Viking Air

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This article is about the Canadian bushplane manufacturer. For other companies with similar names, see Viking Aircraft.
Viking Air Limited
Corporation
Industry General Aviation
Founded 1970
Headquarters North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada
Key people
 David Curtis
President and CEO
Products DHC-2T Turbo Beaver
DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400
Number of employees
 575[1]
Website vikingair.com

Viking Air Ltd. is a manufacturer of aircraft, as well as aircraft parts and systems, based in North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The company produces new versions of the DHC-6 Twin Otter, upgraded versions of the DHC-2 Beaver, spare parts for older de Havilland Canada aircraft, and components for Bell Helicopter Textron. Its President and CEO has been since at least May 2005, David Curtis.[2]

History

The company was established in 1970 as an aircraft modification, sales, and repair facility in North Saanich.

Viking acquired the exclusive rights to manufacture spare parts and to distribute the DHC-2 Beaver and the DHC-3 Otter aircraft in 1983. In May 2005, the company subsequently purchased the parts and service business for all the older de Havilland Canada aircraft from Bombardier Aerospace.[2][3] Since 2008, Viking has been producing its own version of the DHC-6 Twin Otter, and repairs the DHC-2 Beaver.

On February 24, 2006, Viking purchased the type certificates from Bombardier for all the discontinued de Havilland Canada designs[4] including:

Not included were type certificates for the DHC-8 Dash 8, which is still produced by Bombardier Aerospace as their Q400 series.

Viking Air has also held the type certificate for the Trident TR-1 Trigull since 2006.[5][6] Ownership of the certificates for the former de Havilland and Trident series gives Viking the exclusive right to manufacture and sell new aircraft of those types.

New production

First flight of the Series 400 on October 1, 2008
DHC-6 Series 400 on display at the 2010 Farnborough Airshow

On April 2, 2007 Viking announced that with 27 orders and options in hand, it was restarting production of the Twin Otter with more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34/35 engines.[7] The first flight of the Series 400 technical demonstrator took place on October 1, 2008 at Victoria International Airport.[8] In February 2010 the first new production Twin Otter Series 400 equipped with Honeywell's Primus Apex IFR digital flight deck and configured with a commuter interior took its first flight.[9] The DHC-6-400 series Twin Otter design has all around better performance, it includes more power, space, and now can haul up to 4,280 lbs of freight.[citation needed]

Viking Air also produces upgraded DHC-2 Beavers fitted with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprop engine called the DHC-2T Turbo Beaver.

In December 2008, Viking Air indicated their intention to put the DHC-5 Buffalo series back into production in Canada at their home factory in North Saanich or in Calgary, Alberta. The new production Buffalo features Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150 turboprops, a glass cockpit, enhanced vision and night vision goggle capability. The company intends to propose the aircraft as a replacement for the Royal Canadian Air Force fleet of existing DHC-5As.[10]

Products

Remanufactured Beavers by Viking Air, upgraded with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 680 hp (507 kW) turboprop engine.

First delivered in July 2010, powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 or optional PT6A-35 Hot & High Performance engines, and available on standard landing gear, straight floats, amphibious floats, skis, wheel skis, or intermediate flotation landing gear.

Proposals

Proposed redesigned new production version to be built by Viking Air. NG is the company marketing term indicating Next Generation.

See also

References

  1. ↑ strategis.gc.ca: "Canadian Company Profiles - Viking Air Limited - Company information", retrieved 26 May 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 wingsmagazine.com: "Viking Air acquires assets of Bombardier" 5 May 2005
  3. ↑ Viking Air Limited acquires certain assets of Bombardier Commercial Service May 2, 2005
  4. ↑ Viking acquires de Havilland type certificates February 24, 2006
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Viking restarts Twin Otter production April 2, 2007
  8. ↑ First Flight For New Twin Otter A "Boring" Success October 01, 2008
  9. ↑ First Flight For New Twin Otter AvFlash News, February 27, 2010
  10. ↑ Niles, Russ. "Viking Proposes Resurrection Of DHC-5 Buffalo." avweb.com, December 2008. Retrieved: 13 September 2009.

External links

External reading

  • Sean Rossiter The Immortal Beaver: The World's Greatest Bush Plane , Douglas & McIntyre, 2005 ISBN 1-55054-724-0,
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