The de Havilland Canada 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 rugged Canadian north. After extensive consultation with pilots, they began production of the Beaver, a reliable, single-engine monoplane that could be easily fitted with wheels, skis, or floats. Over 1,600 Beavers were produced.

First flight of the Beaver was August 16, 1947, with the first aircraft being delivered in April of 1948. The plane was an immediate success within the Canadian aviation community, and when production finally ceased in 1967, 1,657 DHC-2 Beavers had been built. The Beaver has become a symbol of the Canadian north, and has since found use as a bush plane all over the world.

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.

Despite the fact that production ceased nearly forty years ago, hundreds of Beavers is still flying--many of them heavily modified to adapt to changes in technology and needs.

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-2's 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.

Kenmore Air is based at the Kenmore Air Harbor in Kenmore, Washington on Lake Washington. They also operate service to/from Lake Union Terminal on Lake Union and to Victoria, British Columbia.

Founded in 1946, Kenmore Air is the largest single operator of seaplanes in the world. They also own a major maintenance and remanufacturing center for seaplanes and other amphibious aircraft. The modifications they perform on de Havilland Beaver's are so well known and desirable in the aviation community that their rebuilt Beavers are often called "Kenmore Beavers" or listed as having "Kenmore mods" installed. A 1950s Beaver that originally sold for under US $50,000 can now be seen for sale at prices reaching US $500,000.

Read more about the de Havilland Beaver and Kenmore Air in Wikipedia

"de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 1 Aug 2006, 05:27 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 1 Aug 2006.

Call Hyack Air today at 250-384-2499 to enquire about a scenic flight aboard a de Havilland Beaver.