With backing from the Canadian government, de Havilland Canada began in late 1972 the development
of a larger capacity short/medium range Short-Take-Off-and-Land (STOL) transport that would provide
the higher standards of comfort to be found in much larger airliners. Designated DHC-7, and later
named Dash-7, the first of two pre-production aircraft (C-GNBX-X) made its maiden flight on 27
March 1975. The first production aircraft (C-GNBX-X) was flown on 20 May 1977 and about 100 are in
service.
Canadian Armed Forces
The CAF used the DeHavilland (Canada) Dash 7/CC-132 Series 102/103 from 1979 to 1984 when it was replaced by the
Dash 8/CC-142 Pass-Cargo/CT-142 Nav Trainer.
Excerpt from WWW.RCAF.com - aircraft, Dash 7, description - Two Dash 7 aircraft were acquired for the
Canadian Air Mobility Tasking in NATO - moving personnel and paraphernalia around Europe. The
aircraft were purchased with quick-change interiors allowing for the interchange of passengers and
freight. In this role the aircraft replaced two aging CC-109 Cosmopolitan transports. During the
draw down of Canadian Forces in Europe, the Dash 7 aircraft were themselves subsequently replaced
by more economical Dash 8 transports.