de Havilland Beaver Wooden Model Airplane

Item#: ADHBT

MSRP Price: $183.55

Factory Direct Price: $137.66

Wing Span: 17.75
Length: 12.75

Manufacturer: de Havilland Canada

This Ready to Ship de Havilland Beaver Wooden Airplane was handcrafted with absolute precision using the finest Philippine Mahogany and was sealed to last for generations. Working from our library of blueprints, reference materials and their exact photographs, Factory Direct Models master artisans recreated this de Havilland Beaver into an amazingly detailed display model airplane replica that you can display at your home, office, museum, tradeshow or any place you desire.

This de Havilland Beaver Mahogany Airplane Model is a perfect gift for Aviation Enthusiasts, Pilot, Aviator or people who took part in developing this airplane.

Please note that the stand shown in this photograph may vary or change with the model you receive.

Your model will be made exactly as shown in the photographs. If you would like to change this model in any other way, please visit Our Custom Model Gallery section of our website to commission a personalized model to be built.

de Havilland Beaver History:

The de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver is a single engined, high wing, propeller-driven, STOL aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada, primarily known as a bush plane. It is used for cargo and passenger hauling, aerial application (crop dusting and aerial topdressing), and has been widely adopted by armed forces as a utility aircraft. The U.S. Army Air Corps purchased several hundred and nine DHC-2s are still in service with the U.S. 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 until 1967 when the original line shut down, and today the aircraft is in such demand that there is a steady market for finding surplus examples in air museums and rebuilding them. The Beaver is one of the most famous bush planes in the world. Due to this success, the Royal Canadian Mint commemorated the Beaver on a special edition Canadian quarter in November 1999.

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 provides Beaver and Otter airframes with zero-hour fatigue-life ratings, and owns dozens of supplemental type certificates (STCs) for aircraft modifications. These modifications are so well-known and desirable in the aviation community, 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 go for up to US$500,000.

The original Pratt & Whitney Wasp radial engine of the Beaver is now out of production, so repair parts are getting harder to find. Some aircraft conversion stations have addressed this problem by replacing the piston engine with a turboprop engine such as the PT6. The added power and lighter installed weight, together with greater availability of kerosene fuel instead of high-octane aviation gasoline, make this a desirable modification.

Harrison Ford owns a DHC-2 Beaver (N28S), and has called it 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 good climb rate. 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).

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 24 February 2006, Viking purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all the original de Havilland designs. The ownership of the certificates gives Viking the exclusive right to manufacture new Beavers.

In 1987, the Canadian Engineering Centennial Board named the DHC-2 one of the top ten Canadian engineering achievements of the 20th century.