De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
The de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter is a larger, single-engine stablemate of the smaller DHC-2 Beaver, built for operators who needed more payload and passenger capacity in the same rugged bush-flying role. Like the Beaver, it's commonly flown on floats, skis, or wheels depending on the terrain and season it's operating in. Some have been converted with a turboprop engine in place of the original piston engine, extending their working lives with modern reliability. It remains a familiar sight in remote parts of Canada, Alaska, and other wilderness regions today.
Did you know?
The DHC-3 Otter is a larger, single-engine sibling of the Beaver, built for bush operators needing more payload capacity.
Specifications
| Length | 12.8 m (42 ft) |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 17.7 m (58 ft) |
| Height | 3.9 m (13 ft) |
| Maximum passengers | 10 |
| Persons on board | 12 |
| Maximum take-off weight | 3.6 t |
| Range | 875 NM (1,621 km) |
| Maximum speed | 138 kt (256 km/h) |
| Service ceiling | 18,000 ft (5,486 m) |
| Optimum ceiling | 15,000 ft (4,572 m) |
| Rate of climb | 850 ft/min (4.3 m/s) |
| Take-off distance | 397 m (1,302 ft) |
| Landing distance | 360 m (1,181 ft) |
| Fuel capacity | 810 l |
| Engines | 1x Pratt & Whitney R-1340 |
| Units built | 466 |
Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.
In CatchFlights
In CatchFlights the De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter starts as a Rare catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you.
A catch counts for the manufacturer De Havilland Canada, the DHC-3 Otter family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.
Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.
Browse all aircraft types, or learn to tell Airbus from Boeing.