Paul Wise

hey, samtech
keep on.........

playntraffic

Yes please Samtech! I am very interested in the new one (Blue and White) but have been concerned that it was larger and heavier than the old one. Please post a weight as soon as you can.

Is the plane physically larger than the old one? Does it seem any heavier? Thanks.

apriliamille

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hi,
thanks for the pics.

i see some things i will incorperate into additions onto my plane if you dont mind.

apriliamille

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update on my experiences.

minor things have occurred and one major thing occured.

i accidentally leaned on the cowl while installing a prop and an ear that is used for bolting the cowl in place came out. my fault im sure and cant really blame the plane manufactur for that one

the wing blind nut mounting wood came loose while transporting in a wing bag. i stored with the nylon bolt installed and i think it bumped and pushed the little pins out of the wood. cant really blame the manufacture for that one.

on a landing i clipped the wheels on the edge of the pavement. (lucky me i missed the prop but got the gear. sooo close) plane skidded across the runway as the left wheel arm came out the bottom. wing survived rather well with just a scrape mark up near the tip of the wing. rebuilt the gear and used some glass to reinforce it and immediately collapsed the gear again the following day on landing (my fault for not calculating into repairs of re inforcing a collapse to the top). the entire gear section has been removed and replaced with fresh chunks of wood that seams to have a stronger ply in it then the manufacture ply. lowerd the wheel gear below the deck and sandwiched it between the two new pieces of wood. if this gear mount fails the plane is kindling for sure. forgot to take pics before i re covered the area. after a day of flights i might cut off the covering and verify the new mounting stability. will take photos at that time. cant fault the manufacture for this as it was me who clipped the wheels. the stock ply that the gear was mounted to seamed in a few individuals opinions to have separated more then it should have. i tend to still think the hot desert heat has some affect on this.

plane is tracking awesome. rolling good. stalls beautifully and knifes with a tad pull to the wheels. still not getting powerfull verticals till out of sight but im not really expecting it with this plane it is pulling to a fair height with the crrc combo though. still on the first gallon of fuel though.

plane is still doing as expected. experience with my first gasser for an economical price. plus the added bonus of "modelling" as im learning about various techniques of landing gear modifications. which i never had to do with my prior smaller glow models.

samtech

AAHHH nuts! Now that you mention it... I had some trouble with those cowl mounting "ears" as well... There's just not much meat there. I tried gluing them back in with a bunch of CA and baking soda but they keapt coming off... I ended up making replacement ears that went way back up against the sheeting and thin CA'ed the hell out of them. No more problems. I'll see if I have one laying around this evening and take a couple of pics.

antiquefer

Anyone still watching this thread? I am assembling the TLT Yak 54 with the SPE 26. I will use all supplied hardware, except c/a hinges. I prefer Robart pinpoints. What I would like to know is if there is any need for ballast to ballance the plane. Can it be done with positioning the rx battery, and or throttle servo? What is the all up weight with the SPE 26. Thanks for any information...................................anti quefer.

apriliamille

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hi,
i dont have a scale to weigh my crrc 26 engine. i didnt need any ballast. unfortunately the plane dirt darted recently and i sure miss it. it was a fun toy. total loss. so i am unable to show photos outside what i had for the build thread. the crrc used the stock side dump muffler. on the left side of the plane i had the ignition right up on the engine box vertical wall fastened as far back as i could zip tie it with the openings that were in the wall. battery (simple 4.8 v 18 dollar one) was on the right side. in similar position. throttle servo was on the right side in the stock servo position under the motor box. the fuel tank was hanging about a quarter length off the platform (as far as i felt comfortable hanging it over and still having it solid since there was no location near the wing tube). i used the stock reccomendation for cg 5 and 1/3 back and set the a123 battery to where i was at a spot that had a slight tip forward and marked some lines. i then hung the plane front to back with some string and i ended up with a tad to the left side (not much by my memory) location of the battery wehre i mounted it

antiquefer

apriliamille. Thanks for the help....................................antiquefer .

w7sz

Picked up a used TLT 25% Yak 54 with SPE-26 installed. First flight today and very impressed with it's
aerobatic capability except for vertical. AUW is just under 10# but the engine is not providing enough
thrust for good vertical maneuvers such as hammer heads (does good tail slides ).

Wonder what props are being used? Mine is a JXF 18x6.

Engine speed is just under 7,000 rpm. However, still running slightly rich. Setting needle is very time
consuming as must be done with cowl off and then changes to richer with cowl back on.

I do have a CRRC 26G, which has a lot of go, but would like to stay with SPE if possible.
My application is IMAC base pattern.

Thanks..Larry

samtech

Well... I fly with a saito 180 so I'm probley not to much help.... Lean it out. I'm using xoar props and have been enjoying them a great deal... The Menz 18 x 6 is about the highest thrust prop that size I've tryed but it "bites" real hard. Difficult to hover... For Imac you might think about a something a little faster. I use a 16 x8 xoar for precision. At 7000 on an 18x6 your plane is too slow. Slow is good for Imac but with that set up your going to be near full throttle strait and level for that crisp flight responce we all like... which leaves you with nothing left when you start in to your upline. That's just my two cents... Might think about a more powerful engine. I like my 180 but a 220 would really scream... OS 160 or a 43cc gas...
As far as it getting fat with the cowl back on... You could make an extention to adjust it out side the cowl... or you could drill a small hole in the cowl and use a really long screw driver... I do both with my glow engine. I have an extention on the top end and a small 1/8 hole for the low end. I have a super thin screwdriver I picked up at harbor frieght espacialy for it. Hope it helps.

apriliamille

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hi
wish i could help with an answer, mine had a crrc and i was using combinations of the sy 16x8 xoar 16x8 in the 8200 ish range. the higher i got the harder it was for mine to hammerhead. not sure what atmoshpere or barometric scientific thingy ma jig that my primitive mind cant comprehend at altitude is doing or if i broke a level where all of a sudden the air was thinner (i know underwater atmoshperes come in the 33 ish foot range i wonder if it is the same above water). i found if i did it a little lower and coaxed it to the left manipulating the prop torque affect, i could get it to hammer perfect.

i had a conversation with ed skorepa and one of his suggestions was to use the electric style props to help spool up with a non tune piped engine. maybe try one on the spe to help it spool up faster?

w7sz

Thanks for the comments guys..SAMTECH, you nailed my problem, which is needing full throttle
for good level flight. Little reserve for good up lines or hover.

I plan to re-prop starting with 16x8.

Will also work on getting mixture correct. However, can't go in thru the cowl as the SPE-26
carb is positioned with needles angled back to firewall..Hard to get at even with cowl removed .

If this doesn't work, will consider another engine, as the plane is a definite keeper.

Larry

antiquefer

Ran the engine on the TLT 54. SPE 26. Started right up with few flips to get wet then choke off and away it went. 32:1 lawnboy. 16/8. I was surprized how quiet it was with the rear dump pits style exhaust. I have also put together the AW Yak 54 with crrc 26. Will be fun to compare the two..........................antiquefer

antiquefer

Flew the TLT 54 with SPE 26 today. Ready to fly weight is 10#-11oz. Prop is 16/8 and max rpm seems low @ 7500. First flight was with cowel off to make adjustments to carb possable. With cowel off the elev was way to sensative. Possably due to being tail heavy with it off. Otherwise it flew very streight and true. Needs more power! If I can get the same performance from this eng as I get from the crrc on the AW version then it will be much better, however I think both planes could use more power and less weight. I will need more time on this plane to make any real comparrisons. With the cowel back on and some more expo on the elevator the second flight was much more comfortable. BUT! about 3 minutes into the flight the engine started missing horrably so I had to land. I checked the ign battery and it was at 4.9v-OK, so I dont know what was happening. It is colder than a well digger's butt here now so I didnt stay long enough to figure it out. I will try again tomorrow.

davidj

I also got one of these Yak's with the CRRC 26 from Tom at Valley View RC. Mine is Almost Ready To Fly. I will start engine testing and break-in this weekend. I will start with a 17x8 prop and 20:1 mix for break-in and see what RPM's I get. I don't expect to get over 7800 RPM's until I get the mix ratio down to 32:1. The weight is 10.8 lbs and I did not need any additional weight to get the CG at 5.25". I have 2 elevator servos, 2 batteies and switches and a battery backer and (an opti kill) for the JR 921 receiver. Other than that it was a stock build. I doubled up on the CA hinges on all surfaces. I had to replace some of the stock hardware, especially the small screws that the heads popped off when any pressure was applied. The kit only comes with one elevator control horn set up so I had to get another set so I could use two servo's. The cardboard wing tubes were something I've never seen before. I coated them with 20 min (thin) epoxy that soaked in but did not get all the way to the inside. The airframe appears straight and the measurements are all within 1/8". The rudder trailing edge looked like an S-turn but I was able to straighten it with pressure and a heat gun. I'm a little concerned with the structural strength of the landing gear. I have not reinforced it yet and I do not see anyway to really add any strength to it. Overall the build went OK, however this is my first gasser. How this ship holds up to the stress of flight and life in the hanger has yet to be determined.

davidj

if your interested in the CRRC 26i go here

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_54...page_31/tm.htm

davidj

Da Yak fly's. Had 3 flights with her yesterday. She only needed a few clicks of up elevator so the airframe is straight and true. The CRRC was still at 24:1 but did give 7400 rpm's on the ground going into the last flight. The engine runs smooth and I'm hoping for another 1000 rpm's when it gets broken in and the mix to 40:1. The plane flew very stable and stall testing showed a straight forward mush. Once I used all 45 degrees of elevator the right wing let go. The yak is not fast and seams to have a lot of drag. Down lines at idle had a nice slow acceleration. Full throttle passes and then chopping the throttle the ship slows quickly. I might preface this with the fact that I have been flying gliders for the last 5 years. I ran it out of gas on the last flight at about 75' (inverted of coarse) and the pull around just killed the air speed and getting her back was tricky. My error totally but while the ship was in peril I still had control and could drop the nose. It almost reminded me of flying a dead stick bipe. I like the way the Yak rolls. Now I just need to get used to ballistic rolls again. Inverted flight needed almost no push to hold level flight. After a full post flight check no problems were found except for the muffler. I thought I heard a slight difference in the exhaust note near the end of the last flight.

helodrvr

My Feedback: (88)

davidj,

I have the peak 25% yak 54 version, I believe they are the same aircraft. Did you have a problem mounting the the wheel spats/pants. On mine the supplied mounting bolts where 1/4 - 3/8 to short and also the threaded portion of the wheel axle was to short (was able to get a few turns of the nut on the axle before it hit fiberglass). Looks like to me, they changed the design. The original spat you had to attach the mounting bracket to the spat then attach to the gear leg. New design is all one peice.

Thanks
Clarence

samtech

Ok, the new wheel spats fit like *****... I have both the new and the old. the old ones being way better but slightly heavier. How I mounted mine was to dremal out the big hole untill the axle shoulder fit all the way inside of it. Then I used some smallish button head allen bolts from the inside to some locknuts on the outside. Does that make any since?

helodrvr

My Feedback: (88)

Samtech

Thanks for the info. I had some longer screws lying around for the upper two holes. As for the wheel axle, I will give your idea a shot.

Thanks

Clarence

davidj

The only problem with my spats was that one was pointed more down than the other one. I had to redrill the holes in the one to get it right. I chased (re-drilled) all the holes that were predrilled just to make sure they were OK and did find several throughout the ship that were not completely drilled out. The small flat head phillips wood screws that came in my kit are total junk. Several of the heads popped off when just a little pressure was applied. I ended up replacing these screws and gluing the new screws in with CA. I will also say that many of the predrilled holes were drilled too small for the size of screw provided. I re-drilled many to a larger size to get the screws in without stripping the heads.

davidj

Had 2 more flights with the Yak. I'm getting the throws and expo dialed in and I like the way this ship flys. There is a little bit of wing walk at high alpha angles but not to bad. The stalls are very gentle and straight forward with the CG at 5 1/3". I'm going to try moving the CG to 5 1/2" to see how the ship reacts. As an airframe I give the ship good marks. If I could get more power this ship could be a real winner. The new replacement muffler failed in the same place after just 2 flights. The engine was running smooth and I checked both the prop and spinner on my ballancer during the initial build.

davidj

The Yak is again ready to fly. I modified a few things. The engine has been remounted and now sports a 17x6 JFX prop. I got another muffler and we will see if it can last longer. The 3 JFX props I have all ballance perfectly. I moved the fuel tank back to and almost contacting the wing tube and moved much of the wiring in front of the tank for ballance. This weekend I will be able to determine if the airframe has an incidence problem as I'm still carring some up elevator trim with almost no push needed when inverted.

antiquefer

I am starting my second TLT 54 build. The first was for a friend of mine. It has a spe 26.I think I will try a CRRC in this one unless I can find another Gas burner with more power of same or less weight. Any weight saveing ideas anyone might have will be much appreciated. I want to try a one servo elevator setup, but not the system the kit has.....................antiquefer.

davidj

If you mount a single elevator servo up in the canopy area you could remove about 3+ oz from the ship. Smaller batteries can also save many oz's. The only other area to really remove weight is by shortening all the wires (lots of soldering) and I bet you can remove 1.5 oz. here alone. A lightened spinner back plate can save near an oz. In all you would be hard pressed to save more than 8 oz. My Yak now weighs in at 10.8 lbs but I added a pilot figure and some extra balsa to support the gas tank which is now just in front of the wing tube.