DeHavilland "Beaver"
The "Beaver" was developed in 1946 at Downsview under P.C. Garratt of DeHavilland Canada for flying in the Canadian north. The single engine, high wing monoplane, built for bush work, achieved world-wide civil and military sales. Used in some 60 countries from the Arctic to the Antarctic, it served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. It was noted for its simplicity, ruggedness and short take-off and landing ability. Over half of the 1,692 produced from 1947 to 1968 were sold to the U.S. armed forces. Designed and built without government aid, the "Beaver" was an ideal workhorse of the air.
From: Wikipedia
De Havilland Canada
The de Havilland Canada company was an aircraft manufacturer with facilities based in what is now the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original home of de Havilland Canada is now the home of the Toronto Aerospace Museum located in what is now Parc Downsview Park.
The aircraft company was created in 1928 by British de Havilland Aircraft Company to build Moth aircraft for the training of Canadian airmen, and subsequently after the Second World War, designed and produced indigenous designs. After a number of company changes, Bombardier Inc. sold the rights to the out-of-production aircraft (DHC-1 through DHC-7) to Viking Air Ltd. of Sidney, British Columbia, in May 2005.
Establishment
Founded in 1928 as a subsidiary of de Havilland Aircraft (UK) de Havilland Canada was first located at De Lesseps Field in Toronto, before moving to Downsview in 1929.
Pre-Second World War
Flown for the first time on 26 October 1931, the DH.82 Tiger Moth was derived from the DH.60 Moth. The DH 82 was powered by a 120 hp Gipsy II engine, but the 1939 DH.82a received the 145 hp Gipsy Major. More than 1,000 Tiger Moths were delivered before the Second World War, and subsequently 4,005 were built in the UK and shipped all over the world. 1,747 were built in Canada (the majority being the DH.82c model with enclosed cockpits, brakes, tail wheels, etc.). The follow-up DH.83 Fox Moth was designed in England in 1932 as a light, economic transport and was built using as many Tiger Moth components as possible.
Second World War
The de Havilland Tiger Moth was a basic trainer of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) during the Second World War, whereby air crews from all over the British Commonwealth trained in Canada. DHC was a Canadian unit of the parent British de Havilland and during World War II was made into a crown corporation of the Canadian government.
Production of the Mosquito, nicknamed the "Mossie," was the company's greatest contribution to the war effort. To reduce wartime metal use, the airframe was constructed almost entirely out of plywood. The design intent of the Mosquito was speed instead of defensive armament, and as a result it was one of the fastest aircraft in the war, reaching 425 mph at 30,000 ft. The original design was intended as a light bomber, but soon proved itself in high-level photography and every phase of intruder operations.
Out of the more than 7,000 Mosquitoes produced overall by de Havilland, de Havilland Canada produced 1,134. Several were lost en route across the Atlantic and 500 were delivered to the UK by the end of the war.
Post-Second World War
After the war, de Havilland Canada began to build its own designs uniquely suited to the harsh Canadian operating environment. The company also continued production of several British de Havilland aircraft and later produced a license-built version of the American-designed Grumman S2F Tracker. The Avro Canada aircraft production facility was transferred to de Havilland Canada by the companies' parent Hawker Siddeley in 1962.