DE HAVILLAND DHC-2 BEAVER

This Beaver was built for FS2004 using FSDS2 and Paint Shop Pro. Rossiter's book "The Immortal Beaver" and an Army U-6A manual were used for much of the information including cockpit detail. The other Beavers currently available are Fred Banting's FS2002 version and Steven Grant's FS2004 version. I have spent many hours in Fred's airplane but I am not familliar with Steven's. There is no intentional resemblence to either of these, other than a Beaver is a Beaver. Although my version is available only in float version at this time, it is the only one with a functioning VC. The paint scheme is loosely based on the cover illustration of Rossiter's book.

2D PANEL

A 2D panel is not supplied with this airplane and is not required unless you want one. You could use the panel from Fred's Beaver if you have it, and there is at least one other available at Avsim, including a photo-real one. You will have to cut and paste the appropriate lines into the panel cfg file and add the gauges to the FS2004 gauge file. You will need only the main panel and the yoke. Two sections, Window00 and Window03, are identified as the ones to change. I advise against modifying the VC sections or adding the other interior views unless you are experienced at this. 

VC

The Beaver is intended to be flown from the VC, from startup to shutdown. Most of the gauges and switches are selectable. The panel contains a mixture of default gauges and gauges from Fred's Beaver.

If you pan up you will see trim wheels up on the roof. They are not animated or selectable, but a default trim indicator is placed there for visual reference. If you pan down you will see a flap lever and hydraulic pump handle between the seats. The flap lever is animated but you will have to activate it from the keyboard or flight yoke. There is a water rudder retraction handle next to the left door. You can see it move with shift-W. It pulls up on a cable and then fits into a clip to hold it up. Other levers are not functional but are there to make the interior look more like a Beaver. You can also see the oil filler tube for adding oil while in-flight. All doors are animated.

The carb air temperature gauge does not appear to work and I don't know how to fix it at this time. Also, no one yet knows how to make raindrops appear on a VC windshield.

One note about the gauges- it is necessary to copy the Lockheed Vega gauge zip file into the Beaver panel file. Do not unzip it. If this file is missing you will not see certain gauges and switches.

PERFORMANCE

I intended to make this plane stable and a little sluggish on the controls. It is built from my Renegade aircraft cfg file, which started out as a FS2002 C182, and I made several modifications to accommodate the higher power of the Wasp Jr. engine and other differences such as flaps and contact points. I had to reduce the empty weight considerably to get the airplane to break free at the specified speed. You can use a full tank of fuel, but if you modify the empty weight the performance will suffer unrealistically.

It appears that something is different in how FS2004 handles flight dynamics, and there is evidence that the performance may also vary between different computers and hardware. Thus, what works good on my system may be different on yours. If the performance is not quite to your tastes, experiment with the tuning sliders in the cfg file. You can also adjust the eyepoint if the view of the panel and interior is not to your liking.

FLYING THE BEAVER

My recommendation is that you start out following the procedures on the Reference page of the kneeboard. I prefer just one notch of flaps for takeoff as you will not have to fight pitch changes as much when you break out of the water. It will take a little extra speed to break free.  For landing I prefer 3 notches of flaps, instead of full flaps, and leave just a little power on for touchdown. Otherwise, speed falls off rapidly and you drop onto the water. Steering on water is accomplished by a little trickery, so if you forget to lower the water rudders you will find that it steers anyway.

EFFECTS

I left the default splash effects active. However, you really should obtain the Waterlands effects. If you do, look in the cfg file and you will see the effects line already there. You just have to switch the // between the default and Waterlands line. You should also get Mike Hambly's Waterloop sounds. There is no night lighting on the VC and the landing light does not illuminate the runway. Maybe next time. The prop spinner is the only reflective part on the aircraft. It may not show properly on all systems.

CREDITS

Thanks to Fred Banting for use of the original Beaver gauges and the sound file. Thanks to Dave Eckert for the radial engine model. I think the pilot figure was done by Dave also. The mag and starter switches were made by Chuck Dome and were obtained from Simviation.

This plane may be distributed freely provided it remains Freeware and credit is given. You may make the following modifications without asking and upload to any website: (1) repaints or other texture modifications, (2) modifications to the panel cfg file, (3) modifications to the aircraft cfg file. Just give credit. Do not include any bitmaps, sounds, or any other work that belongs to someone else without their permission. Anything else, please ask.

John L. Woodward
October 2003
jlwoodward@worldnet.att.net