BEAVER DH C2 no 2 30 IN RUBBER DUMAS KIT 306 Nov 25 2025 to PRESENT
This is the new thread of pics from Nov 26 2025 to the present
"I am finding out what a daunting task it is to re-post my entire old original Beaver thread, from it's start June 13 2025 to the HPA crash of Nov 26 2025 - especially changing from six pics per post max, down to four pics per post max, and losing the comments that made the thread interesting.
In talking with George about this, he recommended to post some of the current latest progress and pics (Nov 26 2025 onwards to the present), and post some of the lost old thread, at the same time, as I go, and try not get mixed up.
Well, .... I have to split them up - the current re-post (this one I am typing) of the old lost Beaver thread will some take time, and will go from its inception June 13 2025, up to and eventually stopping at Nov 26 2025.
In the meantime, I have a lot of posts and pics and text ready, from Nov 26 to the present day, of the continuing final stages of the build, that I have not posted yet. I will start these posts on a separate 2nd
no 2 Beaver thread, so I don't get anything mixed up."
I will use the following Subject title as number 2:
"BEAVER DH C2 no 2 30 INCH RUBBER DUMAS KIT 306 Nov 25 2025 to Present"
The no 1 is the original re-post topic I am in right now:
"BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306"
That is the plan .... here goes ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
I'm just posting this to see if it works. Nest post starts with the pics.
BEAVER DH C2 no 2 30 INCH RUBBER DUMAS KIT 306 Nov 25 2025 to Present
Today is Thur Jan 1 2026
Post Reply #1 start from Tues Nov 25 2025
More progress
We planned to work on a broken stringer from too much handling, better balsa supports for the LG wire exiting the fuse, glue in six more infill planks, paint up some black marker on balsa with tan color.
Pic #1 0405 Painting tan acrylic over black marker letters, so they won't show through.
Pic #2 0406 View down the fuse center rubber motor tunnel - under the pilots' sitting plank, and under the white printer paper backside, of the photocopied Instrument Panel. Lots of room for the rubber.
Pic #3 0408 It needs a new 1/16" sq stringer where it broke off from too much handling (very light stringers), and new larger balsa supports for the LG wire at the fuse, made from some 1/8" x 1" x long balsa stock.
Pic #4 0412 The new stringer goes on the left by the Landing Gear leg.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
This thread is now posting right to the end of the build, and will include the flight reports after that.
BEAVER DH C2 no 2 30 INCH RUBBER DUMAS KIT 306 Nov 25 2025 to Present
Today is Thur Jan 1 2026
More progress
Pic #1 0414 The stringer strip and two balsa reinforcements for the LG are ready.
Pic #2 0415 Bloodroot fits the LG reinforcement.
PLANKING THE FUSE
Well, that was a lot of careful, fine filing, and fine sanding. It is so much easier when using masking tape.
Even though I have a slight raised ridge edge, left over from the sanding, very close to the same thickness as the masking tape - I folded a piece over on itself and hit it with the calipers divide by two equals 0.0040" thick tape. It is a nice finish and looks good so I will leave it that way, instead of messing it up trying to sand that last little bit off.
Pic #3 0418 Bloodroot uses the Jeweller's file, on the new balsa encasing the LG wire exit on the fuse.
Pic #4 0420 He files it from all sides. The LG fairings butt up here.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 no 2 30 INCH RUBBER DUMAS KIT 306 Nov 25 2025 to Present
Today is Thur Jan 1 2026
More progress on the fuse infill planking
Reply #3
Pic #1 0422 Two planks on the right are glued in, and the third is glued in on the left. The fourth plank on the left is ready.
Pic #2 0424 Four planks are now glued in, ready for final sanding.
Pic #3 0426 I used masking tape on the top and sides of the fuse, in order to sand the edges of the planks down close, without sanding away the rest of the model.
Pic #4 0428 This is as close as I can sand it.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 no 2 30 INCH RUBBER DUMAS KIT 306 Nov 25 2025 to Present
Today is Thur Jan 1 2026
More progress on the fuse infill planking
Reply #4
Pic #1 0431 Two planks on the right and two planks on the left, are blended in with the other fuse side planking.
Pic #2 0442 We are infill planking these two rows right up to the front.
Pic #3 0445 Mandrake gets the blocks fitted.
Pic #4 0448 The tape is rearranged, and the plank on the right is ready to glue.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 no 2 30 INCH RUBBER DUMAS KIT 306 Nov 25 2025 to Present
Today is Thur Jan 1 2026
More progress on the fuse infill planking
Reply #5
Pic #1 0454 All sanded up. Four long pointed planks are left to fit.
Pic #2 0456 These two beveled edge long slim pointed planks are fitted and ready to glue.
Pic #3 0461 They are glued in now, and not sanded yet. Two more to go.
Pic #4 0462 We decided to plank two rows each side, right up to the front. These are the two triangular holes to be filled.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Hi Richard,
great to see both topics up and running.
Regarding the reduced number of attachments from 6 to 4, I have a suggestion that might help.
Post the first 4 images with the text and then another reply with the remaining 2 images, with a simple test like "..."
They appear one after the other, the images are displayed full width anyway. Only the new post title interferes.
Then on to the next full post etc.
I cannot offer a solution about the images size, as we are going with 256kB.
Great build documentation and build, so please continue.
George
BEAVER NOV 26 TO PRESENT
Reply #7
Me to George Jan 1 2026
Hi George - thanks for the boost and the tip - you have done this before haven't you ...
If my new post title interferes with the sizes of the pics, please feel free to reduce the words if needed.
I am getting the swing hang of it now, going from 6 to 4 pics, so I am well on my way. I may just stick a subtitle in there. Yes, it is very tricky ::) to not get mixed up .... with all this posting side by side.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 26 TO PRESENT
Reply #8 Thur Jan 1 2026
More infill planking on the nose.
Pic #1 0464 The two long pointy planks standing in the front, have deep bevels sanded into the edges, and are ready to glue.
Pic #2 0470 And here they are glued in but not sanded yet.
Pic #3 0472 Right side view. All sanded up now.
Pic #4 0474 Left side view. All sanded up now.
But, we might just plank the whole nose bottom now ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 26 2025 TO PRESENT
Reply #9 Thur Jan 1 2026
More progress: Planking the Fuse Front Bottom
Pic #1 0478 Four planks.
Pic #2 0484 One plank is fitted.
Pic #3 0487 Four planks are fitted.
Pic #4 0488 All sanded up after gluing. I really did use all of these tools. Some stringers were too low to sand even with, so we just used some 1/8" round file above these stringers, and just left it as the 'corrugated' look.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 26 2025 TO PRESENT
Reply #10 Thur Jan 1 2026
Pic #1 0491 Here is the look with the Cowl on, in gracious lighting.
Pic #2 0493 View from the side.
Pic #3 0495 The belly is infill planked.
Wing Center Section Top Balsa Sheeting
Pic #4 0498 Trying to figure out the sheeting of the Wing Center Section (CS).
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #11
Wing Center Section
Pic #1 0502 We will fill in those five little holes later. Those five little D7 flareing parts at the leading edge do not fit.
Pic #2 0504 Rear view check for squareness.
Pic #3 0507 Straight on view from the back.
Balsa Sheeting the Wing Center Section Top
Pic #4 0514 Here is the 60 mm x 90 mm sheet of 1/32" balsa, for sheeting the Wing upper CS.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #12
Balsa Sheeting the Wing Center Section Top
Pic #1 0517 We are tracing out the rib and spar lines, and Leading Edge and Trailing Edge balsa contact points, on the CS sheet bottom. These lines will get glue on the wing CS also.
Pic #2 0520 I just brushed on some water onto the front of the underside of the CS sheet. It curled up on the front in the right direction.
The wing goes down onto those two waxed paper strips, then the CS sheet is glued on top of the wing as it site in its cradle. You can see the thinness of the 1/32" sheet, where the light shines through.
Pic #3 0521 And now it is all blocked up after gluing, to dry over night.
Pic #4 0525 View from the front.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #13
Balsa Sheeting the Wing Center Section Top
We finished up the CS sheeting using 1/32" balsa.
Pic #1 0528 The CS has been sheeted. The sheet butted up nicely at the trailing edge stop. We also have a good fit at the angled LE, where the sheet angles solidly into the head rest angled roof. And .... the angled LE main gluing area, sits flush and flat to the angle on the cabin roof head rest. So we have good gluing contact at the LE and TE. We will see how it handles the landings.
Pic #2 0529 Top view of the fit. Those five little square 1/16" holes in the angled roof have been filled in. I am not using the little D7 wing leading edge fairings, that were supposed to go into these little holes.
Pic #3 0532 Front View.
Pic #4 0533 The edges are square and are too hard to sand on the CS balsa sheeting. It is all glued solid, so I will leave it like that. It will just be a utility fun plane to bash around the park anyways ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #14
Balsa Sheeting the Wing Center Section Top
Pic #1 0537 Well, I did sand in a little bit of a bevel on the trailing edge. The wing is not glued down yet.
Covering the Fuse With Silkspan
Slow Progress
Pic #2 0538 I only want to cover that little long triangle, while only overlapping the 3/32" frame.
Pic #3 0542 I cut out the photocopy a little larger than the Silkspan cutout, so that I could tape it up with clear tape.
Pic #4 0546 These two are now taped up and ready to cut out.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #15
Covering the Fuse Tail
Pic #1 0551 Now one Silkspan triangle, and the printer paper triangle that goes with it, are cut out.
Pic #2 0554 Now we have two exact Silkspan triangles to glue on.
Covering the Fuse With Silkspan
Pic #3 0559 Here is the two triangles.
Pic #4 0561 Plus we need a little piece around the tail wheel axle wire exit at the fuse.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #16
Covering the Fuse With Silkspan
Pic #1 0563 Both small pieces are now glued on the left side of the fuse tail.
Covering the Fuse Nose Left Side
Pic #2 0566 Three small strips of Silkspan are added.
Pic #3 0571 We are not filling in the whole side of the fuse. Here are two small exact Silkspan cutouts to glue in.
Pic #4 0574 Here they are glued onto the very tail end of the right side of the fuse. This is a long process.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #17
Covering the Rear Fuse
Pic #1 0577 Three small strips of Silkspan are ready to glue onto the rounded fuse edge.
Pic #2 0579 Those three strips are "placed", suing various tweezers, onto the glued framework. Hopefully the Silkspan will shrink a bit from spray misted water.
Pic #3 0581 Here we are tracing and cutting out the big triangle of Silkspan.
Pic #4 0583 Here is the fit. I have two of them ready.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #18
Covering right side of the fuse
Pic #1 0587 Now glued in ... a bit wavy ... hoping for the shrink to work.
Pic #2 0589 Other side view.
Pic #3 0593 These are photocopies of the kit supplied doors and windows made with stiff paper pattern 0.0085" thick. I will be leaving these off, and going with the open cabin look.
Pic #4 0597 I am adding these two 3/32" sq strips (and two Silkspan pieces) to extend the window sill backwards.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #19
Striped Strip on the Fuse Side
Pic #1 0599 Here is the check of the fuse side striped strip fit and look, on the fuse with the Cowl on.
Side Silkspan Panels
Pic #2 0603 And here are the four (two on each side) small Silkspan panels to finish off the fuse sides.
Pic #3 0607 I think I am going for this 'soft' look with no white color spray painting, and I am keeping the matching 'soft' striped strips design. And leaving all of the balsa bare.
The painting experiment showed that I cannot get a solid white using this porous Silkspan, no matter how many coats I spray.
Elastic Tie Downs for the Wing
I made small round head pin holes 0.024" for a 4" length of 1/32" wire 0.031". I was going to band down the wing while I fitted the wing struts (without gluing the wing on yet).
Pic #4 0613 The four round head pins are in the four holes.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 2 2026
Reply #20
Elastic Tie Downs for the Wing
Pic #1 0617 Rubber tie downs now hold the wing Center Section in place.
Pic #2 0619 Top view. I may use these rubber tie downs in addition to gluing the wing in place.
Pic #3 0622 Side view. Here you can see where I put the tiny holes.
Pic #4 0626 Long view of the work table. I can always put in the two 4 inch long 1/32" wires instead of the round head pins that are getting 'wobbly'.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Hello Fellow Modelers
In order for me to model, I must have calming orchestral modern neoclassical music in the background.
Here are a couple of songs I listen to, to take my mind off of all the chicanery.
This is my latest, "while modelling" video - one of the best song videos - a Flamenco style with a Flute and Guitar and Accordion theme, that can really compliment each other - all AI generated with all the right maestro instrumental solos on each instrument and broken chords and chord progressions and minor keys - these compositions, although artificial, really do sound excellent. And the scenic background, with the AI images of the beautiful women having fun playing these instruments, even though they are not actually playing anything near, to any of the notes, they sure do look and sound good, and convincing enough ... to make one overlook the fake AI.
Elegant Flamenco Guitar, Accordion & Flute Relaxation Fusion - Astonishing Flamenco Harmony 1:14:38
by Aria del Sol Nov 29 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFpqGrcZlFc&list=RDSFpqGrcZlFc&start_radio=1
OR
If you like the sound of the Hurdy Gurdy or the Nyckelharpa, here is a great rendition of "Last of the Mohicans" or "The Gael" or "Promontory" , one of the most moving of all songs ....
The Last Of The Mohicans - Annie Hurdy Gurdy feat. Alexander Willms (Nyckelharpa) 3:04 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iieaUv3kfBQ&list=RDiieaUv3kfBQ&start_radio=1
Back to re-posting for me ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Sat Jan 3 2026
Reply #22
Pic #1 0627 Other view with the wing and rubber tie downs on.
Fuse Silkspan Covering
Pic #2 0630 Bloodroot blocks up and tapes up the fuse. There are two strips of 3/32" sq and two small Slikspan pieces sitting on the sandpaper, ready to finish off the fuse right side.
Pic #3 0633 Mandrake checks the 'overlap' fit of the two small panels.
Pic #4 0635 Right side of fuse is finished with the covering. We are going for the 'open' look.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER NOV 2025 TO PRESENT
Fri Jan 9 2026
Reply #23
Beaver Logo #1
Sorry for the delay in posting. I got extremely "burned out" pretty quick, trying to re-post that huge detailed Beaver thread, and really, not even making a significant bit of progress. I takes way too long to do, and my 69 yr old brain cannot do it. It is way more than I bargained for. I will do what I can, if I can. Way too much stress, when I would rather be building and/or flying. In the meantime, I needed to do some building instead of just re-posting an old long thread.
I have had to jump ahead of where I left off in posting, as the model is now almost ready for assembly, and I have to decide on a Beaver Logo and Maple Leaf Roundels or not, right now.
So .... I soon worked on the Beaver Logos from where I had left off, for a whole day of artwork therapy and brain recovery, painting and experimenting and making new Logo designs and painting up the revisions. But that is the fun therapy of art work. As the famous TV Artist Bob Ross would say, "There are no mistakes - only happy accidents".
I was endeavoring to make a realistic looking Beaver Logo, with scenery, and ended up with two finalists.
I had the choices narrowed down to two - a sitting Beaver with a stick pencil outline, and the other an artist's painting pic from a coin, showing a swimming Beaver with a branch. Both pics had been "re-sized" to fit the fin/rudder, and templates made to locate the Logo in the correct spot.
Pic #1 0852 Here is where I left off.
Pic #2 0857 Finalizing the Logo fit.
Pic #3 0860 The first painted rendition.
Pic #4 0861 This one has the white border outline.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri Jan 9 2026
Reply #24
Beaver Logo #2
I had to try painting up one of the Beaver Logo outlines, and see if I could make it look real and presentable, and most importantly, match the color scheme. So I photocopied a bunch of pencil outlines, and got out the big bag of marker pens for the job, that I had already picked out (but forgot about)!
I made a few practice logos, and I just played around with colors all day. These are my latest renditions - I even tried putting a white border around one of the logos. The templates were indispensable for checking the fit, and the centering, and the look, of the two different logos.
So here are a some pics of the progress. Not done yet, but at least I can glue the wing and glue on the Stab and Fin/Rudder, and still add these Logos on afterwards.
I also photocopied the peel n stick decals provided in the kit, and cut out a few "soft red" color maple leafs, and a couple of wing roundels. I am not sure they match the color scheme.
I am leaning toward the colored Beaver outline Logo.
Pic #1 0864 Swimming Beaver.
Pic #2 0867 Sitting Beaver with no white border outline.
Pic #3 0873 Swimming Beaver.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri Jan 9 2026
Reply #25
Beaver Logo #3
The pictures tell the story. I am still not done yet, as I have a list of corrections to make on the next illustration revision. First I thickened up the outlines with a black 0.5 mm Studio Gel pen. The brown strokes of the marker used for the fur, really depend on direction of the actual fur.
I have the sky, the mountains, the forests, and the Beaver and his stick figured out. Just a couple more experiments coloring up the water and the grass should finish it off.
Here is my to do list for the next iterations:
Throat/arm black ink missed
Back foot is missing
Add brown to the ears
Blend brown from the forearms to the hands
Too much fur is extending from forearms to the hands by the log
Need more water under the tail - two colors blue
Darken the whiskers - no pencil
The lighter sky blue is the Staedtler blue marker
Fur direction at the bottom of the big foot
Tail center tailbone hump and checker board pattern
Pic #1 0876 Decal photocopies added for partial roundels on the wings (the blue outline was thinned), and smaller dull red maple leafs on the tail.
Pic #2 0881 Another view of above.
Pic #3 0883 The progress so far. Maybe it is too cluttered now. The two sitting Beaver Logos will be repainted again with those final improvements.
It is 58 deg F (14 deg C) here and very windy - no snow left - it was a green Xmas. I better get the Beaver assembled and those Landing Gear Fairings fitted .... we might have a "warm up" .....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Looks lovely Richard.
Thanks George! I am set up to re-paint the sitting Beavers Logos for final use. Oh yes, and fitting the Landing Gear Fairings, and fitting the struts, to do yet.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Jan 11 2026
Reply #26
This is the continuing build onwards from the Nov 26 2025 Crash.
Back to more progress, after/from, Reply #22
Pic #1 0637 I drilled extra holes for the rubber motor peg that I won/t need, so I sanded up a couple of plugs out of soft balsa.
Pic #2 0639 The left hole is plugged.
Pic #3 0641 The fuse is now covered except for the bottom. Straight on look.
Pic #4 0649 Straight on with the cowl and prop.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Jan 11 2026
Reply #27
More Fuse Covering
Pic #1 0652 This is bottom is what is left to cover with Silkspan.
Pic #2 0654 Five panels are glued on and two are ready to go.
Pic #3 0656 The big triangle of Silkspan is ready to glue.
Pic #4 0658 And three more panels ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Jan 11 2026
Reply #28
Pic #1 0660 The fuse is now covered in lite "Silkspan" - not shrunk yet. There are high hopes for the shrinking.
Pic #2 0661 Lighting up the inside of the fuse experiment.
Pic #3 0664 View from the rear.
Pic #4 0667 The Silkspan was just spray misted with water.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Jan 11 2026
Reply #30
Replacement of Small Silkspan panel on the
Wing
Pic #1 0673 The old torn and wrinkled panel was cut out. A new Silkspan panel is cut out with an 'extension' of silkspan, for pinning down.
Pic #2 0676 This is why I cut out the silkspan extension. The panel is lined up and pinned down. It turns out I left a little too much silkspan at the sides' overlap on the ribs. I could have made it more exact, but now I know better, besides, there will be a lot more repairs once I start flying it.
Pic #3 0680 Here the panel on the wing is now glued up.
Since we got the fuse covered, all that is left to cover is the underside of the wing. Before doing that, it is time to fit the wing struts to the fuse and wing. Then before I glue the struts, I have to glue on the fuse side those blue striped strips, using the two fuse side templates. I also have to finalize the striped strip placements on the wing and stab and fin/rudder. So I need lots of mock up/fit pics.
Here is the progress so far.
Pic #4 0684 The fuse is now finished covering with Lite Silkspan. Right side view. Those are two serious looking airmen.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Jan 11 2026
Reply #31
Pic #1 0687 Parts so far - forgot the tail bush wheel.
Pic #2 0693 The motor is loaded, and held up front by a hard cross piece of balsa. Note the white string attached to the rubber motor.
Pic #3 0695 The striped strip fits nicely underneath the 1/8" hardwood dowel. There is the tail bush wheel, and the two struts for the wing to fuse.
I made a nice elevated stand for the plane.
Pic #4 0698 The wing struts have already been fitted to the fuse, but not to the wing pockets yet.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Jan 11 2026
Reply #32
More progress.
Pic #1 0702 Front view. They are about an inch too long at the wing pocket, which is a good thing ....
Pic #2 0705 The prop and cowl are on, and here is the fit of the beefed-up landing gear fairings, and wing and stab and fin/rudder.
Pic #3 0708 Here is the striping design. There are 16 strips.
Pic #4 0712 This is the rear view of the striping design.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Jan 11 2026
Reply #33
More progress.
Pic #1 0714 And my better pic from the front. (straight stripes but I forgot the spinner)
Pic #2 0718 This view has the silver morning spinner.
I actually pulled out the coffee pin jars and tried a rough check on the Center of Gravity . It was amazingly close with the weight of that plastic nose spinner. More to come .... It all fell apart just like a house of cards, because of the "weakened" tape I used to hold it all together - I could not get a pic in time. That is OK. It is a comfort to know that it may not need much clay ballast weight if at all ....
Fuse Side Blue Striped Strips
Pic #3 0726 I have two templates already made, and plenty of striped strips already made.
Pic #4 0729 Here the template has been cut up and positioned on the left side fuse.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
I also have one of those same kits built and finished as a Canadian Forces Search and Rescue bird. I love those Dumas kits. Your bird looks like it will be a real flier.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Jan 12 2026
Reply #35
Hi Gravitywell (Glen? I think). Thanks for the complement. Nice to hear from you in the new HPA. Feel free to post in a pic of your Beaver here if you like.
Fuse Side Striped Strips
Pic #1 0732 The left side stripe is glued on with Studio Glue Stick. I smear on the glue from the top of the glue tube, liberally enough, to then quickly smear it out all evenly with my finger tip. Lay it down quick, and trust the glue, even if you think it might not be enough - it will be. On the other hand, you can lift this side strip of glued up printer paper striped strips, quite easily, and re-glue it again and then re-apply it again to the fuse (if it is out of position).
Pic #2 0739 The template is off. I made sure I had just a touch of "overlap", of the striped strip, wrap around the front edge of the nose. Little things.
The right side Fuse strip is almost ready. I just have to cut up this template like the other template.
Pic #3 0741 The right template is cut up to fit around the fuse.
Pic #4 0744 The right template is now held in its correct spot, a couple of more test placements, and then glue the side strip in the exact same way.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Jan 12 2026
Reply #36
Striped Strips on Fuse Sides
Pic #1 0746 All glued in now.
Pic #2 0748 That stiff printer paper striped strip does not glue around the bends of the tail tip. I tried to paint it up with acrylic paint to match the colored stripe strips.
Covering the Wing Bottom
I am covering the wing bottoms, before fitting the wing struts.
Pic #3 0750 We are using Silkspan panels to cover four bays at a time, not the whole wing panel at a time.
Pic #4 0752 Left wing bottom is covered now, and sheets of Silkspan are readied for the right wing.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Jan 12 2026
Reply #37
Here are some better pics of the paint job on the tail end, to match the colored striped strips. Little things ....
Pic #1 0906
Pic #2 0917
Pic #3 0918
Pic #4 0919
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Jan 12 2026
Reply #38
Pic #1 0756 The wing is now covered, and the whole model is now covered with Silkspan.
Start of striped strips on the Fin/Rudder
The object was to just cover the tissue, and not to cover the balsa outline.
Pic #2 0759 Striped strips for the Fin/Rudder
Pic #3 0766 Mandrake lays in a striped strip to mark it in order to cut it to size.
Pic #4 0768 The Fin/Rudder gets firmed up. Now the cut marks will be made with pencil.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Jan 12 2026
Reply #39
More progress ....
Pic #1 0775 This is an early mock up with the striped strips. The fin/rudder has its stripes glued on now. Notice how the strips do not extend into the balsa of the Leading Edge and Trailing Edges of the wing and stab. I like that look, and .... it saves me a lot of grief trying to wrap those strips around to the other side, and lining them up.
Stab Strips
Pic #2 0778 All glued up in this position on the stab.
Wing Strips
Pic #3 0780 From the wingtip going in, Bays 3 and 5 get the striping eventually glued in this position.
Pic #4 0784 This pic has the placement in bays 2 and 5 for comparison. I chose the 3 and 5 placement - which would actually leave enough room at the wingtip for a red Canadian Maple Leaf decal.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Jan 12 2026
Reply #40
Moving right along ....
Pic #1 0788 Another view of the bay 2 and bay 5 strip positioning (that I did not use - I used 3 and 5).
Pic #2 0790 The wing top strips are glued in place at 3 and 5. This studio glue stick draws in that printer paper used for the strips, just right.
Pic #3 0792 Stab strips are glued.
Pic #4 0795 Fin/Rudder fit to the stab for white gluing - first we need a lot of round head pin holes where the gluing surfaces meet.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Jan 12 2026
Reply #41
More ....
Pic #1 0799 Here are the assemblies so far. White light.
Pic #2 0801 And the view from the other side. White light.
Pic #3 0803 Straight on view with warm yellow light.
Pic #4 0806 And yellow light again.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #42
Tue Jan 13 2026 Update
Well I have completed posting, what I have continued building, since the crash of Nov 26 2025 at which time, I had most of the Beaver done, and I am now caught up on this thread (Beaver Nov 26 2025 to Present).
I have started re-posting the long, detailed, original Beaver build which was lost in the crash, but I am sort of hoping that the "Archive", complete "with pictures", becomes available, from which to copy and paste, into the current, new, HPA site run by George Kandylakis. I fully agree, George, with your selections of categories on your website hpa.aeromodeling.gr .
So here is a pic of where I left off.
Pic #1 0810 A little bit of see through lighting.
I photocopied the decal sheet again, so I can cut out better Logo roundels and maple leafs.
Plus I got everything ready for the final painting of two symmetrical Beaver Logos.
1 Glue the wing
2 Fit and glue the wing struts
3 Glue the Landing Gear Fairings
4 Glue the stab/fin rudder assy
5 Look at the rubber wing tie-downs again.
6 Make a new winding stooge, or just add larger/higher, vertical wall "ears", to hold the fuse rear peg tube.
7 Bench test some motor runs
Assemble and balance the Beaver. Test glide on the bed.
Take pics of ....
1 Fuse side views with loaded prop shaft and various shims I made, and measure the downthrust angle. There is already down thrust that I built in. I just have not measured the built in downthrust, and neither have I measured the downthrust angle made by the different shims.
2 Hook everything up and take pics without the decals, and take pics with the decals (not glued). I plan on flying it first before adding the decals.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #43
Wed Jan 14 2026
New Beaver Logos and Roundels and Maple Leafs
I tried making a better set, by using a circle template and a glass tube pepper shaker and its cap and lid, by tracing the outlines of the circles with a thin shiny gray pencil line. I needed these lines to get an accurate circle cutout using small curved cuticle scissors. Tiny little final thin snips, with these scissors, would visually bring the circle's final shape into form, close enough to the actual radius line.
Pic #1 0925 Mandrake traces just the white outline.
Pic #2 0931 The circle template holes were too small. The salt shaker bottle, and the cap and the lid, had the right size.
Pic #3 0934 The maple leafs are cut out nicer for the stab and fin/rudder.
Pic #4 0936 And the four roundels for the wing are now cut out. They are all done now ready to glue much later.
Next the final two painted Beaver Logos will finish the scheme.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #44
Thur Jan 15 2026
Final rendition of the Beaver Logos
Well, .... I had to work on the land in the foreground, and work on the water colors.
Here is my setup for artwork. This was a long time coming. I used extra outline copies and different color combinations for these small Beaver Logos. I got the middle Beaver, of the three Beavers in a column on the right, completed and finished and done, and all I have to do now, is cut it out. I still have to color the left side of fuse, Beaver Logo, on the left column middle.
The first thing I did was use 0.5 mm Studio gel marker and thickened and darkened the outlines (grayscale of 6 ), into solid black (grayscale of 1). White is grayscale 10.
Pic #1 0940 I will color the two outlines that have their latest colored rendition right beside the outline.
Pic #2 0943 My work table set up. The two outline sheets are scotch taped in place, ready to paint.
Pic #3 0946 Close up. Getting the colors ready.
Pic #4 0949 This is a quick check of the Logo look with just the outline and the maple leaf.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #45
Thur Jan 15 2026
Final rendition of the Beaver Logos
Pic #1 0952 The two good outlines now have their lines thickened up now.
Pic #2 0955 And here is the finished result of the right facing Beaver Logo, incorporating all of the little corrections which were made.
Pic #3 0962 Closeup of the finished Beaver Logo, in white light.
Pic #4 0965 And a closeup of the finished Beaver Logo in yellow light.
The left facing Beaver is next. It should go smoothly, now that the coloring is all figured out.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
artwork :)
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #47
Thur Jan 15 2026
I got the two Beaver Logos colored up.
Pic #1 0970 This is the left side Beaver Logo in the middle, partially colored in. Yellow lighting.
Pic #2 0974 Same as above, but using white light.
Pic #3 0976 And the left side Beaver Logo is now done. But I did add little corrections, after staring at it .... with the other logos beside it ....
Pic #4 0979 Closeup of the final left side Beaver Logo.
It worked out OK. I made photocopies, which came out not as bright as the original - I may just use the "dull" photocopies, as they are a much better match for the dull color scheme, of the Beaver overall.
I just have to cut them out using the templates for the fin/rudder.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #48
Fri Jan 16 2026
Cutting Out the Beaver Logos and Finalizing Their Positions
There was a lot involved with the Logo shapes and positioning. I cut out two photocopies of the enlarged oversized Logos, pulled out the Fin/Rudder Templates and two small maple leaf Logos, and test fit it all together, while trying to get even spacing.
Useful markers include the horizontal white sand beach in the distance, which was marked onto the templates. Also, the vertical direction of the maple leafs were key also, with the outer white circle and the tip of the maple leaf being marked on the templates. And we have the front/rear location just to the rear of the hill in the distance.
They look really good, and I am tempted to glue them on right now, but I am forcing myself to wait 'til later ....
Pic #1 0986 yellow light Here you can see the dull photocopies compared to the originals.
Pic #2 0988 white light And these two cutouts of the dull photocopy will be selected and fitted to shape.
Pic #3 0990 Here we have the Beaver Logo nicely cut out and angled to fit into it's spot.
Pic #4 0993 And here is the final template notes for the locations. These two Beaver Logos are now ready to glue on later ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #49
Sat Jan 17 2026
Winding Stooge and Bench Motor Runs
I thought I needed a new winding stooge for the Beaver, since I raised the rear dowel higher and closer to the front of the plane.
The stooge 'ears' were too low. Luckily, the base floor of the stooge was a double plate of 1/2" ply hardwood flooring. I was able to unscrew and remove that top plate, which made the stooge fit the fuse.
Pic #1 1001 The new Beaver fuse is in the old Winding Stooge. The hole in the winding stooge is in the upper right - you can see the 1/16" hole with white light shining through, that takes the 3/64" length of music wire going through the ears and the 1/8" rear peg aluminum tube.
Pic #2 1003 To make the Stooge "fit" the fuse, the top wooden plate, with the black foam, was removed from the stooge, and a felt insole was nailed on top of the remaining floor bottom plate of the stooge.
Pic #3 1005 The peg is now raised about one quarter inch or so, and the fuse fits now.
Pic #4 1017 Here, the new aluminum 1/8" diam tube is installed. It all fits nicely together.
Stooge ear wall internal separation = 85 mm
1/8" alum tube length = 80mm
Outside fuse diameter at rear peg = 60 mm
Next up, some rubber motor test runs ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #50
Sat Jan 17 2026
Winding Stooge
Here are some old Winding Stooge pics from the good ol' days on the Cricket Field, with my good flying pal "Trapper", who came along on every flight session.
Pic #1 4901 Winding up the 22" Sig Cabinaire. I got 62 sec with this plane.
Pic #2 4911 The 'old' winding stooge.
Pic #3 4912 Different view.
Pic #4 4913 Bottom side. Heavy duty.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #51
Sat Jan 17 2026
Winding Stooge
And four more pics.
Pic #1 4915 This one has the wire in it, between the ears for the rear peg tube of the fuse.
Pic #2 4917 You can see the wire in this one too.
Pic #3 Flying List just a basic list.
Pic #4 Sept 11 2017 The Cricket Field in full thick grass.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #52
Sun Jan 18 2026
Rubber Motor Testing - Stretch winding 'til they break
Pic #1 1020 Previously, four rubber motors were tied up and kite string added. Two seven inch strands of a 3/16" ribber motor are in the Beaver.
Pic #2 1023 Whrrrrrrrrrr ... . seven seconds.
Pic #3 1028 New rear peg aluminum tube, seven inches back. You can see the built in down thrust here too.
Pic #4 1032 Time to make up some rubber motors - and stretch wind these test motors to snake-coil failure using 10:1 and/or 15:1 winders from Volare Products - also the rubber.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #53
Mon Jan 19 2026
Rubber Motors
Now that the Beaver fuse fits in the Winding Stooge properly, I turned my attention to the test runs of the rubber motors.
I stretched the motors to break them in, but I am not lubing the motors because that is too much oil splatter slop inside of the fuselage. Besides, we're not going for records, just some short flights and small park bashing around, hoping to get a full circle when eventually trimmed out.
Pic #1 1035 Rubber stretcher, home made.
Pic #2 1037 There are directions on the stretcher.
Pic #3 1039 Rubber Turns chart.
Pic #4 1041 Two Winders from Volare Products.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #54
Mon Jan 19 2026
Finger Winding the Motor Run
Two strands (one 'loop' in English) 3/16" Wide 7" long
- just two of rows of knots by finger - it really needs stretch winding ...
80 finger winds = 3 sec spinning prop
100 finger winds = 5 sec spinning prop
Brake Turns
Stretch Winding the Rubber motor to Breaking Failure using a 10:1 crank handle Winder
Two strands (one 'loop' in Britland English) 3/16" Wide 7" long
Results
1 560 winds 56 hand crank circles
2 600 winds 60 hand crank circles
3 630 winds 63 hand crank circles
The "Book Value", from my Don Ross Book, for the number of "brake" turns, is 84 turns per inch TPI of the motor - the motor is 7 inches long , so 84 x 7 = 588 total winds, that will break the rubber, in theory. The book value is plus or minus 10%, by the way, so there is that ....
For calculating the number of 'safe turns', I will go with my "lowest" break turns of 560, and just wind in a safe 80% (not 90%), of those 560 turns = 448 turns or 450 turns, same thing.
Pic #1 1042 Two strands 3/16" wide rubber motor, seven inches long.
Pic #2 1046 Two strand and four strand motors.
Pic #3 1048 Motors getting stretched.
Pic #4 1052 Torque turn chart.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #55
Mon Jan 19 2026
Rubber Motors
So, I can now safely wind up the Beaver, in the Stooge, up to 45 cranks (450 winds) on the 10:1 Winder handle, without fear of the rubber motor exploding inside the fuselage.
I also tried to stretch wind a motor made of four strands 3/16" Wide 7" long. I was only able to crank in 200 Winder winds all my might - I stopped before breaking the handle - it was impossible to turn the handle any more !! This is way too powerful of a motor. So, I just took it apart.
I should try, as my next step, testing to failure, a four strand 1/8" seven inch long, rubber motor Book value 58 x 7 = 406 turns to breaking
Pic #1 1055 Three motors to use for trimming plus some calculations.
Pic #2 1057 Bob Ross' "Rubber Turns and Torque" chart.
Pic #3 1015 Crumbled up bread crumbs for my speedy sparrows.
Pic #4 1051 We had a 5" snow dump five days ago, and we are in the 'deep freeze' now.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #56
Thur Jan 22 2026
Hub Caps for the Wheels
I made up a bunch of hubcaps for the 3/64" 0.047" Landing Gear Wire. They were really hard to punch out those 0.0085" thick clear plastic plates with that punch.
I had to use the yellow pliers to close the jaws of that paper punch, because it was too hard by hand. Two types of scissors were needed to cut off the extra flash deformities on the plate edges. It is impossible to find these little clear plates when they go flying off ...
They are press fit onto the wire, and are really snug at first. I fear they may fly off on landings, and I may be forced to use some Cyano Acrylate Super glue on them.
Pic #1 1061 Time to clean the building board.
Pic #2 1071 The order of assembly.
Pic #3 1074 Four good new hubcaps are done and pinned down.
Pic #4 1078 Nine are done now - plus a few bad ones.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #57
Thur Jan 22 2026
Hub Caps for the Wheels
We got about six junk hubcaps and 25 good ones. I had to use the needlenose pliers to dig out some of those bad plates, from inside the punch. Now I can fully assemble the model.
There is a covex and a concave side to each hubcap. The inside side of the hubcap, on the axle, is the convex side.
Pic #1 1084 Mandrake eyeballs the round head pin point, presses down on the hubcap, and shoves the pin through.
Pic #2 1090 Bloodroot chases the round head pin hole, larger, with a 1/32" 0.031" drill bit.
Pic #3 1087 Bloodroot presses down on the hubcap so it won't spin, while Mandrake spins in the #59 drill bit for final enlargement.
Pic #4 1093 25 hubcaps are done, 6 are scrap. I still have a small piece of clear plastic to cut more hubcaps out of.
Next up : Start assembling the model, and make a table stooge for the fuse, and do some real timed motor runs.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Tremendous amount of really good info. Thanks so much. I think a lot of it will translate to my next Beaver (I have already built one Dumas Beaver but its static).
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #58
Fri Jan 23 2026
Hi Glen Gravitywell and thanks for the nice reply. :) Good luck with your next "flying" Beaver. Please feel free to post a pic of your current, 'static' Beaver, right here if you want. I currently have pics of a Beaver from two current HPA members, Joe H, and Pete Fardell - see Pic #1.
I get some good ideas and tips from pics of previous models - especially Pete's built-up half-motor (?) for his Radial Beaver ....
Pic #1 1128 Joe H Beaver blue and white
Pete Fardell Beaver orange red and white
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #60
Fri Jan 23 2026
Testing the Shims
There are four small quarter moon tapered shims. #1 is thinnest to #4 thickest. Each shim is thicker at the top and thinner at the bottom, on the same shim.
There are also three large full size shims to test also.
I should be able to measure the down thrust angle results from the pics.
Pic #1 1107 The fours small shims, and three full size shims, are ready for bench testing ....
Pic #2 1098 There is some downthrust already built-in , with no shims present.
Pic #3 1101 Small shim #1 is installed, increasing the down thrust angle of the prop shaft.
Pic #4 1102 A second small #2 shim is added to the first. You can see the top thickness of the shim is increasing, as the shim # gets higher.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #61
Sat Jan 24 2026
Testing the Shims
Pic #1 1104 And here are three shims stuffed in there - this is the max space allowed, as this is all starting to pull the tenon nose block out of the fuse nose mortise - good thing that I had extended that nose block in the first place, to get this much stacking of the shims.
Pic #2 1110 I plan on covering the bottom corners with tan esaki where the wood is thin.
Pic #3 1113 My setup.
Pic #4 1116 I used Studio Glue Stick, but I don't think it worked too well. I might try white glue on the other side.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #62
Sat Jan 24 2026
Testing the Shims
Pic #1 1117 The plan is to glue these tan tissue strips over the weak bottom corners of the full size shim.
Pic #2 1122 This is the result. I just have to snip off the excess tissue.
Pic #3 1123 I decided to add more strips of esaki tissue to the other side also. This time we are using white glue, which worked better than the Studio Glue Stick.
Pic #4 1128 Pic of two beavers pinned onto my building board plan.
On the left is Joe H's (anyone know where Joe H is ?) blue Beaver flown without wheels, and on the right is Pete Fardell's award winning Beaver in red yellow and white.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #63
Sat Jan 24 2026
Testing the Shims
Pic #1 1130 We are gluing on reinforcing tissue strips on the other side also now, with a different set up. The "master" file folder cardboard ( 0.011" thick), full size shim, is sitting partly in, and around, the tenon of the noseblock.
Pic #2 1132 Here you can see the tan colored strips that were glued on, and trimmed up, and slightly sanded at the tight spots. Now all three full size shims fit smoothly onto the nose block.
Pic #3 1134 Here full size #1 is carefully slipped all the way onto the noseblock tenon.
Pic #4 1135 And here is the test fit of #1 full size shim.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #64
Sat Jan 24 2026
Testing the Full Size Shims
Pic #1 1141 Full size #1 plus #2 shims together.
Pic #2 1145 Full size #1 and #2 and #3 shims together.
Pic #3 1147 Aerial side view of the downthrust from three maxed out shims.
And that is it for the shims.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #65
Sun Jan 25 2026
Wing Mount
Well, here is a setback at a very difficult spot to fix up, now that the fuse is all done. In all of the handling and changing of motors, I heard a crack, and I found it. Part B5. The slanted roof headboard -slash- Leading Edge Wing Stop/Rest, now had a shear break at the left side corner. This is actually a big deal, and deserves a similar response ....
Pic #1 1150 Here is the crack on B5, just to the right of the near pilot's head.
Pic #2 1151 Another view of the crack. I moved it out of its resting perfect fit for the pic. I white glued it back in the exact place, perfectly I think (the surface must be flush for the doubler).
Pic #3 1155 I made some photocopies of part B5. I cut out a 'rough' file folder doubler, from the cardboard, and it is sitting in its spot just above the pilots' heads. The bottom of the very outside legs, will be extended down a bit further.
Pic #4 1158 Here is a side view of that eleven thou thick cardboard doubler. The final one will have that missing extension on the bottom right.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #66
Sun Jan 25 2026
Wing Mount
More progress.
Good thing that I found this out now, as I was always worried about that B5 part, and how it would hold up in a hard landing. I worked all day on this critical wing mount. I photocopied a bunch of B5 photocopies from the original laser cut balsa sheets photocopies. Through several iterations, I finally got some exact fitting templates.
Part B5 needed further strengthening, after re-gluing the shear break. The plan was to white-glue onto the front of B5, a "doubler" of 0.011" thick file folder cardboard, the same size as the B5 part. It is a tight fit, almost touching the back of the pilots heads. In order to glue the cardboard doubler, in its place and flat, I went to the trouble to make two extra 1/16" thick balsa clamping plates, to sandwich the B5 and the carboard doubler together, while it dried. Small clamps should hold it together. I may put another doubler on the other side of B5 (the LE side), after we see how the wing will accommodate the second doubler, that will cause the narrowing of 0.011" from LE to TE chord.
Pic #1 1161 Cutting out more doublers and taping them onto the file folder cardboard. The revision is penciled in for the extended legs. I cut it out wrong, so I then highlighted the part outline yellow, and cut it out on the correct lines ....
Pic #2 1163 Test fit of these small clamps, on the doubler and B5 only. Now we have to work on the balsa outside clamping plates (same shape as the doubler).
Pic #3 1167 This is the first rushed failed attempt at a 1/16" balsa doubler clamping plate. It broke in the same spot.
Pic #4 1169 Sitting on the big balsa block on the left, are two finished 1/16" balsa clamping plates, cut out and sanded to size, and fitted on both sides (different) of the B5 part.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #67
Sun Jan 25 2026
Wing Mount
More progress. Ready to glue.
Pic #1 1171 Here is the final cardboard doubler. It has the 1/16" sq center notch on top. This notch is for a 1/16" sq balsa brace for the windshield, extending down to the cowl from this notch.
Pic #2 1177 Completed parts. Two 1/16" balsa doubler clamping plates, and one 11 thou cardboard doubler (has the side legs extended down) for the front of B5 .
Pic #3 1178 Big snowstorm blowing across eastern North America. Bitter cold and blowing snow out here in the southern Great lakes region. We are getting another 5 inches of snow on top of the last 5" dump that never melted. My modelling buddies show up for food like clockwork - there is about 40 or 50 of them.
Pic #4 1179 One slice of bread per day for these House Sparrows. Who knows what they eat during the snow like this .... 14 deg F feels like minus 9 deg F, winds 15 mph gusting to 22 mph or
minus 10 deg C feels like minus 23 deg C , winds 24 km/hr gusting to 36 km/hr
Good day for modelling .... :)
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #68
Wed Jan 28 2026
Wing Mount
I am at a a real critical stage with the wing mount to the fuselage in my 30" Beaver. The fuse sides' top rail 'saddle', is not flush with the wing bottom - there is a long sliver of light shining through the same on both sides - it needs a long thin strip of balsa 1/32" x 3/32", tapered from the middle to a fine point on both end tips. These will be glued directly on top of the two 3/32" sq side rails of the fuse saddle, before adding the wing, to fill the gap. I also have to reinforce the slanted roof/headrest/wing leading edge stop B5, that sits right above the pilots' heads. I broke this B5 piece in a complete shear at the weak right corner bend (which I was able to glue back into its finger inter-locking place - I hope).
So and so forth, I have been working on a "doubler" to glue on to the front face of B5, to strengthen it up for the hard landings. Well , I think I changed my mind about the cardboard doubler. With the Beaver fully secured and not moving, we tried a lot of test fitting of parts to reinforce the wing mount front LE stop, and to get the wing to sit flat, on the fuse top side rails.
I think I will actually use the front 1/16" thick hard balsa clamping plate, that is already the same shape as B5, and use that plate as the "doubler" , since it fits so well, barely, above the pilot's heads.
Pic #1 1182 After securely blocking up the Landing Gear wire axles, Mandrake and Bloodroot give the fuse the wiggle test.
Pic #2 1186 Here we are making 0.011" thick cardboard doublers, in the shape of part B5. Also two balsa 1/16" clamping plates are also made.
Pic #3 1189 Here are some final good pieces to check. Two cardboard doublers for the rear of B5, and one cardboard doubler for the front of B5.
Pic #4 1192 Here we are just using the front and back 1/16" balsa clamping plates, alone, to see the fit.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Those nose shim ideas are really cool. Will have to try that on the next radial build.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #70
Wed Jan 28 2026
Thanks Glen.
Wing Mount
More progress.
Pic #1 1197 The wing now sits too high, when adding the rear 1/16" clamping plate. This would be a good way of increasing the angle of attack.
Pic #2 1209 Two thin strips for the tops of the fuse side wing saddle, are sitting on the sheeted center section. One side is flat, and it gets glued down onto the 3/32" sq of the fuse side wall top rail. A taper from the middle to the edge points, has been sanded in. Hopefully, this will glue more contact surface with the wing bottom, instead of just the Leading Edge and Trailing edge being glued.
Pic #3 1212 Here we are testing the gluing setup for those two balsa strips on the left. I'm trying to insure that it is glued all the way.
Pic #4 1218 I just stuck some weight onto some balsa cross pieces. All glued up now and weighted down with just the right amount of coin weights.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #71
Sun Feb 1 2026
Wing Mount
More progress.
Well, those thin balsa strips glued up well. I did a lot of test fitting to see if the wing sits flat on all four sides' gluing surfaces. I did do a touch of sanding, and now it seems to contact all four sides.
I have decided on gluing the front 1/16" balsa clamping plate to the front of B5, and I will also glue on a 0.011" file folder cardboard 'doubler' to the back of B5.
They now seem to fit just right. See Pic #4 1126
Pic #1 1221 This pic shows the thin (barely visible) eleven thou cardboard doubler, between B5 and the Center Section Leading Edge.
Pic #2 1220 snip Here is the close up of the tight fit.
Pic #3 1224 And here is the rear view.
Pic #4 1226 Overview of fit with wing.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #72
Sun Feb 1 2026
Wing Mount
More progress.
Pic #1 1227 The side wing saddle strips on top, give a tighter fit to the wing bottom.
Pic #2 1229 You can still see a little bit of light, but it is a lot less than it was.
Pic #3 1232 A little bit of coins' weight, actually holds down the test fit flush all around.
Pic #4 1235 The front 1/16" B5 doubler is sanded and fitted into place.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Looks like you got the downthrust built in. Nice!
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #74
Sun Feb 1 2026
Wing Mount
More progress.
Thanks Ekram! Those three full size shims are not glued in place - they are just stacked together to show the maximum downthrust available. I also have four little quarter moon replaceable partial shims of different sizes to experiment with, before finalizing with a full size shim, but none of them need to be glued in place, as I have the rubber motor under constant tension at rest, holding the nose plug in tight, at all times.
I will start trimming tosses with no shims, as I already have a slight built-in down thrust into the nose cowl, and I think I have a slight increase of angle of incidence in the wing mount. The original horizontal thrust line Datum of this model is straight down the fuse from the prop shaft, with no built-in downthrust at all.
Pic #1 1236 Test fit with the rear 1/16" Clamping plate. Checking the clothes pins' positioning.
Holes For The Wing Tie Downs
Pic #2 1239 I chased out four holes for the 1/16" aluminum tubes that hold the tie-down elastics.
Pic #3 1241 The two alum tubes are in place on the fuse.
Pic #4 1242 I think I found the limits, of my ancient digital camera closeups.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #75
Mon Feb 2 2026
Elastic Tie Downs
More progress.
Pic #1 1244 Right side rear view of the elastic tie downs.
Pic #2 1246 Front right view of the elastics.
Wing Mount
Pic #3 1252 The thin 0.011" cardboard doubler get glued in place with a clamping plate holding it tight to
B5 where the glue is. And the 1/16" doubler for the front of B5 is also glued in place.
Pic #4 1253 Here is the result. Nice and flat and really increasing the strength of B5.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #76
Mon Feb 2 2026
Wing Mount
More progress.
Pic #1 1257 The left pilot got knocked off in all of this, because the Studio Glue Stick did not work. I sanded up the white pilot's base and the flat of the balsa pedestal, and used five minute epoxy to glue it back on.
Pic #2 1258 The pilot is glued in, and the angled Windshield Center Frame Post is now glued in place.
Pic #3 1263 And here is the final fit of the wing left side view.
Pic #4 1267 Right side view of the final wing fit.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #77
Mon Feb 2 2026
I think I have almost all of the major hurdles done. I took everything apart and cleaned the building board.
Today I worked on the prop hook and nose cone spinner. The bend of the prop wire had to be snipped shorter a couple of times, to stop it from interfering with the inside wall of that plastic spinner.
There was a suspect vibration in the prop spinning trials. I have the rubber hook of the prop wire, squeezed into an oval, whose bend epicenter, was not in line with the straight wire prop shaft. I also widened the prop wire hook opening a bit, while I bent that oval center in line with the prop shaft. It slides in and out of the Cowl hole for the thrust button bearing, for ease of prop and motor assembly and dis-assembly.
Pic #1 1268 Partial Assembly.
Pic #2 1273 Rear rubber tie down.
Pic #3 1274 This pic shows the modern day, nose down vintage "jet thrust vectoring" , of the three full size shims.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #78
Mon Feb 2 2026
So now I want to make a table top bench stooge to test these motors and the spinner. I have been trying to sand the tight spinner blade slots, so that I can squeeze the prop hub base blades, fully into the spinner, and stay stuck there, but to no avail - as the hub will still want to slip out a little further, where it won't stay stuck at all while spinning.
Now that I have the fuse disassembled:
Check some flimsy thin clear plastic for a windscreen?
Build a table stooge and test some motor runs, with and without shims.
Take some assembly pics without the decals.
Glue on all of the decals and logos.
Glue the wing down - it's ready to glue.
Fit and glue the wing struts.
Glue the landing gear fairings - recheck that final fit.
Glue on the tail assembly.
Assemble the bush wheels.
Load a rubber motor and check the Center Of Gravity. Balance, without the spinner, and with the spinner.
Test glides with 15 - 20 turns on the prop.
Pic #1 1279 Man in the Moon, Full Moonrise at 64 degrees over the building board 5:37 PM Sun Feb 1 2026.
Pic #2 1286 Work on the prop shaft and spinner. I had a spare prop to work with also ....
Pic #3 1289 The hook bend is now opened and in line with the prop shaft.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #79
Thur Feb 5 2026
Table Top Bench Winding Stooge
I definitely want to try some stretch winded rubber motors on my new table stooge.
Pic #1 1291 Here I am trying to figure out the best positioning of the walls (ears), and the wood 2 x 4 , with the yellow styrofoam pad as the center fuse support.
Pic #2 1295 Here the holes are drilled in the stooge ear walls for the 3/64" wire.
Pic #3 1297 View down the fuse.
Pic #4 1299 Here is the final shape using two pads - the yellow pad, and a black soft foam pad cut from a hand/wrist cushion for a computer mouse.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #80
Thur Feb 5 2026
Table Top Bench Winding Stooge
Pic #1 1302 Here the nose cowl and the wing is added. The cowl must hang past the table edge for the spinning prop.
Pic #2 1306 The pads are sitting at just the right supporting height. The raised "hump" of that mouse pad, supports the curved uprising rear fuse bottom, just right.
Pic #3 1309 Here is the good final setup. The 2 x 4 wood support for the fuse is nailed in place.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #81
Thur Feb 5 2026
Table Top Bench Winding Stooge
Pic #1 1311 Top view.
Pic #2 1312 Rear view.
Pic #3 1318 Spinning prop blowing two tissue strips backwards, weakly, with the propwash wind.
80 finger winds = two rows of knots on the 7" two strand 3/16" rubber motor = about seven seconds prop run.
Next is stretch winding some motors ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Did you enlarge the stab?
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #83
Fri Feb 6 2026
Testing Rubber Motors Runs by Stretch Winding with the Table Stooge
Trial #1
I tried some stretch winds first using a two strand, 3/16" 0.0188", seven inches long motor. Rubber cross section is 0.375" ( two times 0.0188 ). It was a lot of good practice switching out motors, handling the rubber and stretch winding, while in the stooge, better than in the field ....
Stretch winds and run times
150 = 9 sec cross section 0.375"
200 = 12 sec
250 = 15 sec
300 = 20 sec
320 = 23 sec
These two strands of 3/16" rubber, 0.375" cross section, really felt way too weak, and hardly blew the tissue streamers.
------------------------
Trial #2
So in order to get more 'oooomph' , I tried a motor with the two strands of 3/16" like before, but with a two strand 1/8" rubber, cross section 0.250" motor also added. Total cross section now is 0.625"
140 = 7 sec cross section 0.065"
200 = 9 sec
This four strand motor, proved to be too much power. Really hard to wind in that thick motor ....
------------------------
Trial #3
So, I then went with two strands of 3/16" , but now with two strands of 3/32" rubber added. Total cross-section is now 0.563".
200 = 8 sec cross section 0.563"
And that is all I got done so far. But, the Trial #3 motor of four strands - 2 of 3/16" and two of 3/32" - sure seems to be the motor of choice.
So, I should make up a few of those in 8 1/2" lengths and with 10" lengths, but then, the prop block will pop out on landing (rubber motor is not under tension any more), .... or will it?
These results are approximate, as I lose rubber turns when I take the rubber off of the wire hook, and try to "thread" the prop wire hook into the rubber motor end. I am not using a Crocket hook (diam is 0.42"), plus ... - it then will not fit through the cowl hole of 0.3" ( thrust bearing diameter).
Pic #1 1320 Three rubber motors to start.
Pic #2 1325 I cannot use these medium size Crocket Hooks. They are too large for the Cowl hole.
Pic #3 1329 The thrust button is 0.30" diameter and the Thrust Button is 0.42" wide.
Pic #4 1335 I started tying up some fresh motors from the fridge. Here are four finished motors, each with four strands (two loops in English), of rubber. Different lengths, but all are two strands 3/16" and two strands 3/32".
two 7" ers
one 8 1/2 " er
one 10" er
The knots are in good position, and the anchor end of the motor is tied together with a short piece of kite string. The long kite string at the front gets completely cut off.
End of Reply #83
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #84
Sat Feb 7 2026
Testing Rubber Motors Runs by Stretch Winding with the Table Stooge
I tied up a 12" motor of 2 strands 3/16" and two strands 3/32".
Today we experimented with long motors. I got three good runs with the 10" motor with 13 or 14 second runs on 300 stretch winds. More testing to come ....
Pic #1 1336 The fuzzy string stretch goes from the hand to the string knot around the front rubber loops of the motor, then the rubber motor going back to the 1/8" aluminum tube rear peg motor holder.
Pic #2 1340 I tied up a 10" motor, but the string stretch slipped, and the motor went into the back of the fuse. I had to use my deep hook motor retriever.
Pic #3 1344 The 10" motor is installed. There is a fine "rattling" sound when the prop spins. It is from the 3/16" wire for the rear alum peg tube, rattling away finely within that alum tube, with that alum tube wiggling around it, and hence the drift sideways of the fuse.
Pic #4 1343 10:1 Winder and the 10" motor.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #85
Sat Feb 7 2026
Testing Rubber Motors Runs by Stretch Winding with the Table Stooge
Pic #1 1345 Closeup of the 10:1 Winder.
Pic #2 1346 Now the prop is spinning with enough authority to blow the tissue strips straight back. The pull is now good for flying, I think.
Pic #3 1347 Spinning again - prop is a shadow - tissue strip is blowing straight back.
Pic #4 1349 I had to tie a small piece of string around the front rubber loops, because the 3/32" loop of rubber came off of the prop hook at some point twice in a row.
More to come ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #86
Sun Feb 8 2026
I made some more motors and did some more testing.
I got 13 and 14 seconds on 300 stretch winds on a 10" motor.
The best cross section of rubber so far is 0.563' cross section using two strands of 3/16" and two strands of 3/32".
Then I tried four strands of 1/8" 0.500' cross section and 250 stretch winds. The rubber seemed to run off well, and I got 12, 14, and 13 seconds.
I need more testing with the four strand 1/8" motor.
Pic #1 1351 The screws in the 10:1 Winder were coming loose! So I tightened them. I will try to see if the spinner stays on during flight also.
Pic #2 1357 Motors and results so far.
Pic #3 1361 Nose cone stays on. Good breeze from the four strand 1/8" motor, blowing the tissue strips straight back.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Richard -
I commend you for your methodical building, testing, and posting methods.
If you have any desire to achieve flights longer that 20-30 seconds with your Dumas 30-inch wing span Beaver, then I suggest you consider the following.
Depending on the weight of the finished model, the cross-section of the rubber motor will probably need to be at least 0.75-inches (6 x 1/8-inches), and more likely 1.0-inches (8 x 1/8-inches).
Assuming your Beaver weighs 60 grams, I would start with a 20-gram rubber motor. Because of the relatively short hook-to-peg distance of your Beaver, the motor must be braided to avoid motor bunching and CG shifting. Use a wobbly motor peg.
This larger rubber motor will not fit through the tiny thrust bearing hole in your engine cowling. So the nose of the fuselage of your Beaver would have to be modified to a accommodate the insertion of a nose block, preferably with a 9 1/2-inch Gizmo-Geezer prop assembly. This prop assembly will facilitate easy and precise thrust line adjustments. Use of a Gizmo-Geezer prop assembly may also eliminate the need to braid the rubber motor since it has a built-in spring tensioning mechanism. Maxfliart recently posted a YouTube video showing how he built a balsa frame for receving a nose block inside the plastic cowling of his Guillows Hellcat.
Finally, the small KP winder you have been using is primarily for winding rubber motors on small indoor models. It is too small to comfortably wind a rubber motor with a cross-section of more than around 0.250-inches. You will feel significant torque resistance and the gears of this small KP winder will probably strip sooner, rather than later. Consider purchasing the very exellent 10:1 winder from Volare Products that is pictured below. I have used this winder and find it to be an excellent winder for intermediate size rubber powered free flight models, both scale and sport models.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #88
Sun Feb 8 2026
Rubber Motors
I made another motor and did some more testing.
I made a second four-strand 1/8" motor 7" long, which gave me 13 sec and 12 sec on 250 winds. This confirms the first four-strand 1/8" motor which had 12 14 and 13 seconds. This 0.500" x section motor, seemed to be too weak for flight near the end of the rubber run.
I changed out the 1/8" motor for one of the three 7 inch motors with two strands 3/16" and two strands 3/32" rubber, of 0.563" x section , and 250 winds gave me 13 sec and 12 sec. This motor was better because it gave good power throughout the motor run, and a little bit more power than the 1/8" motor. Plus, I think the prop wash 'blow' on the tissue streamers was stronger, also. Need to check another one ...
Tomorrow test a second 7 inch motor with two strands 3/16" and two strands 3/32" rubber of 0.563" x section motor, to confirm the first one, and then test the 8 1/2" long motors - both a new 1/8 four strand, and the already made, two strands 3/16" and two strands 3/32" , 8 1/2" motors.
Pic #1 1373 Sunrise out the window over the bench. It has been an unusual deep freeze for a month.
Pic #2 1377 Loaded up holding the prop, ready to let go.
Pic #3 1380 Tissue strips blowing back.
Pic #4 1381 More prop-wash.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #89
Mon Feb 9 2026
Motors
Today, I tried the last of the 7" motors 2 strand
3/16 2 strand 3/32 on 250 winds = 11, 10 sec
Then I tested the 8 1/2" motor 2 strand
3/16 2 strand 3/32, on 250 winds, and on 300 winds. 13 sec, 11 sec and 14 sec, 15 sec respectively.
Then I made a four strand 1/8" motor 8 1/2" long, tested on 250 winds for 14 sec 11 sec. Then I upped the winds to 300 and got 15 sec and 15 sec.
Pic #1 1382 The 8 1/2" motor at rest, goes right up to the cowl opening.
Pic #2 1386 While winding, I position the cowl just ahead of the front of the nose, where it can spin and "freewheel".
Pic #3 1387 Row of knots.
Pic #4 1389 The wound up cowl is eased back in.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #90
Sun Feb 8 2026
Rubber Motors
All in all, the four strand 1/8" 0.500" x section, motor, was weaker than the stronger two strand 3/16 two strand 3/32 0.563" x section motor . I could really tell by the blowing tissue strips which was stronger.
So, I did not bother to make a four strand 1/8" motor, in ten and twelve inch lengths to test at all, since I have two already made in 0.563" cross section - a 10" and a 12" are ready, just in case all goes really well with the small motors ....
Pic #1 1390 Barely translucent spinning prop is really blowing the tissue strips.
The Motor Board
Pic #2 1399 Status and Results of all the motors, and things to do first thing in the morning.
Pic #3 1403 Rubber Board with fuse and cowl and prop.
Pic #4 1404 And new black foam side pads for the Table Stooge, attached with double sided tape.
And that is all for the rubber motors, and the new table stooge turned out nice and solid. I just have to print a pic of the Rubber motor results, for the file folder, and we are ready to go.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #91
Tue Feb 10 2026
Pic #1 1409 Pic of bare table stooge.
Fuselage Damage
I accidentally sat on my fuse. Good thing not fully hard, but I heard the dreaded "crack". Although I was somewhat relieved at the small damage, I am still sort of in shock, from what could have been a hobby breaking accident. That can 'sober up' a person real quick. That Lite Silkspan from Brodak is pretty strong ....
Pic #2 1412 There is the damage.
Pic #3 1413 Tissue is removed.
Pic #4 1417 Here I am sanding in beveled edges where I can for gluing. I still have to 'butt' glue a couple of stringer ends.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #92
Tue Feb 10 2026
Fuse Repair
For the start of test gliding, I will balance the Beaver without the spinner. I made a clay ballast ball of 5.29 grams, to use instead.
Pic #1 1420 Here is some 1/16" sq balsa strip for the repairs.
Pic #2 1422 Two stringer strips are sanded and fitted and glued in place.
Pic #3 1426 The plastic spinner weighs 5.30 grams, so I made up a blob of gray clay 5.29 grams.
Pic #4 1429 The clay will stick in the bottom front of the cowl.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #93
Wed Feb 11 2026
Fuse Repair
Pic #1 1431 I cut out the three shapes from printer paper, and cut out the tissue shape from the paper cutouts.
Pic #2 1433 And the repair is done. That was a close one ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #94
Wed Feb 11 2026
Fuse Repair
Since the fuse was all blocked up, I replaced one more small tissue panel on top of the nose in front of the right pilot - too much pressure from finger tips.
Pic #1 1436 A small panel needs replacing.
Pic #2 1438 Glued in.
Pic #3 1440 Next up is gluing on the logos and decals.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #95
Wed Feb 11 2026
Gluing on the Logos and the Decals
This went really well. I used Studio Glue Stick.
Pic #1 1446 Left side Fin/Rudder. Lining up the horizontal white sand beach in the background, with the template lines.
Pic #2 1449 The Beaver and the red Maple leaf are glued on.
Pic #3 1450 Right side Fin/Rudder. Gotta get that red maple leaf just right ....
Pic #4 1453 Stab top gets two maple leafs.
There are four more roundels for the wing, then glue the Fin/Rudder to the Stab.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #96
Thur Feb 12 2026
Gluing on the Logos and the Decals and Roundels
They went on OK with Studio glue stick.
Pic #1 1456 Stab bottom maple leafs.
Pic #2 1459 Wing top roundels.
Pic #3 1462 Wing bottom roundel Maple leafs
Pic #4 Red Maple 2
And that is all for the decals and roundels and logos.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #97
Fri Feb 13 2026
I'm very close to finishing the Beaver. The decals use modified logos, so I should say something about the Maple Leaf Logo. The maple leaf is on our Flag of Canada, and a lot of different artistic variations of the maple leaf are used for different venues.
Here are a few pics of the Maple Leaf. Also, here is the flag link on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Canada
Pic #1 Canadian Flag 1
Pic #2 RED MAPLE ONE
Pic #3 NORWAY MAPLE SUGAR MAPLE AND ARTIST VERSIONS
Pic #4 PRETTY MAPLES TO ADD TO YOUR YARD
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #98
Fri Feb 13 2026
And here are the last 4 pics of Maple leafs.
Pic #1 RED MAPLE SUGAR MAPLE FRUIT KEYS
Pic #2 RED MAPLE 3
Pic #3 FREEMANS MAPLES CROSS CULTIVARS
Pic #4 CANADIAN FLAG 2
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #99
Fri Feb 13 2026
Final Assembly
First, we will try to glue the Fin/Rudder to the Stab, at the right angle, so that it can all be glued to the fuse, with no gaps.
Pic #1 1469 Cleared the building board, and added fresh waxed paper, for the final assembly.
Pic #2 1465 All the parts.
Stabilizer
Pic #3 1470 Checking the stab fit.
Pic #4 1474 The stab is glued in place. Left side view.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #100
Fri Feb 13 2026
Final Assembly
Pic #1 1477 Right side view of stab.
Wing
The wing glued up fine.
Pic #2 1481 Right Wing side view.
Pic #3 1482 Left wing side view.
Pic #4 1487 Good tight fit into the right wing saddle.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #101
Sat Feb 14 2026
Final Assembly
I also glued on the Fin/Rudder.
Pic #1 1490 One last test fit to confirm it is ready to glue.
Pic #2 1492 Now it is glued on. The front tip of the fin/rudder is held down, by the weight of a whet stone.
Pic #3 1495 The fin/rudder is dry, and it turned out straight.
Pic #4 1496 Top view of the fin/rudder dried straight. It is all good so far. The fin/rudder was starting to 'drift' over to one side, as I watched it all dry. So I got a long thin strip of green masking tape, stuck one end on the fin rudder top tip, and attached the other end to the table, just enough to gently hold the top of the fin/rudder straight, against the drift, while it dried.
Next is the fitting and gluing of the wing struts.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #102
Sun Feb 15 2026
Final Assembly
Pic #1 1498 Right side view of wing and tail plane are glued on.
I took the unfinished Beaver outside for some first time sunlit pics.
Pic #2 1502 Outside pic.
Pic #3 1503 Outside pic.
Pic #4 1504 Outside pic.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #103
Sun Feb 15 2026
Final Assembly
Pic #1 1505 Outside pic.
Wing Struts
Pic #2 1506 Underside of the Beaver, ready for the wing struts and the beefed up Landing Gear Fairings.
Pic #3 1509 Bloodroot and Mandrake work on the sturdy blocking setup.
Pic #4 1511 M and B work on final sanding and fitting of the wing struts. The struts were already sanded and fitted into the fuse from before, so it made the rest of the work easier.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #104
Sun Feb 15 2026
Final Assembly
Beefed Up Landing Gear Fairings
I had a "Heck" of a time, trying to press in those closing 1/16" sq balsa strips, that are boxing in the landing gear wire, into that long square slot in the Landing gear fairings. Those long sq. balsa strips hold in the landing gear wire. So, I put in a whole lot of white glue into that trough, and poked out the air bubbles with a pin.
On the top middle of the Landing gear fairings, I sanded in a small rectangular trough, the same width as the strut, where the fuse strut attach point sits. Hopefully this will direct all of the energy from a hard landing, directly into this rectangular trough 'cut', in the upper middle of the LG fairing, and then direct the energy right into the strut.
Pic #1 1513 Final check of the previously sanded and fitted LG fairings. The Landing Gear wire gets "boxed in" by a slot, and sealed off with a length of 1/16" sq balsa.
Pic #2 1517 The landing gear wire is only glued into the "trough" in the Landing gear fairings.
Pic #3 1518 There is a small notch in the landing gear fairing, where the strut attaches. Hopefully this keeps it all in place on landings.
Pic #4 1520 There was a small crack where the right wing strut attached to the wing strut pocket. I glued in a sliver of balsa to fill it up.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #105
Mon Feb 16 2026
Final Assembly
Beefed Up Landing Gear Fairings
Pic #1 1522 Right side Landing gear fairing is glued up and boxed in.
Pic #2 1526 Here you can see the little rectangular slot in the fairing that the strut fits into. This should 'guide' the impact pressure from landing.
Pic #3 1527 There was a gap that needed a sliver of balsa.
Pic #4 1529 Both fairings are glued up now, to the LG wire only.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #106
Mon Feb 16 2026
Final Assembly
Pic #1 1532 Another good view of the fairing and strut connection.
Pic #2 1536 The Alaskan bush wheels are now added.
Pic #3 1539 The clear hubcaps are squeezed on.
Pic #4 1541 Side view closeup fresh out of the blocks.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #107
Mon Feb 16 2026
Final Assembly
Pic #1 1543 Another right side view.
Pic #2 1546 Left side view.
Ready to fly - prop cowl rubber motor - all in ! 83.3 grams
Pic #3 1547 Nice pic of left side.
Pic #4 1552 Nice pic of right side. :)
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #108
Tue Feb 17 2026
Final Assembly
Pic #1 1553 Dead on front view. Everything looks pretty even.
Pic #2 1556 Side view of left front.
Pic #3 1558 Light shining through opaque wing.
Pic #4 1562 30 inch wingspan Beaver sits on the building board.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #109
Tue Feb 17 2026
Final Assembly and Balancing
Pic #1 1563 Beaver in front of big board of plans.
Pic #2 1567 Beaver lit from underneath.
I had to make a new rubber motor less than seven inches long. The current seven inch motor held the prop in, but not strongly enough, as the nose block would rattle out at the end of the rubber run.
I tried to make a six inch motor, but it ended up less than that. It does give a good short motor burst now, and the cowl stays on.
The snow has mostly evaporated in the last two days. Plus it is going to rain tomorrow Wodensday, and rain Thorsday. The grass in Jackson park dries out first, right under the medium large knoll, where the replica Spitfire and Hurricane sit on pedestals. That knoll is sheltered all around, by many small growing young trees, so it is the best place, for starting the slight downhill, gliding tosses. The trees cut off the wind, and you can do the little glides between the trees.
The humidity right now (heavy fog in the morning) is 100%, so there will be heavy tissue sag, if I try to do hand tosses today. I do have one of those little newfangled portable fans, with which to dry the sloppy wet tissue covering, after landing in heavy dew.
Balancing the Beaver
I knew from before that I needed a hunk of clay weight of 5.3 grams, and the weight of the 5.3 gram Spinner, together, just by lifting the wing with two middle fingers. I measured the Balance Point on the plan, as being the front edge of the main wing spar, 1 3/16" from the leading edge 30.5mm.
I got the plane on the balance pins, while the spinner and the clay weight were both on, and it balanced!!!
I got out the weighing coffee jars, with their round head pins, and their ice cream tub bases.
In the end, I need 10.6 grams of ballast weight up front.
Bare plane no prop = 63.3 g
Total will be 73.9 grams
Total wing area I generously included the center section 30" x 3 3/8" = 30 x 3.375 = 101.25sq inches
Golden Rule for flight is ; max weight 0.5 grams per square inch, in order to fly well. the plane should then weigh 50.6 grams max. My Beaver weighs 73.9 grams.
73.9 grams divided by 101.25 sq inches = 0.73 g/sq in (I hope these are correct)
Pic #3 1597 Finished Beaver in front of the vertical plan board.
Pic #4 1598 Beaver folder title.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #110
Tue Feb 17 2026
Balancing the Beaver
Pic #1 1601 Foggy morning. The snow has almost all evaporated. High temps are in mid 40s deg F.
Pic #2 1604 Beaver is balanced on round head pins, using a 5.3 g hunk of clay, along with a 5.3 g Spinner.
Pic #3 1605 Another view of the balancing act.
Pic #4 1608 The Beaver is off of the balance jars. You can see the round head pin.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #111
Tue Feb 17 2026
Smaller motor is needed for test glides with adequate small number of turns on the motor.
Pic #1 1609 Clay plus Spinner = 10.6 grams.
Tying up a smaller motor, for test glides, with a little power.
Pic #2 1611 I was going for six inches or less.
Pic #3 1616 Rubber is cut to length (four strands total).
Pic #4 1618 The motor tied up a little short, but that was OK. It had a nice smooth power burst, however short, right to a solid stop, with no shaking.
Now, we are ready for some test glides !
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Hi Richard
I know that you're not seeking the ultimate duration with the Beaver, but I do wonder if the amount of rubber that you are looking at putting in her will be near enough for satisfactory flight.
I would be looking at braiding (sometimes also called pre-tensioning) the motor. Here is a video that explains why and how to do it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPP-6e_gTkI&t=30s
Getting another 30-40% of rubber in and keeping it tight between nose and rear peg, seems like the best of both worlds to me.
Please feel free to ignore this, but it might be an idea to look at braiding if the current motor setup disappoints.
Cheers
Jeremy
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Tue Feb 17 2026
Reply #113
Hi Jeremy! Thanks for your nice reply and courteous salutations. I will definitely be trying a braided motor. Thanks so much for the convenient braided motor link. And before I forget, thanks for all your work and time loading up the file plans and archives.
Way back, I did try a braided motor when I was beating my 30 inch Dumas Rearwin Speedster, to death in the Cricket Field, with many flight reports and repairs. I was warned by Pete Fardell that it would come out "hot". It sure did. It spun around instantly, and right over my head, and into the thick, side canopy foliage of a full grown, model eating deciduous tree, one of many that line the perimeter. It did not just fly into a tree, but "bored in" at full power, a long way, through a heck of a lot of small fully leafed branches and leafy twigs, like one of those tunnel boring machines. There was a lot of damage as it grinded itself in there, and finally stopped quite deep into the foliage, and was very difficult to cut out. Yes, I had to climb ....
So yes, I will start slowly with the trimming, but eventually move up to longer motors, and if it flies well, I will try a braided motor. I think I have the correct pulling strength with the 4 strand motor, of 2 strands 3/16" and 2 strands of 3/32" rubber.
So thanks for the Reply Jeremy. Please feel free to post into my threads any time. 8)
And four more pics from the restaurant.
Pic #1 1575 Left side front view.
Pic #2 1579 Tail on balsa block.
Pic #3 1584 View from rear.
Pic #4 1588 Spinner off.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Wed Feb 18 2026
Reply #114
Cowl Anti-glare Cover
It was raining today, and I was going to make a braided motor and bench test it, but I got distracted in a good way, by adding a little more detail to the scale look.
I did not think I would use the black anti-glare cover, as in the kit box cover art, with the yellow scheme, on the top cowl, because it would not go along with my white and blue pin stripe color scheme.
Then, on second thought, I still had not finalized a place for the 5.3 g hunk of gray clay ballast weight, that I needed to balance the model.
So we flattened out that clay and used it as a the anti-glare cover, gray scale of 3 ( 1 is pure black, 10 is pure white).
Pic #1 1621 Balance point at right wingtip.
Pic #2 1623 A big lump of 5.3 g of gray clay is roughly spread out on top of the cowl.
Pic #3 1625 It still needs more flattening.
Pic #4 1628 M and B get out the 5/8" hardwood dowel, and use it as a pie dough pin roller, to flatten out the clay even thinner.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Wed Feb 18 2026
Reply #115
Cowl Anti-glare Cover
Pic #1 1634 Here is the cover all nicely trimmed up, and it sticks on its spot, from pressing it in on the edges.
Pic #2 1639 Left front view of the "squared up", anti-glare cover, of thin gray clay.
Pic #3 1640 Closeup.
Pic #4 1644 This shows the raised hump of 5.3 g of ballast clay.
This 5.3 g of thin gray clay, can be carefully removed and peeled off quite easily, and stuck on again.
So, at least the Beaver should look good, while test gliding ....
The forecast is rain the next three days and colder temps, so no glides just yet .... Time for a braided motor test run on my new table stooge ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sat Feb 21 2026
Reply #116
Prop Runs and Braided Motor
Hi Jeremy. I watched that Braiding video again (I do vaguely remember watching it before - thanks for the refresher).
I have to have the Beaver's motor always under tension, and not flapping around inside the fuse on run-out, and possibly knocking the pilots off of their bench plank seat. When Maxfiart's braided props run out, they are then not under tension.
Pic #1 1652 Small elastics. 1/8" Aluminum tube. I have no larger tubing for a slip peg, to loosely ride over this 1/8" tube.
Pic #2 1655 6" motor test run
Pic #3 1657 3/32" and 3/16" rubber, two strands of each.
Pic #4 1658 tied up
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sat Feb 21 2026
Reply #117
Braided Motor
I cannot use a Crocket Hook at the prop wire hook - it is too large to pull through the thrust button hole in the Cowl. Also the braided motor will not fit through that hole. The prop hook is now buried deeper into the nose bock, after I extended the tenon, making it that much more inaccessible.
As for a "slip peg" tube, to slide over the rear 1/8" aluminum peg, I don't have any of those, and no way to forge the "flange" on the ends. He didn't state the size of the slip peg tube or the wall thickness.
Pic #1 1660 all strings with knots are added.
Braided Motor
Pic #2 1662 Start with a 12" loop, which when folded, will give a 6" braided motor.
Pic #3 1665 Ball of twisted string.
Pic #4 1666 Braided motor at rest. I really struggled to even get that motor off of the 3/64" wire of the stooge, and onto that 1/8" dowel in the pic. You really need those "slip pegs" , of which I have none. And that rubber is so tight that I cannot get it off the dowel or the winder hook. So, I give up on the braided motor for this model. If I get it flying, I may put in a further rear peg and begin testing longer, regular motors ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sat Feb 21 2026
Reply #118
That was sure a lot of good practice with changing motors.
Pic #1 1668 Really a 5" braided motor.
Pic #2 1671 Spinning prop with spinner.
Pic #3 1672 Spinning prop no spinner.
Pic #4 1673 Spinning prop very light clear shadow.
The new 6" four strand motor gave 5 sec, and second 5 sec spin, on 85 finger winds.
Using the same 6" motor, but stretch wound in the stooge, 260 stretch winds, gave me 11 seconds.
So anyways, I found the Braided "wound" rubber, to be so tight, as to make it almost impossible to handle with finger tips, when taking it off of prop wire hooks, and winder hooks. But I got the new stooge back on the table, and did a bunch of more motor test runs, so it is all good.
The weather is still cold rainy and windy, but the snow is finally gone. I will be ready for the first chance of test glides ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
QuoteSo anyways, I found the Braided "wound" rubber, to be so tight, as to make it almost impossible to handle with finger tips, when taking it off of prop wire hooks, and winder hooks.
Not that I have had a lot of experience with braided motors Richard - but this seems a little strange. I use a braided motor in my small Elf of around 4" approx prop to rear hanger length. The braided length of the equivalent 2 strands of 1/8" - resting, is around 5". After winding - it shrinks to slightly more than the prop to rear hanger length, and is not tight.
That motor is braided with approx 120 forward turns - as per Tom Hallman - - MAXFLIART on Utube.
John
Try building a motor like I did in Pic #1 Reply # 118, and then get back to me.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sun Feb 22 2026
Reply #121
Well, there are no test glides now. It snowed overnight and got cold again. It is still winter and the forecast is not good.
I did make it to our local Canadian Aviation Museum yesterday, and I brought in the 30" Beaver to show the boys.
The beaver is now ready to test glide without the spinner. I now have two rolled out, 5.3 and 5.1 gram slabs, of clay ballast weight on top of the nose. I can always remove the top slab and stick it inside the front cowl bottom, once I get it trimmed, and leave the bottom slab on top of the cowl for the sun glare.
Pic #1 WEATHER FORECAST 830 AM SUNDAY FEB 22 2026 TO THUR FEB 26 2026
Pic #2 1677 Jackson Park after the snow.
Pic #3 1675 There is another hunk of clay on the cowl, to replace the weight of the spinner for the test glides.
Last woodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Tue Feb 24 2026 post 1 of 3
Reply #122
New Six Inch Four Strand 1/8" Motor
Well, I have been sulking around with this return to the cold temps and cabin fever ( minus 9 deg C or 16 deg F this AM ). I keep thinking about the rubber motors, since I still have the table stooge blocked up and ready to load up the Beaver for more motor testing. Not braided motors any more, thanks anyways.
Back to trimming thoughts. I need a tight motor for the entire motor run. The prop hook to rear peg is seven inches. The rubber motor has to be substantially smaller, more like six inches, in order to hold that rubber motor tight enough, throughout the entire motor run ie - no loose noseblock rattling around at the end of the prop run. To this effect, I never really did try one of these "tighter" motors using four strands of 1/8" rubber (total width cross section of four strands = 0.500" total ). My notes say that the 1/8" motor was not a very strong of a pull. Let's try a new one anyways to be sure.
Six Inch Four Strand 1/8" Motor
Pic #1 1709 Two lengths of rubber are now cut for the new motor, leaving about one inch extra for tying off the knot. I always use a 'reef knot', plus one extra third knot.
Pic #2 1716 Having the same " length" after tying up the knot is critical.
Pic #3 1719 The extra rubber is cut off, and three strings are ready.
Well, it was necessary to take exacting care when trying to make a four strand rubber motor to an exact six inch length. We need the longest motor possible, using the perfect amount of cross section of rubber, and pull tension, in order to go ahead with the trimming/test glides.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Tue Feb 24 2026 post 2 of 3
Reply #123
New Six Inch Four Strand 1/8" Motor
Pic #1 1722 The rear knot at zero, goes around the rear peg, and the prop wire hook goes by the six inch knot. I try to space these knots out, so they don't bunch up.
Pic #2 1725 The extra string is cut off, leaving the long string to lower the motor into the fuse.
Pic #3 1728 Here is the tension on the newly completed motor. We still have 3/4" of pull left, so it should still work.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Tue Feb 24 2026 post 3 of 3
Reply #124
New Six Inch Four Strand 1/8" Motor
Pic #1 1729 This is a comparison of the length of the new motor going in, compared to the old motor coming out. It looks like the same stretch, so it should be a tight motor.
Pic #2 1734 And the spinning motor blows the tissue strips back (just under the spool of string). The 1/8" motor fits well and tight, but does not have as much power as the 4 strand two strand 3/16" two strand 3/32" , motor.
Pic #3 1739 The updated big board of motors.
I think I will leave the weaker (but not by much) 1/8" motor in the Beaver for the test glides to start .... maybe Sunday - the weather forecast in the meantime looks bleak, and see if it has enough power in the first place to hold level flight ....
The end of the new 6" motor.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
QuoteTry building a motor like I did in Pic #1 Reply # 118, and then get back to me.
Hi Richard. I don't have any 3/16 rubber but here is a pic. of the Elf motor - 4 strands of 0.055" rubber around 20" long unbraided, and around 6" braided.
It does need a bobbin or sliding tube at the hanger end and a wire ring or equivalent at the prop end.
I use a plastic straw reinforced with masking tape for a bobbin and a small ring made from a section of a paper clip and heat shrink, at the prop end.
It shrinks to the prop - hanger length in the model after the first wind.
The ring and the bobbin are the secret to making it work.
Richard -
What is the weight of your Beaver in its form shown in picture #3 of Rely 121?
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Tue Feb 24 2026
Reply #127
John, that is not the same braided motor, that I am talking about. Why are you posting a pic of a completely different rubber motor?
So, I am not talking about braided motors any more. I don't have rings or bobbins or slip sliding flanged tubes, etc, and none were supplied in the kit, and I am surely not driving all over town, or ordering parts in the mail, to get these parts. It has all been a big waste of time. ::)
It is too difficult to handle the tightness - especially the 3/32" rubber - of the the stretched braided rubber motor, with out all of those things, was MY point. :o I am just going to have fun with regular motors.
I'll reiterate once more .... this is only a short flight small park scale looking flyer, that I can have fun trimming out, and not a long distance duration model. I will be happy if I can trim it out, with 10 second circle flights, and just flying it for fun over and over, in the Cricket Field, 130 yards by 110 yards slight oval. I am just hoping for good in-flight pictures of a pretty, bush wheeled Beaver, with the green scenery of full grown model eating park trees encircling the pitch. ;D
The All Up Weight AUW, including prop and motor (not including the 5.3g spinner), and including the two thin slabs of grey clay ballast weight on the cowl, each weighing 5.3 g and 5.1 g respectively. AUW is about 93.8 grams including the 10.4 g of ballast clay.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Richard -
Thanks for posting the weight of your Beaver and for explaining your limited flight duration objective due to the relative smallness of your outdoor flying site. It will be great if you are able to obtain the in-flight pictures of your model that you are hoping for.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Thur Feb 26 2026
Reply #129
I only estimated the AUW at 93.8g just by standing the model up on the scale trying to hold it straight, so I took off the table stooge and weighed the plane properly, and did a final balance check.
Total AUW is 92.79 grams.
Pic #1 1743 I got out the scale to weigh it properly, ie pull the cowl off ....
Pic #2 1740 Fuse 68.55g
Pic #3 1741 Cowl plus prop assy 24.24g
Total 92.78g
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Thur Feb 26 2026
Reply #130
Pic #1 1745 Prop assy (no cowl) 6.17g
Pic #2 1746 Rubber Motor 4 strand 1/8" 2.34g
Pic #3 1748 Final balance check. Good to go!
Pic #4 WEATHER FORECAST SIX DAYS STARTING THUR FEB 26 2026
It looks like tomorrow, Friday Feb 26, is the only good day for test glides, and then it really cools off again.
I must walk out to the Cricket Field later today, and see how hard the ground is for my winding stooge.
Just learned this on my accordion! 'KATIUSHA' Great magnificent orchestral, and choir accompaniment, music! , to listen to and model by ... plus lyrics in English and 'transliteration' lyrics - another war time song about a girl longing for her true love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNIlyUmSlDs
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Thur Feb 26 2026
Reply #131
Flight Report #1
I went out to the Cricket Field to see how the grass and ground was. And I was just only going to practice staking out the winding stooge. At the last second before leaving I brought everything including the Beaver.
11:16 AM a frigid finger freezing temp in full sunlight and low wind in Jackson Park Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The temp was 27 deg F 48% humidity, and 6 mph wind from the WSW gusting to 9 mph.
These are pics walking through the park and past the Spitfire and Hurricane replica war planes, to the Cricket Field. The grass is barely unfrozen, and has not been warm enough yet to bring on some growth. I had to search for the best spots that had the most grass to inspect. But it is going up to 50 deg F tomorrow ....
There was a couple of places where I tried five glide tosses in total. I did not take any real chances, and I didn't really get it going fast or far enough, to tell anything yet. On the fifth glide - they all seemed to go sort of ok - I lost the right hubcap and the right bushwheel also fell off (can't lose the color of that bushheel), and I have lots of clear hubcap discs to epoxy glue all of them on now.
Pic #1 1749 This is the start of our walk through Jackson park to the Cricket Field. There are no swollen buds on the trees yet.
Pic #2 1750 The backpack is full of everything for flying, except the actual 10:1 Winder.
Pic #3 1751 Blue skies and bare limbs.
Pic #4 1752 The squirrels are about. I had peanuts ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Thur Feb 26 2026
Reply #132
Flight Report #1
Pic #1 1753 Head on pic of the Beaver
Pic #2 1754 Three more squirrels
Pic #3 1755 Wind on the flag at the Spitfire and Hurricane
Pic #4 1756 Another pic at the flag
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Thur Feb 26 2026
Reply #133
Flight Report #1
Pic #1 1757 Another pic of the wind on the flag.
Pic #2 1758 In the distance is the Cricket Field.
Pic #3 1759 The Beaver is on the ground of the Cricket Field.
Pic #4 1760 There are big Spruce tree model eaters in the background.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Thur Feb 26 2026
Reply #134
Flight Report #1
Here are some views of my whole flying field. We will see if it greens up tomorrow with the high temp of 50 deg F ( 10 deg C ), expected.
Pic #1 1761 Looking towards the North towards the Spit and Hurri.
Pic #2 1762 Looking Northwest.
Pic #3 1763 Looking West.
Pic #4 1764 Looking North Northeast.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri Feb 27 2026
Reply #135
Flight Report #1 Thur Feb 26 2026 cont
Pic #1 1765 Best pic.
Pic #2 1766 Second best pic. Good beaver logo.
Pic #3 1767 This is the best grass to try test glides on.
Pic #4 1769 Dropping in there for a perfect 3-point drop-in landing, sort of like a helicopter ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri Feb 27 2026
Reply #136
Flight Report #1 Thur Feb 26 2026 cont
Pic #1 1768 Yellow willow tree in the background. Good pic of the beaver logo.
Pic #2 1770 A big bush wheel came off on the right side. It sticks out with that blue color.
Pic #3 1771 Here the Beaver is limping out of Jackson Park, with a detached right Alaskan Bush Wheel. We will epoxy all of the hubcaps now.
We got home 12:56 PM temp 30 deg F winds 7 mph WSW 240 degrees gusting to 12 mph humidity 41%.
Pic #4 WEATHER FORECAST FRI FEB 27 2026 TEMPERATURES
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri Feb 27 2026 9:00 AM
Reply #137
Flight Report #1 Thur Feb 26 2026 cont
A few repairs
We worked on the Winding Stooge by adding another brownish yellow felt pad on the fuse floor and on the inside of the upright ears. It is slightly snug.
We also used 5 min Epoxy to glue the clear plastic disc hubcaps, to the landing gear wire.
Pic #1 1772 The outdoor winding stooge got an extra brown colored felt pad, for a nice cozy fit. Notice the right wheel is off.
Pic #2 1774 We just glued 5 min Epoxy on the outside of the flat clear plastic small hubcaps. You can see the small glob of glue right at the axle.
Pic #3 1777 All of the three hubcaps are now glued.
Pic #4 WEATHER WIND FORECAST FRI FEB 27 2026 Forecast for today .... I hope it does not get too windy ....
End of Flight Report #1
Ready to fly.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri March 6 2026
Reply #138 post 1 of 5
Flight Report #2 of Fri Feb 27 2026
Sorry for the delay. I needed to suffer in self exile. :-\ :(
Fri morning at 10:25 AM the weather was sunny, temp 41 deg F (feels like 43 deg F) humidity 67% winds from the southwest at 11 mph gusting to 18 mph.
I knew I should have gone back home, but I tried a little test glide with about 25 soft winds, any way, among the small deciduous leafless trees. I was shocked as it went left hard instantly, and did what I thought was a "soft" cartwheel, where it was seemingly standing straight up, on its wing tippy toe, for a long sort of moment, balanced by the wind.
Now, I had never even given the beaver a soft toss over the bed, which may have shown that left turn tendency.
Well, it was not much of a flight report, as I crashed it on the fist toss (6 th test glide). So, I have been suffering in self exile til now.
I have been doing a lot of thinking on how to fix it in the meantime, though.
I don't even know if I am launching it level or not, but like I said, it did not even look like a "hard" cartwheel - maybe I should have reinforced the wing root where it broke. I had wiggled the wing and fuse and stab etc., and everything was solid, before test gliding ....
There are not a lot of flying pics in Flight Report #2. It started out as a nice walk in the park ....
Pic #1 1779 Sitting on the stone wall in the Flower Garden of Jackson Park.
Pic #2 1780 Another view at the stone wall.
Pic #3 1781 The Beaver Logo.
Pic #4 1782 By the Spitfire and Hurricane.
cont.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri March 6 2026
Reply #139 post 2 of 5
Flight Report #2 of Fri Feb 27 2026
Pic #1 1783 The Cricket Field is in the lower left of the pic.
Then I tried the first glide toss with about 25 soft winds ....
Pic #2 1784 Broken left wing at the shoulder.
Pic #3 1785 The Spitfire and Hurricane say goodbye to the near fatally injured Beaver. The cowl was knocked right out of place, but still under tension, after the crash.
1786 to 1817 1815 to 1817 apt pics
Pic #4 1786 Back at the apartment after the walk of shame. The left wing shoulder is only held on by the ripped silkspan covering.
cont.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri March 6 2026
Reply #140 post 3 of 5
Flight Report #2 of Fri Feb 27 2026
Pic #1 1790 We started dissection surgery, and this is how it looked.
Pic #2 1793 Another view different light.
Pic #3 1796 After brushing on a lot of lukewarm water ( I should have used freshly boiled water to dissolve the white glue quicker ), I finally got the four mating surfaces of the wing center section/fuse saddle, unglued.
Pic #4 1801 I was trying to think of how to fix it, starting with a full 1/16" balsa sheet for the bottom of the bay.
cont.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri March 6 2026 pics in 73
Reply #141 post 4 of 5
Flight Report #2 of Fri Feb 27 2026
Pic #1 1802 The cutout fits, but there are a lot more unanswered questions.
Pic #2 1804 I was thinking of extending the main center spar of the right and left wing panels into the center section more.
Pic #3 1808 I should replace those two gussets at the center section attachment to the wing panel(s), with something much stronger.
Pic #4 1811 Amazingly, and the fuse and wing saddle were undamaged, and I cleaned all that up. Now I am thinking that I just need to build a new wing.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Fri March 6 2026 pics in 73
Reply #142 post 5 of 5
Flight Report #2 of Fri Feb 27 2026
I let a lot of water drip all over the striped strips, whose colored markers were not water proof. Good thing I made a lot of extra striped strips. I glued these strips over all of the wing and fuse water damaged strips. It works well, so I will do that with the new wing and make some new roundels too.
Pic #1 1814 Strip is glued over the water damaged stripes. At least the wreckage looks better now. Yellow light pic.
I have started thinking about building a completely new wing ....
I don't like sanding, so I decided against scratch building, and just try to buy another kit, and build that wonderful laser cut wing without filling up my apartment with balsa sanding dust. Plus, I will have spare parts for the fuse and tail assy, etc, in case I need them.
I did not want to order a kit all the way from the southwestern USA, with the high exchange rate, plus shipping, so I looked for someone selling a Beaver Kit on the Interdweeb, I mean, Internut.
Pic #2 BEAVER EBAY CANADA 74 DOLLARS
$74
Pic #3 AMAZON BEAVER KIT DUMAS KIT NUMBER 306
$97.91
Pic #4 EBAY BEAVER KIT DUMAS KIT NUMBER 306
$49
My buddy who has Paypal will try and order one for me. He says EBay usually comes the very next day.
So, sorry for the delay, there is still hope to fly the Beaver this Spring ....
The end. Now waiting for the new kit to arrive ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #143
Mon March 9 2026 post 1 of 3
Re-Assembling the Broken Wing
In the meantime while I wait for the new kit, with the new laser cut parts to get here, I will try to re-assemble this wing and CS using a couple of reinforcement experiments, . But there are a lot of missing and broken 1/16" sq upper wing spars .....
One area of improvement is with the Center Section CS Main Spar. I want to extend this spar on both sides, a full bay further into the wing panel, by adding angled dihedral spar "legs" (spar doubler), on both sides coming off of the CS main spar. I drew one up to try ....
Pic #1 1824 Here is the broken wing against the Big Board.
Pic #2 1828 I traced a pencil copy on the back of a photocopy, to get both sides of the front view.
Pic #3 1831 I will use the bottom diagram for drafting the correct angles, and shaping the CS spar and legs.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #144
Mon March 9 2026 post 2 of 3
Re-Assembling the Broken Wing
Pic #1 1834 The right wing panel and CS are intact. I am going to dissolve the whole CS now.
Pic #2 1836 I had to stick the whole CS into a big deep pot of boiling water. The white glue dissolved fast. The water logged parts are drying out.
Pic #3 1840 Sunshine on the Big Board. We set a temp record today way hotter than usual - almost 70 deg F.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #145
Mon March 9 2026 post 3 of 3
Re-Assembling the Broken Wing
Pic #1 1841 The first bay of tissue is removed from the right wing now also.
Pic #2 1844 Top diagram. I should be able to extend the CS 1/16" sq upper spars also, as a doubler along side the, first bay wing panel, upper spars.
Pic #3 1855 The Center Section Main Spar is yellow. The angled dihedral Spar extensions are orange. These extensions act as "doublers" for maximum strength.
Plus, I might add a 1/16" balsa plate at the bottom of both wing root bays, since I cannot extend the Leading Edge CS, the same way as the Main Spar.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #146
Tues March 10 2026
Re-Assembling the Broken Wing for practice, before building the new wing in the new kit - no word yet ...
New Center Section Spars With Extensions
There is a big main spar underneath, and two smaller spars on top. These three spars will get remade out of hard balsa, and these spars will have spar extensions added on going through the first bay of the wing panels.
Pic #1 1857 Here we are making a new main spar 1/4" x 1/8" out of harder balsa than the one already done. I have also cut out two balsa sheets of 1/16" for the bottom of both first bays of the wing, for extra strength.
Pic #2 1861 The top finished new main spar is soft and light, but I want to make a new hard balsa spar for the new CS. The new outline is glue-stuck onto some hard balsa.
Pic #3 1865 I got some 1/16" hard balsa sheet to make two upper 1/16" sq balsa spars with extensions. The bottom outline, glued onto a new sheet of hard balsa, shows two 1/16" sq spars to cut out. The orange in the pic, are the new extensions, from the yellow original spar . The orange extensions will act as doublers, side-glued to the wing spars.
Now the hard part. I will try to cut these new spars out by hand.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #147 post 1 of 2
Wed March 11 2026
Re-Assembling the Broken Wing, for practice, to see what works.
More Progress
Pic #1 1867 Cutting out the new main spar from hard balsa.
Pic #2 1869 Exacto-knifing through 1/8" hard balsa, required a lot of hard pressure to hold it all down in place.
Pic #3 1871 After much arduous and exacting work, using the steel rule and the exacto blade, we now have two 1/16" sq upper wing spars for the CS. We also left a little extra length on the extension, for sanding/fitting later.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #148 post 2 of 2
Wed March 11 2026
Re-Assembling the Broken Wing for practice to see what works.
More progress
Pic #1 1873 These three new spars turned out Ok - that just need a little sanding.
Pic #2 1875 Since I used Studio glue stick, the printer paper outline does not peel off of the spars well. So I brushed on some boiling water, and my sharpened butter knife easily scraped it all off. They are all drying on a paper towel.
Pic #3 1881 The middle rectangle of 1/32" balsa, 60 x 91 mm, is the top cover for the wing CS. The other two rectangles of 1/16" balsa, 84 x 44 mm (cut extra long), are for covering the underside bottom, of bays #1, of the wing panels. These will effectively get rid of those two small gussets at the LE wing root. The first try at the new main spar is at the top labelled "weak light balsa" on the green masking tape.
It is time now, to glue up the old CS with the new spars, and see how the "preserved" right wing panel fits.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #149
Thur March 12 2026
Rebuilding the Wing CS with New Spars
I have been taking my time, because I want to get the CS as exact as I can. And a good setup that takes a long time, is an integral part of the hobby, and deserves its own pic.
The big main center spar has to be correctly centered and seated, on its flat center section. After a lot of pins and shuffling things around, the two inner ribs (of the six ribs), now just slide tight, into their respective spots.
The two ribs just got glued in.
Bloodroot checks the "seating" of the rib - a gentle press, and nothing moves or goes anywhere, so we are goo to go.
I will let this dry completely before doing anything more - 7 hours to dry with "white glue".
Pic #1 1883 Here are two plan sheet photocopies of the wing center section area. The new hard main spar gets positioned and secured first. Everything is built around this.
Pic #2 1886 Same as above, but also includes: One CS top cover sheet of balsa 60 x 91 mm and 1/32" thick, and two 1/16" thick 84 x 44 mm balsa sheets, for the underside of each first root bay, of the wing panels, cut extra long for fitting of course ...
Pic #3 1894 Starting to position the parts and get them pinned up properly. The rib with the broken off tail, is now glued back together at the left. Also at the left, is the old (shirt) CS Main Spar, which is now replaced with the new long Main spar currently in the set up.
The two inner ribs have just been glued in place.
Pic #4 1897 We braced things up more. Here the two inner ribs slid right in between the pins, and got glued in place, after a couple of practice placement tries, and after sanding a very slight bit off of the rib ends.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #150
Freya March 13 2026
Hi John! Thanks for the 'like'. We are ardently working right along ... 8) My buddy did order my new Beaver kit on Wed March 11 2026, through Ebay, so we will see how long it takes - he said a couple of days .... So I hope to eventually have two wings for this plane - the old broken wing fixed up, and a brand new wing from the new kit.
Rebuilding the broken old Wing CS with New Spars
Pic #1 1900 Bloodroot checks the ribs.
Pic #2 1905 The two outer ribs are now glued in. That is four out of six ribs. It is weighted down with a thick balsa plank, topped with clay, and lead pellet-packed, cylinders.
Pic #3 1906 Another view. Out in front are the five small balsa spacers, along side the original Center Section LE, that the spacers, and the ribs, all glue up against.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #151
Freya March 13 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing CS with New Spars
The final two ribs are added, and test fit of the two new 1/16" sq spars.
Pic #1 1910 The final two outer ribs of the CS are pinned up for an easy slide-in for gluing.
Pic #2 1911 It is all glued up now, and a final blocking plate is added to the front of the ribs.
Pic #3 1920 The two smaller 1/16" sq elongated spars are added for a test fit.
Pic #4 1922 You can see the upward bend of the elongated spar arms. This bend follows the dihedral angle.
The right wing panel is intact, except that I removed the Silkspan covering from the first bay at the wing root. I will slide in the right wing and see if the three spar extensions fit as side by side doublers ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #151
Sat March 14 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing CS with New Spars
Pic #1 1923 The foremost upper 1/16" sq new spar, gets test fitted and marked for the spar extension lengths cut offs.
Pic #2 1931 Both 1/16" sq top spars are check fitted, and the double slots that hold two side by side doublers of 1/16" sq, are checked also - one had to be "widened" out a little with a 1/16" sq sanding notcher.
Pic #3 1934 Here the two top spars are cut to length, to fit just inside the far rib of bays #1.
Pic #4 1933 And here is a closeup.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #153
Mon March 16 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing CS with New Spars
Pic #1 1936 This shows the fit of the 1/8" x 1/4" Main Spar "doublers". The main spar extensions have not been cut to the shorter length, as they were long enough to go through the hollowed out first bay outer rib - pretty tight squeeze though - I hope it does not throw off the wing alignment ....
Pic #2 1937 I raised the wing panel LE leading edges by taping on two thin acute angles of thin balsa to the plan, to line up better with the CS center section leading edge. There is also a 1/16" plank of balsa, raising the main spars of the wing panels only (to the top of that double notch), so I can fit that full 1/16" balsa sheet for covering the bottom of each first bay. That's the plan.
I think I am going to leave the Main Spar as it is, that is, extending one and one half bays from the wing root, instead of extending only one full bay.
The top 1/16" sq spars are now glued in. LE of the CS is still not glued.
Pic #3 1945 Three new spars.
Pic #4 1942 Closeup pic.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #154
Mon March 16 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 1948 Setting up for the final assembly.
Pic #2 1951 The old Leading Edge is now glued to the front of the ribs.
Pic #3 1954 The top spars are cut to length, to fit inside the rib. You can see, on the left CS outer rib, that only the main spar of the wing, is raised by a 1/16" plank, to seat up into the higher notch hole, of the double notch, for the main spars.
Pic #4 1956 The wing panels have now been slid into the Center Section. It looks pretty straight.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #155
Tues March 17 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 1964 Long view of the clamped up wing.
Pic #2 1960 Closeup of the glued up spar doublers.
Pic #3 1966 View from the right wing.
Pic #4 1967 View from the left wing.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #156
Tues March 16 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 1968 All glued up and blocked up. The small balsa strips 1/16" sq have been glued to the rear tops of the six Center Section ribs, and the holes in the backplate A4 .
Pic # 2 1971 The result.
Pic #3 1974 Test fit of the wing on the fuse saddle.
Pic #4 1972 Closeup.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
The repair has gone well Richard. Being able to dissolve the glue and disassemble the joints makes a clean repair possible.
You may have this flying before the new kit arrives.
John
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #157
Thur March 19 2026 post 1 of 2
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Overall, things did not glue up as I expected, upon further closer inspection, so a lot more thinking needs to be done. But, my new kit came in the mail ;D , and the pressure is off, as my new kit wing can then be made, if the old rebuilt wing fails.
Pic #1 1977 Close-up of the break at the Leading Edge.
Pic #2 1978 Two 0.010" file folder cardboard pieces of part B5 (forward stop of wing at CS) are glued together, for the wing fit to fuse.
Pic #3 1980 Here are three balsa plates that I intend to glue on: two 1/16" balsa plates for the bottom of the first bays at the wing root, and one 1/32" balsa plate for the top of the wing CS.
Well, this song has been playing on 'loop', non-stop, for a few modelling days now. If you like womens' choir voices in the neoclassical mix, this is it ...
CLANN - Arise (Instrumental)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtPn5NLjdKo
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #158 post 2 of 2
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Thur March 19 2026
Pic #1 1982 The left wing panel first rib didn't glue up right. The 1/16" sq strip, that makes the rib bottom, slipped off its mating surface -- the Center Section Main Spar is to blame.
Pic #2 1981 Here is a close up pic.
Pic #3 1985 The left wing panel was not seated all of the way down.
Pic #4 1988 Here we are adding an extra 10 thou file folder cardboard rectangle, to the 2 ply cardboard B5 doubler.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #160 post 1 of 3
Sat March 21 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
I just made a lot of progress. I made a few more little structural changes, which involved removing one more piece of tissue - the right wing second bay upper tissue. The right wing rear double spar 1/16" sq., got squeezed and mangled because the clamp was too tight, but the wood fibers are still there, and it all feels super solid, though with all of that dried white glue in there.
Pic #1 1993 Here we are chiseling down the Main Spar doubler, that was sticking out on the bottom surface left wing, back down to even with the surface.
Pic #2 1995 Here we have the two new 1/16" balsa plates to be glued into a 1/16" recessed rectangle cutout, in the bottom of each first bay from the root.
Pic #3 1998 Closeup. You can also see the five small balsa blocks glued directly behind the leading edge and the balsa ribs.
Pic #4 2002 To the left of the wing in the middle is the 1/32" balsa sheet, for gluing onto the top of the Center Section. To the right of the wing are two infill balsa blocks 1/8" x 43mm x 7mm. These 2 infill planks will go on the top of the wing, from the leading edge to the first 1/16" sq doubler of the first bay, and from the CS rib, to Rib 3 of the wing panel.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #161 post 2 of 3
Sat March 21 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 2005 Here is what I have ready. Ignore that crooked piece - none of those corners were 90 degrees like I thought.
Pic #2 2006 Closeup. Here you can see the bottom 1/16" strip at the bottom of the first rib on the left wing panel, that forced out of shape by the main spar doubler (spar doubler is now chiseled down). That bottom rib strip will now be glued back in place.
Pic #3 2009 Two infill planks, right behind the LE, are glued in place, sitting "proud" for sanding later.
Pic #4 2012 At the bottom, and on the orange colored spars, sit four small balsa rectangles, in the exact position on the plan copy, where they will be glued on the real frame, 1/16" sq spar doublers.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #162 post 3 of 3
Sat March 21 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 2015 The four small rectangle blocks have been glued in place.
Pic #2 2016 The two base plates for the first bay bottom of each wing, are getting fitted to exact size. These will act as the TE trailing edge, and will receive another balsa reinforcement strip also after wards.
Pic #3 2021 The 1/16" recessed rectangle "holes" have been cleaned up, and the main spars are now almost perfectly finished at 1/16" deep. The two plates are final fit, and ready for gluing.
Pic #4 2024 Mandrake flat files the spars to 1/16" depth, to accept the 1/16" balsa plate.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #163 Sun March 22 2026 post 1 of 3
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Things are moving quickly. I almost have the wing rebuild finished. I am starting to look at the weather ....
Pic #1 2028 Bloodroot prepares an exact cut sheet of silkspan covering for the bottom of bay two on the left wing.
Pic #2 2029 The silkspan cover on bay two is glued on. The two base plates are now also glued in place after a lot of sanding and fitting.
Pic #3 Wind Forecast - I should have this plane ready to fly in a couple of days ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #164 Sun March 22 2026 post 2 of 3
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 2035 View of bottom wing.
Pic #2 2034 Closeup of bottom wing.
Pic #3 2039 View of top wing.
Pic #4 2038 Closeup of top wing.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #165 Sun March 22 2026 post 3 of 3
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 2044 Small infill balsa wood slivers are added to the rib tails at the wing root. I will sand the extra off later.
Pic #2 2045 There was not much with which to glue the covering around those two corners.
Balancing the wing laterally.
The right wing was heavier than the left wing.
Pic #3 2048 Look how far over I had to move the wing to balance it.
Pic #4 2051 Here it is balanced. I would end up having to put a small blob of clay weight, of 0.70 g, on the left wing tip ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #166 Mon March 23 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Pic #1 2055 The wing is balanced now 0.70 g blob of clay on the left wing (right wing is heavier).
Pic #2 2052 Weight on the scale 0.70g
Reinforcements plates for the Trailing Edge
Pic #3 2060 These are 1/16" thick and tapered to match the rib tail, but not stick above the rib tails.
Pic #4 2061 You can see the taper on the plate at the right.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #167 Mon March 23 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Reinforcements plates for the Trailing Edge
Pic #1 2062 Here is the long view down the table - you can barely see the bevel on the plates, but it is there.
Pic #2 2063 Here they are glued in place. They did not want to sit down completely flat - good thing I checked before the glue dried.
Pic #3 2066 The two plates were not even sealing at the front and rear ends.
Pic #4 2067 I basically watched the plates dry as I moved the clothes pins around.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #168 Tue March 24 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Reinforcements plates for the Trailing Edge and more balsa supports.
Pic #1 2068 Moving the clothes pins around.
Pic #2 2069 I finally got the reinforcement plates for the trailing edge, glued up properly.
Pic #3 2070 Here is the fit of the Leading Edge of the wing to the angled stop B5. It looks pretty tight.
Pic #4 2073 Here are four balsa pieces for the wing CS ribs to glue on to. They must sit flat or slightly recessed (these are not infill planks), so as to not interfere with the flat bottom mating surface of the CS.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #169 Tue March 24 2026
Rebuilding the broken old Wing with New Spars
Dihedral Check
The wing does not look too bad right now ....
Pic #1 2076 Left wing is higher (the left wing is the one that broke off).
Pic #2 2079 And the dihedral in different light.
Fitting the Wing to the Fuse
Pic #3 2081 Ready to start fitting the wing to the fuse saddle, before covering the wing CS.
Pic #4 2082 I made up a cardboard backing (sitting on the cowl) for the B5 Leading Edge stop, out of ten thou file folder cardboard. Three laminations or 30 thou thick.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #170 Wed March 25 2026 post 1 of 4
Fitting the Wing to the Fuse
Cardboard backing for the B5 Leading Edge stop
Pic #1 2087 Test fit of the clamps. I don't want to squeeze anything off too tight.
Pic #2 2091 Glued in place. We ended up going with these light clamps.
Dried over night.
Check of the fit now
Pic #3 2094 First check of the rebuilt wing fit.
Pic #4 2097 View from the left side.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #171 Wed March 25 2026 post 2 of 4
Fitting the Wing to the Fuse
Cardboard backing for the B5 Leading Edge stop
Pic #1 2098 Closeup of the fit of the CS LE and TE. No more spaces.
Pic #2 2100 The left wing is a little bit higher than the right wing.
Pic #3 2101 I did make up two alum tubes for holding the wing down with elastics.
Pic #4 2102 Closeup of the elastic tiedowns. The wing sits snugly in place now.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #172 Wed March 25 2026 post 3 of 4
Balancing the 30 inch Beaver
Pic #1 2105 I needed two blobs of gray clay, each weighing about five grams, to balance the model before all of these repairs.
Pic #2 2106 The 1/16" plate firewall that holds the tenon, has come loose from the plastic cowl. I knew this would happen .... I now have an opaque "ring seal" of cloudy dried white glue around the inside edge of the tenon firewall plate. This ring of white glue slides right inside the plastic cowl, for easy placement.
I will try 5 min epoxy, since I don't have any med CA glue. At least I should be able to position the part using five min epoxy - ie, slide it right into place
Pic #3 2110 You can see the faded opaque white glue ring around the balsa plate. We decided to try and glue it back on with the dried white glue as is.
Pic #4 2114 Bloodroot pushes tiny round head pin holes into the perimeter edge, of the round plate firewall, of the tenon. Hopefully the five min epoxy hardens into these holes.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #173 Wed March 25 2026 post 4 of 4
Balancing the 30 inch Beaver
Pic #1 2117 Here the round tenon plate is glued back into the inside of the rear cowl ring. The clay weight at the bottom, gets pressed into the lower cowl where it sticks naturally in place. The five gram clay ballast on top, will get roller pinned back nice and flat, and will sit right there on top of the cowl. Now I can add more ballast to the top of the cowl, as needed.
Pic #2 2119 The plane still balances with all of the original clay ballast weight.
Pic #3 2121 Straight on view of the balance.
There is not much left to do .... time to start watching the weather also ....
Pic #4 WIND FORECAST FOR WEEK STARTING WED MARCH 25 2026
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #174 Thur March 26 2026
Sorry, I forgot Pic #4 2114 in Reply #172 (senior's moment)
This is probably the most important part, trying to keep the round plate 1/16" balsa firewall, glued to the white plastic of the cowl. I have had this come apart upon crashing other models ....
Pic #4 2114 Bloodroot pushes tiny round head pin holes into the perimeter edge, of the round plate firewall, of the tenon. Hopefully the five min epoxy hardens into these holes, and glues to the white plastic cowl ring also, at the same time.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #175 Fri March 27 2026
The Center section is fitted to the wing, and we now have to Silkspan cover the top of the CS, and cover the 'transition' area at the wing panel root, and we have to cover the top of the first bay in each wing panel.
We cut some thin strips of Lite Silkspan to glue into the transition area.
Pic #1 2127 Thin strips of lite silkspan are cut out.
Pic #2 2129 Closeup.
I was wondering how to hold the Landing Gear Fairings in place, in order to properly distribute the impact force of landing, into the strut and fuse side - ie the strut has to stay in position in that strut cutout "notch" in the LG fairing. We will try this elastic for the first glide tosses ....
Pic #3 2123 This temporary elastic goes all the way around the fuse.
Pic #4 2125 And here is the elastic and a small paper clip to hold it all together. This is also my emergency 'dethermalizer' - when the rubber band breaks, the LG fairings are free to flop away in the wind, decreasing lift ...
I will improve my glide tosses, by running with the toss - hand finger launch propelling this plane, means I never know if it will go straight or not ... I want it to gently move off of my hand, like George's batboat rising from its dolly ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #176 Sun March 29 2026 post 1 of 5
We are covering up the cracks and curves with a bunch of thin strips of tissue.
Pic #1 2131 First strip of lite Silkspan.
Pic #2 2133 Second strip of lite Silkspan.
Pic #3 2137 The third pair of large strips will cover everything so far.
Pic #4 2139 And we will need the final two tissue panels, for the first bay upper surface of each wing.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #177 Sun March 29 2026 post 2 of 5
Pic #1 2143 Both large strips are now glued.
Pic #2 2147 The two final covering panels are cut extra long.
Pic #3 2149 Ready for the glue, then unroll the panels (held at one end by green tape) over the top of the wing, right into their spots.
Pic #4 2150 The two panels are glued in and trimmed up. Also the Center Section, 1/32" sheet top plate, is now glued into place.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #178 Sun March 29 2026 post 3 of 5
The Landing Gear Fairings are not glued to the fuse, just the LG wire. So, for the test glides, I held the LG fairings in place with a temporary rubber band - the strut has to stay in position in that strut cutout "notch" in the LG fairing.
Pic #1 2152 The elastic crosses high enough above the rubber motor. The notch for the wing strut is partially covered in the pic.
Pic #2 2125 And this is the underside with a small paper clip holding the elastic ends.
Pic #3 2154 There is a thin gap in the fit of the wing on the left side root. There is a long thin sliver of balsa, to fill this gap, sitting on the big block of balsa in front.
Pic #4 2159 That sliver is now glued in place on top of the left fuse side. Now the fit of the wing is good to glue.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #179 Sun March 29 2026 post 4 of 5
Pic #1 2161 The building board woke up to a big dusting of snow and cold over night, but it should all melt away.
Pic #2 2164 View of the finished underside of the rebuilt wing.
Pic #3 2165 Closeup of above.
Pic #4 2167 Morning light. The new wing is fitted with four coin rolls (not full) added for weight while drying.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #180 Sun March 29 2026 post 5 of 5
Pic #1 2170 Now the wing is glued.
Pic #2 2171 And here is the dihedral of the high left wing.
Pic #3 2175 The wing tie down rubber bands and their aluminum tubes are added. Wing struts are still good for fitting (I marked them up well from where they came off).
Pic #4 2177 Now the struts are glued up. I didn't have to change anything.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #181 Mon March 30 2026
Pic #1 2179 Another view of the struts and how well they glued up.
Pic #2 2182 The wheels are on now and the hubcaps are glued to the axles with a dab of five min epoxy. The model is done. Ready to fly.
Pic #3 2183 Finished Beaver is ready to fly.
Pic #4 2185 Finished Beaver is ready to fly.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #182 Mon March 30 2026
Here is the last two of the finished pics.
Pic #1 2187
Pic #2 2189
I checked out the Cricket Field in Jackson Park early yesterday Sunday March 29 2026, and the Cricket guys are now playing on the pitch. There are three low lying areas of grass, in the rest of the park, now green and growing, but not growing fast enough yet. That little bit of rain we just had, left no standing water anywhere. So we need a big deluge of rain, and a very hot sunny day, and the grass should take off, anytime, any day now.
Now it is Mon morning March 30 2026
I have been watching the borderline weather since 7 AM. The wind has to be max 8 mph, and max gusts of 12 mph , for me to test glide. And the leafless trees are not blocking any wind.
It was already too windy by 9:00 Am (sunrise is 7:18 AM and sunset is 7:54 PM)
Pic #3 ACTUAL WIND 914 AM 10 MPH FROM SW GUSTING TO 17 MPH
So, I will wait - better to wait .... I did some test glides on the bed, which did not tell me anything other that it is nose heavy - I want long deep, spring grass, outside .... maybe later on today I will check it out - it is supposed to get up to 70 degrees F today.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #183 Wed April 1 2026 post 1 of 3
Well Mon evening on March 30 2026, I did wander back out to the Cricket Field in Jackson park, before dark ( without the 'temptation' of carrying the Beaver ), and only 38% humidity - not 78%, and the wind was calm. After that little bit of rain, there was no change in the grass, as in the grass growing solid green everywhere just yet, but any day now. The leaf flush has started, the tulips are up, the first frogs are croaking by the rauil road tracks, and the songbirds are migrating north ...
Three pics of my downslope test glide area, on the side of the large knoll, where the replica Spitfire and Hurricane reside on their pedestals.
Pic #1 2199 I will be run-tossing the Beaver straight out from the backpack, between the new trees.
Pic #2 2198 The Spitfire and Hurri are behind me out of sight in the pics.
Pic #3 2200 The grass looks all green in this angle, but it is mostly green tufts of grass, but it is ready to explode.
Pic #4 2197 Pic of the balanced Beaver after the wing rebuild. View from right rear.
So, this gives me a lot of time to look at the model and think. I think it was really going left, so I took the balance clay weight off of the left wing, and put it on the right wing ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #184 Wed April 1 2026 post 2 of 3
After looking at the Beaver a lot, I can see that it has a little "left" rudder off set built in. I need to confirm that it is going left to be sure. I have not tossed it on grass yet, after repairing the broken wing.
If it is going left, then instead of dissolving and re-gluing the fin/rudder, maybe I can counter the left turn by adding one of those one quarter moon balsa shims to the side of the nose block. All these models seem to need right thrust anyway, so then maybe two shims together, would be the correct amount of right thrust, to counter the "left" fin/rudder. I'm just thinking out loud ...
Four Home Pics of the repaired and balanced Beaver
Pic #1 2191 View from right front.
Pic #2 2193 View from rear.
Pic #3 2195 Shows the offset fin/rudder.
Pic #4 2196 Straight on view from rear showing the offset rudder/fin.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #185 Wed April 1 2026 post 3 of 3
The next day, today Tues March 30 2026, I found myself out in the park first thing in the morning, with the Beaver at ~ 8:30 AM. It was calm enough for me to test glide, but I waited for more grass. A big one half inch of rain was forecast for later in the day, and it was pleasantly warm, so I walked the further eight blocks East with the Beaver to my favorite restaurant, where the Breakfast rush had just finished. The the owner was sitting there, so I got to show him the newest plane, and get a good plate of fries and gravy. Plus I got a few more posterity pics, before offering up, as a live flying sacrifice, to the most merciful Gods of Free Fight, my rebuilt 30 inch Beaver.
Posterity Pics of the repaired Beaver - these turned out better - the restaurant was empty right after the morning rush ...
Pic #1 2201
Pic #2 2202
Pic #3 2203
Pic #4 2204
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #186 Wed April 1 2026
Last four posterity pics
These pics have the wing tie-down elastics with their aluminum tubes, and the landing gear fairings tie-down elastics with their aluminum tubes, and no spinner on the prop, the same as the last four pics in the last reply. Plus I have that big glob of clay on the right wing tip.
Pic #1 2205
Pic #2 2206
Pic #3 2207
Pic #4 2209
That's all for the posterity pics.
Now at 9:30 AM , it was a good wind forecast for flying today at 4 PM to 8 PM , after the drizzling rain stopped and the sun was supposed to come out at 4 PM, but now the rain is forecast to not stop? The wind for those four hours is still only 7 mph gusting to 12 mph, so I'll keep watching the weather. We do need the rain though.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #187 Thur April 2 2026 post 2 of 2
Watching the weather.
2:40 PM The wind has died down, and the rain has stopped. But it says 100% humidity. I desperately wanted to go test gliding, as the ground is soft from the light rain we had. So I took the Beaver out onto the balcony porch, and in less that a minute it seemed, it started wrinkling and sagging up, big time, from the moisture.
Pic #1 2216 Wrinkled tissue from 100% humidity.
Pic #2 WIND FORECAST THUR APRIL 2 2026
So, I will wait for another day, if this humidity does not decrease before sunset at 8:00 PM. The wind is blowing at 7 mph gusting to 11 mph from now 3 PM until sunset 8:00 PM, maybe I will take a quick walk out there and see how the wind looks on the flags, without the Beaver ... I can always come back home and grab the Beaver and head back out.
P.S. In my previous post, I incorrectly called the landing gear fairings as using "tie-down elastics with their aluminum tubes", when I should have said "single wrap around elastic with connecting white paper clip under the fuse", was used for holding the landing gear fairings down.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
Bad luck - the weather is not being too helpful!
John
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sat Apr 4 2026 Reply #189 post 1 of 4
Flight Report #3 evening of Fri Apr 3 2026
Previously:
Flight Report #1 Feb 26 2026 Five test glides, bush wheel flies off.
Flight Report #2 Feb 27 2026 One test glide, going left and then cartwheeled and the left wing breaks off.
It took me one month to rebuild the wing, and just in time for spring flying.
Flight Report #3
Well John, I finally got in some good practice, with running-test glides , right before dark Fri Apr 3 2026. The wind had died down and it was then 7:19 PM 64 deg F (feels like 57), when I left the apartment ...
7 PM winds blowing at 9 mph from NW gust 14 mph
8 PM winds blowing at 8 mph from WNW gust 13 mph
and the humidity was only 56 % , sunset at 8:00 PM.
So I hurried out there with the Beaver. I had already scouted out, earlier today, the four best areas of growing grass in Jackson Park.
The Beaver already has downthrust built into the nose. Before I went out, I put the 0.7 g of clay on the right wing, to counter the left turn, and I put in two of those quarter moon-shaped balsa shims, into the nose block - one on top for downthrust, and one on the left side for right thrust, for starters, and then out we went ... The balsa shims are held in place by the tight prop motor under constant tension.
Pic #1 2229 I have a little balsa wedge holding the nose block open (taught rubber motor holds the nose block in tight).
Pic #2 2231 Close up. You can see the position of the two shims on the cutting mat, the same as the nose block. I also have lots of spare hubcaps.
Pic #3 2233 The shims do over lap a bit, but do not affect anything.
Pic #4 2235 This top view shows the right thrust on the nose block.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sat Apr 4 2026 Reply #190 post 2 of 4
Flight Report #3 evening of Fri Apr 3 2026
Spring walk out through Jackson park to do some test glides before dark.
Pic #1 2217 Sunset light on the Jackson Park entrance and two Dawn Redwood trees colored nicely.
Pic #2 2218 Another entrance view.
Pic #3 2219 And the wind on the slightly limping flag at the entrance.
Pic #4 2220 We are walking up the trail now towards the flower garden. The grass is greening up.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sat Apr 4 2026 Reply #191 post 3 of 4
Flight Report #3 evening of Fri Apr 3 2026
I started the glides just west of the Flower Garden on one of two rectangles of long deep grass beside the four Magnolia trees - the deepest grass since the rain yesterday, which did fill up some standing water in the ditches on the side of the railway tracks lining Jackson Park, and frogs were croaking. See two mallards pic #
After the three good glides beside the flower garden, we walked out further, past the Spit and Hurri replicas and that glide toss area, and out to the Cricket Field but they were playing Cricket pic # , so I could not use that big deep patch of grass on the West side of the Cricket Pitch sitting right beside the wind sheltering trees - but I had one other good spot to choose from.
Pic #1 2221 This is the two thickest patches of grass. You can see two of the Magnolia trees getting ready to bloom. I will be casting starting at the back pack and running towards where the plane is now, and letting go with 10 of 15 winds or so.
Pic #2 2222 This is the deepest grass, yet most of the park still has yellow tan dormant grass.
Pic #3 2223 Wind on the flag as we pass the Spitfire and Hurricane, on our way to the Cricket Field.
Pic #4 2224 And there is the Cricket Field. My good flying grass is where the player is standing on the right, but I have one more spot for short hand glides. In the distance is the outdoor and indoor tennis courts.
first 3 test glides:
#1 12 finger winds goes left landed OK
#2 20 winds tried different launch angle more to the right flight went slightly right with a perfect landing in the deep grass
#3 25 winds went straight good flight
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Sat Apr 4 2026 Reply #192 post 4 of 4
Flight Report #3 evening of Fri Apr 3 2026
That last green grass spot is at the far end of the park, right along the tennis building west wall, but the wind was blowing there like a river current, along the building, so back we went to the Cricket field where they had just stopped, and I did the last four test glides, the last one with 40 finger winds on the prop. That is only seven test glides, but there was a lot of walking time through the park also, with such a late start.
Right after the sun went down the wind was really building up, and I forced myself to quit. It was a good feeling though, walking out of the park with an undamaged model that lives to see another flying day.
It is raining all day today Sat April 4 2026, Sunday is too windy, but Monday is a good forecast flying day from 6:00 AM to 10 AM. sunrise is 7:06 AM
This is now Sat April 4 2026, and it is going to rain all day. The leaf flush is ongoing but the temp really cooled off from the 70 deg F yesterday. We are going slow with the trimming tosses, but the results so far were quite promising, once I got the hang of the run-toss, straight into the wind.
Pic #1 2225 Standing water left by the rain has a pair of Mallard ducks in it.
Pic #2 2226 Here we are back at the Cricket Field for the last 4 tosses, as the players are done and nightfall settles in.
Last Four of Seven short Test Glides back at the Cricket Field
#4 20 winds good flight stops in mid air a little high.
#5 30 winds went way left bad angle to wind launch?
#6 30 winds different launch angle perfect flight going a little to the right.
#7 40 winds slight turn right held the flight well
Pic #3 2227 It is getting dark. But the 30" Beaver lives to see another day.
Next flying day is in two days on Mon April 6 2026
600 AM wind at 6 mph from SSW gusting to 7 mph
700AM wind at 6 mph from S gusting to 7 mph
800 AM wind at 6 mph from SSE gusting to 6 mph
900 AM wind at 7 mph from SSW gusting to 11 mph
1000AM wind at 9 mph from SSW gusting to 16 mph
after 1000 AM, it is too windy to fly.
Pic #4 WIND FORECAST MON APRIL 6 2020 6 AM TO 10 AM
End of Flight Report #3
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Apr 6 2026 Reply #193
5:00 AM
Flying day for Flight #4 Test Glides
The weather is really cooling down, even below freezing, so this AM April 6 2026, is the last good chance to fly for several days.
At 7:00 AM the temp is 38 deg F and no rain is now forecast. By 10:00 AM the temp rises to 42 deg F.
But the humidity is 80%. I will bring my portable fan.
Wind is good.
winds blowing humidity %
7 AM 3 mph from SSE gusting to 6 mph 82%
8 AM 3 S 6 79%
9 AM 4 SSW 7 79%
10 AM 5 WSW 9 73%
11 AM 5 W 12 65%
NOON 8 WNW 14 58%
Pic #1 WIND FORECAST MON APR 6 2026 MORNING
Lastwoodsman
Richard
START OF FLIGHT REPORT #4
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Apr 6 2026 Reply #194 post 1 of 5
Flight Report #4 Monday morning April 6 2026
I got up early in the dark and saw that it had just rained and stopped, before 6:30 AM (sunrise 7:06 AM), and there was no wind. See Pic #1 2245
I went back for a little power nap - I knew I had till 10 AM for good wind, and maybe the grass would dry out a bit, in the meantime.
8:59 AM 39 def F (feels like 50 deg F) winds 3 mph from SSE gusting to 7 mph. You don't want to miss these low wind days. I got home at 10:40 AM now 44 deg F (58), wind 5 mph from WSW, gusting to 10 mph now.
I ended up heading out the door to the park at about 9:15 AM. I can get to the Cricket field in 15 minutes. It was a spectacularly sunny morning. These are powered flights from now on .... these were 9, albeit short, good flights from 30 finger winds, to 90 finger winds. I got 23 pics, but no actual flying pics yet, with a combination of a little spring tour of Jackson park, mixed in. I had to go back and grab the little 'personal fan' that I forgot, to see if it will dry the damp sagging tissue. The fan worked but it did not dry the wing Silkspan tissue at all.
Nevertheless, the Beaver seemed to fly just fine, even with the sagging wrinkles from the high humidity. I must write an Ode to the Gods of Free Flight, in reverance ...
I launched these flights while not actually running, but taking a few short steps of a fast walking shuffle, which takes away a lot of difficulty with the finger tip direction and speed toss, because you already have built up speed.
1 30 finger winds perfect landing got pic
2 45 winds perfect slight right soft forward flip on landing
3 60 winds launched too high of angle it climbed but no damage landing on thick grass
4 60 winds good launch perfect flight
5 75 winds longest flight slight right
The wind was sort of increasing and changing direction it seemed -- I forgot my flagging tape streamer -- so I threw up a lot of grass.
6 80 tried a down wind flight 3 seconds perfect angle of attack into the ground as the rubber ran out.
7 80 another perfect downwind slight right flight.
I lost the balsa right thrust shim a couple of flights ago I think ..... I had two spares, so I put one back on. On a couple of landing, the nose block was dislocated, but still pulled into the nose.
8 90 now it went straight ? must be from an angle change into the wind at launch.
9 90 launched in the opposite direction the wind was shifting around , veering and increasing, and I got another perfect 3 second flight. Also another perfect landing, of a soft forward one half somersault half flip, harmlessly onto its back.
Pic #1 WIND FORECAST MON APRIL 6 2026 6 AM TO 10 AM
Pic #2 2245 Dreary sky - it had just rained just before 7 AM.
Pic #3 2247 The Dawn Redwood trees are full of cones - the ground also. No wind.
Pic #4 2248 Here we are beside the sunken flower garden, beside one of the four Magnolia trees. I did not fly here where I did some test glides - the ground was low and extremely wet and full of deep wet grass.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Apr 6 2026 Reply #195 post 2 of 5
Flight Report #4 Monday morning April 6 2026
Pic #1 2250 Still no wind. We are on the way now to the Cricket Field of dreams.
Pic #2 2251 Now on the Cricket Field's West side which is full of thick wet grass, and no Cricket players.
Pic #3 2252 rotate This is looking towards the West.
Start of the 9 powered flights.
Pic #4 2253 first flight 30 finger winds perfect landing.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Apr 6 2026 Reply #196 post 3 of 5
Flight Report #4 Monday morning of April 6 2026
Pic #1 2254 second flight, 45 winds, soft forward flip on soft landing, perfect flight slightly right.
Pic #2 2255 This pic shows the right thrust shim, and the down thrust shim on top.
Pic #3 2256 60 winds launched at too high of an angle, and it climbed out and made a soft flip landing. I think I lost the right thrust balsa shim on this landing ...
Pic #4 2257 Time to quit as the wind was increasing and veering and spending more time near the max gust mph. The long new growth, willow hanging branch twigs, are yellow, and the long slender buds were half yellow yesterday, the buds now turning into leaves and aments or catkins.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Apr 6 2026 Reply #197 post 4 of 5
Flight Report #4 Monday morning of April 6 2026
Pics Around the Vintage Warplane Replicas
Pic #1 2258 Last pics through the bare trees.
Pic #2 2259 More pics.
Pic #3 2260 Tulips are up.
Pic #4 2261 Side view of the Spit and Hurri.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Mon Apr 6 2026 Reply #198 post 5 of 5
Flight Report #4 Monday morning of April 6 2026
Pic #1 2263 We have about three big colonies of squirrels here.
Exiting Jackson Park from where we came in.
Pic #2 2264 On the way out. The wind has increased on the flag.
Pic #3 2266 A ton of cones have already fallen out of these two Dawn Redwoods, almost carpeting the ground and main paved trail.
I need to practice stretch winding using the field winding stooge. Maybe another bench test motor run or two for practice, and make a few more shims, and definitely bring spare elastics for the Landing Gear Fairings tie-downs (in case they break). Then I will try longer flights, stretch wound in the stooge. I am going for ten second, hopefully circular, flights, but flying anywhere with-in the Cricket Field is good.
It is a good thing I got these flights in early in the morning, as it rained off and on all day.
Time to do a real maiden flight - using stretch wound rubber motors from a winding stooge .
Lastwoodsman
Richard
End of Flight Report #4 of Mon Apr 6 2026
Hi Richard
Great progress.
If the slackening of the tissue bugs you (it would get to me) - Doping the tissue with old fashioned cellulose dope or with banana oil will make the tissue more resistant to damp and reduce the amount of slackening when the air or the ground is wet.
You can get non-shrinking dope, or use banana oil (also called Isoamyl acetate), if you are worried about over-shrinking the tissue. If you're allergic to dope fumes or dislike the banana smell of banana oil, you could try Eze-dope, which is water-based, but try it on a test frame covered with Silkspan before trying it on the model.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #200 Wed April 8 2026
Hi Jeremy. Thanks for the input. Yeah, this Beaver is not going to be a pristine "Hangar Queen" - it is relegated to a life of active, remote mining exploration flying, on gravel runways, until it can't be repaired anymore. There are a lot of mistakes - wrinkles etc, I already broke the wing off ... , but that is OK, as I am using the Beaver as a 'park beater'.
I just want to have some fun learning and experimenting with flying, crashing, fixing up, and flying again .... The object is to get trimmed out circular flights, within the Cricket field, of ten seconds, with stretch wound rubber motors ..... and to try to get some good, in-flight pics ...
I just got in the first four flights yesterday, using the Winding Stooge, for stretch wound rubber (170 stretch winds) motors in the Beaver. Details coming up.
Pic #1 2275 Beaver in the Winding Stooge.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Wed Apr 8 2026 Reply #201 post 1 of 5
Flight Report #5 early afternoon of Tues April 7 2026
On Tues Apr 7 2026 Just before noon,
I suddenly looked outside and there was no wind ...
I had been working on getting new fresh elastics for the wing tie downs, and the landing gear fairings elastic and paper clip tie down, and found some good spares for each. I will replenish the elastics with fresh 'assorted elastics' from dollarama.
I also made up some more balsa shims - they keep flying out of the nose on landing, because they are not glued in yet. I also sanded those two shims in the nose, for a good match, giving right thrust and down thrust on the nose.
So, seeing there was not a lot of wind, and Jackson Park is right across the road ... I then packed up and left at 12:30 PM with the pack and the winding stooge et al, and went to Jackson Park for Flight Report #5 Tue Apr 7 2026. The weather was 33 deg F (feels like 40 deg F), only 45 % humidity, winds blowing 8 mph SW,
I had just finished Flight Report #4 the day before on Mon Apr 6 2026, using up to 90 finger winds and a max flight of 3 seconds. Today Tues was the first time using the winding stooge and I got in 4 flights - the best two were each 170 stretch winds for 6 seconds and 4 seconds. Then the wind was too high and we quit, with no damage to the Beaver.
Flight Report #5 Tue April 7 2026 post 1 of 5
Flight #1 150 stretch winds launched too much of an angle down ward, went straight.
Flight #2 170 winds six seconds !! goes up high into the wind very slow then settles down almost straight down, into a perfect soft three point chopper landing.
Never saw that before.
Flight #3 170 winds four seconds the same exact flight as the six second flight above.
Flight #4 170 winds but the wind caught it for its first light half cartwheel landing - no damage.
Pic #1 WIND FORECAST TUE APRIL 7 2026 NOON
Pic #2 2271 I was working on new spare balsa shims, and new spare rubber bands and paper clips, and two spare 7" motors four strands = two strands 3/16" & two strands 3/32"
Pic #3 2272 We now have spare rubber bands picked out, but I will buy new Dollarama "Assorted Rubber Bands".
Pic #4 2275 The Beaver is in the winding stooge.
Lastwoodsman
Riochard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Wed Apr 8 2026 Reply #202 post 2 of 5
Flight Report #5 early afternoon of Tues April 7 2026
Got home at 2:30 PM but went back out at 4:00 PM
I went home and started making more shims, as the shims were flying out on landing, and I could not find them. And I started replacing all the rubber elastics and pulled out two new 7" motors.
I know that I can get 10 to 13 seconds on 250 stretch winds with the seven inch motor . I just got 6 seconds on 170 stretch winds ....
Worked on the model. Then it looked like no wind at 4:30 pm. 38 deg F ( feels like 49 deg F), winds were good still, blowing 6 mph from NE gust 9, and the humidity only 40%.
Back into the park we went, at 4:30 PM, with the Beaver and a full pack loaded for bear, but the wind seemed to stay mostly at the high end of the gust speed, blowing 8mph from SSE gusting to 13 mph. I did not fly it, so I took more pics in the park. So, I only got those four stretch wound flights in the early afternoon, Tues April 7 2026 Flight #5.
Pic #1 2276 Perfect three point landing after rising high on launch, going slow into the wind, and floating almost straight back down, but going a little forward, to its perfect landing. It did this for the 6 second flight and the 4 second flight.
Pic #2 2277 Both shims are knocked out on landing. The second shim is barely visible by the prop blade.
Pic #3 2278 Another view - you can see the other shim under the nose.
Pic #4 2279 This patch of grass on the West side of the Cricket field is the best in the Park.
And we finished off with some nice coming alive nature pics, with the return of the Sun and the Spring Equinox in Jackson Park.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
You are making progress Richard - it won't be long before you achieve your circular flight paths.
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Wed Apr 8 2026 Reply #203 post 3 of 5
Flight Report #5 early afternoon of Tues April 7 2026
Pic #1 2280 The Willow tree leaves are coming through.
Pic #2 2281 The Magnolia flowers are popping out.
Pic #3 2282 The lone migrating raptor in the sky is a Turkey Vulture, with the distinctive "V" shaped wing dihedral.
Pic #4 2283 The wind on the flag by the Spitfire and Hurricane replicas - it really is too windy.
Lastwoodsman
Riochard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Wed Apr 8 2026 Reply #205 post 4 of 5
Flight Report #5 early afternoon of Tues April 7 2026
Thanks John.
Pic #1 2284 The Beaver stopped in to say hello to his Fox snake, Barn Owl, two Black squirrels, and bat friends.
Pic #2 2285 This is a nice Sycamore tree budding out in the background.
Pic #3 2286 The big carved flying eagle at the top, and the red headed woodpecker underneath.
Pic #4 2287 I think these are the 'snowball trees' or fragrant Vibernum sp.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Wed Apr 8 2026 Reply #206 post 5 of 5
Flight Report #5 early afternoon of Tues April 7 2026
Pic #1 2288 The shadows are getting longer and the wind is still too strong. We need 8 mph wind or less. I think it was gusting to 13 mph.
Pic #2 2289 Last pic. Too windy.
Well I am glad to get some stretch wound flights in with good results so far, and glad to get home undamaged. The park has a long way to go before all of the grass turns green and grows thicker.
Today Wed April 8 2026 the temp really dropped over night this morning from Tues evening, to 21 deg F or minus 6 deg C, first thing in the morning. And the gusts were way too high, so no flying today Wed.
It is time to glue the balsa down-thrust shim, and the right-thrust shim, onto the balsa fuse nose, 1/16" thick, flat round former firewall plate 1A , before the next flying session. With that offset of the tenon, comes less tenon depth, to hold that noseblock tenon in place, in the fuse hole mortice. Hence all of the balsa shims and noseblocks popping out, upon landing.
The end of Flight Report #5 of Tuesday April 7 2026
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #207 Fri Apr 10 2026
It is a Flying Day tomorrow ALL DAY! Sat 11 April 2026
I have been working on the shims the last few days. Hopefully the Cricket guys have not yet fully started their League play ....
Pic #1 WIND FORECAST SAT APRIL 11 2026 FLYING DAY ALL DAY
Sunny all day Low winds Humidity 7AM 86% 1 PM 58% 7 PM 49%
Sunrise 6:58 AM Sunset 8:09 PM
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #208 Mon April 13 2026 post 1 of 5
Making the Big Shims Fri Apr 10 2026
Before Flight Report #6 on Sat Apr 11 2026
I need downthrust and right thrust on the noseblock together, which produces and double angled plane. I tried to glue small shims onto the big shim, to get the desired effect.
Pic #1 2301 The big shims have downthrust only built in. There are lots of quarter moon shims to work with.
Pic #2 2302 Closeup of the above.
Pic #3 2307 Here we are sizing up two small shims on the big shim at the top. I broke the no. 2 big shim in the thin corner.
Pic #4 2315 This shows the slight overlap of the two small shims.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #209 Mon April 13 2026 post 2 of 5
Making The Big Shims cont.
Pic #1 2317 Over view of the shim parts. Three large shims, and a bunch of quarter moon shims.
Pic #2 2319 Closeup - we are trying to get a double angled face.
Pic #3 2323 Here is how it looks with big shim #2.
Pic #4 2327 Other side view.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #210 Mon April 13 2026 post 3 of 5
Making The Big Shims cont.
Pic #1 2329 Oh no! All those 3/32" quarter shims are too small!
Pic #2 2333 Closeup of too small ...
Pic #3 2342 We made four quarter moon, larger shims this time.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #211 Mon April 13 2026 post 4 of 5
Making The Big Shims cont.
Pic #1 2348 The high edge has to be thicker balsa, and the low edge has to be thinner balsa = down thrust and side thrust in the resulted compound angle, sanded plane.
Pic #2 2356 The two shims are now glued onto the big shim, after a wee bit of pre-sanding to their required angles.
Pic #3 2362 Plus I added another thin support shim at the bottom (held in place by three small planks).
Pic #4 2367 And here is the top view of the resulting large shim(and small shims), sitting around the nose block tenon.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #212 Mon April 13 2026 post 5 of 5
Making The Big Shims cont.
Pic #1 2368 And here is the other side view that goes with the previous Pic #4 2367.
Pic #2 2370 Here is the nose cowl block, and shim fit, on the fuse. I'm just guessing that this is good enough sidethrust.
Pic #3 2371 Top view of shim with nose cowl on fuse.
Pic #4 2376 Downthrust
Ready to fly!
Next up - posting the Flight Report #6 of Sat Apr 11 2026
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #213 Mon April 13 2026
Start of FLIGHT REPORT #6 of Sat April 11 2026 post 1 of 3
The big revamped shim is in the Beaver.
Pic #1 2377 Right thrust
Pic #2 2378 Side view of down thrust.
We started walking out through Jackson Park to the Cricket Field ...
At 9:06 AM the weather was a cold 41 deg F (feels like 50) Humidity 79% The lite Silkspan was wrinkled up with the humidity, sunny, winds 4 mph from ENE gusting to 6 mph.
Pic #3 2382 Wind on the flag at the entrance to Jackson Park, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Pic #4 2383 Wind on the flag at the Spitfire and Hurricane replicas on pedestals.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #214 Mon April 13 2026 post 2 of 3
FLIGHT REPORT #6 of Sat April 11 2026 (cont)
We got to the Cricket Field at 9:30 AM No players ...
Pic #1 2384 My set up in the Cricket Field.
Pic #2 2385 Flight #1 first landing soft nose plant and popped back up on its legs.
Pic #3 2386 Noseblock came loose.
Pic #4 2387 Looking straight West.
Four Flights only today, all stretch wound on a stooge.
1 150 winds, 4 sec, slight left turn, perfect landing
2 210 winds (I can go 270 winds safely) Big left turn, three seconds, cartwheel, the winds are increasing and veering in the open Cricket Field, too windy and gusty.
3 210 winds, tried a new launch angle to the South downwind and quartering away from me, three 3 seconds, flew straight at a perfect glide launch angle downwards, and flew into the deep grass with it still having turns left on the rubber.
4 240 winds, the winds were now coming directly from the East ( I did not forget my banner streamer of orange flagging tape six feet long ).
I launched down wind and slightly left. It went into a left turn, (I will put more clay on the right wingtip), into a perfect stand up balancing act of a landing.
I was winding for the fifth flight and the wind had shifted and now came from the East. I knew it was too windy after three flights, but now I was glad I stayed - because it showed me what I needed to fix. The (loose not glued in yet) big shim suddenly broke apart into four pieces, in my hands, like a house of cards. Maybe it was from all that spinning and dancing on a stretched out wound rubber motor, and bouncing around on a still winding up, rubber motor, that caused it's demise.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #215 Mon April 14 2026 post 3 of 3
FLIGHT REPORT #6 of Sat April 11 2026 (cont)
Pic #1 2388 Flight #2 soft nose plant.
Pic #2 2389 My stooge set up showing the four broken pieces of the Big Shim.
Pic #3 2390 Close up of broken shim pieces.
Well, so much for low winds all day. I was actually ready to call it quits after flight #3 ....
So, .... I was lucky the Cricket players were not on the pitch yet -- they surely will be, on this nice sunny day later on. Now I will make a better shim, and get ready for the next flight.
We then packed up and went for a nice walk and took some final early 'leaf flush out' pics, of spring coming to life in Jackson Park, to finish off the post.
Got home at 11:15 AM temp 46 deg F (62), 60% humidity, winds 4 mph from ENE gust 7 mph.
We did again head back into the park a few hours later, loaded for bear and intending to fly, at 3 PM 52 deg F (61) 35% winds 7 mph ENE gust 9, but it was too windy, once we got there, for any more flights.
Park Spring Tour Pics in the next four posts
Pics of the Spitfire and Hurricane
Pic #4 2391
Lastwoodsman
Richard
End of Flight Report #6 of April 11 2026
Hi Richard
Good progress.
What about using low-tack double sided tape to hold the shims in place and to protect them a bit from landing damage?
Cheers
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #217 Wed April 15 2026 post 1 of 3
Hi Jeremy. Thanks for the reply. I just have to get these last Park Tour pics replies, posted, and then I will post several detailed build replies, with pics and text already completed, on how I have already finished the shim repairs and fix.
I went with this, for starters : "Closeup of the big shim break. It will all be glued in place on the nose block tenon." But lots more was needed.
The final overnight drying result, right now, is a tight fitting cowl with no wobbling, and .... ready to fly .... !
Park Tour Pics
Pic #1 2392 Wind on the flag at the Spit and Hurri replicas.
Pic #2 2393 Walk around pics of the sunny side of the replica Spitfire and Hurricane.
Pic #3 2394 Note the wind on the flag. Too strong ie more than 8 mph .
Pic #4 2395 Spit and Hurri.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #218 Wed April 15 2026 post 2 of 3
Park Tour Pics cont
Pic #1 2396 Second last Spit and Hurri pic.
Pic #2 2397 Last of the Spit and Hurri pics.
Pic #3 2398 Eagle carving.
Pic #4 2399 Closer up pic of eagle carving.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #219 Wed April 15 2026 post 3 of 3
Park Tour Pics
Pic #1 2404 Outside the Flower Garden
Pic #2 2405 Flag on the way out.
Pic #3 2406 Flag on the way out.
Pic #4 2407 Flag on the way out.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
cont
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #220 Wed April 15 2026
Pic #1 2408 Flag on the way out.
Back in my apartment
Shim Repair and Fix
Pic #2 2410 Back on the flight line table.
Pic #3 2411 Closeup of the big shim break. It will all be glued in place on the nose block tenon.
Pic #4 2412 Things are taken apart. The motor sits on the cowl.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #221 Wed April 15 2026
Shim Repair and Fix
Pic #1 2413 The Beaver is all disassembled. The six feet of orange flagging tape is for bringing to the launch spot along with the Beaver. I will never forget it again.
Shim Repair
Pic #2 2414 Bloodroot pins up some balsa blocks, to hold the Cowl in place, for gluing the broken shims directly onto their place on the noseblock.
Pic #3 2415 Closeup.
Pic #4 2420 Left glues onto the left, and right glues onto the right.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #222 Wed April 15 2026
Shim Repair and Fix
Pic #1 2423 Labeling is everything.
Pic #2 2425 High edge. Low edge. All glued up.
Loose Cowl Fit
Pic #3 2430 We will try gluing an extra plank on the top tenon.
Pic #4 2432 Bloodroot and Mandrake simultaneously tighten the clamps, which were nicely supported at rest, by the balsa blocks. Little things ...
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #223 Wed April 15 2026
Loose Nose Block
The test fit showed that the tenon was loose up and down, and loose left to right. Two balsa plates were eventually needed, to get close ...
Pic #1 2434 Another view of Bloodroot and Mandrake clamping in that top plate on the tenon.
Pic #2 2437 More good camera angle work.
Pic #3 2440 There is now also a glued in extra plank on the left side of the nose block, after the last test fit needed it.
Pic #4 2443 Close up pic.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #224 Wed April 15 2026
Loose Nose Block Repair
Pic #1 2446 Top view of right thrust.
Pic #2 2451 Side view of down thrust - maybe I need more down thrust - I will bring a very thin quarter shim for this next time out.
Pic #3 2457 The top and side planks are still not exactly tight. They get a final cutout, of "thin plank", 0.010" file folder cardboard, glued on.
Pic #4 2467 Glued on now. It is now a tight fit!
Ready to fly!
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #225 Thur April 16 2026
Here are four outside pics of the repaired Beaver, ready to fly. I will still check the balance, and .... put the Beaver in the table stooge, and check some rubber motor and prop runs, just to be sure ....
Pic #1 2477 Downthrust is good.
Pic #2 2478 Side thrust is good.
Pic #3 2479 Wrinkles from high humidity, from a lot of rain.
Pic #4 2481 Underside view.
Possible forecast flying days are: Fri April 17 2026 all day, Mon April 20 all day, Thur April 23 all day, and Fri April 24 first thing in the morning.
The park is in full leaf flush, and we had a lot of rain, and the grass is growing, and has not been cut yet !! These are the best days 8) for small park flying, if the humidity >:( cooperates ....
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #226 Thur April 16 2026
In the Table Stooge
I did three motor test runs using a fresh seven inch four strand motor - two strands 3/32" and two strands of 3/16" rubber.
1 200 stretch winds = 8 sec
2 200 stretch winds = 8 sec
3 250 stretch winds = 12 sec
I can safely stretch wind in 270 turns with this motor. This should work as I am only trying for ten second circular flights in the 110 yard by 130 yard Cricket Field in Jackson Park, Windsor, Ontario.
Pic #1 2475 Undertail lighting.
Pic #2 2485 Side thrust
Pic #3 2487 Down thrust
Pic #4 2494 Prop Spinning
Here is my theory of flight, 'guess', as to why the plane goes left. The left wing sits higher than the right wing (at ninety degrees to the relative wind), causing the left wing to have less lift than the flatter right wing. Therefor, the higher lift right wing flies higher in the air, than the left wing, causing the plane to go left. Yes, no ?
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #227 Thur April 16 2026
In the Table Stooge Test Run of Rubber Motors
Pic #1 2482 Beaver is in the Stooge for some test runs of the rubber motors.
Pic #2 2490 My 10:1 Stretch Winder
Pic #3 2492 There are 250 stretch winds on this motor. Max safe winds is 270.
Pic #4 2494 Wind forecast for Fri April 17 2026
The best times are 8 AM sunrise to 2 PM.
Lastwoodsman
Richard
BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306
Reply #228 Thur April 16 2026
Balancing the 30" Beaver between the balance jars.
Pic #1 2499 The Beaver balances with an extra ball of clay weight on the nose, of about one gram or so.
Pic #2 2501 Closeup of the clay weight.
Pic #3 2503 Straight on view of the wings and tail plane.
Pic #4 2508 The Beaver stops in for a visit to the balsa wood lumber supplies board, and the rubber motor board. She looks over the rubber selection. She is getting pumped up for those big, long rubber motors, and the delirium of flight.
Ready to fly! It really does want to fly!
Lastwoodsman
Richard