Flying the Twin Otter has been a new and very unique experience. For one thing, this is the first twin aircraft I fly commercially. Even though I did do a multi-engine rating during our time at Prairie School of Mission Aviation, I have not flown an airplane with two engines since. For another thing, the Twin Otter is a turbo-prop aircraft, and, obviously, a turbine is not quite the same to handle as the piston engine I am familiar with. And lastly, the DHC6 is much bigger having about four times the capacity of the Airvan, the little piston plane I flew up to now.
The Twin Otter was built to fly in the rugged environment of the Canadian North and, thus, is very suitable for PNG. With its STOL (Short Take-off and Landing) capabilities it lands comfortably on strips of 1300ft length and 12% slope. Therefore, it is able to go to places the Airvan could not, while still taking a full load in and out. Because of its big cabin it can not only take more, but also a different kind of cargo. Large iron roofing sheets, wood panelling and metal stilts for houses, water tanks, bags of cement, rolls of fencing, portable saw mill, and especially around Goroka, bags of green coffee beans.
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| Bags of green coffee beans awaiting their transport to a roastery |
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| Iron roofing sheets out - coffee bags in |
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| Heavy lifting: each coffee bag weighs 50kg - we can take about 36 |
