Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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So I have finally retired my trusty Extreme Flight Yak profile airframe after doink'ing in at the night time flying at the Huckfest in Atlanta last month.
They no longer offer that airframe but I wanted something that I could transfer my servos, motor, batteries. etc etc.
After some searching I have decided to get the Pacific Planes Yak 54 Electric and will document the build here as I like a build thread to go to for information.
The plane came in the other day and the build is in process. I usually don't like to be without my little electric this time of year when the days are short and you have to get your flying when and where you can. I will use the plane to keep my skills growing for when I am flying the 29, 31, and 35% birds on the weekends.

The Website: http://www.pacificplanes.com/

The MFG specs from the website.

Yak 54 Electric - Specifications
Wing Span : 31.5 inches
Length : 31 inches
Flying Weight : 13.5 ounces
Wing Area : 275 sq/in
Motor : Brushless (100-150w)

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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The quality on the ARF at first glance looks nice. Everything is nicely laser cut and the covering jobs when it comes out of the box is actually quite good. I could not find any flaws.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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BTW the first picture in the last group shows everything thrown in the box. It is actually bagged and everygthing taped so that nothing gets scratched or dented in tranit. I admit to just digging in and doing the kid in the candy store routine so I did not get pics of how it was packed, but is was good just like most ARF companies do these days. After all the plane has a long trip across the ocean to get here.
Isn't ironic that of the land, sea and air that the "Air"plane gets the land and sea treatment before it can graduate to the Air!
The hardware is very light, as it should be and we will see if it holds up to the harsh treatment it will be getting from me.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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More pics.

The first thing I did was to get it up on the landing gear.

The landing gear mount in two holes one above the other in the landing gear block. When inspected side by side one of the landing gear is taller than the other. The taller gear goes in the top hole and the smaller in the bottom.

There are 4 smaller holes (two pair) on either side of the gear that get the tie wraps to secure it. I just pierced the 4 holes with an exacto knife and put the tie wraps one from each side so it looks symmetrical.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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Gear is done.

wheel collars on either side of the wheel as found in the kit.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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Previous planes have the top of the fuse slotted for the rudder install. This one has the trailing edge of the vertical fin going into a slot to be glued, plus the top of course. I dry fitted it and trimmed the clear covering off of the top of the fuse where it will be glued in. Make sure that the channel is clear of excess covering so the fit goes all the way to the bottom. This will mate the vertical fin flush with the top of the fuse.

In this plane I will mount wings and tails before I install the control surfaces with the CA hinges.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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I opened the covering where the horizontal stab and elevator goes.

The elevator goes in first as it needs all the room it can get to allow the counter ballances to "make the turn."

I actually trimmed the elevator slot in the fuse about 5 mm forward of where the covering ended so I did not have to force "the turn" (getting the counterballances through the slot) too hard.

I am dry fitting for now but will add back a small bals block in the forward part of the slot before gluing in the horizontal stab as this will keep the elevator centered in the round hole in the back of the fuse cutout which allows travel from full up to full down.

I will come back to line up the horizontals after I have set the wing in the fuse. (there is method to my madness)

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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As you can see the surfaces are not perpendicular to the fuse. During the dry fit I will take some 180 grit sandpaper and shape the slots in the wing and elevator holes until I can get a perfect for the gluing.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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Starting with the wing I have placed it in the center and measured so I have the same lengths from the fuse to the tip of the wing both at the spar end and at the trailing edge of the wing end.

To me the trailing edge being a straight edge at this point will give the most accurate measurment on the measuring tape. I got just short of 16 inches.

After measuring back and forth a few times until I was happy with the numbers I then held the plane at arms length (or more) and gave it the visual inspection. The wing should look identical on both sides of the fuse. I then took a marker and drew out the line top and bottom where the wing and fuse join.

I will take a sharp X-acto knife and trim the covering off both the top and bottom just inside the magic marker line. If I trim on the wrong side of the marker line then wood will show once the wing has been glued.

Once trimmed any excess magic marker on the fuse and wing is removed with a solvent. I used a little decal solvent on a paper towl.

Flyin C

Great thread. I am enjoying watching the building process.

Looks like a good quality plane

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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Thanks Flyin C.

Well I got all the gluing done tonight. Took some pictures but will not be able to upload them until I get back to my ""Other"" computer.

It went together well, no suprises.

I have decided to get modern and avoid using the messy epoxy. After marking and trimming the wing I wiped off the marker and then wiped the wood area with a damp paper towel for the Sumo Glue.

I slid the wing in and set it to te same measurements as before making sure that the wing was plumb and perpendicular. I used little wood wedges to make it perpendicular.

Any excess Sumo Glue was wiped away on a paper towel with a little trim solvent. The Sumo glue expands to fill the gaps and does not expand forever like Gorilla glue. After fiddling with it for 5 minutes checking and re checking I set the plane down and went to fly the sim for a half hour.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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After flying for a while I came back to do the same with the horizontal stab. I measured and lined it up enough times to make me happy then marked it with the magic marker. Instead of pulling the whole stab out to trim the covering off I just slid it out far enough to work on it with the razor knife.

Again the sumo glue and wedges to make it plumb and perpendicular. I am happy with the results.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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And now to the control surfaces. I set them up and made sure that after putting the hinges in that there were equal amounts on either side of the gap line. I ran my control surfaces to about 50 degrees deflection which set the gap in the hinge line then dripped the thin CA in (with the control surface deflected) top and bottom.

Tip, keep the paper towl ready with the trim solvent and wipe the hinge line just after the CA goes in so it will not cloud up and leave residue on the clear covering. I did this on the top and bottom on the ailerons and elevator.

The rudder is on hold for a second.

Way back when I was trimming the fuselage for the wing to go in and the elevator to go in I saved all of the color (red) as spare ultra coat (it appears to be ultra coat) for repairs or patches.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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For the rudder I cut a V to accommodate the tail wheel wire in the end of the rudder line. This will make it easy to "Burry" the piece of wire into the wood so that the wire can take some punishment. I dry fitted it and made sure that the wire went deep enough then dismantled and dressed up the v cut with thick CA. I set the tailwheel wire in the thick CA and Zip Kicked it hard. Then I ran another coat of thick CA over that and Zipped it.

Here is where the extra red ultra coat comes into use. I cut a rectangle that wrapped around the wire to further secure it. This was done twice and that tailwheel wire will only be coming out after the tornado hits.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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Assembled airframe weight is 6.5 ounces. I will put the radio and servos in it tomorrow.

I threw all the servos, receiver and battery, prop stuff on the scale and it is 8 1/4 ouces. It looks like the ready to fly weight with a Thunderpower 1320 three cell will be very close to 15 ounces. Not bad, my Extreme Flight profile Yak came out at an even 16 oz.

Richard D Bahmann aka/Wrongway

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Hello all,

I just went back to my last few posts and edited in the pictures that I could not upload from home. (it seems that my home computer has issues with the new Kodak Easyshare upgrades)

I got caught up in the flying and honeydo's this weekend but am now anxious to get the equiptment installed very soon.

How ya like my new trophy?

Richard