Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.
Today’s Top Pick is a 1952 De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver.
When the De Havilland Aircraft Co. of Canada came up with the concept for the DHC-2 Beaver after World War II, the company needed a best-seller. The market at the time was challenging and the stakes were high. To help get the design just right, the company conducted what we might call focus groups today. Staffers talked with bush pilots operating in Canada’s rugged north and asked them what they wanted in a working airplane.
The answer was an airplane that could operate from short, unimproved fields, or on lakes and rivers, with loads that other small aircraft of the period could not handle. What seemed like a simple order required a design embodied the notion of attention to detail. Some would say the company gave bush pilots everything they requested and a bit more.
The Beaver’s Pratt and Whitney R-985 radial engine, which might have seemed like overkill, was among the keys to its success. It gave the airplane a power reserve that allows it to perform what appear to be impossible missions.
This 1952 Beaver has 5,105 hours on the airframe, 350 hours since overhaul on its Pratt and Whitney R-985 radial engine and 330 hours since overhaul on its Hartzell three-blade propeller. The aircraft was restored in 1987 and has received new parts and modifications over the years including an extended baggage compartment, enlarged rear windows, bubble windows, a new windshield and skylights for the pilot and copilot.
The VFR panel includes a Garmin 296 GPS, GTX 345 transponder with ADS-B in and out, GMA 345 audio panel, King KX 155 nav/com, EI fuel flow monitor and a JPI engine monitor.
Pilots looking for a heavy-lifting bush plane that has defined the category for decades should consider this 1952 De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, which is available for $515,000 on AircraftForSale.
If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use our airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.
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- FLYING Magazine: Canada’s Rugged, All-Metal National Airplane
- Plane & Pilot: De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver
- Plane & Pilot: De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
- Plane & Pilot: Video: Wanna See How To Wheel-Land A Beaver?
- AVweb: Steal A Beaver? It Ain’t That Easy
