Latin American Military - Argentina - Policía Federal Argentina (PFA) - de Havilland 104 Dove

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Revised: July 19, 2010
Copyright © 1997-2010 by Jean Charles Barroux - jbarroux@LAMilitary.org

After WWII, as part of the debt payment of the grain shipped to the UK during the war, a large number of aircraft were sent to Argentina. Two of those were a pair of de Havilland 104 Dove, LQ-XWR (C/N 4068) and LQ-XZX (C/N 4143), which were assigned to the DGAC on December 12, 1947 and July 2, 1948 respectively.

But, on 1951, both of them, with a single Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly serialed LQ-XXR, were transferred to the then División de Comunicaciones of the Policía Federal Argentina (PFA) and based at the Morón airport and ocasionally from the Aeroparque de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Both aircraft were moslty used to perform regular liaison and personnel transport duties as well as medevac missions. LQ-XWR could have the passenger's seats replaced with stretchers for medical evacuation purposes. By 1953 they had performed 143 missions with a total of 289:40 hours of flight. On December 22, 1955 a new Western Electric radio, similar to the one used in LQ-ZXZ, was installed in LQ-XWR.

On September 28, 1957 both of these aircraft were transferred to the Prefectura Naval Argentina (PNA) by virtue of the Contratación Directa Nº 593 under the umbrella of the Decreto del Poder Ejecutivo Nacional Nº 14275/57. With that transfer went also the only Cessna T-50 Bobcat, the single Sikorsky S-51 Dragonfly and five naval launches.

Today, LQ-XZX (C/N 4143, former PNA PM-10) can be seen derelict today in primer paint at Neuquén.

de Havilland 104 Dove

de Havilland 104 Dove 1 eight seat commuter airliner

Designation: de Havilland 104 Dove 1
Manufacturer: de Havilland, E.U. (UK)
Crew: 2
Passengers: 8
Construction: All metal
Engine: 2 x de Havilland Gipsy Queen 70-3
Engine Type: Supercharged inverted six cylinder inline piston
Engine Thrust: 245 kW (330 hp)
Propeller: 2 x 3 bladed constant speed
Length: 11.96 m
Height: 4.06 m
Wing Span: 17.37 m
Wing Area: 31.1 m2
Empty Weight: 2,576 kg
Max. Weight: 3,992 kg
Max. Speed: 338 km/h
Stall Speed: --- km/h
Max. Speed at Sea Level: --- km/h
Max. Cruising Speed: 322 km/h
Normal Cruising Speed: 266 km/h
Initial Rate of Climb: 750 ft./min
Ceiling: 20,000 ft.
Fuel Capacity: --- lts
Range on Internal Fuel: 1,610 km
Range with Max. Fuel: 1,610 km
Range with Max. Payload: --- km
Endurance: --- Hrs
Useful Load: 1,416 kg
Take-off Distance: --- m
Landing Distance: --- m
Radar: N/A
EW: N/A
Avionics: Western Electric radio
Weapons: N/A
Format: 1.0
Notes: These specifications are for the Dove 1 model which was the
   model in use.

S/N       C/N        Unit          Built       Bought      Disposition         Notes
LQ-XWR    4068       CFA           --/---/---- --/---/1951 wfu 28/Sep/1957     Ex-LV-XWR, to PNA PM-11
LQ-XZX    4143       CFA           --/---/---- --/---/1951 wfu 28/Sep/1957     Ex-LV-XZX, to PNA PM-10

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