As reported in Australian Aviation Express on Tuesday, she recently made her maiden flight on Wipline floats...
Originally Posted by AAE
Viking Air's Series 400 Twin Otter technology demonstrator made its first flight on October 21, marking an important step in the program to put the venerable 19 seater backing production.
The flight was made from Viking Air's facility in Victoria International Airport in British Columbia, Canada.
“The aircraft performed beautifully,” remarked Steve Stackhouse, Viking's manager of flight operations and pilot-in-command. Michael Moore, engineering test pilot and co-captain added “the first flight went smoothly and the aircraft handled exactly as expected.”
The Technology Demonstrator aircraft, officially dubbed ‘Viktoria', is a modified DHC-6-300 which incorporates a number of modifications which will be standard on the new built DHC-6-400. These include Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprop engines and a modern Honeywell Primus Apex avionics suite. The particular aircraft was also fitted with Wipline 13000 amphibious floats.
The Series 400 program was launched last year by Viking Air, which also provides OEM support to the full ‘heritage' de Havilland Canada range of aircraft from the DHC-1 to the DHC-7 Dash 7. The company has orders for over 40 Twin Otters from customers including Zimex Aviation, Trans Maldivian Airways, Loch Ard Otters and the US Army, while Malaysian Airlines is also expected to firm up an order for its MASWings subsidiary.
Worth keeping an eye on I reckon