The DHC-4 Caribou – Australian Aviation

Inside the Archive #8

Sometimes the best aircraft succeed through minimalist design that triumphs in complicated situations. Take the Caribou – built in Canada by Hawker de Havilland, it was squarely focused on being able to land on rough dirt runways right near the battlefield. RAAF ordered its first in 1963 to replace the existing Dakotas, and the aircraft stayed in service all the way to 2009, with 29 eventually acquired. If you want to see one yourself, HARS has two: A4-210 and A4-234 both served in Vietnam and the latter was the very last Australian aircraft out of the country. In this magnificent photo, A4-210 is pictured leading two other Caribous over Sydney Harbour in 1961.

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