Military Traffic Management Command Transportation Engineering Agency


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Military Traffic Management Command Transportation Engineering Agency

Military Traffic Management Command Transportation Engineering Agency

Whether flying deep into the wilds of mountainous Alaska, across stretches of the Canadian Territories, or hauling American cargo and soldiers into the Korean war theatre, de Havilland’s Beaver was capable of the mission. A small aircraft that held six passengers plus the pilot, the Beaver had maximum flexibility, able to carry people, military supplies or quantities of freight as needed. For its exceptional capabilities, it was nicknamed “Workhorse of the North.”

The de Havilland Canada company engineers found that a bush plane would be a great option to offer in their aircraft line, something useful for Canada’s north. They concluded that the design needed to be tough, something like a “half-ton truck,” said Fred Hotson in his book, The De Havilland Canada Story. Being wise businessmen, the head of sales, A. MacDonald, sent out a letter with a questionnaire to prospective customers, asking what their specialized needs would be for a higher-payload, single-engine bush plane, specifically for northern regions.

First Beaver Delivered 1948

The early design crew of Fred Buller, Dick Hiscocks, Jim Houston and W. Jakimiuk, lead by Phil Garratt, was in place by September 17, 1946. They chose a strong airframe construction: “steel from the engine to the firewall, heavy aluminum truss frames with panels and doors throughout the front seat area, lighter trusses toward the rear and all monocoque construction aft”. After much testing, and with adjustments and improvements, the innovative airplane was ready for the sales circuit. It just needed a proper name. Since de Havilland Canada airplanes were all named after animals, it was decided that the new bush plane was much like the hard-working beaver. The DHC2-Beaver went into limited production. The first plane was delivered to the government department of Lands and Forests on April 26, 1948.