A Little History
In August 1947, with Wing Commander (Ret.) Russ Bannock, one of Canada's best-known WWII pilots, flew the prototype Beaver on its maiden flight. Bannock took the lead in selling a large number of Beavers to the US Army and Air Force. Well over half of all the Beavers built by de Havilland were exported to the US post war. Russ Bannock subsequently became the President and CEO of de Havilland, Canada. The original aircraft seated six, but as civil certification was obtained in March of 1948, the seating capacity was increased to a maximum of eight. The protoype aircraft was later sold and bears the initials of de Havilland's engineer Fred Buller in its registration number: CF-FHB. This plane is now on display at the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa, Canada.