A brief history of the “Otter”

The happy accident that ended up reuniting several Vietnam veterans with the N424KT “Otter” all started with an idea to post the history of the airplane. We thought we would share a little background and history that Sarah Loreth found and posted about the airplane.

The Otter was a versatile aircraft that could be adapted for use in the arctic or tropics in addition to normal missions by using wheels, skids, or floats. The all-metal, high wing plane served as a light tactical transport. Its role as a transport soon gained it the nickname of the "airborne one-ton truck" due to its 2,240 pound cargo capacity.

The Otter was one of the first types of Army aircraft deployed to South Vietnam in February 1962. This aircraft represents a U-1 Otter aircraft that was assigned to the 18th Aviation Company, 45th Transportation Battalion which served in Vietnam from July 1, 1962 until September 24, 1963. Otters would serve in Vietnam throughout the entire war and in other regions across the globe for over 20 years.

The N424KT (serial number 338), which is now part of the K2 fleet, was manufactured in 1959. In July of that year, it was delivered to the United States Army joining the Army Aviation Board. In 1962 it was assigned to Fort Benning and the following year, was in Fort Rucker, still flying for the Army as a test aircraft. February of 1966, N424KT, or tail number 81719 as it was registered at the time, joined the 54th aviation company for deployment in Vietnam.

After Vietnam, the aircraft was issued to the Army Security Agency for use on an unsuccessful classified project named “Sorethumb”. The goal was to attempt a 360-degree VHF direction finder using a “spinning Adock array”. This project never progressed past the research stage and the aircraft was restored to its original configuration.

February 1974, 81719 was assigned to an unknown unit in Alaska but suffered engine failure that required an engine change. In lieu of incurring that expense, the Army sold the aircraft "as is, where is" at Watson Lake. The aircraft was then sold in May 1975 to Northern Thunderbird Air and registered C-GLES, where it went to Edmonton for overhaul and new paint where it remained serving the bush country of British Columbia until it was sold in 1984 to St. Cloud Aviation of Minnesota. It was then sold almost immediately to the Alsworth family of Port Alsworth, Alaska with registration N338D.

Alsworth, concerned with the lack of power for his backcountry work, decided to re-engine the Otter with a Wright Cyclone R-1820. The experimental conversion was never certified and eventually the engine was converted back to the original where it continued flying for the Alsworth family and their company Sound Adventures Air Service out of Lake Hood. It was later sold to All West Freight where it was taken out of service for an unsuccessful turbine conversion.

After being grounded for some years, the aircraft was then sold to Northern Aircraft Leasing in 2005 out of Kotzebue, Alaska continuing service until it suffered engine failure in August 2006 and had an emergency landing in marshy terrain, where it remained for some months. After an unsuccessful attempt to repair the engine to fly out of the swamp, in December 2006 N338D was disassembled and flown out by helicopter for rebuild.

December 2007, N338D was given a new life when Rust Air purchased the aircraft and was registered as N424KT in 2008 and given the turbine engine conversion. N424KT has been in the K2 fleet ever since and has served them well for the last 16 years!