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

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER  NOV 2025  TO  PRESENT

Sat Jan 3 2026

Reply #21

I am still posting from my lost thread.

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

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER  NOV 2025  TO  PRESENT

Sat Jan 3 2026

Reply #22

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306    June 18 2025

     Hi Joe,  you lucky guy!   That collage pic says it all.   You must have had a memorable flight or two,  when flying that much,  of an interesting anecdote of a bush plane story.   So sure,  whenever you want,  give us a good Beaver flight story.   I would not mind reading one here.    A little diversion from a strict build,  won't hurt anybody.

     Hi msc Mike.   That  2' x 4'  drop ceiling tile sounds perfect.   Thanks so much for the tip.   In order to build a one piece through wing for the 30" Beaver,  I need a long piece of tile a bit longer than 30" to build it straight and flat,  and I have 39" up the side of my building table,  and I was going to cut a 4' x 8' sheet into four  2' x 4' pieces anyway.    I will definitely check out the tiles from USG Ceilings,  in styles of  "Fifth Avenue 280",   and  "Radar Basic R2310",  on the web before I go buy them.    One less thing to worry about for now.   The price is right!   I will bring a round head pin.

     There are still a few things to get done before I dive back into the build.
-   buy an new "used" camera -  HP 315 Photo-smart Digital Camera 2.1 MP with 32 MB Memory Card -  they are old,  but they are out there on Ebay  see Pic #1 ,   the one that I have always used for this hobby
-   buy some Ceiling Tile as per msc Mike
-   take good pics of my two kit plans,  so everyone can see the model features
-   photocopy the instructions etc.,  weigh the individual laser cut balsa sheets of parts,  and calculate the weight of the balsa
-   clean off and prepare my building board (not a small task)
-   start cutting out and labelling parts

     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     HP 315  Digital Camera
Pic #2     Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior 9 cylinder air cooled engine

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2  30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER  DUMAS KIT 306    June 19 2025

Reply # 15

    Hi Joe -  great fly-in fishing story!  Not too long at all.    The myth of the Bush Pilots lives on.    Those pilots must have developed a real  "feel"  for a sluggish take off run with an over loaded float plane,  and smart enough to abort the take off,  with enough lake water left to do so,  before hitting the shoreline.  It got me wondering just how much space in the float is used in the floats, for the load,  and how many pounds one fully loaded float can carry ....  Thanks for the pics too.  It looks like you guys had such a great time!    Just barely missing the tree tops on takeoff climbout !?! .... 

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER  NOV 2025  TO  PRESENT

Sat Jan 3 2026

Reply #18

HAWKER SIDDELEY  HS 748  WALKAROUND  May 10 2025

June 19 2025

    Here are some walkaround pics of the HAWKER SIDDELEY  HS 748  Cargo plane.  It is huge!  These pics were taken at the May 10 2025 Bruger Burn BBQ  at our Historic Hangar in Windsor,  Ontario,  Canada.

Pic #1    6592
Pic #2    6597
Pic #3    6606
Pic #4    6614

Wikipedia link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawker_Siddeley_HS_748

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

BEAVER DH C2   30 INCH RUBBER POWERED  FREE FLIGHT PARK FLYER   DUMAS KIT 306    June 19 2025

Reply #19           Sat Jan 3 2026

     This should be a straight forward build.   There is only a one piece wire for the landing gear,  which means no soldering.
     There are two large plan sheets needed,  but Dumas printed them on both sides of one sheet -  separate sheets are needed for my liking.
     There are  80 laser cut parts on three sheets that are slightly thicker than  1/16"  and  3" x  17 31/32" (almost 18").

Sheet A  =  11.70 grams      equals  12.0  lbs/cubic feet
Sheet B  =  11.31 grams      equals  11.58 lbs/cubic feet
Sheet c  =  12.80 grams      equals  13.1 lbs/cubic feet

Strength for the hard landings?    We will see if it still flies,  with these onerous weights.

Pic #1     6648     large plan sheet no 1
Pic #2     6649     large plan sheet no 2
Pic #3     6651     Kit contents
Pic #4     6653     three laser cut balsa sheets   =  80 parts

For comparison,  there are 250 laser cut parts for the Dumas  30 inch  Gipsy Moth Biplane.

It should be a snap to cut these laser parts out.

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #20           Sat Jan 3 2026

HAWKER SIDDELEY  HS 748  WALKAROUND  June 7  2025

June 20 2025 posted these pics

     I was not able to attend this arrival on May 30 2025,   but here is the flight and landing and water salute and air to air footage from pilot Mark Brandon flying our Museum's yellow Harvard.   
     Built in 1975,  and owned by the Cree nation and flown by their native pilot.   

FINAL FLIGHT! Air Creebec Hawker-Siddeley HS-748 last moments before retirement - Air2Air
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WgV9N4H2hY
13 min 40 sec

Pic #1     6598
Pic #2     6599
Pic #3     6600
Pic #4     6601

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #21           Sat Jan 3 2026 

CUTTING OUT THE LASER CUT PARTS    17 pics

     Well,  I just finished cutting out,  final sanding,  and labeling of all of the heavy balsa parts,  as good as I could.   This was another ordeal.   Even though the kit was laser cut,  those small balsa bridges were difficult to cut through with the exacto knife.    It was even more difficult to sand those balsa bridges flush to the  'kerf'  of the laser cut.

     Before I started cutting out the parts,  there was one slightly damaged (damaged enough !) rib.   It had a straight vertical shear (strange?) ,  right through the rear of Rib 1,   3/4 distance from the front of the rib,  that rib being  located on the lower left corner of Parts Sheet 'C'.    These ribs have deep under camber (or so I thought),   but are really hollowed out ribs -  see Pic #17   IM006686   TYPICAL SECTION AT RIB  snip   diagram of Typical Section of Rib.

     I white glued it all up where it sat,  with pins and strips of waxed paper and small balsa planks,  and let it dry overnight  -  it came out OK !   Better than cutting it out first,  because of the rib shape -  "small things ..."

     I haven't read through the instructions yet or read the plans completely.   Here are some notable features so far.

1     constant wing chord
2     unique wing rib construction
3     the stab is enlarged from the original scale outline (which is also shown on the plan).   Dumas does this to make the model fly better.

Pic #1     6656m     photocopies of balsa sheets now have parts numbers on them

Pic #2     6659m     new fresh cutting mat  -  the old one was really bad

Pic #3     6662R med     window view of good laser cuts

Pic #4     6663m     the other side of the new mat

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #22           Sat Jan 3 2026

Repair of R1 rib

Pic #1     6665 snip cracked rib     

Pic #2     6667 snip Rib1 all glued up

Pic #3     6668m     the pins are off Rib 1  -  all dry

Pic #4     6669m     close up -  no visible crack - good to go

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #23           Sat Jan 3 2026

Cutting Out The Balsa parts

Pic #1     6670m      starting on sheet 'C'

Pic #2     6672m     Sheet  C  is done

Pic #3     6674m     Starting Sheet  B

Pic #4     6676m     Sheet  B  is done

Lastwoodsman
Richard

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #24          Sat Jan 3 2026

Cutting Out The Balsa parts

Pic #1    6678m    Starting on Sheet  A

Pic #2    6680m    Sheet  A  is half done

Pic #3    6683m    Sheet  A  is done

Pic #4    6685m    All parts are now  complete

Lastwoodsman
Richard

New song  the best  put it on "loop" and listen to it all day

Soothing Classical Music: Cello, Violin & Piano to Calm Your Mind  by Viola Femme    1:01:14  Nov 2 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5twYDmIGQZ4&list=RDSFpqGrcZlFc&index=8

The end of cutting out parts.

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #25           Sat Jan 3 2026

     I have been making a lot of   8 1/2" x 11"  photocopies of the plan sections to work on,  and reading up on all of the instructions.   

     There are some changes to consider,  as I was going with the Kit Box Art,  for the color scheme.

     This is not a super scale model.   There will be no three blade scale flying prop.   Also the stab is enlarged to  12 1/2"  from a  10" length.   

     The kit prop is not the  9"  black square tipped plastic prop on the kit box.   It is now a  9 7/16"  white plastic rounded tip prop.    A new color scheme is now needed,  no rush.   And a Beaver logo to chose from.

     It is just a fun park flyer (no floats),  so I am still considering something instead of just bare wheels.    I still can't find a pic of a Beaver with wheel pants -- maybe nobody ever put wheel pants on a real Beaver,  even just for fun.

     Here are a couple of ideas ...

Pic #1     Is this a Beaver with wheel pants -  it looks like metal car fenders.   Maybe those fenders were early mining airstrip wheel pants,  you know ... ,  for blocking the fine stones from hitting the bottom of the fuselage ?   Or maybe not ...     I need a round steel mandrel so I can hammer out some thin metal fenders  ...

Pic #2     Vintage Wheel Pants

Pic #3     THIS BEAVER HAS WHEEL PANTS SPATS  not a beaver LOL

Pic #4     Beaver with Wheelpants or No  --  solid wood model    wood radial engine   wood cowl blisters

Sorry for any double posts of pics

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #26          Sat Jan 3 2026 

COWLING ASSEMBLY

Pic #1    6700    Front Fuse Top and Side View

Pic #2    6701    Rear Cowl Pattern  Iso View -  there is a 3" x10" x  0.020"  white plastic sheet provided to cut the rear cowl pattern out of

Pic #3    6702    Parts are ready -  inside of cowl view

Pic #4    6703    Close-up of inside of Cowl

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #27           Sat Jan 3 2026 

COWLING ASSEMBLY

Pic #1     6706     Closeup of inside of Cowl

Pic #2     6707     Closeup of outside of Cowl

Pic #3     6710     Pic with flash  -  ready to cut out the  0.010" thick white plastic cowl -  I think the light curved cuticle scissors will work easier than the heavy curved cuticle scissors

      I think I will try to build this model without going to Staples to photocopy the two big sheets.

Pic #4     6712     Here the white plastic cowling has been cut out and sanded,  leaving a sliver of the plastic edge flare,  proud  (I will final sand that much later).    I tested the thickness of the white plastic with calipers  ~ 0.010"  plus or minus a thou.

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Reply #28           Sat Jan 3 2026 

COWLING ASSEMBLY

Pic #1     6714     I  'invisible tape' taped,  a paper photocopy of the plan's "rear cowl ring pattern",   to the 0.020" x  3" x 10" white plastic sheet.   Before I do cut it out,   I did extend all the lines,  with a clear 6" scale, and a French curve,   out past all of the ring part outlines, out to the edges of the three by ten plastic.   I may later on need this carefully cut out 'template',  thusly created ...  That is,  to help make that dotted cowl reference line,  easier to locate later.

Pic #2     6716     Here I meticulously cut out the four  1/4" sq balsa frame supports,  and sanded them.   A nice tight fit of the noseblock is everything ...  Ever hear the flying 'rattle' of a loose noseblock?

Pic #3     6718     Here I white glued the two  1/16"  halves of the cowl firewall together,  and hoped for the best.   I also started gluing up those four supports,  into a square. 

     I did a glue experiment with white glue to see if any of it would stick,   using plastic and balsa combinations,  and clamped them off with clothespins.
 
Pic #4     6721     Well,  it took three glue applications to properly white glue those  1/4" sq  supports.    The butt ends really suck in a lot of glue.   All nicely squared up now.

Lastwoodsman
Richard

[Lastwoodsman]

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

Sat Jan 3 2026

Reply #29   

     Now I am thinking of going 180,  and looking at large Tundra Tire Beavers with different color schemes.   I especially like the first three pics for a nice color scheme.   I would consider buying a pair of pre-made Tundra Tires for my  30  inch Beaver model ...  if anyone knows a good site to buy them,   please post a link.

Pic #1     BEAVER WITH TUNDRA TIRES  1
Pic #2     BEAVER WITH TUNDRA TIRES  2
Pic #3     BEAVER WITH TUNDRA TIRES  3
Pic #4     BEAVER  WITH TUNDRA TIRES 4

Lastwoodsman
Richard