doubledee

My Feedback: (4)

Has anyone assembled the KMP Beaver offered by Chief Aircraft?

I am assembling one for a friend of mine and the term "almost ready to fly" does not apply. All applicable holes must be drilled, the tail wheel/rudder throw assy doesn't match up and a myriad of other details that don't add up to it qualifying as an ARF. In addition, the instructions are extemely vague. Nice plane, though.

Comments and suggestions are very welcome.

Regards,
doubledee

P-51B

My Feedback: (5)

Check in the seaplane forum, there were/are several threads on this aircraft there.

Goldfinger41

The instructions are extremely vague is putting it nicely, The instructions SUCK thats with a capital S . The plane has got a lot of faults, not worth the money asked for , but im going to get her done .

kinverflyer

I had two of these, lost the first one through servo failure, had no problems at all with mine and the instructions I found are more than adequate, it ain't a beginner's plane. This plane gets a lot of attention both on the ground and in the air.

Fastsky

Thats the trouble with starting out with an ARf as a new pilots first plane. He doesn't learn the basics because trainer kits have lots of pictures and explain every step in great detail. After that, if you run across an ARF that has vague instructions, thats all you should need. Arfs made by World Models fly very well and the instructions consist of about a dozen pictures to get the idea across but if you have built an actual kit then the pics make sense and and are adequate! I am surprized that instructors suggest an ARF to a newbie and don't think that they are doing the new flyer in this hobby any favors by not suggesting a full build kit. [8D]

Goldfinger41

This Plane is not an ARF , It is a rework, redesign, kit , to be an ARF. I had to add on to the ailerons to eliminate the gap, the ailerons are the worst I have ever seen, Twisted and not straight. The fuselage is very thin , the cowl is thin, the floats are thin, I am going to reglass all of them. The rudder tailwheel servo tray is missing. The formers inside the fusealge are not straight, The ring for the cowl does not fit. The landing gear had to be busted lose and rewelded to fit in the slot correctly. The Incidence on the floats will have to be reworked. I am sure I will find some more when I get to it. This so called ARF is not worth the money .

A good example of an ARF with adequate and detailed instructions are
Hobbico, SIG , Great Planes , Kangke , Top Flite, Lanier , World Models .

Fastsky

Ouch!!! Sounds pretty crappy!! [&o]

kinverflyer

Goldfinger, I dont think you are talking about the same kit. The KMP (ESM) Beaver is and ARTF kit and never was a reworked kit, the fuselage is fibreglass, the undercarriage is made from ali and the whole thing was designed in the ESM factory and flies extremely well, so much so demand out strips supply.

gregplv

I am in the middle of the build on this plane. I agree this is not a beginners plane but with some experience the instruction manual can be interpreted fairly easily. The hardware is all very poor and needs to be replaced. The fiberglass is thin but a nice finish job over all. My biggest gripe is the tailwheel/rudder set up. It will hide nicely within the fuse but does not look to be sturdy enough for me. i am looking into ways to improve.
The covering is very difficult to work with when ironing out wrinkles. The main gear on mine were welded very crooked. One E mail to Andrew condor got me a new landing gear and fairings very quickly. I am pleased with th responses i have gotten from Andrew Condor on this model.

Goldfinger41

I talked to Condor friday, and he has ordered new ailerons to fit , and missing parts, very nice guy. Dont know when Ill get them but I got plenty to do till than, when I get threw with this bird it will be 1st class. I have read the reviews and done my homework exstensivley. I know it will fly great and look great.

Kinverflyer, I ment the plane needed alot of rework. I know it was not sold as a reworked kit. ARF means almost ready to fly.
not fix (rework) re design. etc. Did you have to rework (fix) your incidence on your floats ? Did your landing gear fit properly? Did you have 1/2 inch gap between aileron and flaps ? I havent got to tailwheel/rudder set up yet, but I can only guess it will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys .

kinverflyer

I had one of the first ones here in the UK early last year, it built up with no problems at all, I did modify the floats to take an under carriage as I believe it looks so much better with floats

beaver180

My Feedback: (10)

Hi there kinverflyer...

You have put wheels on your floats?? Wicked! I don't like the undercarriage set up it comes with... would like to know more of your ( or anyone elses ) fitting wheels to the floats please.

Best Regards, Paul

Hellcat716

My Feedback: (2)

You forgot Hangar 9. They have one of the best manuals I have ever seen.

conchohoncho

My Feedback: (120)

I.m just starting on my KMP Beaver. I have a 3/4" gap between the aleron and the flap on each wing. I figured that this was by design as that was the way the flaps and the alerons were temporalry installed to the wing when I opened the box. Now I'm begining to wonder. Thanks for the inprt.
Richard