INUVIK
The Twin Otter is being built again and Viking Air, the company building the new version, flew the aircraft into Mike Zubko Airport on July 14.

Tom Zubko enters the cabin of the new 600 series Twin Otter built by Canadian company Viking Air at the arrival of the first of its kind at Mike Zubko Airport, July 14. - Mark Rieder/NNSL photo

Originally built by de Havilland Canada, the Twin Otter was first manufactured in 1965 until production stopped in 1988. More than 900 were built.

Dave Curtis, president of Viking Air, said they brought the aircraft to airports across the North to share in the celebration of the original plane's first flight 50 years ago.

"The Twin Otter brand is so well known around the world, but it really was developed in the North," he said.

"We could have done a cross-Canada trip and ended up in Ottawa and had a celebration there. But at the end of the day we realized the North made the airplane, and that's where we had to go."

Among the people who took part in the celebration was Inuvik Mayor Floyd Roland. He said the plane plays a large role in the North's history.

"The Twin Otter was the workhorse in the Arctic for years (whether) on skis, on floats or on wheels," Roland said.

He said the plane had an impact on his imagination from an early age.

"I have some memories of my own as a young boy, watching the Twin Otters land at the whaling camp and offloading a lot of supplies," he said. "I used to build cardboard toys, and I made a Twin Otter with floats because that was always in my mind."

He remembers flying into Sachs Harbour while working as a mechanic's apprentice. On that day there was too much fog over the airport runway. The pilot landed on the ice in the harbour instead, then taxied all the way to the shoreline.

Mike Zubko, who is credited with playing a large role in aviation history in the North, flew one of the first Twin Otters to see service in the region.

His son Tom Zubko was at the celebration and said he is pleased with the decision to recognize the importance of the North's part in the plane's evolution.

"I think it's really excellent that they are doing a tour of the places where the Twin Otter got its start. I think it indicates a familiarity with their history."

He said his father's expertise as a mechanic was central in keeping the plane flying under the harsh conditions they faced in the North.

"When I got involved in the '70s, my dad had already been involved for 25 years in the business. He had an awful lot of things to teach us about how to make airplanes work in unusual conditions," he said. "We always had to do things to airplanes to make them work and that always made for interesting times."

Along with Curtis, Sherry Brydson, a majority shareholder of Viking Air who is credited as Canada's richest woman with an estimated wealth of $6.5 billion, flew into Mike Zubko Airport in one of the first of the new planes to be built.

Brydson said by stopping at all the communities that were served by the original plane, she has heard how important the aircraft was.

"We're hearing true stories about what the aircraft can do," she said.

Along with a tour of the new plane, designated as the 600 series, those at the event were able to sign a wing rib that will go into the construction of the 100th aircraft to be built in the spring of 2016.

Later, Brydson and Curtis presented a donation of $3,000 to Abdul Aziz and Abdalla Mohamed to support the Midnight Sun Food Bank.

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