Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

[dave_r]

Hello!

I'm doing some research for a potential magazine article and got to wondering -- what's the most number of hours any one pilot has flown on the Twin Otter?

I saw mention of Jim Devlin having over 20,000 hours on the Twin Otter before retiring but was wondering if this is considered to be a lot or whether it was fairly common.

Thanks!

Dave

[Heliian]

Most pilots with that much experience stop counting.

[FL007]

I knew a few with probably more than that. 20 years on that machine is usually 900-1100/yr so 20k isn't unreasonable at all.

The pilots who stop counting can still tell you they've flown steady for 30+ years and so you can roughly guess.

[ant_321]

Maybe someone could ask Lester Powell in Goose Bay. I recall someone telling me his rediculous total time on the Twotter and I believe it was way over the 20k mark.

[Station61]

Contact Air Tindi in Yellowknife. They will put you in touch with the right guys !!

[Schooner69A]

Twin Otter: those that like it, like it a lot. However, several years ago, the company for which I worked acquired a Cessna Caravan. It was an excellent aircraft in executing the tasks for which it was purchased. However, there was resistance from customers and senior management about flying around in a SE aircraft.

So...

The company purchased a Twin Otter, giving up thirty years and thirty knots. It was completely overhauled in-house and fitted with an executive interior. (Think: Cessna jet)

It was nice enough to fly, but S-L-O-W. It's 'bush' capabilities were never really utilized in that it rarely flew from unprepared strips.

After giving good service for many years, it was finally replaced with a TE turbo-prop that can fly OVER the weather...

Because of the environment in which I flew it, it is not one of my favourite aircraft... (;>0)

[FL007]

Twin Otter: those that like it, like it a lot. However, several years ago, the company for which I worked acquired a Cessna Caravan. It was an excellent aircraft in executing the tasks for which it was purchased. However, there was resistance from customers and senior management about flying around in a SE aircraft.

So...

The company purchased a Twin Otter, giving up thirty years and thirty knots. It was completely overhauled in-house and fitted with an executive interior. (Think: Cessna jet)

It was nice enough to fly, but S-L-O-W. It's 'bush' capabilities were never really utilized in that it rarely flew from unprepared strips.

After giving good service for many years, it was finally replaced with a TE turbo-prop that can fly OVER the weather...

Because of the environment in which I flew it, it is not one of my favourite aircraft... (;>0)

That sucks.

Yeah an executive interior is not really what it was made for, it's super loud and slow, true.

However multi engine aircraft are actually required for some contracts, specifically military or government contracts, and caravans are especially nasty in ice.

Maybe it wasn't a good fit for the environment, but it's an amazing aircraft, and as reliable as a tank.

[co-joe]

Bob Heath must have had somewhere around the 20K hours on type? He had his wedding ceremony IN a twin otter.

[CL-Skadoo!]

Bob Heath must have had somewhere around the 20K hours on type? He had his wedding ceremony IN a twin otter.

That was my first thought, the great Bob Heath. What a kind fellow.

[C.W.E.]

Bob was a real credit to aviation.

[all_ramped_up]

Maybe someone could ask Lester Powell in Goose Bay. I recall someone telling me his rediculous total time on the Twotter and I believe it was way over the 20k mark.

This is what I was thinking. Lester, Benny Powell or Romaine Butler all have an absolute gob of time on the Twotter.

[Schooner69A]

FL007

We had a chap join us who had flown a Twin Otter out of Yellowknife. He was orgasmic...

[TheRealMcCoy]

Give Tindi or Summit a call, they've got some high time folks there.

[av8ts]

Maybe someone could ask Lester Powell in Goose Bay. I recall someone telling me his rediculous total time on the Twotter and I believe it was way over the 20k mark.

This is what I was thinking. Lester, Benny Powell or Romaine Butler all have an absolute gob of time on the Twotter.

Lester would have 10 years on Benny and Romaine

[pelmet]

Doug Mcleod. The most interesting Twin Otter driver there ever was. In all those years of offstrip work, he never damaged an aircraft, just the sanity of some of his first officers.

[Brantford Beech Boy]

Doug Mcleod. The most interesting Twin Otter driver there ever was. In all those years of offstrip work, he never damaged an aircraft, just the sanity of some of his first officers.

+1

BBB

[Rowdy]

Lots of names I can think of with gobs of Twotter time.

Bob was one of my favourites.

[switchflicker]

Bob Heath must have had somewhere around the 20K hours on type? He had his wedding ceremony IN a twin otter.

IN FLIGHT if I remember correctly!!

[yyctwin]

About 10 years ago Lester Powell figured in had in excess of 40,000 on the Twotter. He obviously stopped looking but a guesstimate using an average of hours/years out him well over 40k. You won’t find a nicer fella, consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to sit in the right seat next to him.

[FL007]

About 10 years ago Lester Powell figured in had in excess of 40,000 on the Twotter. He obviously stopped looking but a guesstimate using an average of hours/years out him well over 40k. You won’t find a nicer fella, consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to sit in the right seat next to him.

40k might have been a little high then, I believe that today someone could have upwards of that for sure.

[dumbbell daddy]

If I remember correctly, Bob told me he stopped counting at around 30,000...one night over a beer at Jetz. I think he had something like close to 10,000 hrs on the ICE alone, at the time of his passing. Bob was one of a kind. Really missed. He helped start a lot of young pilot's careers.

[godsrcrazy]

About 10 years ago Lester Powell figured in had in excess of 40,000 on the Twotter. He obviously stopped looking but a guesstimate using an average of hours/years out him well over 40k. You won’t find a nicer fella, consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to sit in the right seat next to him.

40k might have been a little high then, I believe that today someone could have upwards of that for sure.

There was a time when flying 1,500 hours a year was a slow year. 40,000 is not hard to believe.

[Spandau]

Len Robinson was another very high timer in the Twin Otter. Bruce Cornack and Ron Sprang also come to mind.

[av8ts]

About 10 years ago Lester Powell figured in had in excess of 40,000 on the Twotter. He obviously stopped looking but a guesstimate using an average of hours/years out him well over 40k. You won’t find a nicer fella, consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to sit in the right seat next to him.

40k might have been a little high then, I believe that today someone could have upwards of that for sure.

There was a time when flying 1,500 hours a year was a slow year. 40,000 is not hard to believe.

And that was actual stick time, not credit. Oh and doing your own loading, unloading and fueling

[pelmet]

Duncan Grant could be another possible contender for the title.

He used to grab the VFR charts from the F/O, crumple it up and throw it out the window. Knew every star in the sky and where it was at any particular hour.

Len Robinson was another very high timer in the Twin Otter.

Didn't he leave a wingtip mark in the snow one time turning final in flat light?

Captain Oh Ah, those who know, know who I mean.

Where does one start with the stories? I would be interested in details on why his services were no longer required in the Antarctic at the very end.