De Havilland Beaver: The North American Seaplane | Immortal Beaver | Spark

The Immortal Beaver follows the resurrection of de Havilland Beaver, “Olivia”, who has been resting quietly for years in the Arizona desert, adjacent to the infamous ‘airplane bone yard’ outside Tucson. With exclusive interviews with Harrison Ford- a proud Beaver pilot and owner- the film follows the compelling story of Olivia’s rescue and restoration- celebrating the history of a remarkable aircraft.

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[challengerultralightadventure]

What a great documentary. The Beaver is an immortal airplane, that will be flying still long after all of us are gone. Serving the next generation of aviation enthusiasts, pilots, and people in remote areas of this planet.

[maryfoster]

This sure brings back a lot of memories for me. In 1962 I started work at DeHavilland Canada as a mail carrier. Worked my way up to Girl Friday for the big main guys. P.C. Garrett, Russ Bannock, Buck Buchanan, George Mickleborough and Slippercooper (can’t remember his first name), all wonderful bosses. It was a real pleasure to see Russ Bannock fly Olivia. I was the person that made sure P.C. Had everything in his plane before he left for his cottage in Muskoka on Friday afternoons. I remember when he had a little mishap, which could have been much worse, someone radioed him to tell him that a door was open, he landed on a runway, not sure where, closed the door and got back in his Beaver and continued on his way. He had forgotten to pull up the ladder steps before taking off and landed in the water at Muskoka where he went upside down in the lake. He lost his teeth and had a bump on his head. He had a grandson with him, all was well with both of them as they were fished out and dried off. He was a tough old bird. Oh, and Olivia was named for Olivia DeHavilland!

[michaelweber]

This Beaver story lets me know we live on a beautiful planet . With a couple tears in my eyes, I thank you for the documentary ...

[NoelBarlau]

What a perfect time for my story! My roommate and I went in his Bonanza to get a Hundred Dollar Hamburger and visit the United 232 museum down in Sioux City, IA. On the approach we were following a Gulfstream. The pilot's voice on the radio sounded familiar. After we landed, we parked next to the Gulfstream at the FBO. Going inside, it was deserted except for a couple of pilots. We asked the ramper whose plane it was. He replied "It's Harrison Ford!" As it turns out he was there to pick up his Beaver from being re-painted after completing filming for "Six Days Seven Nights". We met Mr. Ford in the FBO and chatted briefly about airplanes. The voice on approach I thought was so familiar was Han Solo himself! One of my favorite personal stories.

[johnw]

Lived in Tucson near Davis-Monthan AFB 'boneyard' and son of a career Army artillery 'spotter' pilot... This story of 'Olivia' pulled my heart-strings

[connieembury]

I grew up in northern Manitoba, Canada and my father was a mechanic at the local airport. The beaver is a great plane and it's wonderful to see so many still flying.

[staxter]

Just came for the innuendos..stayed for one of the best historical doccies I've seen.

[jozsefizsak]

I've had the great pleasure of meeting many of these former de Haviland guys at commemorative events. It was very special seeing them again here.

[StewartMidwinter]

Back in 1974 I worked in Northern Manitoba doing geophysical exploration, and we flew into remote lakes using one of these aircraft, as well as the successor aircraft, single otter, and twin otter. I'm glad to see that they are still flying today.

[gymcoachdon]

I took my first, and only, ride in a Beaver almost 2 years ago. I flew out of Red Lake, Ontario, with my canoe strapped to one of the floats. They dropped me off about 50 miles into Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, and I paddled my way back to Red Lake. The flight was a check-mark on my bucket list, and the 7 days of camping, paddling, and fishing was amazing.

[kevinwells]

This was a great video about such a great plane... I'm not an expert on the Beaver, but I know about it. I trained in a Piper Cub, and I am so glad about that. To fly by stick first, with your instructor behind you, is so classic to me. You really feel like the PIC. I loved watching this, and probably will watch it again... it really is that epic of a video.

[pauldouglas]

It never occurred to me to make the connection between "Olivia" and de Havilland until about 38:00 had elapsed. How very clever of the owner to christen her in that way. And how very fortuitous that SHE would be the subject of this story of resurrection. Just wonderful.

[scottmckenzie]

In the words of the late great Leslie Nielsen "Nice Beaver"

[barryb]

I saw a Beaver landing in Idaho and went out to the ramp to take a look and out comes Harrison Ford. That plane was immaculate and Mr. Ford was a true gentleman. We talked planes for a while and I said the Beaver was my second favorite plane which was really dumb because he was flying one, and I still regret saying that. The Beaver, Super Cub, and Storch, those planes are legends.

[bobmcrae]

I must say that in all my life I never thought I'd get to see Olivia De Haviland's beaver.

[allwinds]

I used to live on the glidepath to lake Hood in Anchorage and enjoyed the Beavers on floats the way to the busiest floatplane base on summer evenings.

[ronaldcross]

"Rows of old military planes, rusting in the hot desert sun." Not a chance. The reason these planes are parked in the desert is so they DON'T rust!

[sohomesick]

One of my all time favorite aircraft. The other is the Grumman Goose.
Listening to their echo off the mountain could be heard all over town when they took off out in the channel.

[colcot]

Worked on these for the UK Army back in the 90’s, the engine itself is a thing of beauty. It can literally float at a standstill with the right wind conditions

[oktc]

What a great film! I've no interest in light aircraft (any aircraft) but found this really interesting. Of course the sound of the Beaver was instantly recognisable and it was nice to finally learn something about this small plane with such a huge personality. Thanks.