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Aircraft model

DEHAVILLAND DHC 2 MK III

Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.

The Turbo Beaver: de Havilland Canada's factory turbine conversion, with a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-6 or PT6A-20 of 578 equivalent shaft horsepower in place of the R-985 radial, a 28-inch fuselage extension behind the pilot to keep the centre of gravity where it belonged, a 5,370 lb gross weight and seating for as many as ten. Sixty were built between 1963 and 1968.

A turbine Beaver does everything a piston Beaver does with more power, less noise, no oil on the windscreen and Jet-A instead of avgas, which in the parts of the world where Beavers actually work is the argument that matters. The cost is the PT6: hot sections and overhauls are the dominant number and they are turbine numbers, not radial ones. Factory Mk.IIIs are rarer and generally more valuable than the many field-converted turbine Beavers, and establishing which one an aeroplane is should be the first question asked.

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What it is

Seats10
Landing geartaildragger
Engines1
EnginePratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-6 (or PT6A-20)
Horsepower578 hp
FuelJetA
Certification basisCAR3
Production start1963
Production end1968
Endorsements requiredhigh-performance;tailwheel

Performance

Cruise speed140 KTAS
Range455 nm
Service ceiling18,000 ft
Climb rate1,020 ft/min
Stall speed (Vso)45 KCAS
Takeoff over 50 ft1,000 ft
Landing over 50 ft1,000 ft

Load and fuel

Seats10
Useful load2,220 lb
Full-fuel payload1,584 lb
Max takeoff weight5,370 lb
Empty weight3,150 lb
Usable fuel95 gal
Fuel burn at cruise45 gal/h

Cost of ownership

Price, low$1,095,000
Price, high$1,595,000
Prices as of2026
Engine TBO3,600 h
Overhaul cost, low$300,000
Overhaul cost, high$450,000

The fleet and its record

Registered, all time26
Active fleet24
Median year built1966.0
NTSB events, last 10 years2
Fatal events, last 10 years0
Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years83.33 · thin base (low)1
Personal-flying events per 1,000 active83.33 · thin base (low)2
Ownership transfers, last 24 months3
Transfers per 100 active12.5 · thin base (low)3
Airworthiness directives5
Directives, last 5 years0
Rate confidencelow
  1. Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 24 active.
  2. Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 24 active.
  3. Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 24 active.

Peer scores6

Peer classFixed wing single-engine, turbo-prop, 1 engine, 7+ seats
Accident record—1
Severity—2
Access0 of 103
Support3.8 of 104
Liquidity1 of 105
  1. Accident record: class median 4.81 · 11 models in class.
  2. Severity: class median 28.57.
  3. Access: class median 3,668.5.
  4. Support: class median 64.
  5. Liquidity: class median 19.78.
  6. 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.