, seaplane fins on horizontal stabilizer
• C-FAOP, Harbour Air Seaplanes (Harbour Air Ltd.), South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR), Sea Island, Richmond, B.C., Canada on March 20, 1996 and cancelled on May 14, 2004
• based at Vancouver International Water Airport (CAM9), Moray Channel, Richmond, B.C., adjacent to South Terminal, Vancouver International Airport (YVR/CYVR) 
• registered to Saltspring Air on May 28, 2004
• Holmes nine-inch extended engine mount modification
• I saw C-FAOP at Maple Bay Water Airport (YAQ), Maple Bay, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada in summer 2007
• active

[Nikon Coolpix L20 point-and-shoot 10 MP digital camera, Nikkor 38–136-mm f/3.1–6.7 lens, s/n 51002451]

© Copyright photograph by Stephan Alexander Scharnberg, January 2013