Dam Beaver!

[piker]

The standard set-up is marginal at best.  To get good steering you have to ditch the elastic band method and create a pull-pull scenario for each rudder.  Glenn did that and it worked well.  I haven't yet, so my rudders have been barely "good enough" all along.  A BIT better than no rudders at all 

Robert

[electroflyer]

   Hi Bill,
  Hope you like your Beaver! The water rudders are dismal in the stock form, but rigged up in a pull/pull fashion are very responsive. One thing to consider is a larger bellcrank at the tailwheel position to increase the throw. I'll send a photo if you wish.

   Glenn

[Wingnutz]

Rob, Glenn,
Thanks for the replies...I was thinking the ineffective rudder situation was something only I was experiencing. Adding to my woes was one rudder sticking in the pulled position with the elastic unable to centre it. I've at least fixed that. I'll do the pull-pull thing. Glenn, can you post the pictures of your pull-pull system please?
I like the way the model flys and it made the one water take-off and landing I've done (maiden flight at Scugog)really smooth and easy.
Dad and I drove to Frenchman's hoping to float fly yesterday but even though winds were light where I live, the SW wind was strong enough to create white caps on the lake and offshore wind in the bay when we arrived. No worries...we went to the Waterfront Restaurant and had a beer! The car is packed for another attempt today.
We did take the Beaver to ROGO last night, sprayed the floats with sillycone and enjoyed doing scale speed passes at three to four foot altitude from one end of the field to the other...the model really looks and flys scale...now if I could just figure out that characteristic Beaver radial sound...
Will post pictures of today's efforts and my new old rescue boat.
Looking forward to float flying Saturday!
Bill

[electroflyer]

  Hi Bill,
  Here is a couple of photo's which will show how I rigged my Beaver. I think I will taper the rudders as mentioned above. Catching weeds really jerks the airframe around... not good!

   Glenn

[Wingnutz]

We went to Frenchman's yesterday as it seemed pretty calm in Markham...SE wind was creating lakeside whitecaps and swirling over the spit into the bay. I've had bad experiences with high-wing floatplanes and crosswinds and as I really didn't want to chase an overturned Beaver all the way across the bay on my Stand Up Paddleboard, the Beaver stayed in the car and I flew my Polaris.
Tom,
It's true...little girls grow into women with grown up sense of humour. Little boys sometimes never grow out of their juvenile sense of humour and build and fly model airplanes!
Glenn,
Thanks for the photos...did you use a separate wire connector on each of the four monofilament lines? I'm concerned about equalizing tension on the lines if I can't adjust each one separately. I've extended the servo arm with a piece of 1/16 ply and sanded the rudder shafts to get them to rotate more freely and swimming pool tests show some improvement but I'm still not thrilled. Wire push rods or pull pull...

Also...the mystery package of monofilament bridles included with the Beaver...I think you mentioned and Rob confirmed at the meeting last night you've figured out how to mount them as pontoon bracing wires. Good for you! I phoned Great Planes support about these, e-mailed a photo of them as the "technician" I spoke to didn't know what I was talking about and got an e-mail back to say they had been included with the Beaver in error and should have been omitted!
I hate to ask you to share all your secrets when you've been generous about the pull pull but any chance you can coach me (and Great Planes support staff!) about how to mount them?

[electroflyer]

   LOL, I send some photo's of the wing to float attachments/rigging as well!

[Wingnutz]

Glenn,
You did include the answer to the mystery monofilament bridle in your photos...thanks. Thanks too for the moral support at FB recently...I didn't expect the Beaver to fly or move around on the water that well in the wind.
I've rigged up the float to wing bracing as per Glenn's photo and the photos I also found on the Flyzone Beaver thread on RCGroups. I built a longer bellcrank out of 1/16" ply and combined with sanding the rudder shafts to allow them to rotate more freely, it's made quite a difference to the water handling.
I too will modify the water rudders to deal with weeds but this week gone by, I've been float flying the Beaver and four other water planes at ROGO and having a blast!
No nose-overs, smooth take-offs and landings and a realistic looking Beaver (looks wrong to my eye with wheels!)
Ahh...the wonders of silly cone!