The de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada, Limited (DHC) was an aircraft manufacturer with facilities based in what is now the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original location of de Havilland Canada later became the site of the Canadian Air and Space Museum located in what is now Downsview Park.

The aircraft company was established in 1928 by the 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.

In the 1980s, the Government of Canada privatized DHC and in 1986 sold the aircraft company to then Seattle-based Boeing, which renamed the company to Boeing of Canada Ltd., marking the end of DHC as an independent aircraft manufacturer. The company was put up for sale in 1988 and was eventually acquired by Montreal-based Bombardier Aerospace in 1992, where it continued to exist as the newly formed de Havilland Inc. until 1998.

In 2006, Viking Air of Victoria, British Columbia purchased the type certificates for all the original out-of-production de Havilland designs (DHC-1 to DHC-7), and in November 2018, Viking Air's holding company, Longview Aviation Capital, announced that it is to acquire the Q400 program, along with the rights to the de Havilland name and trademark. The deal, which closed in June 2019, brought the entire de Havilland product line under the same banner for the first time in decades under the new De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited.

History

Establishment The de Havilland Aircraft Company of Canada, Limited was first established on March 5, 1928 as a subsidiary of de Havilland Aircraft (UK) located at De Lesseps Field in Toronto. The company was reincorporated on March 5, 1929 and moved to Downsview that same year.

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 the Canada unit of the parent British de Havilland and during World War II was made into a crown corporation of the Government of Canada.

Production of the Mosquito, nicknamed the "Mossie," was the company's greatest contribution to the war effort. It was one of the few front-line aircraft of the era constructed almost entirely of wood and was nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder". The Mosquito was designed to use speed instead of defensive armament to evade attack, 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. Some 500 were delivered to the UK by the end of the war, although several were lost en route across the Atlantic.

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 licence-built version of the American-designed Grumman S2F Tracker. During this time, the company designed eight aircraft types:

DHC-1 Chipmunk DHC-2 Beaver DHC-3 Otter DHC-4 Caribou DHC-5 Buffalo DHC-6 Twin Otter DHC-7 Dash 7 DHC-8 Dash 8

In 1962 the Avro Canada aircraft production facility was transferred to de Havilland Canada by their then-merged parent company, UK-based Hawker Siddeley. The company also built HMCS Bras d'Or (FHE 400) hydrofoil and parts for the Alouette 1 satellite.

Privatization In the 1980s, the Government of Canada privatized DHC and in 1986 sold the aircraft company to then Seattle-based Boeing. 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 was in heavy competition with Airbus Industrie for a series of new airliners for Air Canada, at that time a Canadian Crown corporation. Boeing used the DHC purchase to further strengthen their commitment to their shared production contracts. The contract was particularly contentious. When Air Canada announced that Airbus had won the contract in 1988, amid claims of bribery, Boeing immediately put DHC up for sale, placing the company in jeopardy.

During its time under Boeing the company, the company was renamed Boeing of Canada Ltd. in March 1986, de Havilland Canada Ltd. in November 1987, and Boeing Canada Technology Ltd. in October 1988.

Sale to Bombardier DHC was eventually sold in 1992. The DHC unit was transferred to a new legal entity, de Havilland Inc., and sold to Bombardier Aerospace and the Government of Ontario with a 51% and 49% stake respectively. Bombardier also had the option to buy the Government of Ontario's stake after 4 years. Legally, the original company was retained by Boeing and was eventually succeeded by Boeing Canada in 2005.

In 1997, Bombardier acquired the 49% stake owned by the Government of Ontario, and in 1998, the new de Havilland Inc. was amalgamated into Bombardier, marking the end of DHC as an independent company. Despite this, the Dash-8 remained in production by Bombardier with a particular emphasis being placed on its quiet operation in comparison to other aircraft of a similar size. This product line was expanded to four models, and the largest is labelled Q-400.

Purchase by Viking Air On 24 February 2006, Viking Air of Victoria purchased the type certificates from Bombardier Aerospace for all the original de Havilland designs"Viking acquires de Havilland Canada type certificates." Viking Press Release, 24 February 2006. from the DHC-1 Chipmunk to the DHC-7 Dash 7. The ownership of the certificates gives Viking the exclusive right to manufacture new aircraft; previously, Viking had purchased in May 2005 the right to manufacture spares and distribute de Havilland heritage aircraft product line.

De Havilland Canada has manufactured many original aircraft designs, and its products are still flying in considerable numbers worldwide.De Havilland Canada This legacy has helped it to become a productive member of the Bombardier Aerospace stable. The Downsview plant still turns out civil propeller aircraft, and the facility maintains thousands of employees.

Formation of a New Company

In November 2018, Viking Air's parent Longview Aviation Capital Corporation acquired the Dash 8 program and the de Havilland brand from Bombardier, in a deal which closed on 3 June 2019 following regulatory approval. Earlier in January 2019, Longview announced that it would establish a new company in Ontario to continue production of the Q400 model and support the Dash 8 range. Thus, the closing of the deal brought the entire Canadian de Havilland product line under the same banner for the first time since 2006, under a new holding company named De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited.

Aircraft history

DHC-1 Chipmunk

The first true postwar aviation project was the DHC-1 Chipmunk, designed as a primary trainer, a replacement for the venerable de Havilland Tiger Moth. The Chipmunk was an all-metal, low wing, tandem two-place, single-engine airplane with a conventional tail wheel landing gear. It had fabric-covered control surfaces and a clear plastic canopy covering the pilot and passenger/student positions. The production versions of the airplane were powered by a 145 hp in-line de Havilland Gipsy Major "8" engine.

The Chipmunk prototype first flew on 22 May 1946 in Toronto and had a total production run of 158 Chipmunks for RCAF use while de Havilland (UK) produced 740 airplanes for training at various RAF and University Air Squadrons during the late 1940s and into the 1950s. The DHC-1 Chipmunk was still being used as a training aircraft by the UK's Army Air Corps up until 1995.

At the present, October 2011, the Chipmunk is in service with the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and RN Historic Flight, it is used to train pilots to fly 'taildraggers' as a pre-requisite to flying the flight's Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes. All of the RAF's modern aircraft have tricycle undercarriage, so pilots are unfamiliar with tail wheel aircraft. DHC-2 Beaver

Returning to designing purpose-built aircraft for Canada's north, the DHC-2 Beaver was developed in 1947. After a survey of Canada's bush pilots, including Punch Dickins, the need for a rugged, highly versatile aerial truck which could take off and land almost anywhere, carry a large half-ton load and be very reliable, formed the basis of a new specification. The first of the STOL family that de Havilland would produce, the Beaver would carve a niche into the bush plane market.

In the civilian sector, the Beaver soon excelled on wheels, skis and floats, and in 1951, the Beaver would be selected by the US Air Force and Army as a new liaison aircraft. In the nine years that followed, 968 L-20As were delivered to the armed forces, most going to the Army. They served in both the Korean War and Vietnam Wars, hauling freight and personnel around the battlefields, mapping enemy troop positions, leading search/rescue missions, and relaying radio traffic, among other missions. In 1962, the L-20 was re-designated the U-6A, and many remaining examples remained in service well into the 1970s. Beavers were also purchased and used by the military services of numerous other nations, including Britain, Chile and Colombia.

With almost 1,700 built in a production run lasting two decades, civilian-owned Beavers continue plying their trade in over 50 countries all around the world. A turbine-conversion, the Turbo Beaver (DHC-2 Mk.III) first flew in December 1963. This version featured a Pratt & Whitney PT6A-6 turboprop, which offered lower empty and higher takeoff weights, and even better STOL performance. The Turbo Beaver's cabin was also longer, allowing maximum accommodation for 11, including the pilot. Externally, the Turbo Beaver had a much longer and reprofiled nose, and squared off vertical tail. DHC also offered conversion kits enabling piston-powered Beavers to be upgraded to Turbo standard. Other conversions have been performed by a number of companies including Kenmore Aviation and Viking Air. DHC-3 Otter

Another in de Havilland Canada's successful line of rugged and useful STOL utility transports, the Otter was conceived to be capable of performing the same roles as the earlier and highly successful Beaver, but was bigger, the veritable "one-ton truck."