The Otter was the third plane to be produced by de Havilland Canada. Building on the near-perfect design of the Beaver, it offered similar performance with twice the payload.
Originally named the "King Beaver" it provided what the RCAF wanted but hadn't found in the DHC-2 - something bigger. The Otter was also used by the Ontario Provincial Air Service to perfect water bombing techniques for forest fires and other emergencies.
Like its predecessor, the Otter is still used by pilots today.