The end result was a qualified success, with the aircraft carrying on the tradition of being named after Canadian wildlife and being renamed to the 'Otter'. Of course, the bigger aircraft with a larger load to haul needed a larger powerplant, and a geared version of the R-1340 Wasp radial engine was selected. Although the load capacity didn't quite reach double the Beaver as originally intended, it did come close, with a 3500+ lb useful load capacity versus 2100 lbs on the smaller Beaver. The key characteristics of the Beaver were retained: The high lift wings, the side door loading, the belly location of the fuel tanks. The initial design was referred to as the 'King Beaver'. And so the extremely gifted engineering team at Downsview rolled up their sleeves and got to work. In the chase of larger markets, however, it became apparent that there were certain potential customers that loved the idea of the Beaver - the STOL capabilities, the dependable performance, the utility-friendly design - but simply needed something bigger than what the Beaver could offer. By 1950, the success of the DHC-2 Beaver was well established.
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