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From: Miloch <Miloch_member@newsguy.com>
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Subject: de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver aka U S Army U-6
Date: 20 Jun 2016 16:08:23 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-2_Beaver
After the war, de Havilland Canada management turned to the civilian market for
work, aware that military contracts were unlikely to guarantee business. The
company had recently hired Punch Dickins, a famous bush pilot, as Director of
Sales who began an extensive program of collecting requests from other pilots,
to understand what they needed in a new aircraft. Almost without variation, the
pilots asked 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 that this would result in poor cruise performance, one pilot replied "You
only have to be faster than a dog sled". Other suggestions were seemingly
mundane but important in the bush plane world; full-sized doors were installed
on both sides of the aircraft so it could be easily loaded no matter which side
of a dock it tied up on. The doors were also made wide enough to allow for a 45
Imperial gallon drum to be rolled up into the aircraft.
On September 17, 1946, de Havilland officially put together a design team
consisting of Fred Buller, Dick Hiscocks, Jim Houston and W. Jakimiuk, led by
Phil Garratt. The new aircraft was designed to be all-metal (unlike older
designs like the famous Noorduyn Norseman), using "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".
At the time de Havilland Canada was still a British-owned company and there were
plans to fit the evolving design with a British engine. This limited power, so
the wing area was greatly increased in order to maintain STOL performance. When
Pratt & Whitney Canada offered to supply war-surplus 450 hp (340 kW) Wasp Jr
engines at a low price, the aircraft ended up with extra power as well as the
original long wing. The result was unbeatable STOL performance for an aircraft
of its size.
Specifications (DHC-2)
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Capacity: 6 passengers, 2,100 lb (953 kg) useful load
Length: 30 ft 3 in (9.22 m)
Wingspan: 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Height: 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m)
Wing area: 250 ft2 (23.2 m2)
Empty weight: 3,000 lb (1,361 kg)
Gross weight: 5,100 lb (2,313 kg)
each
Performance
Maximum speed: 158 mph (255 km/h)
Cruise speed: 143 mph (230 km/h)
Range: 455 miles (732 km)
Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,486 m)
Rate of climb: 1,020 ft/min (5.2 m/s)
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