aircraft and parts dealer for Cessna by the end of the 1950s, further expanding its aircraft maintenance business. 1950s In the 1950s, Kenmore Air began its charter business by offering flights to fishing and hunting spots in the Pacific Northwest. Kenmore Air also leased an aircraft to the US government for survey flights in Alaska. This led to a series of contracts with the US Navy which continues today. In 1953, a Canadian mining company hired Kenmore to help fly in equipment and tools to build a mining camp on Leduc Glacier, fifty miles north of Ketchikan, Alaska. Kenmore Air used two Noorduyn Norseman and a Seabed to fly in equipment over a two-month period. The aircraft flew in several pieces of large equipment to the glacier, including diesel engines, railroad cars, and tractors. 1960s In the 1960s, Kenmore Air expanded its maintenance services to include the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver seaplane. They purchased their first Beaver in 1963 and the Beaver soon became a centerpiece of Kenmore Air's fleet, and they created a rebuilding and modification program around the seven-passenger aircraft. After the Beaver ceased production in 1967, Kenmore Air began to establish itself as a leading refurbisher of the seaplane. They modified and rebuilt Beavers to such an extent that such aircraft modified by the company has become known as "Kenmore Beavers" by the global aviation community. Kenmore Air has rebuilt a total of 125 Beavers since then. To accommodate their expansion, the company built a new hangar and office building during the 1960s. 1970s In the early 1970s, in a contract with the US Navy, Kenmore Air transported unarmed torpedoes to a joint US-Canadian testing facility near Vancouver Island. For five years during this decade, Kenmore Air transported scientists and supplies for the U.S. Geological Survey to a glacier in the North Cascade Mountains, South Cascade Glacier, in which the seaplanes had to take off and land on a glacier 6,500 feet above sea level. The airline also expanded its charter service in the 1970s, offering round-trip flights to fishing resorts in British Columbia. 1980s In the mid-1980s Kenmore Air purchased Otter Air, an airline that offered seaplane service from Seattle to Victoria, BC. The Seattle-Victoria route was operated for two years before it was sold to its competitor Lake Union Air in 1988. Kenmore Air also added two Turbine Beavers (a Beaver manufactured with a