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Proudly
Presents,
In 1928 the DE HavillandCompany of Englandincorporated a subsidiarycompany in Canada. Thesmall company, called DEHavilland Canada, builtplanes that the originalDE Havilland (UK) haddesigned. This includedthe Tiger Moth, a biplaneused for basic trainingduring World War two.
A Canadian made TigerMoth
They also built the famous Mosquito, an allwood heavy fighter, that was one of thefastest planes in the war. It was infamousamong the Germans because of its speed.
After the war was over DHC (DE HavillandCanada) deigned a basic trainer to replacethe Tiger Moth. It was called the DHC-1Chipmunk and was the first plane that DEHavilland Canada had designed on its own.
![C:\Users\School Acount\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\7ZLDL31A\MC900229153[1].wmf](data/images/img11.png)
After the war a new type ofbush plane was needed. Theplanes that were currently inuse were more than 20years old. Most of them werenot designed for Bush Flyingand they were starting to fallapart. In response, DEHavilland Canada beganwork on what would becomethe DHC-2 Beaver, one ofthe most famous and mostloved, planes ever.
The Beaver soon became a greatsuccesses. DE Havilland quicklyearned recognition for designingsome of the world’s best STOL(Short Take Off and Landing)aircraft.
The Beaver soon caught the eye of the U.S.Army. After a competition with U.S. aircraftmanufactures (like Cesena) the Canadian planecame out on top, and was used by the U.S.Army in Korea and Vietnam. Until DE HavillandCanada, the United States Army had neverpurchased aircraft from a foreign company.
DE Havilland eventually built over 1,700 beavers in20 years, before production ceased. They alsomade a larger version of the Beaver that theycalled the Otter. It wasn’t much bigger, but couldcarry twice the payload and could fly much farther.Once again, the U.S. army was the largestoperator of the Otter, but it was still a Bush Planeand it had many other operators.
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Beaver
Otter
The next plane that DEHavilland Canada designedwas the DHC-4 Caribou inresponse a US Army requestfor a tactical airlifter. Afterseeing the capabilities of theCaribou, the US Army againbecame the largest Caribouoperator, taking delivery of 159.The Caribou was not assuccessful in the civilian marketas the Otter and Beaver, butlarger companies did buy theCaribou for hefty payloads.Today only a handful of Caribouare in civilian use.
A civilian Caribou
The DHC-5 Buffalo wasdeveloped to meet therequirements of the US Army fora more powerful version of theCaribou. Hopes for large ordersby the U.S. Army were dashedwhen the U.S. governmentdecided that all of the U.S.Armed Forces aircraft should beflown by the U.S. Air Force. Thismeant that the Army had to handover all of its airplanes to the AirForce. The U.S. Air Force did notwant the Canadian Buffalo, sincethey already had the Fairchild C-123, even though the Buffalowas a better aircraft
Fairchild C-123
122 Buffalo’s were built. The Canadian ArmedForces acquired 15 Buffalos and many armedforces also used the Buffalo. Following deliveryof 24 to the Brazilian Air Force and 16 to thePeruvian Air Force, the production line wasclosed down in 1982.
A Buffalo
After a let-down in the Buffalo, DE Havillanddesigned one of Canada's most successfulcommercial aircraft designs, the Twin Otter.Development of the Twin Otter dates back to1964, when DE Havilland started work on atwin turboprop variant of the DHC-3 Otter asa STOL twin turboprop commuter airliner andutility transport.
Beaver and Otter compared to the TwinOtter
Beaver
Otter
Twin Otter
Twin Otters were used with many airlinesand were the start of DE Havilland'scommercial airliner designs. With more than800 built, in use in over 50 countries, theTwin Otter remains one of the most popularairplanes in the world because of its ruggedconstruction and useful STOL performance.
After the success of the Twin Otter, DEHavilland started designing a larger plane, thatwas still STOL but could carry more peoplethan the Twin Otter. The plane that came outwas the DHC-7, known as the Dash 7. It wasvery different from the Twin Otter. It had fourturboprop engines and was equipped withretractable landing gear. 113 were made.
The Dash 7 never was extremely popular, butit was popular enough for DE Havilland toconsider a two engine version. What theymade turned out to be their last airplane, theDHC-8 or Dash 8. The Dash 8 emphasizedoperational economics over STOLperformance, which proved much moresuccessful. To date over 1000 Dash 8's havebeen made.
By the 1980s, the original DE Havilland inEngland, had folded, and DE HavillandCanada was now owned by the Government ofCanada. In 1986, the Government of Canadasold DE Havilland to Boeing, the makers of the787 Dreamliner. The government claimed tohave guarantees from Boeing, not todiscontinue any product lines, but shortlythereafter, Boeing discontinued both thesuccessful Twin Otter, and the Dash 7.
Canada
Boeing was in heavy competition with Airbus(Boeing’s archrival) for a series of new airlinersfor Air Canada, which, at that time owned by theCanadian Government. Boeing used the DHCpurchase to further strengthen their bid for thecontract. When Air Canada announced that Airbushad won the contract in 1988, Boeing immediatelyput DHC up for sale, placing the company injeopardy. DE Havilland was eventually acquiredby Bombardier (a Canadian company known forinventing the snowmobile). The Dash-8 remains inproduction with a particular emphasis beingplaced on its quiet operation in comparison toother aircraft of a similar size.
On 24 February 2006, Viking Air of Victoria B.C., purchased the typecertificates from Bombardier for all the original DE Havillanddesigns including:
•DHC-1 Chipmunk
•DHC-2 Beaver
•DHC-3 Otter
•DHC-4 Caribou
•DHC-5 Buffalo
•DHC-6 Twin Otter
•DHC-7 Dash 7
The ownership of the certificates gives Viking the exclusive right tomanufacture the aircraft again. Viking is currently remaking the TwinOtter, with better engines and a new cockpit. Bombardier retainedthe Dash 8 certificate, since it is still in production as the Dash-8-Q400.
A New VikingTwin Otter
Even though the original DE Havilland is nomore, its Canadian legacy lives on everytime a Beaver takes off.
