Almost 53 years after initial entry into service and 12 years since current owner Viking Air (Chalet 238/Static B4) put the design back into production, the Twin Otter is here at Le Bourget in special-missions guise as the Guardian 400. Viking Air is also displaying a Dash 8-Q400 regional twin-turboprop—possibly a European customer example.
The planned Dash 8 appearance is the type's first presentation at a major show since the program's recently completed acquisition from Bombardier by Viking Air parent Longview Aviation Capital (LAC). Earlier this month, LAC resurrected the De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited (DHC) brand under which it will operate the Dash 8 subsidiary operation.
DHC employs more than 1,200 workers, almost all of whom will transfer from Bombardier under existing labor agreements. It will produce, service, and support Dash 8 series aircraft from the existing Downsview, Ontario site under land-lease agreements that extend to 2023. Former Dash 8-Q400 program head Todd Young has been appointed COO.
Alberta-based LAC owns the type certificates for all the aircraft developed by the original DHC business that Bombardier had acquired from Boeing in 1992: the Chipmunk trainer, Beaver, Turbo Beaver, and Otter utility aircraft, Caribou and Buffalo transporters, Twin Otter light transport, and 50-seat Dash 7 regional airliner.
Separately, Viking Air had acquired, also from Bombardier, the former Canadair amphibious-aircraft family, comprising the CL-215, CL-215T, CL-415, and CL-415MP type certificates, product support, and aftermarket services.
At the Paris Airshow, Viking Air is highlighting its "commitment to producing, maintaining, and supporting exceptional Canadian aircraft," and might reveal more plans for a prospective CL-415 variant dubbed CL-515.
The Twin Otter Guardian 400 has been developed for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) operations. Viking Air claims that low acquisition cost and flexible architecture will allow operators to mix and match sensors and interior layouts to meet specific mission profiles. Its appearance here heralds a planned world tour set to begin in September and scheduled to include briefings and demonstration flights throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, north, central, and southeastern Africa, North America, and southern Asia.
Viking has spent six months modifying a production airframe into the Guardian 400 technical demonstrator, which features a host of equipment, including a self-contained aerial-reconnaissance (SCAR) pod with Hensoldt Argos electro-optical infra-red imaging turret; right-hand SCAR pod with Leonardo Osprey radar and Sentient Vidar camera systems; multi-spectral high-definition (HD) television camera; HD thermal imager; laser range-finder; multi-mode auto-tracker; and remote-image bus video feed for cockpit or crew-workstation display. The Guardian 400 demonstrator also sports an Airborne Technologies tactical workstation with an Ikhana ergonomic mission seat.
Increased takeoff weight and extended-range fuel capacity permit flights of more than 10 hours. Also included are conformal bubble windows, wing-mounted hardpoints, stretcher racks, and aft lavatory. Among recent Twin Otter customers is the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, which in May enlisted its UV-18 research platform.
As LAC formally adds the Dash 8 to its portfolio, the company continues to consider a re-launch of the CL-415 turboprop amphibian in enhanced form as the multi-mission CL-515. The upgraded machine would draw on experience gained by sibling business Longview Aviation Asset Management in converting piston-engined CL-215s to P&WC PW123AF-powered turboprop CL-415EAF enhanced aerial firefighters, for which Viking supplied turbine-conversion kits.
If LAC proceeds, the CL-515 would feature Collins Pro Line Fusion avionics and and be capable of performing medical-evacuation, surveillance, and other duties. The company envisions a first flight in 2024 and production of 40 or 50 over about 10 years.
Compared with current variants, the heavier CL-515 is expected to have a larger, 7,000-liter (1,850-gallon) water capacity, 1,000 liters more than the CL-415, and to offer 10-15 percent better fuel efficiency. Multimission CL-515s could sport advanced sensors for search and rescue and maritime-surveillance operations, while an aerial-application spray boom and a medevac version also have been considered.
In mid-2018, Longview announced Montana-based firefighting operator Bridger Aerospace would become the launch customer for the Viking CL-415EAF enhanced aerial firefighter conversion program under a multiple aircraft purchase agreement with deliveries beginning next year. In cooperation with Viking Air, LAC has contracted Cascade Aerospace, which previously converted nine used CL-215s to turbine power–to support Viking's CL-215T-based CL-415EAF conversion program, initially at Cascade’s Abbotsford facility in British Columbia.
The CL-415EAF conversion includes winglets and "finlets," upgraded power-assisted flight controls, a new power-distribution system and complete rewiring, and incorporation of 75 CL-215T service bulletins. When sister-company Longview Aviation Services launched the CL-415EAF last year, it disclosed a request for Canadian government funding to support the CL-515.