De Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo

David Larson, e-mail, 09.04.2015 16:30 Has Ottawa come to a decision regarding the C-115 planes still in service? It would seem [to this uneducated United Statian] to be sensible to replace them with the familiar DHC-5NG, putting the emphasis on new sensors and electronics rather than a new and unfamiliar airframe. reply

roland, e-mail, 29.12.2014 00:45 May 18 2010 we at ASC had a prop strike no 1 eng C-GASY Sn. 108 near Borden island Nunavut.I flew out of Resoulute for 380 nautical miles with a twin otter to assess the damage. No 1 eng had dug in a snowbank at about 3000 hp and the the primary blade that dug in was bent back about a foot and the trailing edge was in the feather position Holly crap i said to my self this don't look good.So i popped the cowl doors for further investigation and found the accessory drive on the compressor had broke right off the compressor case and hit the lower engine deck and snapped the apu nacell mounts, Now its time to sat phone the DOM and report the damage, all i said to him was the propulsion system was FUBAR everything from the firewall to the prop spinner. Twenty one days later ASY was back at headquarters in Yellowknife. The DHC 5 had a remarkable design engineering team because of them the nacell structure had very little damage and it took 3 days of sheet metal work. The design was made so the engine would dissipate the energy not the airframe. This job was a remarkable feat to get it off the ice before it sank. So that being said, if you buff operators have a big or small problem i can be of your service email me reply

Frank Sagi, e-mail, 02.05.2014 22:48 Oh ! I also remember when the Buffalo used for the air cushion testing came back to us afterwards if I recall correctly it was CC115451 Saw at the CFB Trenton air show the one with the boundary air blown over the wings. It was impressive. But can't recall to much. reply

Frank Sagi, e-mail, 30.04.2014 19:29 I spent most of my career in the Canadian Forces as an aero engine technician and did two tours at CFB Trenton and a UN tour in Ismailia Egypt with 116 ATU working on the Buffalo. I have many memories and will share a few things. The Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWH)restored a static Buffalo for display in the colours of Buffalo 461 a Canadian UN Buffalo that was hot down by the Syrians with the loss of 9 Canadians and other UN Nationalities. In Canada 9 August is Peacekeepers Day as the aircraft was shot down on 9 Aug. I was of one of those honoured to be invited to a 116 ATU reunion dinner in the CWH hanger and the dedication the next day. The restoration was fantastic and I only had one negative observation - I had never seen a Buffalo so clean. There was a photo going around after one of the Buffaloes came back from Egypt. Non Destructive testing had x-rayed a wing and there was the body of a large bird in it, think a stork. Plus stories about how much sand was vacuumed out of the aircraft. While at CFB Trenton the Buffalo was utilized by 426 Suadron which was a training squadron which taught the Buffalo, Boeing 707, Hercules and Cosmopolitan at the time. The Buffalo took a fair amount of punishment with all the touch and goes plus the students being very diligent in finding problems with the aircraft as being under scrutiny. When in Egypt with the aircraft doing long scheduled flights there were very minimal serviceability problems compared to what I was accustomed to. The squadron did long range trainers at the end of the course. I was lucky to go along with some. The only problem was bringing appropriate clothes. As may go to Tuscon AZ. and then up to Yellowknife Northwest territories to a raging blizzard. CFB Trenton also had 424 Sqn which was the main Buffalo user. It was used in a Search and Rescue (SAR) and light transport role. The one down fall of the two roles was having to reconfigure the interiors for each role as if the SAR standby aircraft could not be repaired in x amount of time we would have to reconfigure a serviceable aircraft. I spent a lot of time away on searches. Always a white aircraft lost in a snow storm at Christmas. My new wife's 1st Christmas in Trenton when I was posted there the second time spent it alone and it was her 1st away from a large Newfoundland family. But I loved the role. In the light transport role I remember working out of Winnipeg as the Ministry of Transport was working on runways in the Artic. I think they were utilizing military engineers. The Buffalo ferried equipment and supplies up until the runway was long enough to handle Hercules aircraft. I remember hauling a gravel crusher up in the Buffalo. Because the Buffalo broke down in Churchill Manitoba and we had to position two Buffaloes tail to tail with a flat bed trailer between them and by hand move the gravel crusher out of the unserviceable aircraft to the serviceable one. The loadmasters did a fabulous job as it went so smooth. Also was involved in a long range ferry trip the first week of January from Trenton to Lahr Germany. By way of Arctic; Greenland; Iceland; and Scotland. It was so cold in the aircraft everything froze and the condensation from the oxygen masks as we flew over Greenland. Fun trip - really. For those who may not know Canadian Buffaloes were ferried to Rhodesion for the elections at the end of white rule when it became Zimbabwe. The Buffalo flew into remote areas to collect ballot boxes. During the ferry flight Hercules were used at some stops to transfer fuel over to the Buffalo. I had a friend that went with an ex Canadian Buffalo that was purchased by a civilian company in Zimbabwe. I was to late for the job as they had an aero engine tech but still needed an airframe tech. The U.S. Navy had a Buffalo at China lake Naval Weapons Testing Centre. It had belonged to another US department and had glass in the floor to photograph coastline erosion. The reason I know this is I was sent to China Lake to change an FCU when the first got it. Remember the gauges were in rpm and not in percent so had to do some calculations. had a great time there. The Buffaloes that went to Mexico my supervisors were asked by DeHavilland to be tech rep. They suggested me as I was young and single at the time. I couldn't be released from the military soon enough for DeHavilland. But I remember that one of the things was we would have had to transport some race horses on the aircraft to Mexico for some General. Think Indonesian navy also had some Buffaloes because once I had retired I received a phone call from a person I was Egypt with asking if I wanted to go work there. Remember Tanzanian Air Force coming to Trenton to learn about the Buffalo as they were getting them and an older friend being head hunted by DeHavilland to work over there for them. It was a great career and have many memories working on the Buffalo. We never did have t ... reply

Barry Hubbard, e-mail, 06.06.2013 17:27 Dug out my AFM and the ceiling is not 25000' BUT 31500'. We used to go to 32000 for test purposes.I got the "bends" once and hypoxic once so I know we've been there.Did a world tour in 1976 as well covering mainly Africa and the Middle East on that occasion and the Farnborough Air Show in 1976 as well. A great a /c to fly !! reply

Barry Hubbard, e-mail, 06.06.2013 17:12 The original 4 DHC 5 Buffalos were known as the CV-7A and then C-8A when they went USAF..they became CC-115's in the RCAF and C-115's for Brazil and Peru...Buffalo s /n 60 reg'n C-GBUF set 6 time to climb records in Feb 1976- 3000M, 6000M and 9000M in class C1h group 2 turboprops and C1 group 2 turboprops previously held by a P-3C Orion. A little trivia to the history.. reply

wuryono, e-mail, 05.04.2013 07:43 I would like to know the fuel consumption per flight hour and the TOD of DHC-5 Buffalo with GE turbo engine.would appreciate if I can have an acces where I can buy the performance section of this aircraft. reply

Peter Maisiba, e-mail, 04.12.2012 06:59 Quiz: How can I solve a problem of the landing gear doors flapping when the aircraft is in flight and the gears are up and locked?If possible please post me the schematic diagnostic diagram. reply

Gordon, e-mail, 03.03.2012 09:12 I should say I flew in the back seat of a buf for many hours as a civilian PEP volenteer during visual searches in Northern BC. I will never forget one day returning to the Prince George airport from our seach grid, the crew decided a close look at the banks of the Fraser River would be in order. They got down low over the water and threw that big beast through every twist and turn that river makes. We were banked over so hard on one turn my partner was looking straight down at the river bank and all I could see was the tops of trees growing above the cliff. Flying over a straight bit I felt myself sitting very heavy for a second, followed by what felt like a little 0g. We had pop'd up over a power transmission line and dropped right back down to watch the banks. If I ever have my own plane, it will be painted Orange with a red stripe. reply

Gordon Seiter, e-mail, 03.03.2012 08:55 Jean-Paul, jeanpaulgilbert=lycos.com, 08.02.2010 @G I Wonder, the only 4 engine turbo-prop the canadian army has is the DASH-7, a close relative of the Buffalo and the DASH-8. G I wonder, c=nada.ca, 04.02.2010 I thought the Buffalo was a 4 engine (turbo prop) I say this because I saw one at Cold lake 1977. So what did I see then? The Canadian Forces does have some Hurks. "Canada's fleet of CC-130s (E and H models) range in age from 11 to 43 years and are some of the oldest and highest flight time C-130s in the world — 60% are more than 30 years old. The current fleet has accumulated over a million flying hours, with almost all E-models each having more than 40,000 flight hours. Four of Canada's more recently acquired H-model Hercs are assessed to have the same Estimated Life Expectancy as the E-models: 2010." Taken from cc130J web site. reply

Koin, e-mail, 19.02.2012 15:18 Does anyone know where i can get the fireproof .Buffalo upholstry for the transport type aircraft? reply

paidui, 21.06.2011 04:51 flew her first post rebuild test flight serviceable, with the exception of one of the nacelle doors blowing off inflight due to a faulty hinge and latch. reply

Aviator44, e-mail, 05.05.2011 13:47 Superb aircraf. It was my favorite between several others I have flown in my 30 years in Air Force (Brazilian Air Force). I flew 3.000h without any significative accident. Now I'm retired and the Buffalo too, replaced by Casa C-295. reply

Jim Stewart, e-mail, 03.05.2011 05:07 The picture above is a Caribou. When our crew was shot down in Syria in August, 1974, the first reports were that a Caribou had been shot down and that is how we knew it was actually a Buffalo. reply

Jim Stewart, e-mail, 03.05.2011 05:05 A great aircraft. I flew it with 424 Squadron, Trenton and 116 ATU, Cairo /Ismailia, Egypt. This was before they put an autopilot in it. The Buffalo hauled a load and was able to land and takeoff from anywhere. We sued to go out of Trenton and do pilot training on a grass strip with one hell of a slope, just north of the base. Flew it into cane fields in Jamaica and gravel strips in the Arctic, all of which were less than 1200 feet. Keith Levia and I took one into Resolution Island one day to carry up listening antenna. Keith approach the runway lip from below and when he stopped on the runway, the ground asked him to move forward as they could not get the forklift between the ramp at the back and the edge of the cliff. I was also on the first flight into the Golan Heights in 1974 and when we landed and opened the ramp and unloaded the Israeli's eyes were bugged out with envy at the load and the aircraft performance. Stable and once it was airborne hardly anything broke. Before airborne thought the sophisticated systems could be troublesome. reply

khaled, e-mail, 22.02.2011 19:05 it is hard worker aircraft and mor safty reply

Peter j Teminski, e-mail, 18.02.2011 15:19 I too am impressed with this work horse and I hope our military will see the light and let Viking Air rebuild the six Buffalos. From what I have read, this is good value for Canada. reply

A Van Elswyk, e-mail, 25.01.2011 20:40 A group of volunteers at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum rebuilt the Buffalo 115461 from scrap parts off decommissioned planes. It is a tribute to the Buffalo 9 - the peacekeepers shot down in 1974 in Syria reply

Terry Spurgeon, e-mail, 26.04.2010 01:56 When the Canadian Forces acquired 15 DHC-5A they were initially used in Mobile Command as a tactical STOL transport. There were none converted to maritime patrol aircraft, rather they were adapted for Search and Rescue operations with bubble spotters windows and some additional navigation gear like LORAN. I flew in both Mobile Command - Tactical air transport in support of the Army, and Air transport Command, both SAR and Transport. Former Buffalo pilot 429 Sqn and 442 Sqn. reply

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