Bush plane

Encyclopedia : B : BU : BUS : Bush plane

An American Champion Scout. Note the giant tires, for use on rocky surfaces.

A bush plane is a general aviation aircraft serving remote, undeveloped areas of a country, usually the African bush, Alaskan and Canadian tundra or the Australian Outback. Among the most common bush planes are the Cessna 180 and 206, de Havilland Otter and Beaver, Douglas DC-3, and Piper Super Cub, although countless other aircraft types serve in these hostile, demanding environments.

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. Bush pilots are often proud of the fact that most of their landings are logged in taildraggers.
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.

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