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Viking Air’s 100th Twin Otter

Viking Air Ltd. of Sidney, British Columbia, has now built its 100th Twin Otter. The company was started by Nils Christensen, who was born in Norway and whose first job after emigrating to Canada in 1951 was working for de Havilland Canada.

Shown above in an excerpt from a Viking Air advertisement is the versatile Twin Otter, capable of landing on floats, skis, wheels and tundra tires. Viking Air, with facilities in Sidney, BC, and Calgary, AB, has become the de facto replacement for de Havilland in Canada with parts manufacturing rights for Beaver, Otter and Turbo Beaver. In 2006, Viking acquired type certificates for several de Havilland aircraft and now concentrates on production of the Twin Otter.

Nils Christensen retired as president of Viking Air in 1987 and sold his 90% interest in the company when it had 50 employees. Viking then embarked upon production of the Twin Otter, and now has some 650 employees.

Twin Otters were recently in the news again when flown from Kenn Borek Air Ltd. in Calgary to carry out a medevac operation from the South Pole.

To see a story and a short video about the 100th Twin Otter, go to: ctv.news/0U9XWoe.

Below is “Olivia,” a stunning Turbo Beaver conversion, flown by Viking Air from Sidney, BC, to Toronto in 2007 for the 50th Anniversary of the Beaver, a celebration that coincided with the 2007 convention of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society. (Photo by John Chalmers)