As far as the Beaver and Otter go, I don’t think it is really fair to regard these as landplanes retrofitted as float planes.

Right from the start de Havilland Canada intended the Beaver as a “flying pickup truck” capable of operating from land or water, or for that matter, snow or ice on skis in the winter. Floats were not an after thought. Many were delivered right from the factory with floats installed. The company even designed a special cart to allow one time only take-off of these Beavers from the factory. The Otter built on the success of the Beaver and was designed from the ground up with the same uses in mind.

These are quintessential “bush planes” designed to be operated in remote areas, from whatever landing surface is available – dry land, water, or snow. True, their fusalages are not shaped like boats like say a Walrus or other “true” seaplanes. That would not have fit with what the designers had in mind. Not to mention that fact that I have a hard time picturing a Walrus or an Albatros fitted with skis and landing on a frozen lake! Perhaps the original intent of the designers of these aircraft has been forgotten by some since so many were purchased by the US military and others, including the UK, and rarely operated on floats. But the Beaver and Otter are not simply “landplanes” that someone stuck floats on later.

Not trying to pick an arguement – just providing a little background on a great Canadian design that is still sought after decades after the production line shut down.

Charles

p.s. the most amazing flight I have ever had was in a Beaver. It was a calm evening, and the pilot had been flying the same plane for something like 15 years. It was amazingly smooth, despite the fact that we had a fair bit of gear loaded inside. I couldn’t tell when the floats had left the water, nor, amazingly, could I tell when we had landed. I had to look out and see the wake to realize we had touched down. An unforgettable flight. Credit to the pilot, wherever he might be.

Convince myself ….. I am not jealous ….. I am not jealous …… I am not jealous.

Ahhhhhh …… it’s not working!!!!

Yes I am jealous. Eric the pics on your site are fantastic, as always. What an amazing opportunity that must has been. I know you have had many opportunities to do air to air photography in the past, but still …. this was a pretty unique formation.

As many great pictures as there are posted on this forum and others of warbirds, there is still something special about pictures like this, taken so close to home, and at an event I was at. Somehow different than all those great pictures from Legends and other shows. I can look at the pics and try to figure out where you were when you took them, based on the ground features. Looks like you didn’t fly over my place though. Darn. Would have been cool to have a pic of those fine aircraft passing over my house!!

Thanks very for sharing your pictures Eric.

Charles

EXCELLENT NEWS!!!

Thanks for posting this Mike. I know where I am going on Saturday. Any guesses as to what might be flying, or does it depend on servicability and all that??

Any idea what the plans are for Canada Day, or is it a little too soon yet? Wondering if they will be flying over to Rockcliffe to do their thing there, and then back over to Gatineau.

Charles

Postscript:

The sad reality if that while some of these may look funny, and the pilots walked away from at least some of these incidents, many pilots did not.

We remember those who died in combat, but it is easy to forget that many pilots and aircrew died in training, here in Canada and elsewhere, before ever getting their wings, and before ever getting to operational status. We must honour their memory too.

Lest we forget.

Charles

Someone wasn’t looking where they were going:

Interesting Tiger Moth landing:

And from the front:

In the days of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan here in Canada, there were plenty of “interesting” landings. The one that I immediately recalled was a picture I have seen of two Ansons, one on top of the other. I went looking for that picture and actually could not find it. But I found another picture of an Anson “sandwich”. Looks like it happened more than once! Apparently these aircraft collided somewhere above the ground, and landed attached. Amazing!

Also attached is a picture of an Anson whose pilot just might have missed being down on the farm.

These, and the following Tiger Moth pictures, are all from the Canada Aviation Museum website. They have a very good online collection, thought the accuracy of their captions often leaves something to be desired.