Last weekend we looked at the early years of De Havilland and left off with the design and production of the Twin-Otter in the 1960’s. This weekend on Newmarket Today we shall pick up the story in the 1970’s and the advent of the Dash 7 and 8.
In the 1970s, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada was to turn its focus to commercial feeder-liners with short take-off and landing (STOL) capabilities in areas of strict noise limits. Even today, many DHC7 Dash 7 and DHC8 Dash 8 aircraft are still in daily operation around the world.
In 1973 De Havilland would introduce its Short Take Off and Landing design to the commuter airline market with the introduction of the Dash 7 program. The design was tailored to any airline operating out of a smaller airport with challenging terrain.
The four-engine DHC-7, popularly known as the Dash 7, was designed as a STOL 50-seat regional airliner capable of operating from strips as short as 915 metres (3,000 ft) in length. It was meant to serve small city airports, where noise abatement requirements were particularly strict, and featured four slow-turning propellers to cut noise. To enhance its STOL performance, the Dash 7 employs many aerodynamic devices, such as double-slotted wing flaps that span about 75% of the trailing edge of the wing and four spoilers per wing; on landing, the flaps partially retract, and the spoilers fully deploy to maximize braking. Financial backing from the Canadian government allowed the launch of the DHC-7 program in the early 1970s, resulting in the maiden flight on 27 March 1975. The type was certificated on 2 May 1977 and entered service with Rocky Mountain Airways on 3 February 1978. Offered in passenger, freighter, and combi aircraft configurations, production of the Dash 7 ended in 1988 following Boeing’s takeover of DHC.
In the late 1970’s De Havilland Canada began the development of the Dash 8 in response to high an anticipated demand for regional airliners. Like the Dash 7, the Dash 8 features a high-mounted wing and T-tail, an advanced flight control system, and large full-length trailing-edge flaps, but power is supplied by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW120 turboprops, emphasizing operating economy over STOL performance—a major departure for DHC that proved very successful. The first flight took place on 20 June 1983, Canadian certification was awarded on 28 September 1984, and the first customer delivery was to NorOntair on 23 October 1984. When the Dash 8 was introduced, many older regional airliners were becoming obsolescent and expensive to operate but few modern aircraft were immediately available to replace them, leading to substantial Dash 8 sales; to date, over 1,000 have been delivered. The Dash 8 has been offered in several lengths and operating weights, but in 2008, Bombardier announced the discontinuation of the shorter and less powerful variants, leaving the Q400 as the only Dash 8 still in production.
In last weekend’s article we spoke of how after the war DHC began to design and building domestic aircraft, those best suited to the harsh Canadian environment. The first true De Havilland Canada type was the DHC1 Chipmunk which was also selected as the standard primary trainer for the RAF in the UK and is still a favourite amongst pilots today.
Several aircraft designed specifically for Canadian Operators followed such as the DHC2 Beaver, DHC3 Otter and DHC4 Caribou, the latter being a tactical transport aircraft for the US and Canadian Army.
During the 1970s, de Havilland began to face some financial troubles. Commuter airlines did not create the high demand that the company had expected for its 50-passenger DHC-7 Dash 7.
In 1974, a year before the Dash 7 first flew, the Canadian government would purchase De Havilland Canada from its British owners, Hawker Siddeley Aviation. The government invested in research and development to finish the Dash 7. It was not until 1978, however, that sales of the plane started to climb. That year, when the United States’ new Airline Deregulation Act freed airlines to start serving more routes, demand for the Dash 7 grew. Another factor was the Dash 7’s fuel efficiency in an era of high fuel costs.
The Dash 8 Series 100, 200 and 300 appeared between 1984 and the mid-1990s. These were regional airliners like the Dash 7, but they had lower operating costs and flew with two engines instead of four.
As local employees will remember, during the 1980s and 1990s, De Havilland would undergo three changes in ownership. In the 1980’s, the government of Canada privatized DHC. Then in 1986, the federal government sold it to the Boeing company of Seattle, Washington, for $155 million after years of investment (hundreds of millions of dollars. The government claimed to have guarantees from Boeing not to discontinue any product lines, but shortly thereafter, Boeing discontinued both the successful Twin Otter and the Dash 7. The jigs and specialised equipment for their manufacture were destroyed.
Boeing had been in heavy competition with ‘Airbus Industrie’ for a series of new airliners and decided to use the DHC purchase to further strengthen its commitment to shared production contracts. The contract proved was particularly contentious with Airbus winning the contract in 1988. With Boeing’s loss they immediately put DHC up for sale, placing the company in jeopardy.
In 1992, Montreal-based Bombardier and the Ontario government would purchase De Havilland from Boeing.
DHC was eventually incorporated into the Bombardier group of companies and the Dash 8 remained in production. This product line was expanded to four models, and the largest is labelled Q400.
The De Havilland brand remained an integral part of Bombardier’s aerospace arm for more than a decade. Bombardier continued to build the Dash 8 in Toronto. In the late 2010s, Bombardier sold its assets in commercial aviation to focus on the business jet market.
The De Havilland Canada factory would deliver its last DHC-6 Twin Otter in 1988. By that time, the Twin Otter had become the largest-selling 19-passenger utility turboprop aircraft in its class with a total of 844 Twin Otters manufactured in Downsview for delivery to customers in 76 countries.
On 24 February 2006, Viking Air of Victoria purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all the original de Havilland designs, including:
DHC-1 Chipmunk
DHC-2 Beaver
DHC-3 Otter
DHC-4 Caribou
DHC-5 Buffalo
DHC-6 Twin Otter
DHC-7 Dash 7
The ownership of the certificates gave Viking the exclusive right to manufacture new aircraft; previously, Viking had purchased in May 2005 the right to manufacture spares and distribute the de Havilland heritage aircraft product line.
In November 2018, Viking Air parent Longview Aviation Capital Corporation acquired the Bombardier Dash 8 programme and the de Havilland brand from Bombardier, the deal closing the second half of 2019.
In January 2019, Longview announced that it would establish a new company in Ontario, to be called de Havilland Aircraft Co. of Canada, to continue production of the Q400 model and support the Dash 8 range. The deal closed on 3 June 2019; the newly formed company inherited an order book of 51 Q400s. Longview did not intend to merge Viking Air and De Havilland. Some 1200 Bombardier staff transferred to the new De Havilland company, which intended to continue Dash 8-400 production at Downsview until its lease expires in 2023 and hopes to negotiate an extension to that date. Other Dash 8 variants are also under consideration, to target the North American 50-seater market.
In February 2022, Longview consolidated its activities, with Viking Air, Longview Aviation, Pacific Sky Training and De Havilland Canada all being rebranded as De Havilland Aircraft of Canada. In June 2022, after a celebration with 10 DHC models present, from a 1942 Tiger Moth to a 2019 DHC-8-400, the last DHC aircraft left the Downsview site.
In the summer of 2021, De Havilland stopped production at its Downsview site and officially closed it in the summer of 2022 at the end of its lease
In September 2022, De Havilland Canada announced that Wheatland County, Alberta, was to be the location of its new production site, to be known as De Havilland Field. The facility would initially manufacture the DHC-515 fire-fighting aircraft; the DHC-6 Twin Otter and the Dash 8-400 would also be assembled at De Havilland Field once production resumes.
The company’s primary facilities were relocated from Downsview to DHC’s newest manufacturing facility, De Havilland Field, which was under development near Calgary, Alberta. The aircraft types currently in production or planned for production include the DHC-6 Twin Otter, DHC-8 Dash 8, and DHC-515 Firefighter.
A brief genealogy of De Havilland Aircraft
1946 DHC-1 Chipmunk
1947 DHC-2 Beaver / DHC-2T Turbo Beaver
1951 DHC-3 Otter
1958 DHC-4 Caribou
1964 DHC-5 Buffalo
1965 DHC-6 Twin Otter
1975 DHC-7 Dash 7
1983 DHC-8 Dash 8
I will be doing an article featuring the Avro Arrow in the coming months so watch for that one.
See you all next weekend.
Sources:
Longview completes Dash 8 buy and forms De Havilland Aircraft by Jon Hemmerdinger Flightglobal.com.
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada. Longview Aviation Capital Announces Consolidation of Companies under De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited and Appoints Brian Chafe Chief Executive Officer. www.newswire.ca.
De Havilland brand preps for takeoff after Bombardier’s Dash 8 sale to Longview. The Toronto Star (article)
News Release from De Havilland. (De Havilland website)
De Havilland Canada says goodbye to Downsview. Skies Magazine Article.
De Havilland Canada Announces Site of New Alberta Aircraft Manufacturing Facility (Press release from De Havilland Canada)
De Havilland Canada Says Goodbye to Downsview by Frederick K. Larkin
Longview Aviation Capital Corp. Acquires Dash 8 Program from Bombardier Inc (Press release from Longview Aviation Capital Corp.)
Canada Sells de Havilland to Boeing Co. (Los Angeles Times Article)
Bombardier Agrees to Buy De Havilland from Boeing by Clyde Farnsworth (New York Times Article)
Viking Air acquires assets of Bombardier Article from wingsmagazine.com
De Havilland Canada Chooses Alberta for New Site – Airways Magazine Article.
Viking acquires de Havilland Canada type certificates. Viking Press Release
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited Official website (photos and specifications)
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited – Article by Deborah C. Sawyer and Nathan Baker
Oral History Interview – George W. Luesby by Richard MacLeod
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town’s history in partnership with Newmarket Today, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
