Flied Rice, Anyone?
Up-market hotels and restaurants in Malaysia make a big deal out of the fact that they offer "air flown" steaks or fish. However, if they really know their stuff, your New Zealand sirloin or Norwegian salmon will be partnered with air-flown Bario rice. This is not as ridiculous as it sounds. The fertile terraces of Bario produce some of the finest rice in Southeast Asia, something that visitors have long raved about. For centuries the canny Kelabit people kept this secret to themselves. Prior to World War 2, there was no surplus to export, because anything left over from the harvest would be used to make rice-wine for the famous Iraus or pig-feasts. Anyway, who in their right mind is going to carry a 60lb sack of rice on their back for two weeks just to sell it in Marudi?
However, the coming of Christianity to Bario coincided with the beginning of the first air service. The Kelabit converted en masse, forsook the demon drink, and discovered they had tons of left-over premium-grade rice. They also discovered they had an excellent (albeit expensive) transport service to bring Bario rice to market. A small export industry blossomed overnight, and for the last thirty years or more every spare kilo of load capacity on every flight out of Bario has been taken up by fragrant Bario rice. There is no more bizarre sight in aviation than to board a Twin Otter in the interior of Sarawak and find that half of your fellow "passengers" are in fact 60 kg sacks of Bario rice, settled snugly in their seats and held firmly in place by seat belts.
Flying sacks of rice out of remote mountain valleys on small passenger aircraft is not exactly cheap, so don’t expect to sample the pride of Bario at every chicken rice stall. But some of the top hotels and restaurants in Sarawak serve it regularly, and if you want to try cooking Bario rice at home you can find it in most large supermarkets in Sarawak, priced at a staggering RM 10 (about US$4) per kilo.
Twin Otter Technical Specifications (DHC6-300)
In Service: Since 1966
Deliveries: 844 aircraft delivered
Now Out Of Production
Pilots: 1-2
Max. Seating Capacity: 19
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 Turboprops 620 Shaft Horsepower (462 kW)
Props: Hartzell - 3 blade (4-blade low-noise optional)
Dimensions:
Length - Standard/Sea Plane: 51' 9" / 49' 6"
Wing Span: 65'
Height - Standard/Sea Plane 19' 6" / 19' 10"
Wing Area: 420 sq ft
Operating Limitations:
Service Ceiling: 26,700 ft.
Service Ceiling - One Engine Out: 11,600 ft.
Stall Speed - Flaps Down 58 Kt.
Cabin Data:
Cabin Length: 18' 6"
Cabin Width: 5' 3"'
Cabin Height: 4' 11" Max. Cabin: 88 cu ft
Cabin Volume: 384 cu ft
Baggage/Cargo Volume:
Total: 126 cu ft
Leading Specifications:
Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW): 12,500 lbs
Maximum Landing Weight - Wheels or Skis / Floats** (MLW): 12,300 / 12,500 lbs
Operational Empty Weight (OEW): 7,415 lbs
Maximum Payload (100nm trip): 4,664 lbs
Maximum Fuel: 2,520 lbs
Maximum Cruise Speed : 182 knots
Field Length - Takeoff: 1500 ft (fully laden)
Field Length - Landing: 1940 ft
Landing Gear: Fixed
Certification: CAR Part 3
Cabin Pressure : Not Pressurised
Twin Otter Links
Era Aviation operate Twin Otters out of Anchorage, Alaska. They kindly gave us permission to use their technical specifications, and they have some excellent technical drawings of the aircraft.
Want a Twin Otter of your very own? JetFleet Management Corp usually have a few well-kept examples for sale or lease.
Twin Otter International converts humble Twin Otters to Vistaliners. Is this the Rolls-Royce of small airliners? Or is it the aeronautical equivalent of a lobotomy? You be the judge.
You can download dozens of Twin Otter flight simulators and add-ons at www.simvation.com.
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