Released in 1999, this $20 sterling silver coin is the ninth release in the RCM's second aviation series, Powered Flight in Canada: Beyond World War II. Celebrate Canada's aviation heroes and their groundbreaking achievements.

This piece honors the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter and George A. Neal, a former chief test pilot at de Havilland Aircraft of Canada.

The Design

The reverse features the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter along with a 24-karat gold plated cameo portrait of George A. Neal. The obverse features the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II by Dora de Pédery-Hunt.

The de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter 

While the single-engine Otter dominated the mid-century bush plane market with its superb short-take-off-and-landing (STOL) capabilities, its payload was heavily restricted when configured with floats. To overcome this limitation, de Havilland developed a powerful turboprop engine in the late 1950s to replace the traditional piston engine, partnering with the military to further refine their STOL technology. These advancements culminated in a new, twin-engine aircraft that matched the exceptional STOL performance of its predecessor while significantly surpassing it in both speed and cargo capacity.