First DHC-2 Beaver Print

irst DHC-2 Beaver 1948 - This print depicts DHC-2 Beaver CF-OBS, which was the first production Beaver built in 1948 by de Havilland Canada. This plane was flown by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests Air Service but can be seen today in the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, ON!

Following the end of the Second World War, de Havilland Canada's management team decided to focus the company's energies upon the civilian aviation sector.  Canadian pilots were asking for tremendous extra power and STOL performance, in a design that could be easily fitted with wheels, skis or floats. When de Havilland engineers noted this would result in poor cruise performance, one pilot replied, "You only have to be faster than a dog sled to be a winner". Other suggestions that were seemingly mundane, but important in the bush plane world, included the installation of full-sized doors on both sides of the aircraft, which meant that it could be readily loaded no matter which side of a dock it tied up on; the doors were also made wide enough to allow for a 44 Imperial gallon drum to be rolled up into the aircraft.

In line with the convention for aircraft produced by de Havilland Canada being named after animals, it was decided that the new bush plane would be named after the beaver, which was known for its hard-working nature. On 16 August 1947, the maiden flight of the DHC-2 Beaver was in Downsview, Ontario; it was flown by Second World War flying ace Russell Bannock. After completing its flight test program, the prototype received several adjustments and improvements in order for it to serve as a flying demonstration model ready for the sales circuit. The prototype was ultimately sold to Central British Columbia Airways, as a routine day-to-day working air-taxi airplane and continued to fly as such with various air-taxi operators until 1980, after which it was retired and preserved as CF-FHB at the Canadian Aviation & Space Museum in Ottawa, ON. In April 1948, the first production aircraft was delivered to the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests, who had been a design partner. Today, the first production Beaver, CF-OBS still flies with the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

• This is an artistic print made with premium pigment inks on a quality photo paper that will last for many years! Il s'agit d'une impression artistique réalisée avec des encres pigmentées de qualité supérieure sur un substrat de qualité qui durera de nombreuses années!