The first column in this two-part series looked at the early years of De Havilland and left off with the design and production of the Twin Otter in the 1960s.
In part two, we pick up the story in the 1970s with 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 introduced its STOL 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 was designed as a STOL 50-seat regional airliner capable of operating from strips as short as 915 metres (3,000 feet) 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 per cent 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 March 27, 1975. The type was certificated on May 2, 1977 and entered service with Rocky Mountain Airways Feb. 3, 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 1970s, De Havilland Canada began the development of the Dash 8 in response to an anticipated high 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 successful.
The first flight took place on June 20, 1983, Canadian certification was awarded on Sept. 28, 1984, and the first customer delivery was to NorOntair on Oct. 23, 1984. When the Dash 8 was introduced, many older regional airliners were becoming obsolete and expensive to operate, but few modern aircraft were immediately available to replace them, leading to substantial Dash 8 sales; to date, more than 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.
During the 1970s, De Havilland began to face some financial troubles. Commuter airlines did not create the high demand 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 purchased 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 grew for the Dash 7. 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 underwent three changes in ownership. In the 1980s, the federal government privatized DHC. Then, in 1986, the government sold it to the Boeing company of Seattle, Wash. 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 Dash 7. The jigs and specialized 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 particularly contentious, with Airbus winning it in 1988. With Boeing’s loss, it immediately put DHC up for sale, placing the company in jeopardy.
In 1992, Montreal-based Bombardier and the Ontario government purchased 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 delivered 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 Feb. 24, 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 and 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 program and the De Havilland brand from Bombardier, with the deal closing in the second half of 2019.
In January 2019, Longview announced 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 June 3, 2019; the newly formed company inherited an order book of 51 Q400s. Longview did not intend to merge Viking Air and De Havilland.
Some 1,200 Bombardier staff transferred to the new De Havilland company, which intended to continue Dash 8-400 production at Downsview until its lease expired and hoped to negotiate an extension. 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 Wheatland County, Alta. 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 firefighting aircraft; the DHC-6 Twin Otter and the Dash 8-400 would also be assembled at De Havilland Field once production resumed.
The company’s primary facilities were relocated from Downsview to DHC’s newest manufacturing facility, De Havilland Field, which was under development near Calgary. 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
In the coming month, I will be doing a column featuring the Avro Arrow, so watch for that one.
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 — Toronto Star article; news release from De Havilland; De Havilland Canada says goodbye to Downsview — Skies Magazine article; De Havilland Canada Announces Site of New Alberta Aircraft Manufacturing Facility — news 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. — news 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 NewmarketToday, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
