Imagine taking off from Lake Windermere and flying quietly and gently to land on the Thames in London's Docklands. Or to any dockside city using the water as a runway. This is an enticing possibility as small British airlines begin to explore the idea of investing in brand new Twin Otter seaplanes. Flying, a form of air-bound purgatory for the most part today, might just become romantic again.
While the DHC-6 Twin Otter is not exactly an Empire flying boat of yore - all cocktail bars, couchettes and exotic locations - it is one of the greatest of all small passenger aircraft.
It was produced by de Havilland of Canada between 1965 and 1988 to designs by Fred Buller and Dick Hiscocks, and now, after a break of nearly 20 years, is about to go back into production with Viking Air of Vancouver. Since de Havilland flew into the corporate sunset in 1988, Viking Air has been the guardian of the 350 or so Twin Otters (out of a total of 844 built) still flying.
The Series 400 Twin Otter, announced this month, will be very much like its predecessor, the familiar Series 300. This is a handsome, Swiss Army-knife-practical, safe and reliable 20-seat, turbo-prop machine that can take off and land on very short runways, and, suitably equipped, from snow and on water. It's one of those aircraft like the Junkers Ju 52, the Douglas DC3, the Piper J-3 Cub and the Antonov An-2, that have been all but indispensable in the history of workaday, propeller-driven flight. Its design is rooted in that of its equally successful predecessors, the single, piston-engine Otter of 1951, and, the one seaplane I've flown, the de Havilland Beaver of 1947.
Major operators of the Twin Otter today include Maldivian Air Taxi and Trans Maldivian Airlines. But until this month there was no certainty of a replacement. Although deliveries are not expected for two years, many users of seaplanes will welcome this news as their original de Havilland machines continue to age.
With its top speed of 185knots, ceiling of 26,700-ft and range of 920 miles, the DHC-6 has never set records, but if you have ever been lucky enough to spend time in one island-hopping - through blazing sun and a driving monsoon - with cargoes of medicines and complements of teachers, doctors, engineers and, of course, tourists, you would agree that here is an aircraft that makes our big, runway-bound passenger jets look both decadent and, for all their shouting speed, lumpen.
As to whether anyone today will allow the likable Twin Otter to land on the Thames, Shannon or Lake Windermere is another question. But, it promises to be a mesmerising sight.
