De Havilland BC DH.50 Bluebird

The De Havilland BC DH.50 Bluebird was a four-passenger piston-engined airliner built by De Havilland British Columbia between 1929 and 1932 based on the DH.50 Bluebird type of DHBC's parent company, De Havilland Aircraft of the United Kingdom.

It was the first aircraft to be built by De Havilland BC, and the first completed, with construction number 1, is preserved at the Royal BC Museum in Victoria restored to original condition.

Design & development
To differentiate it from those built in the United Kingdom, the British Columbian-built aircraft were designated DH.50B Bluebird. The most distinctive feature of the DH.50B was its partially enclosed cockpit, based on the design used on the R.A.F. SE.5, Great War-era fighter which was being phased out of Royal BC Air Force at the time the DH.50 design was being modified for BC conditions. The other major difference is the use of Hoffar Aero Engines' supercharged HIV-8A-2 Hawk 8-cylinder air-cooled inverted-V engine producing 375 hp, which gave them a higher speed than the DH.50 and DH.50A; the use of the Hawk made the DH.50B an inch longer than the original. In most other respects, they were the same as the British and Australian versions.

Besides the UK and BC, the DH.50 was also built by De Havilland Australia (16), and under licence in Czechoslovakia (7) for ČSA Czechoslovak State Airlines and in Belgium (3) for Sabena.

Operational history
See also: DHBC DH.50B Bluebird operators

Operators
Operators who took delivery of aircraft new from the factory are marked with a star (★).

Former

 * British Columbia
 * ★ British Columbia Air Lines: 4
 * British Columbia Army: 2
 * Haida Air Charter: 3
 * Inter-Dominion Air Lines: 4
 * ★ Kootenay Air Transport: 3
 * Nicola Valley Aero Club: 1
 * ★ Queen Charlotte Airlines: 3
 * ★ Vancouver Island Air Service: 6

Preserved

 * c/n C1/1929, as G-BCVI in Vancouver Island Air Service livery, at the Royal BC Museum
 * c/n C18/1932, as VB-IAH in B.C. Air Lines livery, at the British Columbia Aviation Museum

Accidents & incidents

 * 7 February 1937 Vancouver Island Air Service DH.50B VB-VID (c/n C8/1930), operating a flight from Quatsino to Nanaimo, crashed shortly after departure near Sara Lake due to contaminated fuel; pilot and three passengers killed.
 * 18 July 1964 privately owned DH.50B VB-HTA (c/n C2/1929) was written off after sustaining damage in an emergency landing in a vegetable field at Barriere, BC; no fatalities.