| The Beaver was created by
De Havilland of Canada to be the perfect bush plane. Its
designers knew a lot about wilderness flying living in
the shadow of the Great White North and built the Beaver
to be exceptionally rugged and powerful. Entering
service in 1946, it quickly established itself on
backwoods routes throughout Canada and Alaska. It went
wherever the roads didn't, including lakes when
retrofitted with floats. This airborne pack mule still
flies in remote areas today, carrying fisherman to
weeklong getaways or island-hopping tourists in the
Caribbean. Wherever people are looking to enjoy a
secluded slice of the great outdoors, chances are a
Beaver is taking them there. It's only fitting that such
a plane be GWS's newest park flyer subject.
Designed for those afternoon getaways to the local
park, the GWS Beaver park flyer looks like a baby bush
plane. Its all-foam fuselage is molded to look like the
real thing and comes with a realistic looking cowl. No
painting is required; decals are included for extra
detail. Assembly can be completed in just a couple of
short evening sessions.
A 3-channel radio system, micro flight pack, and
charger are required to complete assembly. GWS has
designed two new flight packs specifically for use with
the Beaver. These come with just about everything needed
for the onboard electronics, including the ICS100
electric speed control, two servos, a R4N micro
receiver, and a 600mAh battery pack. A powerful EPS300C
power system consisting of a 370-type electric motor
mated to a gear reduction drive comes in the kit. This
all-in-one unit simply pops onto the model's stick motor
mount and can be easily swapped for a different EPS
system, should the modeler want to experiment with
different prop and gear reduction combinations.
We flight tested the Beaver in calm conditions using
a GWS Naro flight pack with both the 600mAh and 270mAh
7.2V battery pack. Naturally, the biggest difference was
in flight times with the 600mAh pack offering the
longest at a little over 11 minutes. The 270mAh pack
lasted for half that time, yielding about five minutes
worth of flying fun. Takeoff performance with both packs
was spirited, with the lighter 270mAh pack offering a
slight climb advantage over the bigger pack.
We could takeoff in about the length of a picnic
table and climb briskly, just as if we were taking off
from a secluded strip with trees at the end of the
runway. Once airborne, the Beaver's high wing and simple
rudder/elevator controls made for stable flight
performance that was reminiscent of a trainer. We flew
lazy 15-foot circles at half throttle without a hint of
a tip stall. There was plenty of elevator authority and
horsepower for loops too. Hushing down for landing, the
Beaver retained superb control authority all the way to
touchdown. The only thing the experience lacked was a
scenic mountain backdrop and a miniature backwoods
airstrip.
GWS has a real winner on their hands with the new
Beaver park flyer. Its scale good looks and baby bush
plane performance will provide hours of outdoors
enjoyment, much like its full scale inspiration has for
over 50 years. |
