Max Holste MH.1521 Broussard: The French Beaver

A couple of months ago, I was visiting my buddy in Las Vegas and mentioned my contributions to AvBrief.com and asked if he knew of any cool and unusual aircraft. He responded, “Would a Max Holste Broussard be of interest?” At that point, he had my complete attention! In my travels and my passion for aviation, I could count the number of Broussards I have seen on two fingers … until last week. Now I have increased my Broussard sightings by 50%. I had the pleasure of meeting Yamil Quinones, current caretaker of Max Holste MH.1521M Broussard, serial number 16, appropriately registered N16MH. What I found was a gentleman who is at least as interesting as his aircraft.

The Broussard Story

Max Holste (1913–1998) was a well-known French aeronautical engineer. In 1933, he founded Avions Max Holste, now Reims Aviation. The manufacturer had produced several single-engine aircraft following WW-II, including the MH.152, which was developed to meet a requirement by the French air force. The MH.152 featured an enclosed, fully glazed cabin seating a pilot and four passengers. It was powered by a 220-hp (160 kW) Salmson 8 As.04 engine. However, by the time the prototype flew on June 12, 1951, the French army’s needs had changed and required a utility aircraft with capabilities like the deHavilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. In response, Avions Max Holste developed the MH.1521. It was later named the Broussard (Man of the Bush, referring to a potential target of civilian bush pilots). The Broussard was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior, which at 450 hp (340 kW) provided almost twice as much power as the MH.1521. The slab-sided fuselage accommodated up to seven seats. The first prototype flew on Nov. 17, 1952. Its similarity to the Beaver in looks, capability, and performance led it to be nicknamed “The French Beaver”—366, not including prototypes and pre-production models, were built before production ended in 1961. 319 were built for the French military and designated MH.1521M. Another 47 were produced for civil or non-French military customers and were referred to as the MH.1521C. An unspecified number were modified as agricultural sprayers and designated MH.1521A.

The Broussard proved to be a capable workhorse in a wide variety of roles. Over 150 saw service in the Algerian War, serving as an artillery spotter and in an air supply/ambulance role. In 1963, those Broussards returned to France, where they were used for liaison aircraft. Later, the Portuguese air force utilized them primarily as artillery spotters. They also served as air supply/ambulance roles, as well as observation platforms. Back home, the Broussard remained in service with the French air force until December 1987, and with the French army until December 1993, while the French navy retired its last examples in 1996. As of this writing, 10 Broussards are registered in the U.S., although not all of them are flyable. One of the airworthy survivors belongs to Yamil Quinones of Los Lunas, New Mexico. Currently a pilot for Southwest Airlines, Quinones developed his passion for airplanes as a boy in his native Puerto Rico. He says, half-jokingly, “My mom claimed that the first word I spoke was ‘airplane.’ She showed pictures of me with airplanes when I was 8 years old.”

A Special Passion

There is something about “aviation people.” We tend to be all in, and Quinones, 50 years old, takes that to a higher level. To understand a little about him it helps to understand how he came to own Six Mike Hotel (N16MH). He continues, “As a young boy, I always liked playing with radio-controlled aircraft, and what began as a hobby became a passion, and that passion became an obsession. The obsession became my career. I never thought that I would ever fly for a major airline. In the beginning, I did all kinds of flying work, including banner towing, cargo, air ambulance, aerial mapping, photography, and Part 135 passenger flying. I have about 700 hours in DC-3s, flying cargo from Puerto Rico. And now, I am flying for a major airline.”

Airplane Owner

Quinones bought his first airplane, a RANS S-5, while he lived in Puerto Rico. After moving to the Albuquerque area, he landed a job flying Cessna 402s for a local cargo company, flying bank checks. Once the paper check business started to slow down due to paperless technology, his next job was flying air ambulance. He owned a Glasair and quickly appreciated the convenience of commuting by air, and he was hooked. He eventually replaced the Glasair with a more utilitarian Cessna 182. Through the process of financing, he found that by choosing a 20-year loan, he could bring the monthly payments down to something resembling a car payment. Then, he explains, “If you own an aircraft and you keep that aircraft for at least five years, the value of that aircraft typically increases in value. This is how I ended up having the opportunity to start buying aircraft and reselling them. I have owned a Cessna 337, a pressurized Cessna 210, and, most recently, a Yak 52.” Around three years ago, Quinones decided to look for an airplane that could serve as the family camper one weekend and an unusual warbird to display the following weekend. He explains, “I was looking for an airplane that had the capabilities of a Beaver, but I wanted a ‘unicorn’—something that was different from everything else. I quickly focused on the Broussard, an airplane that, in fact, was inspired by the Beaver, but one that is rarely seen in this country. It so happened that I found this Broussard in Oregon. Built in 1956, Serial Number 16 was delivered to the French navy in 1956. It was imported to the U.S. in 1986 by a gentleman named Neil Rose.”

Soon after, Rose met Peter Houghton, an accomplished pilot, mechanic, and airplane importer. Houghton has imported a lot of aircraft from Eastern Europe and France, which is how he got involved with the Broussard. Houghton says, “When Rose decided to sell the Broussard, I helped him sell it to a client in Arlington, Washington.” It turned out that that owner was not terribly comfortable in a taildragger, so he soon sold it to William Anders, the Apollo 8 astronaut. Anders had the aircraft for about 10 years before selling it to a retired airline pilot and a friend of mine. Years later, my friend decided to relocate to New Zealand. However, there was a catch. The Broussard was classified as a warbird, which opened a huge container of red tape. Regulations require that any military aircraft that is exported from U.S. soil must go through inspections with the Department of Defense and with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The process eventually discouraged the owner from shipping it overseas, and that is how Yamil Quinones could buy it. Quinones adds, “It just happened that I was in the right time, at the right moment. The owner decided to move on, and I was able to get this wonderful aircraft that I never even laid my eyes on. I almost bought it, sight unseen because it was flying, so I knew it was in good condition.” In 2023, Yamil Quinones flew Six Mike Hotel to its new home in the Albuquerque area.

Owning a Unicorn

Quinones quickly learned that owning a unicorn comes with unicorn-type challenges. He points out that the Broussard was built in the 1950s, and the French aircraft manufacturing industry did not adopt established ISO standards until approximately 1970. He discovered this when he went to replace some 5 mm and 4 mm screws. He laments, “The thread pitch on the original screws is such that no existing screws will replace them. So … I had to have them manufactured … and that required a minimum of 8,000 screws for each size. The original screws use a flathead screwdriver, so I had the replacements manufactured with crosshead tops. 8,000 of them! So, if anyone in the Broussard community needs 5 mm or 4 mm screws, have I got a deal for you!”

Fortunately, he possesses a trait that makes him the perfect unicorn owner. He loves to design and tinker with stuff. As an example, he wanted to be able to display an accurate replica of the machine gun used by gunners in combat. He approached several companies who might manufacture such a replica, and it turns out they all refused because of potential liability issues. His solution was to invest in a 3D printer and make his own! He then built a gunner’s stand that locks into the floor and allows the gun to point out the port window. He also designed a switch that causes the landing lights to flash, which gives the aircraft much better visibility, and he has been successful in selling that item to pilots around the world.

They say that necessity is the mother of invention and Yamil Quinones is an inventor. He explains, “As with most taildraggers, forward visibility is either limited or nonexistent. In my case, it is nonexistent. My home airpark has extremely narrow taxiways, which makes it impossible for me to zigzag back and forth to see what is in front of me. My solution was to install an automotive Bluetooth backup camera on the nose of the aircraft and pair it to my iPad on the flight deck. However, it wasn’t quite that simple because the backup camera displays everything backwards. I had to make a programming change to allow the camera to show me the proper left-and-right perspective. Now I have a perfectly unobstructed view of everything in front of the airplane.” Not being a pilot myself, I thought the idea was brilliant and wondered why this is not a commonly used installation on taildraggers with limited forward visibility. I would love to get feedback from pilots who fly taildraggers.

Another problem he solved is fuel. The R-985 was, of course, designed long before low-leaded and unleaded fuel were common. Therefore, he really does not need 100LL avgas. So, he goes to the local marina gas station where he can get regular 89 or 91 octane ethanol-free automobile gasoline at about half the cost of avgas and then adds a lead additive—tetraethyllead (TEL).

Due to the extremely low engine compression ratio of 6:1, the use of 100LL on this type of radial engine can create a detrimental condition due to the excessive amount of lead found in the fuel. 80/87 aviation fuel is the correct fuel the engine was designed for. It used to contain only 0.5 ml/gal while the current 100LL has up to 2.0 ml/gal.

As a result, even though he burns about 24 gph at cruise, his fuel costs are still about the same as a 172. Of course, the Broussard is a thirsty beast so, to accommodate its appetite, Quinones built a tank that holds 250 gallons of gasoline and mounted it to a trailer. Overall, it is an investment that will generate a nice return over time.

Finally, this Broussard has a redesigned wing leading edge, developed by Aerospezial in Eugene, Oregon, by Peter Houghton. He designed a new leading edge over 15 years ago, which changed the pressure lifting point forward. By moving the pressure lifting point forward, you must trim the aircraft nose down, which makes the aircraft go faster. But because the leading edge was extended farther forward, it also increases the wing area. The result is an improvement in stall speed of about 8–10 knots while, at the same time, boosting top speed by up to 10 knots. These changes make this utility aircraft even more versatile.

Built as a Warbird and Used as a Workhorse

The Broussard contains numerous reminders of its military origin. Quinones points out the slots underneath the aircraft that allowed for the launch of smoke grenades. The floor of the aircraft features a port that can be opened for photography. The aircraft also served as an air ambulance, and this aircraft is fitted with latches that will hold two stretchers. Behind the left rear passenger seat is a station that originally contained coffee and wine holders. Those have been replaced with a 5-gallon water tank that he uses for camping. He also designed some cushions that can be used for sleeping. This involves building the bottom of the cushion at an angle so that you don’t worry about rolling downhill off the bed! He notes that the aircraft design is extremely user-friendly and adaptable. The passenger seats are installed by screws directly onto the floor rather than using rails, which has several advantages. First, removing the seats leaves a completely flat surface with those same mounts available to lock in other equipment or accessories. Additionally, the seats fit flatly on the ground, so when they are removed, they can be used outside the aircraft. The Broussard can be used on a family camping trip one weekend and put on display at an airshow the next weekend. To that end, he has put a lot of effort into making his aircraft show-worthy. He even went to the point of creating a challenge coin featuring his airplane. He loves showing it off at airshows as much as he does using it for a family outing.

How Does It Handle?

Quinones talks about the handling characteristics of the Broussard. He says, “On takeoff, the tail is very heavy and needs some muscle to lift the tail up. Once the tail is up and the aircraft is flying, everything happens in slow motion. With the span of each aileron, and the massive 6-foot airfoil chord, the aircraft has invert aileron yaw, or adverse yaw tendency. This makes you work your feet constantly for a full coordinated flight. Rudder control is extremely effective, presumably because they are outside of the propeller slipstream. It cruises comfortably at 100–115 knots, drinking 24 gph. It has long legs, carrying four hours of fuel plus good reserve. The new leading edge brings the stall speed down to 42 knots and increases cruise speed by 10 knots.” He continues, “The flare on final comes with a delayed response due to its weight and mass. If the aircraft is not perfectly balanced, you will notice how the nose drops as soon as you cut power. The flaps extend up to 50°, which gives the Broussard its STOL characteristics. Having said that, a go-around must be planned in advance, since the flap motor operates very slowly. As you touch down, you steer primarily with the rudder pedals, but toe brakes are very responsive and available. However, once the tail is down, you need to use differential braking. Overall, I would say it flies like a Piper Cub that is heavy on the controls.”

When Quinones removed the 1950s-era radio equipment complete with vacuum tubes, he also removed over 60 pounds of wiring. This allowed him to transform that area into additional storage. Ironically, it also threw off his center of gravity so that he must add over 200 pounds of ballast weight in the aft cabin any time he flies empty.

When he is not flying around the country as an airline pilot, he is probably at home tinkering with something. He is exactly what this unicorn of an aircraft requires! And, like most unicorn owners, he recognizes and respects the fact that he is not so much an owner as he is a guardian of history. He concludes by saying, “I have owned quite a few airplanes in my time, but I have a feeling this one will be my keeper. It has a great history, and it certainly attracts attention wherever it goes. It is an honor to be the caretaker of this airplane.”