de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver

Designed in 1946, the Beaver was conceived with the needs of the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests in mind. Rugged, reliable, stable on the ground and easy to maintain, the Beaver became a favorite of bush pilots in North America and around the world. The plane is as versatile as it is durable--it can be fitted with fixed wheeled landing gear, pontoons, amphibious floats, or skis. The plane can carry up to seven passengers or 1,500 lbs. of cargo. It was produced for nearly 20 years, with over 1,657 aircraft being built before de Havilland retired the design. It is still an eagerly sought after design by many pilots who fly in remote areas four decades later.

The Beaver is operated by a single pilot. The aircraft burns 16.8 gallons of fuel per hour at routine usage. The Beaver has a historical range of 733 miles. A full load of fuel costs $19.

de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. Beaver I

Subassemblies: Light Fighter-Bomber chassis +3; Light Fighter wings with STOL option +2; 2 fixed Skids +1; two Medium Weapon Waterproofed pontoons [Body:U] +1.

Powertrain: 336-kW Aerial HP gasoline engine with 336-kW prop; 95-gallon standard fuel tank; 4,000-kW battery.

Occ.: 1 CS, 7 CPS Body

Cargo: See above.

Armor F RL B T U

All: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Equipment:

Body: Navigation instruments, medium range radio transmitter, autopilot.

Statistics:

Size: 30'x48'x9' Payload: 1.13 tons Lwt.: 2.55 tons

Volume: 312 Maint.: 70 hours Cost: $8,242

HT: 8. HPs: 82 Body, 45 each Wing, 22 each Skid, 38 each Pontoon.

aSpeed: 163 aAccel: 4 aDecel: 6 aMR: 1.5 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 50 mph.

wSpeed: 19 wAccel: 4 wDecel: 1 (3) wMR: 0.1 wSR: 3

Draft: 1.4 feet. Flotation Rating: 14,037 lbs.

gSpeed: 183* gAccel: 9 gDecel: 10* gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: Very High. 1/8 Off-Road Speed.

*With skis, gSpeed 92, gDecel 15.

Design Notes:

Historical wing area was 250 sf. The weight, cost and HPs of all components (chassis, wings, pontoons) were halved to reduce design weight (which is probably not unreasonable for a civilian design). Design loaded weight was 5,149 lbs.; this was decreased a further 1% to the historical. The design purchases a 90-gallon tank; the historical capacity is shown. Passenger seats are given 4 VSPs each, making them slightly cramped. Design aSpeed was 159; the historical aSpeed is shown. Historical loaded weight and wing area were used for all performance calculations. The pontoons have average lines. Takeoff from the water requires an 11 mph tailwind.

Variants:

The Beaver II (1962) featured a different engine. Only one was built.

The Turbo-Beaver III (1964) featured a 431-kW turbocharged engine, and could carry 10 passengers. Only a few were built.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS