BEAVER DH C2 30 INCH RUBBER POWERED FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER DUMAS KIT 306

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306   

Tues Dec 30 2025     

REBIRTH OF THE BEAVER THREAD into the new HPA site

     I now have the Beaver almost done.    I kept building for five weeks since the Hip site went down Nov 26 2025.   My last post was Reply #318 on Nov 23 2025,  putting six pics into almost every reply.    I started this model June 13 2025,  so that is about 6 months worth of taking pics editing and writing text,  and blogging about my favorite hobby.   I will try and see what I can post out of all that now.   I still have my,  'now full',   Studio Notebook  9" x 6" of 250 ruled pages of diary handwritten Journal,  and I have just my own comments,  my own text,  and my pic numbering is saved for all of my replies on my computer.   So ....  it is possible to re-post a lot of the original build thread,  and lots that I could cut out also.   

     I would like to start off with some cool Beaver pics,  and then the kit contents after that.    For my build,  I pinned my two large plan sheets onto a  3/16" x 20" x 30"   white foam board (built up to  36" x 24" backing),  and I stood it up on my sofa chair,  and I just pin everything on it as I go,  so I can readily see it all the time.   The two pics of the two large plan sheets are not the greatest,   and I included  those  'rough'  plan pics,  so you can see the details and features of the model before you buy it.   And for whatever it is worth,  you get my kit review evaluation,  and build,  to refer to as well.

     I intended to build the Beaver exactly as per plan,  but I made a lot of changes in order to strengthen it up for free flight rubber powered landings,  in a Cricket field of  110 yards  by  130 yards,  slight oval.

Pic #1     BEAVER AND CANOE
Pic #2     BEAVER CROSSWIND LANDING WITH CANOE
Pic #3     BEAVER HAULING IN A CANOE
Pic #4     BEAVER WITH A LOAD OF LUMBER ON EACH FLOAT

     And that is the start of the Phoenix rising out of the ashes ....

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306   

Wed Dec 31 2025

More re-posting of the lost build part ....

Here are four more pics of float Beavers.

Song:   Song of the Old Bush Pilot  6 min
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvPHUJSonOs
6 min 41 sec

Pic #1     BEAVER FREEBIRD WILDERNESS TOURS
Pic #2     BEAVER AT ADVENTURE AIR
Pic #3     BEAVER BEST ONE
Pic #4     BEAVER FLOATPLANE AND LODGE

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306   

Wed Dec 31 2025

Reply #2

     It was time to turn my retirement attention "span" to a new build.   I was looking for a new 30" high wing model to bash around and fly in the Cricket field of Jackson Park, Windsor, Ontario.

     The local hobby store,   Windsor Hobbies,  had one in stock .... a DH C-2 Beaver,  kit 306,  with over 80 laser cut parts.

Pic #1     Alaska Seaplanes Beaver
Pic #2     Beaver  1
Pic #3     Beaver  2
Pic #4     Beaver Ballad by the Fretless Bar Girls

Song:  Beaver Ballad by the Fretless Bar Girls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_v0k57KhE
4 min 17 sec

eleven paragraphs of song lyrics are under the title

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306   

Wed Dec 31 2025

Reply #3

     And four more preliminary pics ...

Pic #1     Beaver Dumas Kit  30 inch
Pic #2     Dumas Beaver Kit
Pic #3     Beaver On Still Water
Pic #4     Beaver Fly In Trip

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306   

Wed Dec 31 2025

Reply #4

      I now don't think I will put floats on it,  just because I will fly it in the park's Cricket Field.   But I just might put wheelpants on it.    I have a big sheet of  1/8"  balsa that I could use to make wheelpants parts from,  the same size of the wheelpants of my best flying model,  that I beat to death with many Flight reports and repairs -   my Dumas 30 inch Rearwin Speedster, which is now out of commission,  and all my Speedster Flight reports and detailed repairs are now gone into the ether with the recent final crash -  I can just trace out the wheelpant parts from the Speedster plan,  and they should fit.   I got a 42 sec flight from that Speedster.

Pic #1     Beaver on Skiis With Dog Sled Team
Pic #2     Beaver leaving    packs are ashore
Pic #3     Beaver Painting
Pic #4     Beaver Russel Armstrong 1

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306   

Wed Dec 31 2025

Reply #5

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306    June 16 2025

     This is a great old documentary from the 1970s,  flying in the North of the Province of Manitoba (and monster lake Winnipeg).   The province of Manitoba lies just west of,  and right beside,  the province of Ontario,  Canada.

     Planes include  BrittenNorman2,  Beaver,  Otter,  Buck 80,  Buck 85 which is a Funk Model B,  Cessna206,  and Cessna207,  and the Norseman,  the poor man's Beaver.

     There is a lot of good reminiscing in the comments by old pilots ...

Title :    Bush Pilot: Reflections on a Canadian Myth
Filmed in 1980   22 min documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlI2qAzQh9U
National Film Board of Canada

Pic #1     Lakes of Northwestern Ontario
Pic #2     Beavers are the coolest planes
Pic #3     Beaver Viking Air
Pic #4     Beavers Four at a Time

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2  30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER  DUMAS KIT 306   

Wed Dec 31 2025

Reply #6

      This thread is open to anyone with good pics and or stories and or videos about anything regarding Beaver aircraft -  it should just be a fun thread.

    And here is a very short 33 sec video of a float Beaver fly by,  and the sound of the Wasp engine

Radial Engine Roar | DHC-2 Beaver Takeoff
TheHDAviation      32 SEC    June 18 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q13tN9y9jE&t=24s

And a link to the Beaver on Wikipedia
de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Canada_DHC-2_Beaver

Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratt_%26_Whitney_R-985_Wasp_Junior

Pic #1    Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior 9 cylinder air cooled engine
Pic #2    NORSEMAN PLANE OF TEARS PLAQUE
Pic #3    NORSEMAN PLANE OF TEARS
Pic #4    NORSEMAN PLANE OF TEARS 2

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[JohnOSullivan]

First Photo in post #5 Is a Norseman not a Beaver

[Lastwoodsman]

Yes,  Post #4 Pic #1  is a Norseman not a Beaver  -  I forgot about that  -  now I remember .... good catch!

Edit    My 'modify' time allotted to change my text,   under 'more' ,  has expired so I cannot fix it.   

[JohnOSullivan]

The definitive source of Beaver information is on Neil Aird's DH2 Beaver site
https://dhc-2.com/
He has a full listing of all 1,692 Beavers produced and photos of 1,288 of them. Many have details of their ownership and history.
As a mining geologist with over 50 years of bush flying in Canada's North, I have flown in many Beavers, some of which I can trace on his site.

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306

Thur Jan 1 2026

 Reply #10

     Hi JohnOSullivan!    Thanks for the link again,  and filling in that gap in my build thread!    I was just about to write how I lost all the contributions and pics and links from other modelers,  that helped make the Beaver an interesting topic.

     "As a mining geologist with over 50 years of bush flying in Canada's North, I have flown in many Beavers, some of which I can trace on his site."    Wow John!       Please feel free to chime in any time with any stories pics comments links.   I was trying to make mining and rough air strips the theme for the  Alaskan Bush-Wheeled Beaver.   It would need a proper Diorama Mining-based theme, for a model show,  though.    Prospectors are the real deal as far as the outdoorsmen go.   I met a couple of them.   I digress.     You got me going ....

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306   

Thur Jan 1 2026

Reply #11    This is the continued re-post of the lost original thread.

     I hope everyone has a Happy New Year.    Things are really looking up as far as the new HPA site goes!

     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 PARK FLYER 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

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306

Fri Jan 2 2026

Reply #12

     Hi Bjrn.    Thanks for the link to the Beaver pictures.   Hi Bjrn - I lost you link in the crash.   Feel free to post it back in if you want.

     Hi Dput Dave.    I don't think I will put floats on it,  just because I will fly it in the park's Cricket Field.   But I just might put wheelpants on it.    I have a big sheet of  1/8"  balsa that I could use to make wheelpants parts from,  the same size of the wheelpants of my best flying model,  that I beat to death with many Flight reports and repairs -   my Dumas 30 inch Rearwin Speedster, which is now out of commission,  and all my Speedster Flight reports and detailed repairs are now gone into the ether with the recent HPA site crash -  I can just trace out the wheelpant parts from the Speedster plan,  and they should fit.   I got a 42 sec flight from that Speedster.

     I am also looking for a sheet of  1/2" x 4 ft x 8 ft of Homasote Board  (34 pounds) of fire resistant pressed fibre board,  of unfaced cellulose with sound barrier board insulation.   It used to be called 'Beaver Board' in the olden days,  and was used for bulletin boards,  and modellers boards, because it takes round head pins readily.   I have to watch out for warps.   Apparently  they are not sold in Canada any more,  according to Home Depot.   There is plenty to do in the meantime,   including a mandatory trip to Staples to make a copy of the two kit plan pages.

Pic #1     Homasote Board at Home Hardware 37 dollars
Pic #2     Homasote
Pic #3     Is this a Beaver with wheelpants
Pic #4     Vintage wheel pants

Lastwoodsman
Richard

PS  I lost the link to the floor tiles that can be used -  I wrote it down somewhere -  I can't find it ...

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2  30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER  DUMAS KIT 306

Fri Jan 2 2025

Reply #13

    With the final Hip Pocket Aeronautics modeling web site "crash" of Nov 26 2025,  I regrettably lost the comments and pics of fellow modeller  JOE H.    He had great pics and stories for this Beaver build,  about Alaska and Beavers and fishing and hunting  -  a real outdoorsman before cellphones.

Bruce Feaver,  Shoeless Bruce,  Sundance12,  Bruce/Ratz,  would you please email  JOE H  and send him a link to this new HIP site we are on right now,  to help him get here?  Thank you.

    JOE H  also had a  24"  Guillow's Beaver model that he was flying without landing gear.  He started a thread where he was putting actual floats on it.  I hope Joe show back up.    I thought I had his pics save somewhere -  I can only find his Beaver pic,  so far ...

Pic #1    JOE H's  24"  Guillow's Beaver

    Well,  I looked out at the balcony porch at  3:20 pm.  It was  24 Deg F (feels like 17 deg F) or  -5 deg C (feels like  -9 deg C).    Was that deep dish plate of water ever crowded!  There was four or five in there splashing around in the fresh, not frozen, water,  like mad -  never saw that many before  -  the House sparrows -  all of them all together,  having a good time!

Pic #2    0833  Sparrows
Pic #3    0834  Sparrows
Pic #4    How about these wheelpants

My response to Joe was :
    Joe ....  - Beaver flights into a LOT of remote lakes ?    Wow,  that is the life ...  I only had three Beaver flights in and out,  guiding for fishing out of the small town of Sioux Lookout in North Western Ontario,  in the early 1980's.    That was guiding on the massive Lac Seul  (Lake Seul),  on its Eastern side,  from south to north and back  to the south - day trips.    The first of the fly-in outpost camp locations was way up to the North starting at  Wapesi Bay on the North East end of Lac Seul from starting from the south of Lac Seul,  leaving Sioux Lookout.    The fishing was so great on those fly-in trips!

    We also fished all the way up the East side of Lac Seul from starting at Sioux Lookout in the South.  There was a MNR Ministry of Natural Resources "Portage Man"  with a boat and trailer,  to pull lots of boats out of the water for free, and trailer them around the Pelican Rapids, right away upon leaving Sioux Lookout,  and then we were on Lac Seul spreading North!  We were using 20 horse power Mercury outboard engines.    We would even go (not all the time though),  all the way up to Wapesi Bay from Sioux Lookout using these 20 hp engines -  but, ...  it would take three hours one way,  smacking the waves,  and another three hours back,  smacking the waves,  so there is an idea of how far up Wapesi Bay is from Sioux Lookout.  Definitely need a seat cushion!

      I also had a handwritten map of major landmarks on the water all the way up.  I kept this under the top inside of my hat,  and I would take my hat off and look at it for a second and put it back on -  my clients never knew the difference !    Haw Haw Haw ...  it is easy to get lost navigating all the islands and channels and bays and shorelines !

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[OZPAF]

It's good to see you continuing with the build story. The covered and painted beaver looks impressive.

John