After more than six years in the making, Valdor Aircraft has received an STC from Transport Canada to replace the original piston engines on the legendary deHavilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver with turboprop engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada, along with the installation of BX wings, built at the company’s facility in Val-d’Or in Quebec’s Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.
The project is part of a sustainability initiative designed to extend the Beaver’s lifespan by several decades, according to company officials, who call the Beaver the “most versatile bush plane ever built in the world of aeronautics.”
“The Beaver was originally built in the late 1940s, and maintaining radial engines that are nearing end-of-life has become increasingly more difficult,” said Gaétan Gilbert, president and senior director of Valdor Aircraft. “We worked with Pratt & Whitney Canada to retrofit the Beaver with a PT6A-34 to increase its reliability, durability, and performance.”
The retrofit program meets Transport Canada’s latest requirements, and to achieve this, many of the Beaver’s original systems and features have been modified and upgraded, company officials added.
“Collaboration is key when propelling an industry and joining forces with Valdor Aircraft continues the legacy of the BX Turbo Beaver, upgraded with the PT6A-34 engine,” said Anthony Rossi, vice president of Global Sales and Marketing at Pratt & Whitney Canada. “We are bringing new life to the aircraft and creating value for operators for many years to come.”
In its 60 years of service, the PT6 engine has flown over 500 million hours, according to company officials. With more than 64,000 PT6 engines produced since its introduction in 1963, it powers more than 155 different aviation applications, officials added.
“Today’s PT6 engine is up to four times more powerful, has a 50% better power-to-weight ratio, and up to 20% better specific fuel consumption compared to the original engine,” company officials said in a prepared release.
Company officials noted that Beaver owners have been waiting for the STC’s approval and the company is now ready to begin modifying aircraft.
For more information: AvionnerieValdor.com, PrattWhitney.com.
I flew in the yellow and red beaver a few years back . Took off in less than 200 feet with amphibious floats on pavement . Climbed at least a 100 knots and 2,200 feet per minute . A literal rocket compared to an R985 powered Beaver . It’s got its place ! BX wing is similar to Cessna wing with much improved control issues and much higher cruise speed .
Wipaire built thirteen turbine beavers out of piston beaver airframes . Viking/deHavilland will convert your piston Beaver to a new data tagged PT-6 powered square tailed Beaver . They’ve converted 30-40 of them .
I worked for a 135 operation in Alaska in the late 70’s we operated at least 4 turbo beavers
On wheels, floats and ski’s,they not only had the pt 6 conversion but also had the fuselage
extended foreward to accomadate 2 more passengers . They were magnificent performing aircraft taking off from lake Hood
was incredible to watch!
nice upgrade ! I notice a lot of the comments mention that this STC already exists, but I disagree.. This STC is for the PT6A -34 variant turbo prop and the BX wing . this STC is particular as it uses different variants and mods than previous beaver STC ‘s out there..
The article mentioned new wings. Are the new wings a required part of the STC for the turbine engine uograde or is it an option under another STC?
Just another Quebec company getting preferential treatment for something that an outsider would believe is a new innovation while actually being 40 years too late … click bait.
Really the V12 diesel/ key engine is going to be the answer for beaver refits in the long run. The V12′ s offer equal performance in crop dusters at a fraction of the operating costs of turbines. See David Courtney’ comments.
The Dehavilland Beaver has had turbine for 50 years originally powered by
PT 6-6a then -20, I worked on a program at Dehavilland product support to by as many Beavers as possible and retrofit them with -27 engine same as the twin other was fitted with back in the day, I believe it was around 1982
Check out the diesel re-engine kit, firewall forward that Sealand Aviation in Campbell River, BC has been working on for about 3 yrs. Performance and Fuel Consumption is impressive.
STC expected this Spring.
Congratulation to Valdor Aircraft for keeping a Legend alive and well.
No doubt funded by the Canadian federal (liberal) government … propping up,Quebec by reinventing the wheel.
My friend flew for Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. He was a lifetime pilot with them. He much preferred the original piston Beaver for most of there work. Spool up time was sometimes a problem. Cockpit leaked kerosene fumes when doing some work that required constant tight turns eg. Moose count. Other times plane was too fast. He did however love the cold starts
DHC manufactured Turbo Beavers from the Downsview factory.
Kenmore Air in Washington State has had an STC for this for years.
I thought there was other versions of a turbo Beaver out there already.
I wanted to see more pictures of the Beaver.