Langster

mga,

Yak looks great! What prop and rpm do you have on the FPE 70? That's a nice flying field as well and the Yak color scheme is striking agains the grass and sky. I have had no problems seeing my Yak in any conditions so far and the Yak underside is a good contrast to the topside which really helps for rolling maneuvres.

Lang

mga

I am using a wooden prop master airsrew 24x10 and the engine is turning at 6219 rpm's. using a 50/1 mix with super unleaded, and the oil I am using is Bel Ray MC1 which Kurt Roth from FPE recommends, and have been using on all my FPE engines since the beginning. without any problems. I have a Bison Pitts style muffler on her.

kmeyers

Thank you for the replys guys. You've talked me into building this one.

mga: Are you coming to Chicago this summer?

mga

Not sure about going to Chicago this summer, as my son and grand daughter are coming to montreal.
The pics were taken this past weekend, at the IMAC , the pic of me with my good friend Ivan Kristensen. Again, the Yak is just great. Yesterday I spent some time changing the thrust, I put more right. The FPE 70cc really pulls, and going into a reverse imelman would pull to the left. So far that was the only fault with it, but that is the set up. The landings are very slow and steady as you can see in the pics.

petergordon

My Feedback: (5)

Does anyone know of anybody who has installed a ZDZ 60 in this bird? I decided to do away with the zdz 50 and put in the bigger motor. Problem is that the standoff lengths are now only 3/4" and that puts the needles right in the middle of the firewall!!!
I've had to remove the carb, and re-attach on the back side of the firewall. I haven't tightened up the carb bolts yet. I can notch the firewall to clear the needles, but then is the issue of adjusting them. I though of drilling an access hole through the top of the firewall to get to the needle, but I don't want to weaken the firewall too much. I suppose I could then laminate both sides of the firewall with a piece of something to stiffen the weaken area.

Ideas?

Peter

Patto

Peter,

That looks similar to my set-up with the 3W70. I had to bore out a hole in the firewall for the carb stack, and then I installed the engine without the carb. The carb was installed last.

-Pat

iflywhenican

My Feedback: (1)

Peter, Can you use longer standoff's without getting to far away from the cowling? Also, I suggest that you install some wide tri-stock in the corners of your firewall or glass the corners or do both.

sevans16

I am the proud new owner of the Lanier Yak. I am planning on putting the new DA-85 in it. I am on the DA list anyway. It weighs in about 4.2 lbs I am told one pound more than a DA-50. I have not got a chance to read all these post but From the little Ihave read it should balance good with the 85 and have crazy power? I think it swings like a 24" prop. Would that cause any ground clearance probelms?

mga

No, it would not cause ground clearance problems. As I have a FPE 70cc with a 24x10 prop. no problems. But I strongly advise you to change the landing gear system. Rather than
have the metal landing gear go in on top of the plate. cut out the part under the plywood plate and replace it with a good american ply, also the chineese ply sides the their plate is glued to, glute a good america ply on each side, in other words re do the box. The put blind nuts inside and screw your landing gear from the bottom rather than from inside.
it is a very weak part of the plane. I have about 100 flights on mine and now with the mods it flies great and no problem with the landing gear.

Patto

I agree with mga on this...

iflywhenican

My Feedback: (1)

DITTO....DITTO... on the gear mods. I have not had any more problems with mine since I redone it.

sevans16

Do you have any pics of this mod. Did you cover up the bottom part of the LG mount?

Patto

It is with GREAT SADNESS that I announce the crash of my Lanier Yak 54... During flight, while performing snap rolls, one of the plywood pieces, that the wing anti-twist tubes mount into, failed. The wing came apart on one side and the airplane spun into the ground, resulting in a total loss of the airframe and two expensive servos. The 3W 70cc engine appears to be okay, but I will have to start it to know for sure.

The thing that really bothers me is that it was clearly a defect that must have worked loose over time. I'll call Lanier and see what they have to say. I'll relay the results to you folks.

Please inspect and re-inforce the plywood where the tubes insert into the fuselage on your airplanes!!! It would be very upsetting to hear that this happened to someone else as well.

I'm really sad about this. It was my favorite airplane by far. I almost always bring a back-up airplane to the field with me, but since I got the Yak I found that the back-up plane never left the back of the truck.

The crash today was really quite a spectacular sight. The fuse came down about 100 yards away from the broken wing, which rained down very slowly in many pieces.

-Pat

Big Oakden

My Feedback: (3)

OK guys;

Here's a question I need to ask,

I am going to order this plane monday or tuesday from Tower.

I am looking at an 80cc motor from western hobbies. "The new EVO 80TT Sport from Spain is truly a piece of mechanical artwork. Its quality and power are unrivaled. It makes the same power as a DA100 but offers a weight savings of a single exhaust and a lightweight aluminum cylinder head that is separate from the cylinder. This is a perfect choice in power for building that lightweight 33% aircraft. Approximately 8.5hp to swing a 24x12 to 26x12 prop."

IF you are putting 70cc + motors on the nose, how much does your motor weigh in at?

I have gon nuts reading all 52 pages of this post about making sure to have more power than a DA-50 can produce, and the more the better she flies.

I have seen the EVO 80TT motor and she looks real nice, but I am concerned about the weight in the nose. I am e-mailing Jim at Western tonight to get the weight from him of the motor with cans or mufflers so I can start comparing weights.

P-Diddy, was your motor the twin 70cc? or the single ? I have read this column enough times that it is just a blurrrrrrrr.

In the past I was looking at pulling the G62 out of my ISC Pitts and sticking it in the nose, but have decided to fly the pitts until the wings fall off or it's in a hundred pieces from learning how to take it off...(along with a little help of a JR G500A Gyro....

I have spoken to several who have built this plane, and after having seen where they are discontinuing this plane and replace it with a 94" model (besides the 87" is much nicer looking :-)... I am going to order it this week.

So, any help that anyone can give me on motor weights would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

Patto

Mine is (WAS!!) a single cylinder. I shouldn't say "was" because the engine is still around, just not the wonderful airplane...*sob*

Big Oakden

My Feedback: (3)

P-Diddy,

I feel your pain....I have lost several of my favorite planes when they were in their prime. One was a total loss including all radio gear..

So, are you going to replace her with another one while they are still available? Or are you going to another airframe?

my regrets on the loss of your plane. Dont pull a "Dave" ( I crashed my 4* 60)(My 3rd plane, witha YS91FZ) and I shook so bad trying to "relearn to fly" that my senior telemaster Hinked and jinked when I flew her, and it took me the better part of a year and a half to gain my flying confidence back....I have crashed several other planes since then, and have almost, finally gotten over loosing my confidence flying after a crash...I think....)

Hope you get another one, they are the best looking of all the yak's out there IMHO...

Dave

mga

Yes, I have the small line up tubes come loose, after I took off the wing. This happened today. I am going to epoxy them all into place. It looks like they were only pushed in to a tightness, but with engine vibration, I guess after many flights, they come loose. So another thing to check before you fly it.
Too bad about your plane.

Patto

The tubes in my wing were secured with glue. I believe it was the support ply in the fuselage where the anti-twist tubes insert that broke or came loose.

Oh, I won't waste any good flying time on the ground because of this. In fact, it just makes me want to fly my Giles that has been collecting dust for awhile. I've had a catastrophic crash like this once before, but that was after a mid-air collision. It would be different if it were my fault, then I could be mad at myself for screwing up, but I'm a little upset that it was not built better. We'll see what Lanier has to say. I'd be surprised if they did anything to help me, but I can show pictures of where it failed. I'll let y'all know what they say.

-Pat

iflywhenican

My Feedback: (1)

P-Diddy....did both anti-rotation tube blocks give way in the fuse?
I am sorry that you lost your plane. I lost a GP Super Skybolt due to a stripped servo gear while doing a flat spin a couple weeks ago.

hooker53

My Feedback: (106)

OK all you Lanier Yak 54 flyers. What CG are you flying at for good landings and scale flight?? Thanks for your help

patternman

My Feedback: (-1)

Peter,
I have a ZDZ60 in my plane. I use longer standoffs, that put the adjustments outside the box. Still had to make quite a hole for the carb., but it does not seem to mind. I put more holes in the box to lighten it. The ZDZ60 is just about right for this plane. Not too heavy, not too powerful. I am using a wood Zinger Pro 24/8. Seems to pull uplines good, but need nearly full throttle to accelerate well. I did need a few degrees of right thrust built into the standoffs, about 1/8" shorter on one side, to make it pull up straight. I have tried a Carbon Fiber Mejzlik 22/12 and wood Bolly 24/10. Liked the Bolly, but may like the Zinger size better. It turns 6200 on the ground and sounds good in the air.

yarom

My Feedback: (82)

The plane balances perfectly well with a DA-50 and the rudder servo on pull/pull.

If you go with a heavier engine, you can move the servo to the tail and this would buy you some reprieve.

There is a limit how heavy you can go with the engine without running into severe CG issues. I would not go with anything that is more than one lbs. more than the DA, or 4 lbs.

davemilw07

Does anyone have any experience with the 94" Lanier Yak 54?? (I haven't read all of the pages here, so maybe I missed something)

I'm thinking about getting one myself..........................

Regards, Dave

hooker53

My Feedback: (106)

Guys, Maidened my yak the other day and all I can say is WOW---. man am I gonna like this plane. I made all the mods talked about on this thread and she just flys and lands like a dream. Now I'm in the process of making her lose WT. Does anyone know where to find carbon fiber gear for this bird?? I'm also running a Smart-fly power expander in mine and love knowing I have two Bats onboard. Thanks for all the help on this thread. Now if she could lose just a pound or two. Hooker53

AirWizard

My Feedback: (3)

I have a good friend who just put a zdz super 80 on his Yak and can you say extreme!!!!!!!!!!!