Beaver / Otter - how long will their era last?

[jpilot77]

I thought there was an STC so beavers could run on car gas?

[Castorero]

Airtids, you are right.
even now, finding avgas in the North is a real challenge if you are in floats. Ten years ago I took a Beaver on floats from TO to BC and it took some planning.
I doubt that one could accomplish a float trip from BC, to the Far North, across the Arctic and down Hudson Bay/James Bay because of the lack of Avgas.

I am hoping that the Beaver on wheels with the external belly tank will have an easier time of it

If anyone has any thoughts about such a trip, do let me know.

[turboguy]

How about the Bush Hawk? I know it will not come close in most aspects to the Beaver but is it not in the running?

No.

[rigpiggy]

though I love the PT6, the texas turbines conversion is cheaper to buy cheaper to run. I personally cannot understand why nobody has done a -41/42 conversion as a lot of operators also run KA200's, and they have already done the engineering work showing that 100hp out front is not a problem. Not to mention tht a lot of KA ops, are upgrading to the -42/52/60 upgrades leaving -41's out there for pretty cheap. In some ways more power is better, in that you can run the same fuel flows at less engine power reducing temps/overhaul costs