Jamara DHC Beaver

Noticing that there's been a couple of build threads here I thought I would do one!

This is for a 41" laser cut Jamara balsa kit of the DHC Beaver.... Well, on opening the box its awful! The wood is well and truely charred, there are no plans - you d/l a set of instructions with grotty pictures, metalwork is not pre bent nor are there any drawings for them. Some wood is missing. The online build forums are also pretty much ful of condemnation as well!

Well, up for a challenge...







Some bits had virtually invisible sellotape on them. Here's one I discovered after trying to glue a piece on top


The wood is also very heavy indeed - a point mentioned in other threads so some of the sheet has been sanded down to make it a lot thinner. Some tailplane parts will need replacing entirely. And after a bit of progress...

Nice Alan, a proper kit build.

Following with interest

M

Jamara kits and ARTF's do seem to be of questionable quality. The structure on my Pilatus PC1 Porter left quite a bit to be desired for such a large airframe.

It's a shame kits like this are not all in good order. I like a well presented Beaver...

Andy

Andy Sayle wrote:It's a shame kits like this are not all in good order. I like a well presented Beaver...

Andy

Pmsl, sorry Allan, Andy is a bad lad !

I love your honest feedback, if only the seller take notice! That is why building is so off putting !
Heli manufactures are in a different league.

Trouble with balsa is it can't be injection moulded... However they have managed to make all the inside corners radiused and the outside corners square so the parts will not fit tight. Fettling is needed on each one to overcome this. Slows it down a lot. This radius is just visible in this pic on the two top parts. Lots more charring to be seen on the lower part


But moving on - a pic of the fuselage so far


And thinking ahead to the tailplane. These seem rather lardy. At 19+ gms they could need about three ounces of lead in the nose to balance just on the wood alone. Brain damage to the wing loading on small models!
I might still use them. By the time I've sanded and cut away surplas material I can save a lot and a new structure might not be all that much lighter. Hm

Or, 3 ounces of more power motor?

It will climb vertically on the 200 watt motor that's going in without any need for extra

Some fiddly curved sections above and below the nose to sheet...

A bit more on the Beaver today... Great this being on holiday!

An example of properly laser cut wood I came across -

The tailplane components after a good thrashing at weightwatchers... 7 st lighter

The almost completed fuselage. Just waiting for the wings to be ready

And the wings under construction