De Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo

what is it?

The de Havilland Canada DHC-5 Buffalo is a short takeoff and landing (STOL) utility transport turboprop aircraft developed from the earlier piston-powered DHC-4 Caribou. The aircraft has extraordinary STOL performance and is able to take off in distances much shorter than even most light aircraft can manage. The aircraft was originally designed by de Havilland Canada, with the type certificate now owned by De Havilland Canada founded in 2019.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 turboprops · retractable tricycle gear · 29.3 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 420 km/hcruise speed
• range 1,111 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 41passengers
• size 22.3 tmax take-off weight
• built 122made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 62 years ago, in 1964.
• 🚗Wingspan of 29.3 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 1,111 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.

spec sheet

first flight

1964-04-09

introduced

1965

status

still flying

number built

122

role

utility aircraft

origin

🇨🇦 Canada

makers

de Havilland Canada, De Havilland Canada

engines

2× General Electric CT64-820-4

crew

3

passengers

41

length

24.1 m

wingspan

29.3 m

height

8.7 m

max take-off weight

22.3 t

top speed

—

cruise speed

420 km/h

range

1,111 km

ceiling

9,449 m

wings

monoplane

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

ICAO code

DHC5

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.