The Series 400 Twin Otter has five different landing gear configurations: standard wheels, intermediate floatation gear (often called a tundra tire), amphibious floats, straight floats, and wheel skis. We’ve designed our landing gear to be suited for specialized missions in all types of terrain, while being as aerodynamic as possible, however the float-based aircraft do burn more fuel. As an example, over 125nm route, the amphibious and standard float planes will burn a little over 14% more than the wheeled aircraft. 

However, landing gear configuration is just one of the many factors that can impact the range of the aircraft.  The size of the payload and number of passengers, the interior configuration, the flight path and weather, all of these factors can have an impact on the maximum range and endurance of a Twin Otter. Each Twin Otter will be different, based on the equipment, modifications and missions that it’s used for.

Tell us your mission, and we can spec a Twin Otter to suit your needs, along with a customized analysis of the fuel economy you can expect to receive.