20cc Beaver Building Addendum

More and more customers are getting into building their Beaver kits, and we're getting great feedback regarding their progress. We're delighted that so many customers are pleased with the thought and engineering that went into the design. Our goal was to make the kit an enjoyable build, and based upon what we've heard so far, we think we've hit the mark.

There are a few issues, however, that you need to be aware of as you get into building your kit.

1) The supplied elevator pushrod is too short. This happened as a result of a miscommunication with the factory. We caught this issue early, so only the first few kits out the door have a problem. This includes all the kits ordered during the preorder campaign, and then

Black Dot on Outer Box

maybe the first few kits that were shipped once those were filled.

We have received a quantity of replacement pushrods the correct length, and have been inserting them into the kit boxes before shipment. All the kits that have been reworked have a SMALL BLACK DOT on the end of the OUTER box as shown:

Please note the pushrod will be free-floating inside the box, and you may have to search for it under a box flap or nestled amongst the hardware bags. But it's there! If your kit box doesn't have a black dot and your kit doesn't have an extra pushrod, just let us know and we'll find a way to get one to you.

2) The tailwheel steering cable plastic guide tubes turned out to be larger than the prototypes' tubes, so as a result, the holes in the bulkheads that these tubes pass through are too small. BEFORE ASSEMBLING YOUR FUSELAGE make sure you measure the tube diameter and drill or file out these holes in the bulkheads. these are the smaller holes that are lower on the bulkheads than the pushrod guide tube holes.

3) It turns out we can't count. We told the manufacturer to include 20 of the 4-40 x 3/8" socket head cap screws and matching blind nuts for attaching the strut mounts and float mounts, as well as the cowl, to the fuselage. In reality we need 24 of those. We don't have any of these on hand, but they're a regular item you should be able to find at a local hobby shop, or online from Horizon/Tower.

4) The last item is regarding flap pushrod geometry. Last summer we ended up having some issues with the left flap servos after a bunch of flying. We think the problem came from the geometry of the servo arm when the flap is all the way down. With the flap fully extended, the servo arm needs to be pointing almost straight back to reduce the moment that the pushrod force is generating on the servo. To do this, the flap pushrods need to be about 1/8" shorter than the specification listed in the manual. This is a small enough difference that the adjustment can be made by turning in the flap clevis. At the same time the flap servo control horn can be rotated aft one or two teeth on the servo shaft spline.

We apologize for these issues. If we find any other issues that need to be communicated, we'll post them here on this blog.

So keep on building, and be sure to send us some photos of your completed aircraft!