Warpaint Series Nº139. De Havilland (Canada) DHC-2 Beaver

Following the end of WWII, the Canadian Subsidiary of de Havilland, handily differentiated by the word Canada in brackets, pivoted to the civilian market after sensing that military types and orders would see a huge slump as countries struggled to restore their civilian infrastructure after the devastation that the war caused worldwide. They undertook an extensive market research operation in Canada, and because of the mountainous and remote landscape in parts of the country, pilots wanted a powerful passenger and cargo aircraft that could take off and land on short strips, had good visibility, and would be equally suited to wheels, floats or skis, depending on the needs of the operator. The design team initially enlarged the wing to produce sufficient lift in combination with a variant of the internally produced Gipsy engine, but by chance they were offered an extremely good price on more powerful Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior engines that were war surplus from the US. Rather than shrink the wing and keep the same level of STOL performance, they kept the larger aerofoils and mated it with the 450hp Wasp engine, which gave it an exceptional short-field operational capability, which would enhance the appeal to bush pilots.

The initial sales effort didn't result in the rush of new customers for the type that had been anticipated, but it slowly built up to a steady flow as word spread about the talents of this little aircraft. Sales were further boosted when it won the contest for a new light utility aircraft for the US military, adding almost 1,000 airframes to the sales figures in one fell swoop, and ensuring that there would be large numbers of military surplus airframes and spares available in later years, providing they survived service in the Korean War. In total, 1,600 airframes were built before production ceased, but there were many attempts to recommence over the years, as well as some interesting variants such as the turbo-prop DHC-2T, which was more powerful and could carry heavier loads. Viking Air currently own the design rights to the Beaver, and they may eventually bring it back into production one day. Meanwhile, Harbour Air have converted one of their extant Beaver airframes to electric (battery) power, and plan to convert their entire fleet eventually. There's a documentary with an segment about their conversion efforts somewhere if you're interested, and I've watched it, but can't remember the name of the show. Sorry!