I have two on order and am wondering about the powerplant and actual flying. I know alot have been sold, someone must be flying them by now. How about some pics or video or anything....
I am thinking a ZDZ 40 will fit real nice, and will have way more than enough power on floats..

Leni

Hi-
Yes, we are flying the KMP Beaver. (or rather RCFLIGHT Beaver here in Scandinavia, YT International in the UK etc.). In short, it flies very well - much like a big Piper Cub. This means it needs plenty of rudder use in the turns and that it has a low sinkrate, so you have to start your approach early! Otherwise no problems. We fly it on wheels sofar, with a 160 boxer twin 4-stroke and an APC 17x6 propeller. Lots of power for more than scale flying - civilized aerobatics like big loops and rolls are no problem.
Things we will improve on the Beaver:
The roof hatch is cumbersome with 8 tiny screws. It can easily be hinged in the front and fit with a snaplock aft for fast and easy acces to the fuselage inside. The wings can be secured by small steel pins into the main spar like one uses on large, scale sailplanes. We will also replace the standard wheel undercarriage with something more scale-like in aluminium, probably with spring action. But the standard u/c functions very well. The bottom line is: Like every model (and we've flown most of them..) from this producer the Beaver is warmly recommended for it's excellent flying and first-class finish!
Best rgds
Richard Blindheim
RCFLIGHT
of Scandinavia
http://www.rc-flight.com

I finally got mine in the air on wheels using a G26. The power is great for scale flying. I have not painted mine yet. I have changed the gear mounts and machined some scale float fittings and moved the float attach points to the scale locations. With a little work, this is a great plane that is pretty close to scale (better than most any ARF I have seen to date).
On the maiden take off I ran it up to half throttle and let her roll down the frozen lake for 100' before pulling it into the air. Two clicks right rudder and one click down elevator and it was hands off flying. The turns require lots of rudder and the ailerons are not overly responsive (just like the real plane). All in all it flys better than most Cubs, and is very docile. I got in a large loop and a few tail slides. With the G26 it will hold the hover for a few seconds then start a tourqing tail slide... Not real scale but it is cool. I am hoping for a little more power from this engine after the break in, as I only have three 12 oz tanks through it at this point.

The flaps are very effective, and required a 14% down mix on the elevators to keep the nose from popping up when you dropped the flaps. Stalls were gentle with the recomended elevator throws, but if you give her more elevator, it will try to break out on the stall and go into a spin. Very easy to recover from just be aware that it will drop a wing, but it also gives you ALOT of warning that it is coming.

I hope to have it on the floats later in the month after the lake thaw out and will post back on it then.

I need pictures!!!!!!!!

Just purchased the Beaver and am currently putting it together. Plan on using the wheels first and then there is a big float fly on the May 21 st long week end. The owner of the lhs is also building one so we are trying to finish up and fly them together. Very exciting.

Well I would get some for you but I wont be home till the 20th. I can take some then if it will help you out. I hesitate to post too many pics until I am sure the mounts will hold up. I am pretty darn confident in my abilities to make a mount that will hold up as I rode mine own design mounts into the ground at a really bad attitude (read vertical) in a fullscale, and they held up real well......
I can email you the full scale beaver diagrams that show the mount detail and fittings VERY well, and you can take it from there if you would like.

Leni

akflyer
Pictures of the mods would be great. Also what you plan to do inside of fuse if you change mount locations of brackets on underside of fuse. First float plane, so all the help you can give would be very welcome. Thanks

I will make a quick drawing to give you an idea of what I did and try to post it on here. I am still working on the front upper float attach point, but it will bolt to the filer wall and come back to the fuselage penetration. You can find pics of all the beavers you want at dhc-2.com to show the scale locations for the fuse penetrations ( just below the rear edge of pilots door and front edge of rear passenger door).

The float struts are from sea commander and I had to modify the attach points on the floats too. The fittings are in the works for the float struts with the first being roughly completed. I will have the wife take a pic of those later today and post them.

Here are the fullsize mounts. Mine look the same just smaller...

akflyer

Are you going to leave the rudders in a fixed position or make them tip up when flying. and if you doing the raised rudder what are your plans for install.
Thanks for the float info.

They HAVE to retract... You have to buy the beer if you get caught flying around with the water rudders down !! I am going with the ERNST 1/4 scale rudders from Towerhobbies. The Proctor scale pulleys work great for running the rigging. The water rudders that come with the floats look TERRIBLE... I dont think I would put these on a plane if I was building it for a blind guy !

Here are a few shots of the brackets, and the fuse. This is still a work in progress but you get the idea. I will have them completed by the 23rd when I get back home. You can see the slots that the "ears" stick through. Wing Strut mount will attach to the rear float attach point so it will be scale. I only put the supplied strut mounts on to get a flight in before I had to leave for two weeks. Sea Commander also provided structural streamlined tubing for the wing struts. She should look good when done.

float rigging...

last one

I have not flown one
But I did see one in Toledo.
All I can say to that is.........
NICE BEAVER

Here is the Beaver mine will be painted like. I have flown this one...

Hey AKflyer
I am thinking about ordering one. was wondering if I can see yours when you get back in town? Thanks

These KMP Beavers are a pretty good aircraft... They take a bit of set-up to get to fly real nice, but once done they are a pleasure to fly.
If you program aileron differential, you will not need alot of rudder when turning, and the plane tracks much better in the turn.
I also moved the CG 15mm forward which improved the flying too.
Landing with full flap is a treat, and the plane can be "Greased" in every time.

Unfortunately, after only 10 flights, I had a faulty extension lead between switch and receiver show it's ugly head, and as a result the Beaver died a horrible death. The MVVS 2.15 gas motor also took a huge hit, so a new crankcase is in order...
I am a bit unsure wether to get another Beaver or not at the moment, although I do still have the float kit still in the box!!!!!

Well I finally got to fly mine on floats and boy was I happy. With the G26 it was in the air in 50-75 feet and climbing out real strong. Not enough power to hover, but you can sneek in a TQ roll or two before she falls off into a tail slide. The floats work great and step turns are killer. Overall a good package and great flying plane.

Here's mine...not for the beaver but for my super cub. Similar to the beaver per your actual plans you show. These were scaled from pictures of an actual cub on floats.

Bud

Hello

I Fly the Eurolight Beaver from Hamburg Germany . Engine is a 57ccm Tonini.

First flight today. Tracked straight down the runway and at 1/2 throttle lifted straight off in a nice gentle climb. Hands off was 1 click right on aileron and 2 click up elevator for hands off. At 1/3 throttle this plane flew forever on a level line. Just a awesome aircraft. Elevator was a little sensitive but I think that was because I had on max throw on linkage. Will adjust and see if that helps on next flight. 2 thumbs up for this one. Hope she flys as well on floats.

I have almost completed mine, but have misplaced the instruction book , and although I remember reading it I do not remember how the rudder assembly goes together. I really need to see this if someone has a copy of book and wouldn't mind faxing me the pages with those instructions I would be most grateful.
Tommy
BTW Akflyer,
I was in Soldotna last summer and flew out on a fly fishing trip from a small lake there north of Soldotna. IT was great. I stayed at a camp outside of town and caught a ton of fish. We landed a 73 pound King on the Kenia, took 45 mintues to run that beast down. I can't wait to come back.

I would guess that you flew off from Longmere or Mackey Lakes. I used to live on Longmere lake.
I can fax you the intructions tomorrow when I get home if no one does before then.
PM me your fax #.
I plan in hitting the river hard this time home. The fishing is red hot for kings with an 88#er landed a couple days ago.

Leni

I just bought a DA 50 and I would like to put it in the KMP Beaver. However, I've noticed some complaints about KMP ARF's constuction quality from both the internet as well as last weekend at my flying field. I was wandering if any of you have experienced any problems ( as the result of poor build quality) with yours. Its a great looking plane, and I think that it would be a blast to fly with the floats. Also, I generally run a 22 x 10 prop on DA50's and was wondering how much clearance the plane has. I suppose can always go with a three blade prop if clearance is a problem

Thanks for your reply!

I heard of another guy on here that put a DA 50 on his... I fly mine with a G26 and it is overkill for SCALE flying, so it will be a real rocket with the DA. As far as the construction, I did not have any real problems with tis one. I did have to buils up one side of the tail saddle about 1/32" but that was it. I originally drilled the surfaces for robart hinges, but there is not alot of meat for hte hinge toi glue into so I went with the Sig Super X hinges (just a giant scale pinned hinge) and they work REAL well on this. I also made new float mounts etc, just to get her a little more scale. I can not think of one real design or kit problem that would warant not getting this plane if you are into beavers and scale type float flying.