De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver: Διαφορά μεταξύ των αναθεωρήσεων

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Έκδοση από την 19:25, 26 Μαΐου 2007

Πρότυπο:Lowercase Πρότυπο:Infobox Aircraft The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is one of the most famous bush planes in the world. After World War II, de Havilland Canada was looking to produce a plane suited to operations in the extremes of the Canadian north.

The Beaver has become a symbol of the Canadian north, and has since found use as a bush plane all over the world; the international ICAO designation for flight plans is DHC2. The type is used for aerial application; (crop dusting and aerial topdressing), and has been widely used by armed forces as a utility aircraft; the U.S. Army Air Corps purchased several hundred. Nine DHC-2s are still in service with the US Air Force Auxiliary (Civil Air Patrol) for search and rescue. A Royal New Zealand Air Force Beaver supported Sir Edmund Hillary's expedition to the South Pole. Over 1,600 Beavers were produced.

Design and development

After extensive consultation with bush pilots, they began production of the Beaver —a reliable, single-engine monoplane that could be easily fitted with wheels, skis, or floats. The Beaver was designed for flight in rugged and remote areas of the world. Because it often flies to remote locations (that often are in cold climates) its oil reservoir filling spout is located in the cockpit itself and the oil can be refilled while the aircraft is in flight. The first flight of the DHC Beaver was 16 August 1947, with the first production aircraft being delivered in April 1948. The plane was an immediate success within the Canadian aviation community. de Havilland hired veteran bush pilot Punch Dickins as their Director of Sales and when production finally ceased in 1967, 1,657 DHC-2 Beavers had been built.

Operational history

Despite the fact that production ceased in 1967, hundreds of Beavers are still flying—many of them heavily modified to adapt to changes in technology and needs. Kenmore Air of Kenmore, Washington zero-hours Beaver and Otter airframes and owns dozens of supplemental type certificates (STCs) for aircraft modifications. These modifications are so well-known and desirable in the aviation community that the rebuilt Beavers are often called "Kenmore Beavers" or listed as having "Kenmore mods" installed.^[1] A 1950s Beaver that originally sold for under US $50,000 can now be seen for sale at prices reaching US $500,000.

Harrison Ford owns a DHC-2 Beaver (N28S), and has commented that it is his favourite among his entire fleet of private aircraft. The United States military continues to operate two DHC-2s at the United States Naval Test Pilot School, where they are used to instruct students in the evaluation of lateral-directional flying qualities and to tow gliders.

The DHC-2 Beaver is sometimes used by skydiving operators due to its very high rate of climb. When fitted with a roller door that can be opened in flight, it can quickly ferry eight skydivers to 13,000 ft (3,950 m).

Recent developments

At one point in its production, plans to license build the type in New Zealand were proposed. Although there have been rumours of Canadian companies manufacturing new Beavers, it remains an out-of-production aircraft. The remaining tooling was purchased by Viking Air of Victoria, Canada which manufactures replacement parts for most of the early de Havilland line. On February 24, 2006, Viking purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all the original de Havilland designs^[2]. The ownership of the certificates gives Viking the exclusive right to manufacture new Beavers.

In a news report on April 4, 2007 (www.flightglobal.com), Victoria, British Columbia-based Viking said it may restart production of the single engine DHC-3 Otter and possibly the DHC-2 Beaver following strong market demand for both aircraft.

Variants

Beaver I : Single-engined STOL utility transport aircraft.
- Beaver AL Mk 1 : STOL utility transport aircraft for the British Army.
- YL-20 : Test and evaluation aircraft for the US military.
- L-20A Beaver : STOL utility transport aircraft for the US Army, later redesignated U-6A in 1962, 968 built.
- L-20B Beaver : Basically similar to the L-20A, but with minor equipment changes. Six were sold to the US Army. Later redesignated U-6B in 1962.
Beaver II : One aircraft was fitted with an Alvis Leonides radial piston engine.
Turbo-Beaver III : Powered by a 431-kW (578-ehp) Pratt & Whitney PT6A-6 or -20 turboprop engine.
DHC-2/PZL-3S: After-market conversion by Airtech Canada in the 1980s, using current-production PZL-3S radial engines of 600 hp (450 kW)

Operators

Military operators

Αργεντινή
Αυστραλία: RAAF
Αυστρία
Καμπότζη
Χιλή
Κολομβία
Κούβα
Δομινικανή Δημοκρατία
Φινλανδία
Γαλλία
Γκάνα
Αϊτή
Ινδονησία
Ιράν ! 1925
Κένυα
Λάος
Ολλανδία
Νέα Ζηλανδία : RNZAF
Ομάν
Περού
Φιλιππίνες
Νότια Κορέα
Νότιο Βιετνάμ ! Νότιο Βιετνάμ
Ταϊλάνδη
Τουρκία
Ουγκάντα
Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο : Army Air Corps, Royal Air Force
ΗΠΑ: US Army, US Air Force, US Navy
Ουρουγουάη
Γιουγκοσλαβία
Ζάμπια

Specifications (DHC-2)

General Characteristics

Crew: one pilot

Capacity: 7 passengers

Length: 9.22 m (30 ft 3 in)

Wingspan: 14.63 m (48 ft 0 in)

Height: 2.74 m (9 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 250 ft² (23.2 m²)

Empty: 3,000 lb (1,360 kg)

Loaded: 5,100 lb (2,310 kg)

Useful load: 2,100 lb (950 kg)

Powerplant: 1 Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Jr. radial engine, 450 hp (335 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 255 km/h (158 mph)

Range: 732 km (455 miles)

Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,500 m)

Rate of climb: 1,020 ft/min (5.2 m/s)

References

↑ «Beaver Rebuild Program». Kenmore Air. Ανακτήθηκε στις 21 Απριλίου 2007.
↑ Viking acquires DeHavilland type certificates Press Release 24 February 2006