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

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

Post by 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.
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godsrcrazy
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by godsrcrazy »

FL007 wrote: Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:39 pm
yyctwin wrote: Sun Sep 23, 2018 1:47 pm 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.
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Spandau
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by Spandau »

Len Robinson was another very high timer in the Twin Otter. Bruce Cornack and Ron Sprang also come to mind.
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av8ts
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by av8ts »

godsrcrazy wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:10 am
FL007 wrote: Sun Sep 23, 2018 2:39 pm
yyctwin wrote: Sun Sep 23, 2018 1:47 pm 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
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pelmet
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by pelmet »

Mapleflt wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:25 am 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.
Spandau wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 6:17 am 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?
Mapleflt wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 7:25 am 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.
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dave_r
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by dave_r »

Good morning, everyone

Just a quick note to say thanks to all those who replied to this thread. I have a *lot* to work through now ...

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

Post by switchflicker »

I wonder how much Two Otter time George Sewel from La Ronge has.
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pelmet
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by pelmet »

dave_r wrote: Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:54 am Good morning, everyone

Just a quick note to say thanks to all those who replied to this thread. I have a *lot* to work through now ...

Dave
A lot of these guys have flown west now, some in crashes. I knew two captains who were in fatal accidents. Pretty much every one of them that I flew with were interesting characters for different reasons.
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DHC2eater
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by DHC2eater »

I asked Old George that question yesterday......he just had his 86th birthday last week and gave up his medical about 2 years ago.

He wasn't sure but thinks he started flying the Twin Otter around 1970 until about 2001/2002..... in the busy years they did 800-1000 hours per year.......so who knows....lots!

He's in great health although his hearing is not great(too many hours on the Single Otter)!j

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

Post by switchflicker »

Thanks for the note on George
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Spandau
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by Spandau »

Not that I'd place him in this category, but does anyone know whatever became of Big Daddy?
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pelmet
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by pelmet »

If it was the Big Daddy Bob that I unfortunately flew with......who cares.
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Spandau
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by Spandau »

It's probably the same guy - he was pretty special! :-)
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valleyboy
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by valleyboy »

A lot of unusually high time 2 otter pilots never flew anything else. That's as far as they got, found their happy place and stayed. I knew several guys like this.


DH Canada did award 10K badges in the past. I doubt that any of the group mentioned bothered with those. Back in the day early Bradley it was normal in YRB for 300hrs/month flight time. It was a bit of a scam since crews counted ground time but continued to log "payable" time with the excuse you could not shut down because the INS needed power. Late 60's and early 70's captains were making $60,000/year for rotational work. You can do the "today" dollar thing if you like.

It was interesting to watch the interaction between Duncan and Doug in the staff house. It was pretty funny. Dunk was a devious old bastard. :smt040 Someone should write a "story" book of pilot social life north of 60 --

I was there to witness someone trying to start the YRB annual battery toss and yes like most things like this, alcohol was a factor :mrgreen:
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sarg
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by sarg »

Paul Rask would likely be a contender.

Bob did get married in flight in a Twin Otter, but he was flying the 99 at the time and not rated on the Twin. About 10k of his 30k occurred before he started flying the Twin Otter. Still a great guy and missed.
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groncher
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Re: Twin Otter trivia: Hours held by the highest time pilots?

Post by groncher »

Karl Zberg, Harry Hanlon, Monty Stevenson, Don Boe, all likely up there. Same too for some other by now, Jim haffey, Steve King etc...
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