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Old 29th Aug 2005, 06:49
  #5 (permalink)  
chuks
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Age: 76
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I have a fair amount of time in the Twin Otter. The LET I have only sat in, parked.

The main problem I have noticed with the Twin Otter is that it can be a bit of a handful in crosswinds. Low-time guys seem to find it a handful, especially if they are used to something like a Cessna 402, say. The Cessna just lands and sits there, with its low wing and short gear. The Twin Otter will quite happily try to groundloop if you let it. Every so often you hear of this or that unfortunate who has managed to grind off the outboard aileron hinge when his Twin Otter got away from him.

Handling aside, I have found the Twin Otter to be a very rugged and user-friendly aircraft. I really enjoyed my time on the type.

Well, I do have tinnitus in my left ear, which cropped up after my last tour flying the type, so that cockpit noise certainly doesn't meed modern expectations. There was this one car at Warri Airstrip equipped with an alarm that would go off every time a Twini Otter took off. Now that is loud! Here in Germany they have to be equipped with a four-bladed prop modification to meet the noise standards.

And with the low wing-loading you were in for a rough ride in turbulence, so that the pax were often not very impressed with the job you were doing, try as you might.
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