Bush airplane
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(Redirected from Bush planes)
| Bush airplane | |
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| An American Champion Scout. Note the large tundra tires, for use on rough surfaces. |
A bush airplane is a general aviation aircraft serving remote, undeveloped areas of a country, usually the African bush, Alaskan and Canadian tundra or the Australian Outback. They are used where the road system is insufficient, or where roads do not exist at all.[1]
Well-known bushplanes include:
- Cessna 180
- Cessna Caravan 208A
- Cessna T206H Stationair
- Douglas DC-3/C-47
- de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
- Piper Super Cub PA-18-150
- Aviat Husky A-1C 180
- Antonov An-2V (Nanchang Y-5C)
- Pilatus Turbo Porter PC-6
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[edit] Common traits
- High wings provide improved ground visibility during flight and greater distance between the bush and the wing during landing.
- Conventional or "taildragger" landing gear—two large main wheels and a small rear wheel result in a nose-high attitude on the ground and increase prop clearance, convenient when operating from rough-surfaced runways.
- Short runway requirements, typically gained through high-lift devices such as flaps, vortex generators, and slots or slats improve low speed flight characteristics, allowing for shorter ground rolls on landing.
- Very large, low-pressure tundra tires enable the pilot to land and take off in unimproved areas. It is not uncommon for a bush pilot to land (and take off) where no airplane has been before.
- Removable floats and skis permit operation on water or snow.
