GYPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur May 21 2026 Starting Post
Well, ... this is a continuation of my detailed DeHavilland Gipsy Moth build thread, that was lost to the tragic HPA site crash of Nov 2025. I will post what I can - not all of it - and just carry on from there.
I already have a lot of work done, right up to the framing of the fin/rudder and stabilizer.
I will start with some pics of the Gipsy Moth.
Pic #1 1930 ENGLAND TO AUSTRALIA
Pic #2 AMY JOHNSON ENGLISH AVIATOR
Pic #3 AMY JOHNSON
Pic #4 TWIN FLOAT GIPSY MOTH AND ESKIMOS
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GYPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur May 21 2026 Reply #1
more pics
Pic #1 GIPSY MOTH 26 SNIP HALF
Pic #2 GIPSY MOTH 60G
Pic #3 GIPSY MOTH 60X
Pic #4 GIPSY MOTH OUT OF AFRICA
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Great see this thread up and running again, excellent build Richard and thanks for taking the time to recreate it. Looking forward to seeing how far you have got
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur May 21 2026 Reply #3
Thanks Chris.
Woops ... now I have 'Gipsy' spelled correctly in the title.
I wanted to jump right up to a 30 inch wingspan "scale looking" biplane, for rubber powered free flight.
Which of three 30 inch biplanes would be my next rubber powered free flight build? The choice was between three Jumbo sized Golden Age era Biplanes, all three being laser cut kits that I already have sitting on the shelf, doing nothing anyway, just wasting away ...
Three kits: The DH 60 GIPSY MOTH, or The STANDARD J-1 , or the STEARMAN PT 17
The three different engine details of the planes are as follows.
THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ENGINES
DH 60 GIPSY MOTH 30" Dumas kit #336
DeHavilland "Gipsy 1" four cylinder upright inline piston, single exhaust, air cooled, 100 HP
Pic #1 GYPSY 1B LEFT SIDE FROM FRONT
STANDARD J-1 30" Dumas kit #314
Curtiss Ox-5 liquid cooled V8 dual exhaust 90 HP
Pic #2 CURTISS OX 5 LIQUID COOLED V8 IN STANDARD J1.
The Standard J-1 also had the Hispano Suiza, 180 HP which had a nice chromed out "swan" radiator cap ornament .
Pic #3 STORK ORNAMENT HISPANO SUIZA AIRCRAFT ENGINE
STEARMAN PT 17 28" Herr Engineering kit #116
Seven cylinder Continental R-670 Air Cooled Radial 220 HP
Pic #4 CONTINENTAL R670 RADIAL ENGINE 2
This kit has an all balsa engine, using built up cylinder plates stacked onto the seven crankcase posts. Very cool.
I ended up choosing the Gipsy Moth.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur May 21 2026 Reply #4
We worked on an outline for a Hangar Sign, and outlines for trying different color schemes.
Pic #1 Outline tracing on window.
Pic #2 Mandrake cleans up the outline tracing.
Pic #3 Mandrake rests after all of the coloring.
Pic #4 Peel n Stick Trim Sheet colors. Plus blue and gray tissue supplied in the kit.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur May 21 2026 Reply #5
Pic #1 Kit supplied three gray and one white tissue and spare tissue on hand.
Pic #2 Possible coloring patterns.
Pic #3 Plan Sheet #1
Pic #4 Plan Sheet #2
Lastwoodsman
Richard
I'm very interested to see how you decide to model the Cirrus engine, Richard.
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri May 22 2026 Reply #7
Jeremy .... there is no Cirrus engine .... ::) !?
The Gipsy Moth has the "Gipsy 1" four cylinder upright inline piston engine.
The Standard J-1 has the Curtiss OX-5 liquid cooled V8 engine, and the
Stearman has the Continental R670 seven cylinder Radial engine.
There are other comparisons between these three models, that I should point out along the way, so you can really see the design and structural and plan differences, and take them into consideration, in choosing which model to build.
Well, anyways, here are the two plans of the Stearman PT 17 and Standard J1 for comparison. These two are also at the top of my bipes to build list, now, after the Gipsy Moth ...
----------------------------------
Stearman PT-17
Pic #1 IM001121 STEARMAN PLAN SHEET NO 1 (Medium)
Pic #2 IM001122 STEARMAN PLAN SHEET NO 2 (Medium)
------------------------------------
Standard J-1
Pic #3 IM001066 STANDARD J-1 PLAN SHEET NO 1 (Medium)
Pic #4 IM001123 STANDARD J-1 PLAN SHEET NO 2 (Medium)
-------------------------------------------
The Gipsy Moth plan sheets are in Reply #5 above.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri May 22 2026 Reply #8
I cleared off the building table. All of the plan sheets and instructions and balsa sheets etc have been photocopied and cut out.
Pic #1 CUTTING FOAM BOARD BACKING FOR GIPSY MOTH PLAN SHEETS
Pic #2 GIPSY MOTH 2 PLAN SHEETS PLUS KIT BOX (Medium)
Many notes have been penciled in on the two big original plan sheets on the big vertical couch board.
I made 3/16" thick by 30" x 20" white foam board backings for the big plan sheets.
Pic #3 2969 This is as far as I got assembly-wise - rough framing of the Stab and Fin/rudder.
Pic #4 2973 The parts are still organized.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri May 22 2026 Reply #9
Pic #1 2974 Pic of the previously finished Fuse Jig with 9 plates spaced out, and the plan sheets are re-rolling to sit flat.
Pic #2 2978 Plan sheet #1 cut up and ready.
Pic #3 2980 Plan Sheet #2 is ready.
Pic #4 2981 All of the balsa part sheets have been photocopied, and the part numbers have been written on those photocopies. The part numbers are then written on the green masking tape, and the parts are then taped down onto their photocopies. There are 250 laser cut parts.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri May 22 2026 Reply #10
These are a few notes to myself to help keep track of things.
There are small number of model assembly build tutorials, within the overall complete build, that I had already worked on, and some were completed.
1 Fuse Jig Fixture tutorial made with balsa base and 3/16" white Ross Foam Board 20" x 30".
2 Hand Made Laminated Balsa Display Prop build tutorial.
3 Flying prop selection.
4 Pilot Selections and painting tutorial. I cannnot find my two Banks pilots, but I have a few other pilots of differing scale, whose shoulders must fit into that narrow fuselage.
5 Soldering the Landing Gear Wire Assemblies tutorial - I have had only one (bad) experience soldering, from not using enough heat .... I will acquiesce, and seek help later with this, from our resident and stalwart soldering expert, Squirrelnet Chris. 'Long live the Core'. 8) It is high time for me to give it a real fearless attempt ... ie no whining or dodging, or beating around the bush, or complaining, or sniveling and niggling, etc. I have a much hotter solder gun to try now.
6 Spoked Wheels. I tried a spoke wheel kit, but failed miserably. But I was lucky. My computer Guru Bob got a 3D printer for Xmas, and he printed me up some very passable spoked wheels, that fit well and match the color scheme. The wheels took a little bit of trimming with an exacto knife - those printed plastic wheel spokes are very very solid, for being so thin. Bob also printed up those two perfectly sized pilots in my 30 inch Beaver.
7 Thread selection and color for the rigging wires.
8 Engine assembly and details.
So those are the things that I can think of, so far.
I'm actually looking forward to modeling in the air conditioning, all day all summer, just like last summer, when there is a drought again with the accompanying heatwave, and the grass drying a dormant yellow, and the ground turning hard as a rock.
Pic #1 Three Kits Six Plans with foam board backings on each sheet.
Pic #2 Thread selection for wire rigging.
Pic #3 Light Blue 2 (medium). color scheme
Pic #4 Medium Blue 2 (medium). color scheme
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri May 22 2026 Reply #11
Here are four barnstorming pics.
Pic #1 GIPSY MOTH BARNSTORMING 2
Pic #2 GIPSY MOTH BARNSTORMING
Pic #3 STANDARDS BARNSTORMING THE SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS 1957
Pic #4 STEARMAN BARNSTORMING
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat May 23 2026 Reply #12
Pic #1 2984 This is my 30 inch Beaver's resting place on a sheet of white Foam Board, while I restart the 30 inch Gipsy Moth. It has really been too windy and rainy the last few days in a row, to fly at all.
Pic #2 2988 I pulled out my Gipsy file folders. The cut out rolled plans will unfold flat, ready to go on the building board. The upper right is our Hangar Sign.
Pic #3 2991 Here are some pilots I have to choose from. The shoulders of the pilot must fit inside the fuse width.
Pic #4 2994 And some more pilots to choose from. Here also is my previously finished, laminated balsa 8" Hercules display prop, for the 30" Gipsy Moth.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Friday June 5 2026 Reply #13 post 1 of 2
We are back building at the Gipsy Moth Hangar.
Nose Block
Pic #1 3210 The E5 tenon part is sanded to fit in the mortise hole of part E4.
Pic #2 3217 Cowl Block on the plan. I have not cut these dotted lines yet.
Pic #3 3218 I have this 2nd plan sheet cut apart now, along some very handy dotted lines. It also shows how to glue up the exhaust detail.
Pic #4 3223 Here are the two plan sheet cut-outs to work from.
cont
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Friday June 5 2026 Reply #14 post 2 of 2
Nose Block
Pic #1 3227 Parts Locator Sheet with penciled in notes. I have already really studied this plan.
Pic #2 3231 The parts have already been cut out, sanded lightly, and labelled !
Pic #3 3232 The E3 tenon of the nose block, has been sanded down to fit the mortise hole in E4. A one inch diam circle is penciled in on one of the E1 pieces. This will be a line to ''sand down to".
I will have parts gluing up with white glue shortly ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat June 6 2026 Reply #15
Hangar Sign and Angled Brace Support
M and B make a backing stand for the Hangar sign.
First, a little more preliminary work to set the mood for Mandrake and Bloodroot, our devoted maintenance technicians.
The angle brace support is made from 3/16" white Foam Board, and round head pins, and a couple of strips of scotch tape. The actual Hangar sign is a printer color copy with a flimsy 12 thou file folder cardboard backing. It can now sit on any pedestal.
I know that the proportions, of the Gipsy Moth box cover art, in the Hangar pic, are way off (vanishing point lines? ), but I tried to fix it up as much as possible.
Pic #1 3236 3/16" white foam board.
Pic #2 3240 Held together with round head pins, and a couple of pieces of scotch tape at the back near the top.
Pic #3 3246 The Hangar sign sits on an angle for better viewing.
Pic #4 3249 View of the rear side of the Hangar sign.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sun June 7 2026 Reply #16 post 1 of 2
Cowl Block and Nose Block
Pic #1 3254 I need soft clamps to hold these parts together while white gluing.
Pic #2 3259 The Hangar sign.
Pic #3 3261 Cowl Block pieces are glued up.
Pic #4 3263 These were difficult pieces to glue. This was my plan.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sun June 7 2026 Reply #17 post 2 of 2
Cowl Block and Nose Block
Pic #1 3265 Bloodroot constantly spins the pencil, so it does not stick to the glue, while the balsa dries.
Pic #2 3266 The two cowl block pieces glued up in position, lining up their holes.
Pic #3 3270 Another look.
Pic #4 3272 Here these Nose Block pieces are finally glued together.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 7 2026 Reply #18 post 1 of 3
Nose Block Cowl Block
Well the E3 tenon did not glue up exactly right onto E2 . I soaked them in hot water for half an hour (these are 1/8" thick). It finally got it "loose" enough, that I just slid it up the width of the pencil line, to the correct scribed lines, and pinned it up to dry. It really was off when I test fitted it to the other parts, so I knew I had to fix it right.
Well, I finally figured out the four pics in this plan cutout picture. It alternates COWL BLOCK NOSE BLOCK COWL BLOCK NOSE BLOCK , instead of COWL BLOCK COWL CLOCK NOSE BLOCK NOSE BLOCK. I colored one orange, and one is pink now, for the visual acuity. Pink is Nose Block and Orange is Cowl Block.
I should have cut out all four diagrams separately from the beginning. 'Little things' that can stump a Senior ...
Pic #1 3276 The waterlogged part(s) is darker in color.
Pic #2 3279 Orange and pink to separate the pics.
Pic #3 3284 Closeup of orange and pink.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 7 2026 Reply #19 post 2 of 3
Nose Block Cowl Block
Pic #1 3287 The cowl block is glued and pinned up to dry. It would later not hold, and have to be re-glued with pin prick holes in the balsa mating surfaces.
Pic #2 3291 Bloodroot makes little pin holes in the mating surfaces.
Pic #3 3293 The noseblock is re-glued. E7 and E6 of the Nose Block are glued together, after pin holes, of course.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 7 2026 Reply #20 post 3 of 3
Nose Block Cowl Block
Pic #1 3296 Three more gluing sessions to go ...
Pic #2 3300 Full rough test fit. Exterior view.
Pic #3 3303 Full rough test fit. Interior view.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 10 2026 Reply #21
Nose Block Cowl Block
Extra Tenon Doubler part E3
Pic #1 3324 Bloodroot traces out an extra E3 'tenon' doubler, in case we need more downthrust later ...
Pic #2 3227 The tenon is sanded, but still needs the hole for the rubber motor and prop wire.
Pic #3 3330 The extra tenon now has a slightly smaller hole, which will be enlarged later.
Pic #4 3333 Test fit - this will be glued up much later when we check it.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
3 users 111 guests
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur June 11 2026 Reply #22 post 1 of 3
Nose Block Cowl Block
Pic #1 3334 The two outside pairs get glued on top of each other.
Pic #2 3341 They are glued up and clamped up to dry.
Pic #3 3344 The white glue was oozing out - had to brush it off.
Pic #4 3345 Another view of oozing white glue. Even with all this effort, the glue did not hold, and I had to apply more white glue again, and it worked after the second application .... and I still had to "watch it dry", ie take apart the clamps and check if any parts slid out of place. The whole Cowl Block Nose Block was very difficult to glue up exactly ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur June 11 2026 Reply #23 post 2 of 3
Nose Block Cowl Block
Pic #1 3348 Cowl block on left, Nose Block on right, both are dry, almost completed.
Pic #2 3349 On the right are the last two pieces of the Nose Block to glue together.
Pic #3 3352 The last two pieces of the Nose Block are glued together. The roll of coins sits on three small balsa planks, to apply equal pressure while drying.
Pic #4 3355 The Cowl Block 'tenon' fits very snugly into the Nose Block 'mortise' . And here is the fit of the prop wire shaft, thrust button, and eight inch black plastic propeller.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur June 11 2026 Reply #24 post 3 of 3
Nose Block Cowl Block
Pic #1 3357 Here is the back side view of the assembly.
Pic #2 3360 Left front view of the separated Cowl Block on left and Nose Block on right.
Pic #3 3362 And here is the fit.
Pic #4 3364 Top view. It was really hard to line up, but I think I got it pretty close.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Users 3 Guests 29
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri June 12 2026 Reply #25
Nose Block Cowl Block
Pic #1 3366 The round head hook end of the kit supplied 0.041" diam prop shaft 2 1/4" long, the thrust button of 0.3" 7.62 mm and the 8" black prop are shown.
Pic #2 3369 Here is a better view of the kit supplied prop shaft. Here is the rub. The round head rubber end of the wire hook of the prop shaft, is 10.0 mm across, and that wire hook will not go through the 0.3" 7.62 mm thrust button hole in the Cowl Block, for easy Stooge Stretch Winding. I have a heavier and longer prop wire of 0.047" x 2 3/8" long to use, but the hook end is too big also. 0.047" 3/64" wire is the size that fits the thrust button perfectly, but it needs to be longer, and the hook diameter must be less than 0.3" to fit through the thrust button hole in the balsa Cowl Block. Even the Peck Polymers prop shaft #3 size 3/64" x 2.5" is too big at the 'squared' hook of 8 mm ( 9.65 mm 0.380" when measured diagonally) either way - an 8.0 mm or 9.65 mm hook, both, will also not fit through 7.62 mm hole. I have to 'flatten out' or compress that squared hook ... easier said than done ...
Pic #3 3372 We took a few sanding rounds out of the cowl block nose block. I also started looking at my propeller shaft collection - what is left of it. The hook ends will not fit through the cowl block hole, and the kit supplied prop hook is too thin and short.
Pic #4 3375 We got out some 3/64" piano wire rod, cutting pliers and holding pliers, and needle nosed pliers, and a sanding stone for the sharp ends, and proceeded to try and bend up a long prop wire of 0.047" with a flattened oblong hook, that will fit through the Cowl Block hole.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
users 3 guests 23
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri June 12 2026 Reply #26
Nose Block Cowl Block
Pic #1 3379 This was sanded with the green masking tape on, so I would not sand the wrong area.
Pic #2 3381 Sanded to 300 paper.
Pic #3 3385 Nose Block on left, Cowl Block on right.
Pic #4 3388 Nose Block on left, Cowl Block on right.
And that is the nose block and cowl block final sanded for now.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
users 5 guests 34
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat June 13 2026 Reply #27 post 1 of 4
Camo Color Scheme
Well, I started off yesterday preparing for the color scheme and eventual covering of the Beaver, by photocopying more plans, and clear taping the butt ends of the three 8 1/2' x 14", pages together ie one long 3-page of a full wing layout etc., and making a lot of copies, all around, for later on.
In making all those photocopies, I also traced a full length wing outline with ribs, and I am now also considering a new Camo color scheme, thanks to a little inspiration from 'livingroomflight' ! ;D
I intend to keep the same color scheme for the whole plane, but both of the two upper sides of the wings only, will be Camo. I am going with a three color Camo - light blue, even lighter baby blue, and white - on the Camo. Each Camo patch will have a black outline, which should cover up the tissue overlap. We'll see - that's the plan.
Window Tracing
Pic #1 3391 My long, original cut up plan sheet, is taped against the window first. Over that is the blank white printer paper of three sheets of 8 1/2" x 14" taped up lengthwise.
Pic #2 3392 The top third of the wing has just the outline and the ribbs traced in pencil.
Pic #3 3393 Close-up of the tracing.
Pic #4 3395 Fully traced outline and ribs, on the window !!
Lastwoodsman
Richard
1 user 22 guests
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat June 13 2026 Reply #28 post 2 of 4
Camo Color Scheme
Pic #1 3400 Side by side - original wing, and wing outline and ribs, on the window.
Three camo color schemes and shapes from the interweb, as examples. I will try to make my own.
Pic #2 THREE COLOR 2
Pic #3 CAMO OUTLINE 2
Pic #4 MEDIUM BLUE LIGHT BLUE AND WHITE CAMO
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat June 13 2026 Reply #29 post 3 of 4
Camo Color Scheme
Pic #1 LIGHT BLUE READY FOR CAMO we will use this 'lighter' blue color scheme.
Pic #2 3405 This is my first attempt. One white Amoeba shape of printer paper will be added at the right.
Pic #3 3398 Here is my Camo pattern on top of the other patterns from the net.
Pic #4 3403 For matching and comparison, my Hangar Sign on top, and the new Camo wing on the bottom.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Sat June 13 2026 Reply #30 post 4 of 4
Camo Color Scheme
Pic #1 3405 My first attempt. A white Amoeba shape is added at the right. There are places that could use a little more white in the color pattern.
Pic #2 3408 Three amoeba shapes, or part shapes, are cut out and ready to add.
Pic #3 3410 This shows where the new white pieces go.
Pic #4 3414 Finished rendition #1.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sun June 14 2026 Reply #31
Plan Copies to Use
I made good long copies and a good long folder to keep them in. I must have copies ready ahead of time ...
Pic #1 3417 Tracing of Bottom Wing Outline with Ribs
Pic #2 3421 Top Wing and Fuselage Layouts
Pic #3 3423 Two copies of each single page.
Pic #4 3426 Bottom Wing and Tail Section copies.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sun June 14 2026 Reply #32
Pic #1 3430 My big 3x cardboard file folder to keep all my plans especially the long ones.
Start on the Fuselage
Pic #2 3432 The fuselage layouts are freshly clear taped with new waxed paper.
Pic #3 3435 The part numbers are circled in pencil and highlighted yellow for these old eyes.
Pic #4 3443 A new rear motor peg plate will be added two bays forward at station 5. The rubber motor ends will now be equidistant from the Center of Gravity - 103 mm. Prop hook to rear peg is now ~ 8 inches. I will start trimming flights with a seven inch rubber motor.
One more thing I have to fit in is putting fresh new sandpaper on my sanding blocks.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 15 2026 Reply #33
Sorry fellas, just one pic with this post. I have just one more big 3 page plan sheet taped up, of the fuse side, now showing the new forward placed, rear motor peg. Now I can install any rubber motor length, and the Center of Gravity will remain unchanged, with equal rubber ahead of the C of G , and equal rubber behind the C of G.
Pic #1 3444 SNIP Full fuse side view, three pages taped together.
OK back to gluing up some balsa ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 15 2026 Reply #34
Fuselage
1/8" sq longerons, and 1/8" x 1/16' uprights, and fuse parts B1 B2 B3 B4 B14 B15 B16 AND A9 are readied. The holes in A9 are for the aluminum tubes used in assembling the top wing only.
Pic #1 3449 Morning walk in Jackson Park with the Beaver, to see how the grass was in the Cricket Field. We had a little bit of rain, but not enough - the ground has hardened up.
Pic #2 3458 Digging out the parts on the list in sentence one of the fuse instructions.
Pic #3 3461 The parts are laid out and have already had their "balsa bridges" sanded smooth. I will not be sanding any laser burns .... it's just a park flyer.
Pic #4 3464 Closeup of the above.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
users 2 guests 25
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Tue June 16 2026 Reply #35 post 1 of 2
Fuselage Longeron Scarfs and Former 1
We have to make a 'scarf' joint because of the long top longeron, and the 1/8" sq strip is not long enough.
Pic #1 3466 Pulling apart the scarf cuts.
Pic #2 3467 We just cut two scarfs that were side by side, with one saw cut.
Pic #3 3470 Former 1 at the top gets two reinforcing strips of 1/8" x 1/16" x 1 3/8" long.
Pic #4 3473 Two scarfs are ready to glue.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Tue June 16 2026 Reply #36 post 1 of 2
Fuselage Longeron Scarfs and Former 1
Pic #1 3477 Closeup.
Pic #2 3484 The two scarf joints are ready to slide closed. Former 1 has the strips glued.
Pic #3 3490 All is ready for the glue. This is what you call "all out" on the scarves.
Pic #4 3494 There is waxed paper in there too. The joints are flush and all are pressed down, now all glued up and ready to dry.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Tue June 16 2026 Reply #37
Fuselage Longeron Scarfs (Splices) and Former 1
Pic #1 3499 The little black dots match and the little x's match. Two scarf joints (splices) are all glued up and taken apart. The waxed paper prevented the wrong surfaces from gluing up.
Pic #2 3505 Looks like pretty clean splices/scarves to me.
Pic #3 3506 Good closeup.
Pic #4 3509 The parts are now laid out for the Fuse Side (number one fuse side - we need two of them).
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur June 18 2026 Reply #38 post 1 of 2
Camo Wing Design
Pic #1 3528 This is what I have so far. Iteration #1. Setting up the big vertical board.
Pic #2 3529 Mandrake starts free-handing a new outline design.
Pic #3 3535 Here is the new outline.
Pic #4 3537 Three colors. The background is white. The amoeba-shaped designs are stretched out lengthwise or span-wise, left to right to left, from the 'roundish' shapes in Iteration #1.
The light blue is one pass with the marker. The darker blue is three light blue marker passes on top of each other. No straight lines, no points, and trying to keep the same white spacing distance between the shapes. There is more fine tuning to do.
Laswtoodsman
Richard
cont
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur June 18 2026 Reply #39 post 2 of 2
Camo Wing Design
More progress.
Pic #1 3539 Here is my new design on the 'big board'. Wing Panel Camo Rendition #2. upper right.
Pic #2 3541 Here is the close-up. The gray pencil outline is Gray Scale 7, where gray scale 1 is Black and Gray Scale 10 is White. Left and Right Wings will be mirror images of each other.
Pic #3 3544 The 30" Beaver has the same blue colors, almost.
Pic #4 3548 A few improvement notes are written on Iteration #2.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri June 19 2026 Reply #40
Camo Wing Design
More progress
Pic #1 3553 Working on and coloring up the revisions.
Pic #2 3557 Working on the center section.
Pic #3 3562 The left wing panel at the top is left to do. The "Master" camo wing design is at the bottom of the pic.
Pic #4 3564 The left panel outline is now finished, and needs coloring. The Master is also finished.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri June 25 2026 Reply #41 post 1 of 4
Camo Wing Design
I stopped the fuse framing for now, and I cleared the building board. There were lots of little mistakes that I marked up and fixed, and I finally squared up the colored panels of the camo design.
I am planning on making five pre-colored Silkspan panels, with a slight overlap resting on the 1/16" thick ribs. I plan to use Sharpie Gel Highlighter "Smear Guard", or "Smear Advanced" to paint up the Silkspan panels with two colors of light Blue. I should be able to glue up a complete practice camo wing, with overlap, the same way as I would do, with the real camo wing. So I will be doing some experimentation with the same Lite Silkspan covering from Brodak.
Pic #1 3573 Rough start to the camo design. The colored panels are not even straight.
Pic #2 3597 I have enough Silkspan to cover the two upper wing surfaces in camo.
Pic #3 3598 Sharpie Gel Highlighter "Smear Guard" - won't bleed and won't dry out.
Pic #4 3614 The Leading Edge Datum has been squared up. The plans are up on the Big Board.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri June 25 2026 Reply #42 post 2 of 4
Camo Wing Design
Pic #1 3617 I stripped the old tissue off of this practice frame.
Pic #2 3618 I will use these two frames for practice.
Squaring Up The Designs
Pic #3 3622 Getting the cut lines of excess white paper boundary squared up.
Pic #4 3625 Close up.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri June 25 2026 Reply #43 post 3 of 4
Camo Wing Design
Pic #1 3628 Cutting off the extra and squaring up the designs.
Selecting the right color and thickness of the outlines of the camo designs.
Pic #2 3629 The metallic gray marker is too thick and shinny.
Pic #3 3633 Test of the Metallic silver marker.
Pic #4 3636 There were a lot of white acrylic paint touchups and marker touchups.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri June 25 2026 Reply #44 post 4 of 4
Camo Wing Design Yellow Rib Markers
We are planning the tissue covering overlaps of five panels, using yellow rib marker strips of paper, to mark the spots.
Pic #1 3637 Five panel breaks are to be on the ribs.
Pic #2 3641 med View from the right wingtip down the wing.
Pic #3 3642 med 2 View from the left end.
Pic #4 3645 med rot You can see how shinny the metallic gray marker is. The panels are cut out and located on the orange rib locations.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 29 2026 Reply #45 post 1 of 3
Camo Wing Design
Pic #1 3648 Five patterns are copied, cut out, and are ready to overlap and fit to the outline.
Pic #2 3651 Here they are on the big board.
Here are two repeating outline patterns.
Pic #3 CAMO STENCIL OUTLINES 1
Pic #4 TIGER STRIPE CAMO PATTERN
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 29 2026 Reply #46 post 2 of 3
Camo Wing Design
I took some time off yesterday, and did some relaxing searching around the internet all day off and on.
I discovered more Camo color schemes to consider, by typing in these search bar words ...
Seamless repeating camo pattern
fluid outline blobs
fluid liquid flow shapes
blue camo vector
camo pattern templates
camo layered stencil
camo coloring pages
camo outline
camo print outline
camo drawing
Pic #1 SEA BLUE GRAY CAMO
Pic #2 BLUE CAMO HIGH RES
Pic #3 BLUE CLOUD REPEATING PATTERN
Pic #4 LIGHT BLUE SEAMLESS PATTERN DIFFERENT SIZED CLOUDS
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 29 2026 Reply #47 post 3 of 3
Camo Wing Design
Pic #1 3698 This is a striking blue repeating digital pattern, overlapped on the Building Board.
Pic #2 3703 The digital pattern is now on the Big Board.
Cloud Patterns
Pic #3 3709 Two 'Cloud' seamless repeating patterns, one expanded more than the other, are on the big board at the bottom.
Pic #4 3711 The new Cloud 1 and Cloud 2 designs, are cut out for the wing shape, and pinned to the big board for comparison.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon June 29 2026 Reply #48 post 4 of 4
Camo Wing Design
Here are my top three choices for camo topped wings:
Pic #1 3713 Cloud 1 and Cloud 2 seamless repeating camo designs, have been cut out, overlapped, and pinned to the Big Board, for comparison.
Pic #2 3719 These are the three practice finalists for the blue camo design. They are all cut to size, overlapped and pinned to the big board, and clear taped together.
"Light Blue Camo" is my original in the middle.
Cloud 2 from the net, is on the top. Cloud 2 looks a little bit 'busy' .
Cloud 1 from the net, is on the bottom. Cloud 1 looks more ... like it is actually floating in the "puffy" cumulo nimbus clouds.
Heatwave has started here in the middle of the Great Lakes of North America, along with our 'jungle' humidity. Now, 3:00 PM, it is 89 deg F (feels like 99 deg F). High of 90 deg F today. Humidity is 57% now, but will be 85% by morning.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Wed July 1 2026 Reply #49
Fresh Sandpaper
We got out all of the sandpaper blocks and stapled on fresh 100 150 220 sandpaper. To fold around the blocks properly, the 'creases' in the sandpaper were first slightly scored with an awl. Actually, all of my sandpaper cuts were made with several strokes of the awl, using the long clear, cm and mm scale, Safelex Shatterproof Helix rule, 30 cm 300 mm long. File folder cardboard was used as a cutting mat.
Pic #1 3730 Cleaned off the building board.
Pic #2 3734 Sanding blocks to freshen up.
Pic #3 3737 All new sandpaper.
Pic #4 3743 I just used staples to hold them together.
Now we are ready ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur July 2 2026 Reply #50
This is going to be an enjoyable build - I can tell right away. :) All of those tiny laser cut holes in the balsa parts are all 3/64" 0.047" 1.8 mm. These holes are for the rigging and control wires ! 8) And the kit has very comprehensive rigging wire diagrams and instructions. This is a very modern kit that was released in 2016, and now ten years later, Dumas has, unfortunately, closed up shop. :(
Pic #1 3747 All of the big long wing copies and files etc. are pulled off of the Big Board, and stored in the long 'Gipsy Moth Plan Copies' folder(s) above the Big Board.
Pic #2 3749 Note the tiny holes in the balsa parts for the rigging wires, and for the control wires, holes and slots.
Pic #3 3751 My notes are written on the plan, in pencil.
Pic #4 3752 The Landing Wires, and the Flying Wires are not labelled in this pic, but they are labelled in Pic #3.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri July 3 2026 Reply #51
More progress on the fuse side frames.
That was a lot of difficult round head pin pushing - especially pushing through too many layers of waxed paper ...
Pic #1 3753 The fuse side frame has been finally located and securely blocked up in place. The 1/8" sq longerons and other frame pieces have been cut out and fitted.
I lightly drew in little vertical guide lines, on the longeron 1/8" sq balsa, to guide the edges of the three main vertical pieces, of the fuse side frame. "Little things".
Pic #2 3757 Vertical guide lines for Part B1 at Station 1 front nose.
Pic #3 3758 Vertical guide lines for Part B3 rear motor peg plank Station 7. The guidelines are actually straight - they look off because of the camera angle ...
Pic #4 3761 Vertical guidelines for Part B4 rear tail end vertical support - call it Station 10
I almost forgot. I also need to add the new, more forward, rear motor peg plank support, at the front of Station 5, (for equal rubber on both sides of the C of G Center of Gravity).
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat July 4 2026 Reply #52 post 1 of 2
More progress on the fuse side frames.
Pic #1 3764 Two new 'forward' rear motor peg plates at Station 5.
Pic #2 3769 Exact dimensions and cutouts.
Pic #3 3772 Trying to get the 1/8" diameter drill holes chased larger incrementally.
Pic #4 3776 The third 'chasing' was made with a 1/8" drill bit, which did not work out great ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat July 4 2026 Reply #53 post 2 of 2
More progress on the fuse side frames.
Pic #1 3779 Both new plates are completed. The RH peg plate is in its place at Stn 5 , and the LH plate sits above it.
Here is my setup to glue them all at one - double white glued - apply the first layer of diluted white glue, let dry (or almost dry), then add the second layer of glue, and stick together.
That was a lot of intricate, tiny pointed small brush, size 7 painting. All of the pre-fit pieces 'press fit/slip fit' right into place - it is a good feeling to know that they are all double white glued.
Pic #2 3790 There was lots of balsa blocking preparation to glue up 8 parts.
Pic #3 3792 All parts are now glued into place to dry overnight. We will see how it all glues up. I still have the wing struts from the fuse to the fuel tank to add.
Pic #4 3792 SNIP Closeup. Everything is pressed down flat.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon July 6 2026 Reply #54 Post 1 of 3
Fuse Side Frame Uprights.
Pic #1 3795 Here we are readying the seven 1/8" x 1/16" uprights, and the 1/8" sq upright, with the parts sitting elevated across the top, so they can soak up the first white gluing and then dry up in air, ready for the second glue application.
Pic #2 3799 I used a pencil to "shade" the upper surface of these eight uprights, so I could tell which side was was up. Every gluing surface has had its first coat of diluted white glue now.
Pic #3 3803 Those eight uprights are blocked up and pinned down, and are now glued in place with a second application of white glue.
Pic #4 3803 SNIP Enlarged view.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon July 6 2026 Reply #55 post 2 of 3
Cabane Struts
Pic #1 3804 Working on the Cabane Struts from the fuse to the fuel tank of the wing center section.
Pic #2 3809 This is my set-up for gluing the struts.
Finger Tip Grip Plates for Launching/Throwing the Plane
Pic #3 3814 Two plates - one on each side - of 3/32" thick balsa.
Pic #4 3815 The right side 3/32" finger tip plate, is blocked up and pinned up and glued.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Mon July 6 2026 Reply #56 post 3 of 3
The Right Fuse Frame Comes Off Of The Board
Pic #1 3818 A lot of waxed paper was stuck to the balsa frame.
Pic #2 3821 The frame is now sanded up and the glue flash is removed with an Exacto knife.
Completed Parts So Far
Pic #3 3823 Completed parts, including my laminated 8" Hamilton prop, and a couple of printed wheels.
Pic #4 3826 Completed parts with the rest of the printed wheels. Two wheel halves are pressed together and glued. Pressing the two axles of the wheel halves together, causes the spokes of the two halves, to "dish" or "dome" in shape, for more realism.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Wed July 8 2026 Reply #57
Start of Left Hand Side Fuse Frame
Pic #1 3661 Getting ready for the LH fuse frame. This side should go a lot quicker - not that I am in any hurry ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur July 9 2026 Reply #58
Left Hand Side Fuse Frame
Taking my time - hoping to get two identical fuse side frames.
Pic #1 3864 The big test fit and pinning out of all the parts.
Pic #2 3868 The parts are removed and sit above the work, and now all of the gluing and mating surfaces, get two or (more) liberal doses of thinned white glue.
Pic #3 3870 Cabane Struts from fuse to Center Section Fuel Tank, have been fitted and ready to glue. There was lots of watching the glue dry between coats.
Pic #4 3874 And the final progress so far. All things are glued up and pinned up and blocked up, to dry over night.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri July 10 2026 Reply #59 post 1 of 2
Left Hand Side Fuse Frame Uprights
Pic #1 3876 All of the uprights are fitted in place and blocked up and ready to glue.
Pic #2 3879 The uprights have all been removed above, for double white gluing.
Pic #3 3881 The uprights are all glued up now, and drying over night.
The frame was dry and removed from the waxed paper with my sharpened butter knife.
Pic #4 3884 I flipped the frame over, and glued in the left side finger tip grip plate.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Fri July 10 2026 Reply #60 post 2 of 2
Completing the Fuse Side Frames
Pic #1 3898 Completed left side frame is now glued up and dry, and final sanded to 220 grit.
Pic #2 3899 The left side frame further up, was just carefully removed from the waxed paper with my sharpened butter knife.
Pic #3 3909 The two frames are stacked on the big board. They turned out really well - almost exact copies of each other. So I am really glad about that. Plus, I saw yesterday that there was going to be no wind today, so I went out with the Beaver for 180 finger winds, expecting six second flights, and got in 10 flights, starting off with an nine second flight! after my first dud flight into the wind, which went nowhere - I was going to quit ... The grass was still good even though they cut it. We had a rain downpour yesterday. I'll put up a flight report.
Pic #4 3911 Testing out how the two fuse side frames look on my Gipsy Moth Fuse Jig, that I made a while back. This jig is easy to disassemble - made with round head pins - and remove a couple of plates for assembly, etc. And it will be coming in handy.
I will be going for ten second flights with the 30" Gipsy Moth Biplane in the Cricket Field.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat July 11 2026 Reply #61 post 1 of 2
Completing the Fuse Side Frames
Pic #1 3915 Frame on the big board.
Pic #2 3918 Close-up of the frame with 1/8" dowels.
Pic #3 3924 Mandrake and Bloodroot check the dowel holes in both fuse sides together.
Pic #4 3926 Another view. I really messed up the hole in the new forward peg planks. We will try to get away with it. At least it is not as bad as the very misaligned peg holes, in the Beaver's forward peg plate.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sat July 11 2026 Reply #62 post 2 of 2
Completing the Fuse Side Frames
Pic #1 3928 The two fuse side frames were held together by the three laser cut holes (six total), and long dowels, and Mandrake used a 1/8" diameter round file to line up the new peg plank holes (two total), better, with a final enlargement of both at the same time.
Pic #2 3931 Another view of the hole enlargement action.
Pic #3 3936 Bloodroot eyes the straight line matching edges of the two fuse frame sides, with the three dowels in their laser cut hole places. It is all square so far, ready for the next steps.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sun July 12 2026 Reply #63 post 1 of 2
New 'finger-wind' motors
I played around making a few finger wind, tight rubber motors, for the 30 inch Beaver, and for the coming 30 inch Gypsy Moth bipe. I added more "forward" rear motor peg plates up front, with the motor tight, from the prop shaft hook to this new motor peg, with the Center of Gravity positioned equidistant, C of G to the shaft hook, is the same distance as the C of G to the rear peg.
The Beaver has a 10 inch prop wire hook to rear peg distance, and will get 9 inch motors that get stretched taut when installed. The Gipsy Moth has an 8 inch prop wire hook to rear peg distance, and will get 7 inch motors which will stretch taut when installed. These motors have been, and will be, used for initial trimming, using only finger winds.
I made a couple of mistakes and ended up making a more powerful finger-wind motors from what I intended, so I might as well try them. So forgive me if I made any mistakes on these two posts. In the end I made three, 8-strand motors - two for the 30" Beaver, and one for the 30" Gipsy Moth. The Gipsy Moth 7 inch has the same 0.813" total cross section of rubber that I have been using. But I made two stronger motors for the 9 inch Beaver motor - 0.875" and 0.938" . The 0.938" is in the Beaver now, and I got maybe 6 practice seconds on 200 safe finger winds. For some reason, I had thought that I was not able to finger wind that high safely ...
One 7 inch motor for the Gipsy moth 0.813" X-section
One 9 inch motor for the Beaver 0.875" X-section
Stronger motor yet.
One 9 inch motor for the Beaver 0.938" X-section
This is the strongest motor yet, and it is in the Beaver now. Can't wait to try these out .... I must go check the grass at the Cricket Field - it is 6:40 PM now with winds from the East at 6 mph gusting to 11 mph, 41% humidity and 84 Deg F (88 deg F), and there is great low wind all tomorrow morning ...
Pic #1 3946 The 7" motor needs 17" of rubber to start. The 9" motor needs 21" of rubber to start. I leave 1 1/2" of extra rubber to tie the knots with.
Pic #2 3949 I used 3/16" rubber by mistake, instead of 1/8" rubber. I salvaged a couple of more powerful motors out of it.
Pic #3 3952 This is how I tie the motors up. I still have not made it to a Hardware store yet, for some small plumbers elastic o rings.
Pic #4 3955 More confusion, but you get the picture ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sun July 12 2026 Reply #63 post 2 of 2
New 'finger-wind' motors
Pic #1 3958 The most powerful motor yet - the 0.938" total cross section of rubber yet.
Pic #2 3962 The regular 0.813" motor.
Pic #3 3964 The 0.938" motor is in the beaver now. It takes 200 finger winds safely - maybe 6 seconds ... The old broken strands 0.813" motor sits on top of the Beaver.
Pic #4 3966 Here is the good summary.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Sun July 12 2026 Reply #65
After making all those motors, we did shoot out to see what the grass was like. I'll just stick this short pictureless Beaver Flight Report #29 in here, in the Gipsy Moth thread, after that rubber motor preamble.
30 Inch Beaver Flight Report #29 of Sunday July 12 2026
Well, we left the apt. at 8:00 PM. By the time we got to the Cricket Field, the players had just walked off after playing in the heat all day. And the sun had set low enough to cover my half of the flying field in shade, for both winding and flying. Four flights of 7, 6, 5, and 4 seconds, all on 180 finger winds with the biggest 0.938" motor. And the grass was still very good. ;D
No pics as I brought the camera, but I forgot the disc in the computer. ::) The humidity was bearable at only 41 %, but the heat warning is real. You can tell when you get back in the apartment air conditioning.
We will see what happens tomorrow morning.
All in all, the Beaver flies well with the strongest 0.938" motor also, maybe not as long time wise, but running out the rubber OK.
End of 30 Inch Beaver Flight Report #29 of Sunday July 12 2026.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
GIPSY MOTH DH 60 DUMAS KIT 336 RUBBER POWER PARK FLYER 30 INCH
Thur July 16 2026 Reply #66
Back to the 30" Gipsy Moth
Cabane Struts Additional Supports
The plan calls this "optional", but since I am building for the abrupt stop, this becomes mandatory, so I don't have to worry about it ... I plan on more additional reinforcing also.
Small balsa reinforcing strips of 1/16" x 1/8" x 3/8" are glued to the inside of the Fuse Side Frames (six little strips) , at the junction of each Cabane Strut, where the lower legs of the struts, lay on top of the 1/8" sq longerons.
Pic #1 4019 Here is my setup to glue three balsa tab strips on the inside of the fuse side frames.
Pic #2 4021 The six supports are now glued in place. The top left side fuse frame, has those tab/strips pinned down flat with a long balsa plank. The bottom RH fuse side frame shows the tab/strips glued up, but not pinned down yet.
Pic #3 4026 They are now dry and solid, and have passed the 'wiggle test'.
Pic #4 4033 Here is a pic of the frames on the big board. I was thinking that I should have used larger strip tabs, but at least I got these ones glued in, and they are solid. All systems are a go.
I also have one, eight strand, 7" motor (prop hook to rear peg is 8 inches), made up ahead of time, for the Gipsy Moth, for initial trimming.
Eight strand motor with total x section of rubber of 0.813".
Six strands (3 loops) of 3/32" rubber
Two strands (one loop) of 1/8" rubber.
Lastwoodsman
Richard