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De Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou

The de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou (designated by the United States military as the CV-2 and later C-7 Caribou) is a Canadian specialized cargo aircraft with short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability developed by de Havilland Canada. The Caribou was first flown in 1958 and although mainly retired from military operations, is still in use in small numbers as a rugged bush airplane. The type certificate of the aircraft is now owned by De Havilland Canada founded in 2019.

The design was further developed as the de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo, adding turboprop engines and other changes that further improved its short-field performance to the point where it competes with light aircraft even with a full load.

Design and development

The de Havilland Canada (DHC) company's third short takeoff and landing (STOL) design was a big increase in size compared to its earlier DHC Beaver and DHC Otter, and was the first DHC design powered by two engines. The Caribou was similar in concept in that it was designed as a rugged STOL utility aircraft. The Caribou was primarily a military tactical transport that in commercial service found itself a small niche in cargo hauling. The United States Army ordered 173 in 1959 and took delivery in 1961 under the designation AC-1, which was changed to CV-2 Caribou in 1962.

The majority of Caribou production was destined for military operators, but the type's ruggedness and excellent STOL capabilities requiring runway lengths of only 1200 feet (365 metres) also appealed to some commercial users. U.S. certification was awarded on 23 December 1960. Ansett-MAL, which operated a single example in the New Guinea highlands, and Amoco Ecuador were early customers, as was Air America (a CIA front in South East Asia during the Vietnam War era for covert operations). Other civil Caribou aircraft entered commercial service after being retired from their military users.

Operational history

In response to a United States Army requirement for a tactical airlifter to supply the battlefront with troops and supplies and evacuate casualties on the return journey, de Havilland Canada designed the DHC-4. With assistance from Canada's Department of Defence Production, DHC built a prototype demonstrator that flew for the first time on 30 July 1958.

Impressed with the DHC4's STOL capabilities and potential, the U.S. Army ordered five for evaluation as YAC-1s and went on to become the largest Caribou operator. The AC-1 designation was changed in 1962 to CV-2, and then C-7 when the U.S. Army's CV-2s were transferred to the U.S. Air Force in 1967. U.S. and Australian Caribou saw extensive service during the Vietnam War.

The U.S. Army purchased 159 of the aircraft and they served their purpose well as a tactical transport during the Vietnam War, where larger cargo aircraft such as the Fairchild C-123 Provider and the Lockheed C-130 Hercules could not land on the shorter landing strips. The aircraft could carry 32 troops or two Jeeps or similar light vehicles. The rear loading ramp could also be used for parachute dropping (also, see Air America).

Under the Johnson-McConnell agreement of 1966, the Army relinquished the fixed wing Caribou to the United States Air Force in exchange for an end to restrictions on Army rotary wing operations. On 1 January 1967, the 17th, 57th, 61st Aviation Companies (12th Combat Aviation Group) and the 92nd, 134th, and 135th Aviation Companies of the U.S. Army were inactivated and their aircraft transferred respectively to the newly activated 537th, 535th, 536th, 459th, 457th, and 458th Troop Carrier Squadrons of the USAF (This was Operation "Red Leaf"). On 1 August 1967 the "troop carrier" designations were changed to "tactical airlift".

Some Republic of Vietnam Air Force Caribou were captured by North Vietnamese forces in 1975 and remained in service with that country through to the late 1970s. Following the war in Vietnam, all USAF Caribou were transferred to Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard airlift units pending their replacement by the C-130 Hercules in the 1980s.

All C-7s have now been phased out of U.S. military service, with the last example serving again under U.S. Army control through 1985 in support of the U.S. Army's Golden Knights parachute demonstration team. Other notable military operators included Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia and Spain.

In September 1975, a group of 44 civilians, including armed supporters of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), commandeered a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Caribou, A4-140, on the ground at Baucau Airport in the then Portuguese Timor, which was in the middle of a civil war. The Caribou had landed at Baucau on a humanitarian mission for the International Committee of the Red Cross. The civilians demanded that the RAAF crew members fly them to Darwin Airport (also RAAF Base Darwin) in Australia, which they did. After the Caribou arrived there, the Australian government detained the civilians for a short period, and then granted refugee visas to all of them. The Guardian later described A4-140 as "the only RAAF plane ever hijacked", and the incident as "one of the more remarkable stories in Australia’s military and immigration history".

The RAAF retired A4-140, by then its last Caribou, on 27 November 2009. The aircraft, which was manufactured in 1964, was donated to the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Civilian operations

One US Navy Caribou remained in service with the Golden Knights Parachute Team until the 1980s, at which point the aircraft transitioned into civilian use and cargo services. The Australian Air Force operated a fleet of Caribou, with the final aircraft, A4-140, retiring from service in 2009.

After retirement from military use, several examples of the Caribou have been purchased by civilian operators for deployment in areas with small airfields located in rugged country with few or poor surface transport links.

Variants

DHC-4 Caribou
STOL tactical transport, utility transport aircraft.
;CC-108
:Royal Canadian Air Force designation for the DHC-4 Caribou.
;YAC-1
:This designation was given to five DHC-4 Caribou, sold to the United States Army for evaluation.
;AC-1
:United States Army designation for the first production run of 56 DHC-4 Caribou. Later redesignated CV-2A in 1962.
;CV-2A
:United States Army AC-1 redesignated in 1962.
;CV-2B
:This designation was given to a second production run of 103 DHC-4 Caribou, which were sold to the U.S. Army, with reinforced internal ribbing.
;C-7A/B
:These designations were applied to all 144 Caribou transferred to the U.S. Air Force by the U.S. Army.
Similar to the DHC-4, but this version had an increased takeoff weight.
DHC-4T Turbo Caribou
A conversion of the baseline DHC-4 Caribou powered by the PWC PT6A-67T turboprop engines designed, test flown and certified by the Pen Turbo Aviation company.

Operators

Military operators

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  • Cameroon Air Force – two delivered in 1971. The surviving Caribou was sold in 1987.
  • Air Surveillance Service – Two ex-USAF C-7As delivered in the 1980s. Refurbished in July 2010 for the Fuerza Publica.
  • Indian Air Force – India received 20 new build Caribou, supplementing them with four ex-Ghanaian Caribou in 1975.
  • Kenya Air Force – received six DHC-4As, operating the type from 1966 to 1987.
  • Liberian Army – Two refurbished aircraft were delivered to the Air Reconnaissance Unit in 1989. The aircraft were destroyed during the civil war.
  • Spanish Air Force – received 12 new Caribou later supplemented by 24 former United States Air Force C-7As. Final retirement 12 June 1991.
  • Republic of Vietnam Air Force - at least 55 transferred from USAF stocks and operated by:
  • 427th Transport Squadron
  • 429th Transport Squadron
  • 431st Transport Squadron

Civil operators

  • La Sarre Air Services
  • acquired C-GVGX in 1977 (delivered 1961) and unknown status after 1981 when Propair formed from merger of La Sarre Air Services (used in El Salvador to Nicaragua 1986)

Aircraft on display

Australia

Airworthy
On display

Costa Rica

On display
  • MSP002 - DHC-4 on static display at Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport, Liberia, Costa Rica

India

On display

Malaysia

On display

Spain

On display

Thailand

On display

United States

Airworthy
On display

Specifications (DHC-4A)

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

  • Andrade, John. Militair 1982. London: Aviation Press, 1982. .
  • The C-7A Caribou Association
  • Caribou Roster deHavilland Caribou (DHC-4) and Buffalo (DHC-5) website.
  • "Caribou to Bow Out Early". Air International, Vol. 76. No. 4, April 2009, p. 5.
  • Green, William. Macdonald Aircraft Handbook. London: Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd., 1964.
  • Henley, Don and Ken Ellis. "Globetrotting Reindeers: De Havilland Canada's Caribou – an Airlift Legend". Air Enthusiast, No. 74, March/April 1998, pp. 20–33. .
  • Hotson, Fred W. The de Havilland Canada Story. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1983. .
  • Kuwait Air Force (KAF) entry at the Scramble (magazine) website:
  • Malaysian Forces Overview entry at the Scramble magazine website.
  • Royal Air Force of Oman entry at the Scramble magazine website.
  • Soupart, Roger. "Adios Muchachas!". Air Enthusiast, No. 45, March–May 1992. pp. 44–51. .
  • Taylor, John W.R. (ed.). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1971–72. London: Janes's Yearbooks, 1971. .

External links