Grand wing servo - DHC Beaver
The Beaver is probably the best airplane I've owned. It was easy to build (Christmas Day, 1 night), flies fast and stable, and performs great. Can't do rolls, but you can easily do multiple consecutive loops without loosing too much altitude/airspeed and the bottoms. It can take off in just a few feet of paved run way, or it can almost pull its self out of your hand. In low wind conditions she is a ball.
It's powered by a 370 Electric Motor, and a 7.2 Volt 600mah battery pack. It needs a 3 channel radio to operate the rudder, elevator and throttle. I use the JR Quattro Lite set up. The Three channels give you more than enough control to bring her all the way in for a graceful landing on the basketball court.
However, there are some definite design flaws. First, the wings are weak, and the instructions for installing the struts are wrong. They have the mounts perpendicular to the leading edge, while they should be parallel. If install perpendicular, like I did, they need to be secure with duct tape (preferably white) in order to prevent them from coming loose. If they come loose in flight, it will almost certainly lead to the wing breaking off in flight, and your airplane plummeting to the ground. This has happened 3 times to me so far. It is more than annoying, however, it has been repairable with epoxy every time. Also, door included to hold the battery into the bottom of the plane is too small for a 600mah battery. The 270mah battery may fit, but I do not know. I use the 600 for longer run times. The 270 gives better climb performance due to the lighter pack.
Damage Record
| The Broken Wing |
|
| Broken Prop. I've had several of these. |  |
| The motor mount got torqued off to the side when the prop hit. |  |
| Broken Cowling, Repaired
with Packing Tape.
|
 |
April 6th, 2003
Well, after all the repairs to this latest crash, a lot of
weight was added to the airframe. I used Packing Tape in order to provide some
structural integrity to the break. A dramatic loss in performance was noted,
climb rate was much worse, and speed wasn't nearly as fast as it was. Also,
there was more damage than previously thought. In the elevator, there was a
small break which causes the left half of the elevator to raise more than the
right, giving an aileron effect. This makes loops turn into half-loops with a
corkscrew at the top, and a normal climbs into half rolls. Also, I have to use
more elevator in the turns because of the decreased thrust-weight ratio, so
turns are screwy.
April 14th, 2003
Well, the Beaver finally bit the dust. I was trying to do
some aerobatics and the wing snapped again. The motor mount torqued itself out
of position, the prop broke, the horizontal stabilizer and elevator broke completely
off, and the underside has cracks through it. Here are some pics of the damage.
I'm not going to repair it this time. The power system cant pull all the extra
weight.
| Shows the broken Prop, torqued motor mount, and loose cowling (Repaired temporarily with duct tape) |  |
| Shows the broken horizontal stabilizer and elevator. |  |
| Here, the battery ripped out of the body with enough force to rip through the duct tape. Also note the crack in the body. |  |
| And the notorious wing... Note all the other repairs. |  |
Beaver Number 2
November
17, 2003
After falling in love with the GWS Beaver, and after an
unsuccessful trip with the Mustang I decided to pick up another Beaver, which is
just as fun as the first time around. It does loops and wing-overs and enough
fun maneuvers to keep me happy.
 |
 Note some moderate damage to the underside and Battery area. The batteries now need rubber bands to hold them in. Unfortunately they have a nasty tendency to fall from the airplane, causing me to lose all control. Luckily the plane also loses some weight, so the impact is not too hard. The cowling also has taken some damage, from all the impacts. Finally, the motor itself has sustained some damage, the large gear slides away from the small one on impact, but it is fine under normal running conditions. It is actually the second motor I have installed in this plane. The first one broke in an early crash. I also had to replace the front bamboo rod with a stainless steel one, because the original was lost in a crash. |
