Aircraft model
DEHAVILLAND BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The same de Havilland Canada Beaver, filed on the registry with BEAVER carried inside the model string rather than as a separate name. The Mk.1 is the standard piston version with the 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 radial, and it is what almost every Beaver in service is.
The case for one has not changed in seventy years: a high wing, a tailwheel, huge doors, and the ability to lift more than a ton out of a short strip or a lake. The case against is running cost. Twenty-seven gallons an hour, a radial overhaul that runs to six figures, avgas that is getting harder to find in remote places, and 125 knots of cruise. Values have risen for decades because no manufacturer has built a replacement, so this is one of the few light aircraft that has behaved like an appreciating asset.
Compare with…
Put DEHAVILLAND BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1 side by side with up to two other models.
- DEHAVILLAND BEAVER DHC-2 MK.1
What it is
| Seats | 7 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 Wasp Junior (radial) |
| Horsepower | 450 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1947 |
| Production end | 1967 |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 125 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 455 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,020 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 45 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,000 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,000 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 7 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 2,100 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,626 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 5,100 lb |
| Empty weight | 3,000 lb |
| Usable fuel | 79 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 27 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $300,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $800,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $70,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $120,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 132 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 76 |
| Median year built | 1956.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 14 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 184.21 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 39.47 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 6 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 7.89 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 76 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 76 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 76 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 7+ seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 2.5 of 101 |
| Severity | 7.9 of 102 |
| Access | 3.6 of 103 |
| Support | 5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.6 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 19.6 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 28.99 · 17 models in class.
- Severity: class median 25.
- Access: class median 1,586.8.
- Support: class median 76.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.