I got this in an email from my Father-in-law who is in the Canadian Air Force. He really enjoys riding in the Otter any chance he can get!!!

Maybe one day we will get a Turbine Otter but for now I love the Round engine on the front! It sounds like a real bush plane doesn’t it.

Hi John

This Kind of brings tears to your eyes…..

TURBINE ENGINES VS ROUND ENGINES

We gotta get rid of these turbines, they are ruining aviation. We need to go back to big round engines! Anybody can start a turbine: you just need to move a switch from” OFF to START” My desktop computer is harder to start.

Cranking a round engine requires skill, finesse and style. Turbines start by whining for a while, then give a small lady-like toot and start whining louder. Round engines give a satisfying rattle-rattle, click-click, BANG, more rattles, another BANG, more rattles, another BANG, a big macho fart or two, more clicks, a lot of smoke and finally a serious low pitched roar. (We like that. it’s a guy thing.) When you start a round engine, your mind is engaged and you can concentrate on the flight ahead.

Starting a turbine is like flicking on a ceiling fan: useful, but hardly exciting.

Turbines don’t break often enough, leading to aircrew boredom, complacency and inattention. A round engine at speed looks and sounds like it’s going to blow at any minute. This helps concentrate the mind. Turbines don’t have enough control.

Turbines smell like a Boy Scout camp full of Coleman lanterns.

Round-engined planes smell like God intended flying machines to smell.