The Havilland Beaver Bush Plane @ 60

The de Havilland Canada Beaver is one of the most famous bush planes in the world. After World War II, de Havilland Canada was looking to produce a plane suited to operations in the rugged Canadian north. After extensive consultation with pilots, they began production of the Beaver, a reliable, single-engine monoplane that could be easily fitted with wheels, skis, or floats. Over 1,600 Beavers were produced.
First flight of the Beaver was August 16, 1947, with the first aircraft being delivered in April of 1948. The plane was an immediate success within the Canadian aviation community, and when production finally ceased in 1967, 1,657 DHC-2 Beavers had been built. The Beaver has become a symbol of the Alaska, Canadian north, and has since found use as a bush plane all over the world. The Beaver was designed for flight in rugged and remote areas of the world. Because it often flies to remote locations (that often are in cold climates) its oil reservoir filling spout is located in the cockpit itself and the oil can be refilled while the aircraft is in flight. The type has been widely used by armed forces as a utility aircraft; the U.S. Army Air Corps purchased several hundred. Several are still in service with the US 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. Despite the fact that production ceased nearly forty years ago, hundreds of Beavers is still flying.

Check out also the excellent web page dedicated to the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver bush plane by aviation artist and researcher Neil Aird at www.dhc-2.com