Viking Air Ltd. is a manufacturer of aircraft, as well as aircraft parts and systems, based at Victoria International Airport in

North Saanich, British Columbia The District of North Saanich is located on the Saanich Peninsula of British Columbia, approximately north of Victoria on southern Vancouver Island. It is one of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. The District is surrounded on three side ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. 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 De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited is an aircraft manufacturer with facilities formerly based in the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original home of de Havilland Canada was the home of the Canadian Air and Space Museum lo ...

aircraft, and components for Bell Helicopter Textron. The company also plans to produce its new DHC-515 (formerly

CL-515 The Canadair CL-415 (Super Scooper, later Bombardier 415) and the De Havilland Canada DHC-515 are a series of amphibious aircraft built originally by Canadair and subsequently by Bombardier and Viking Air, and De Havilland Canada. The CL-415 ...

) water bomber firefighting aircraft in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

. Its president and CEO from 1991 is David Curtis, who has announced his intention to retire, as of August 2021. The company is managed by Longview Aviation Capital. Longview Aviation is owned by Sherry Brydson, granddaughter of deceased newspaper magnate Roy Thomson and cousin of David Thomson, parties of the largest family fortune in Canada.

History

The company was established in 1970 by founder, Norwegian-born Canadian aviation pioneer Nils Christensen, doing overhaul, maintenance and conversions to all types of aircraft but specializing in flying boats. In 1983, Christensen acquired the exclusive rights from de Havilland Canada to manufacture spare parts and to distribute the DHC-2 Beaver and the DHC-3 Otter aircraft. He retired as president of Viking Air in 1987.

Acquisitions

Acquisition of de Havilland Canada designs: DHC-1 through DHC-7

In May 2005, the company subsequently purchased the parts and service business for all the older de Havilland Canada aircraft from Bombardier Aerospace. On 24 February 2006, Viking purchased the

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applic ...

s from Bombardier for all the discontinued de Havilland Canada designs: the DHC-1 Chipmunk, DHC-2 Beaver, DHC-3 Otter, DHC-4 Caribou, DHC-5 Buffalo, DHC-6 Twin Otter and DHC-7 Dash 7, giving Viking Air the right to manufacture new aircraft if a market should arise for such.

Restart of DHC production

First Flight Twin Otter Series 400 C-FDHT

On 2 April 2007, Viking announced that, nineteen years after being discontinued, 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. The first flight of the Series 400 technical demonstrator took place on 1 October 2008 at Victoria International Airport. 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. 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. 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

. A potential new production Buffalo would have had Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150 turboprops, a

glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous ...

, enhanced vision and night vision goggle capability. The company proposed the aircraft as a replacement for the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

fleet of existing DHC-5As but the aircraft was not included in the final assessment in 2016 which chose the

EADS CASA C-295 The CASA C-295 (now Airbus C295) is a medium tactical transport aircraft that was designed and initially manufactured by the Spanish aerospace company CASA. Work on what would become the C-295 was started during the 1990s as a derivative of ...

.Niles, Russ
"Viking Proposes Resurrection Of DHC-5 Buffalo".
''avweb.com'', December 2008. Retrieved: 13 September 2009. In September 2017, Viking Air announced that it would begin talking to potential customers interested in the CL-415 "SuperScooper" Waterbomber aircraft, with the potential of the company reviving production of the aircraft if it finds demand. On March 31, 2022, De Havilland Canada Ltd. (under Viking Air) announced plans for the DHC-515 Firefighter Program. Formerly known as the

program, the new water bomber aircraft builds upon the iconic CL-215 and

CL-415 The Canadair CL-415 (Super Scooper, later Bombardier 415) and the De Havilland Canada DHC-515 are a series of amphibious aircraft built originally by Canadair and subsequently by Bombardier and Viking Air, and De Havilland Canada. The CL-415 ...

firefighting aircraft with modern features and improvements. Production and final assembly are to occur in

, where support for existing in-service CL-215 and

aircraft takes place. The company has signed letters of intent for the purchase of the first 22 DHC-515 aircraft by European customers. The program is expected to bring 500 jobs to

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

Further type certificate acquisitions

In 2006, Viking Air acquired the type certificate for the Trident TR-1 Trigull since 2006, along with the three prototypes built. On 20 June 2016, Viking announced the acquisition of the worldwide amphibious aircraft program from Bombardier, including the type certificate for the CL-215, CL-215T and

Waterbombers. The acquisition was finalized on 3 October. On 29 May 2018, five

were sold to US firefighting company Bridger Aerospace, Longview then expected to recruit 200 workers in Calgary for the conversions.

Dash-8 acquisition

On 8 November 2018, Viking Air parent Longview Aviation acquired the

Bombardier Dash 8 The De Havilland Canada DHC-8, commonly known as the Dash 8, is a series of turboprop-powered regional airliners, introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. DHC was later bought by Boeing in 1988, then by Bombardier in 1992; then by ...

program and the de Havilland brand from Bombardier to continue Q400 production, in Downsview until the lease ends in 2021, in a deal that closed in the second half of 2019, bringing together all of the DHC type certificates under one umbrella once again. Bombardier announced the sale was for $300 million, and expects $250 million net. After the deal, Longview will have $1 billion (US$670 million) in annual sales and 1,800 workers in Victoria, Calgary and Toronto. By November 2018 the sales of the higher-performance Q400 were slower than the cheaper aircraft from competitor ATR. In January 2019, parent company Longview announced that it would establish a new company in Ontario, under the

De Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited is an aircraft manufacturer with facilities formerly based in the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original home of de Havilland Canada was the home of the Canadian Air and Space Museum loca ...

name, to continue production of the

line. The Dash 8 acquisition will vault Longview from 600–700 employees to up to 2,000 including the

new production. After Bombardier sold the Q400 plant in Downsview, Ontario, Longview has three years to find a new location in Ontario where production should stay with 1,000 people. In February 2022, Longview consolidated its activities, with Viking Air, Longview Aviation, Pacific Sky Training and De Havilland Canada all being rebranded as De Havilland Aircraft of Canada.

Products

* DHC-2T Turbo Beaver – remanufactured Beavers by Viking Air, upgraded with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 680 hp (507 kW) turboprop engine. * DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400 (new production) – 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. * CL-415 Enhanced Aerial Firefighter (EAF) – remanufactured CL-215 Scoopers, featuring Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123AF turboprop engines and EFIS avionics suite.

List of type certificates

* DHC-1 Chipmunk * DHC-2 Beaver * DHC-3 Otter * DHC-4 Caribou * DHC-5 Buffalo * DHC-6 Twin Otter * DHC-7 Dash 7 * DHC-8 Dash 8 (under parent company Longview Aviation) * CL-215 * CL-215T * CL-415 *

Short Skyvan The Short SC.7 Skyvan (nicknamed the "Flying Shoebox") is a British 19-seat twin- turboprop aircraft manufactured by Short Brothers of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is used mainly for short-haul freight and skydiving. The Short 330 and Short ...

"Short Brothers' intellectual property rights sold to Viking"
retrieved 15 Aug 2019 *

Short 330 The Short 330 (also SD3-30) is a small turboprop transport aircraft produced by Short Brothers. It seats up to 30 people and was relatively inexpensive and had low maintenance costs at the time of its introduction in 1976. The 330 was based on ...

Short 360 The Short 360 (also SD3-60; also Shorts 360)Mondey, David. ''Encyclopedia of the World's Commercial and Private Aircraft''. New York: Crescent Books, 1981. , p. 228. is a commuter aircraft that was built by UK manufacturer Short Brothers during ...

* Trident TR-1 Trigull

Proposals

* DHC-5NG Buffalo NG – Proposed redesigned new production version to be built by Viking Air. NG is the company's marketing term indicating Next Generation.

References

External links

*
Company Profile at Industry Canada

Times-Colonist, 6 December 2011

External reading

* Sean Rossiter ''The Immortal Beaver: The World's Greatest Bush Plane '', Douglas & McIntyre, 2005 , {{Aircraft manufactured in Canada Aircraft manufacturers of Canada Multinational aircraft manufacturers Aerospace companies of Canada Manufacturing companies established in 1970 Emergency services equipment makers Canadian brands De Havilland Canada 1970 establishments in British Columbia Canadian companies established in 1970 Thomson family