What happened to Twin Otters?

[Mxsmanic]

I was reading about Twin Otters in Wikipedia, and I see that production
stopped in 1988, but the article doesn't explain why. The airplane looks like
it was (and is) pretty popular, so why did the company stop making them?

[karl gruber[_1_]]

Benefit cost ratio



"Mxsmanic" > wrote in message
...
>I was reading about Twin Otters in Wikipedia, and I see that production
> stopped in 1988, but the article doesn't explain why. The airplane looks
> like
> it was (and is) pretty popular, so why did the company stop making them?

[Paul Tomblin]

In a previous article, Mxsmanic > said:
>I was reading about Twin Otters in Wikipedia, and I see that production
>stopped in 1988, but the article doesn't explain why. The airplane looks like
>it was (and is) pretty popular, so why did the company stop making them?

Boeing bought de Havilland Canada in order to get into the intercity
commuting market. They weren't interested in the STOL market at all, so
they destroyed the production jigs for the Twin Otter and Dash 7 almost as
soon as they took possession. My father, who worked for DHC for 30 years,
calls the time when Boeing owned the as "the dark time".

On the good side, however, Viking Air (http://www.vikingair.com/) now owns
the production rights for all DHC aircraft from the Chipmunk up to the
Dash 7, and have started to produce Beavers again and Twin Otters again.

--
Paul Tomblin > http://blog.xcski.com/
Quality Control, n.:
The process of testing one out of every 1,000 units coming off
a production line to make sure that at least one out of 100 works.

[Bertie the Bunyip[_5_]]

Mxsmanic > wrote in
:

> I was reading about Twin Otters in Wikipedia, and I see that
> production stopped in 1988, but the article doesn't explain why. The
> airplane looks like it was (and is) pretty popular, so why did the
> company stop making them?
>

Because people stoipped buying them fjukktard


Bertie

[[email protected]]

On Jun 2, 9:44 pm, Bertie the Bunyip > wrote:
> Mxsmanic > wrote :
>
> > I was reading about Twin Otters in Wikipedia, and I see that
> > production stopped in 1988, but the article doesn't explain why. The
> > airplane looks like it was (and is) pretty popular, so why did the
> > company stop making them?
>
> Because people stoipped buying them fjukktard
>
> Bertie

People stopped buying a LOT of airplanes in the '80s, because
the recession hit most people so hard. Flight schools closed down all
over the continent, interest rates were insane, insurance companies
raised their rates to cope with the countless nuisance or
opportunistic lawsuits, and there was a general lack of interest in
flying as an occupation. The bush operators who bought Twin Otters saw
a drop in their business, and the airplane is so stout that it lasts
for a long time and doesn't need replacing like the average Chevy.
But there's been a hot demand for them in the last few years as
things recovered, and Viking is building them. They'll cost plenty but
there's little else like it. The Czechs have a similar airplane
(LET-410) but I don't know if it's nearly as good; I haven't seen any
in Canada.

Dan

[Matt Barrow[_4_]]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Jun 2, 9:44 pm, Bertie the Bunyip > wrote:
>> Mxsmanic > wrote
>> :
>>
>> > I was reading about Twin Otters in Wikipedia, and I see that
>> > production stopped in 1988, but the article doesn't explain why. The
>> > airplane looks like it was (and is) pretty popular, so why did the
>> > company stop making them?
>>
>> Because people stoipped buying them fjukktard
>>
>> Bertie
>
> People stopped buying a LOT of airplanes in the '80s, because
> the recession hit most people so hard.

People stopped buying them because manufacturers stopped BUILDING them.
Cessna built it's last piston popper in 1984/5 and didn't start up again
until the mid-90's when the limits on liability were signed into law.

The recession in the 80's was pretty much over by 1983.

> Flight schools closed down all
> over the continent, interest rates were insane,

Are you confusing the late 70's (prime rate 14%) with something else?

>insurance companies
> raised their rates to cope with the countless nuisance or
> opportunistic lawsuits, and there was a general lack of interest in
> flying as an occupation.

Sounds like you're in a ten year time warp.

>The bush operators who bought Twin Otters saw
> a drop in their business, and the airplane is so stout that it lasts
> for a long time and doesn't need replacing like the average Chevy.

You got that part right.

[[email protected]]

On Jun 4, 11:10 am, "Matt Barrow" >
wrote:
> > wrote in message
>
> oups.com...
>
> > On Jun 2, 9:44 pm, Bertie the Bunyip > wrote:
> >> Mxsmanic > wrote
> >> :
>
> >> > I was reading about Twin Otters in Wikipedia, and I see that
> >> > production stopped in 1988, but the article doesn't explain why. The
> >> > airplane looks like it was (and is) pretty popular, so why did the
> >> > company stop making them?
>
> >> Because people stoipped buying them fjukktard
>
> >> Bertie
>
> > People stopped buying a LOT of airplanes in the '80s, because
> > the recession hit most people so hard.
>
> People stopped buying them because manufacturers stopped BUILDING them.
> Cessna built it's last piston popper in 1984/5 and didn't start up again
> until the mid-90's when the limits on liability were signed into law.
>
> The recession in the 80's was pretty much over by 1983.

Not here in Canada. We tend to suffer when the US suffers, but
with a roughly 5-year lag. So much of our industry is based on exports
to the US, and when things recover there it takes awhile for Canadian
industry to get going again. AMd our dollar was so weak at that time
that we coulodn't afford to buy American-built aircraft in any big
numbers. In fact, a lot of Canadian-registered aircraft were sold into
the US at that time. My home airport got cleaned right off.
>
> > Flight schools closed down all
> > over the continent, interest rates were insane,
>
> Are you confusing the late 70's (prime rate 14%) with something else?

Our prime went a lot higher than that here, as a misguided
attempt to control inflation. We saw mortgage rates of 22% around
1982-'83, with prime a couple percent less. Businesses shut down
everywhere.

>
> >insurance companies
> > raised their rates to cope with the countless nuisance or
> > opportunistic lawsuits, and there was a general lack of interest in
> > flying as an occupation.
>
> Sounds like you're in a ten year time warp.

What? Was there no hassle with liability in the '80s? And as far as
flight training, the three schools we had in my hometown were all dead
by 1988. Not enough interest.

> >The bush operators who bought Twin Otters saw
> > a drop in their business, and the airplane is so stout that it lasts
> > for a long time and doesn't need replacing like the average Chevy.
>
> You got that part right.

The Twin Otter is a Canadian-built airplane. Another really stout
Canadian airplane is the Found, a cantilever all-metal high-winged
taildragger that was in production in the 1950s and was resurrected a
few years ago. Costs less than a C206, carries more, climbs and
cruises faster, needs less runway. See http://www.foundair.com/

Dan

[Matt Barrow[_4_]]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> On Jun 4, 11:10 am, "Matt Barrow" >
> wrote:
>>
>> People stopped buying them because manufacturers stopped BUILDING them.
>> Cessna built it's last piston popper in 1984/5 and didn't start up again
>> until the mid-90's when the limits on liability were signed into law.
>>
>> The recession in the 80's was pretty much over by 1983.
>
> Not here in Canada. We tend to suffer when the US suffers, but
> with a roughly 5-year lag. So much of our industry is based on exports
> to the US, and when things recover there it takes awhile for Canadian
> industry to get going again. AMd our dollar was so weak at that time
> that we coulodn't afford to buy American-built aircraft in any big
> numbers. In fact, a lot of Canadian-registered aircraft were sold into
> the US at that time. My home airport got cleaned right off.

There would not have been much of any aircraft to buy seeing that Cessna,
Piper, Beech and a whole bunch of other all but quit making them. mentioned
that in the previous paragraph, but you must have missed it.

>>
>> > Flight schools closed down all
>> > over the continent, interest rates were insane,
>>
>> Are you confusing the late 70's (prime rate 14%) with something else?
>
> Our prime went a lot higher than that here, as a misguided
> attempt to control inflation. We saw mortgage rates of 22% around
> 1982-'83, with prime a couple percent less. Businesses shut down
> everywhere.
>
>>
>> >insurance companies
>> > raised their rates to cope with the countless nuisance or
>> > opportunistic lawsuits, and there was a general lack of interest in
>> > flying as an occupation.

And that is why the undustry stopped producing piston singles (and a few
others), and that's why the GA Recovery Act (?), signed in 1994 (?) got them
going again with a vengence, though not to the levels they reached in the
late 70's.

>>
>> Sounds like you're in a ten year time warp.
>
> What? Was there no hassle with liability in the '80s?

Excuse me?

> And as far as
> flight training, the three schools we had in my hometown were all dead
> by 1988. Not enough interest.
>
>> >The bush operators who bought Twin Otters saw
>> > a drop in their business, and the airplane is so stout that it lasts
>> > for a long time and doesn't need replacing like the average Chevy.
>>
>> You got that part right.
>
> The Twin Otter is a Canadian-built airplane. Another really stout
> Canadian airplane is the Found, a cantilever all-metal high-winged
> taildragger that was in production in the 1950s and was resurrected a
> few years ago. Costs less than a C206, carries more, climbs and
> cruises faster, needs less runway. See http://www.foundair.com/