AirWizard

My Feedback: (3)

Way to go Joe!!!!!!!!

We are awaiting the flight report and the grin on your face.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Thanks man, I will get some simple graphics but it does look pretty blingy already.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Gator.... I WISH I could meet you there. Seriously, I would.

Thanks for the compliment !!! Glad your A51 is back in action.

propchief

My Feedback: (65)

Joe - congrats on the completion and nice looking bird! As far as slow goes I think I must top the list ... so far on my EF Extra I have the wings and stabs completed and marked the holes for the engine ... and I've had her for 6 weeks!! At the rate I'm going my son Isaac will be old enough to do the maiden flight. [X(]

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

I know. Can you imagine what the kit builders think of us? Pathetic !!! hahaha oh well. I'm just glad I have two sweet EF birds to twirl all over the sky this summer. Can't wait to get some gallons through this one. This weekend isn't looken so good. Oh well. Maybe I'll work on graphics.

ArcherIIDriver

Looks great, Joe! I need to quit slackin' & get mine done now! Can't wait for your flight report...especially a comparison to the Extra.

torqmeister

Good job, Joe. Great looking Yak, my favorite scheme. You are ready for the first thaw.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Thanks torq !! I might even fly this weekend. I'm going to be ready for a Sunday maiden if it's not too windy. All the snow we got mostly in December is now melted. I have one of those transmitter mitts so my hands will be nice and toasty.

xtraflyr

My Feedback: (11)

Yea,I can't wait until mines done and ready to maiden..Oh,wait a minute! Mine is done and has 2 seasons of flights on it!! Boy how I forget with this crappy weather.

Frank..

ArcherIIDriver

OK, guys...stop rubbing it in....

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Hey I forgot to mention that I'm pretty sure your rudder arm is longer than the SWB. I was going to measure my SWB at home but forgot to. If that's true you could get binding if the rudder horn distance doesn't match the rudder arm distance.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

My boss just let me off for the afternoon to go fly.......nice sunny day....a little cold but I'm a Wisconsin boy, I'll live.

Reports to come later today.

ArcherIIDriver

Thanks for the "salt in the wound"

ArcherIIDriver

Well, I got the rudder cables a lot closer to "good" by playing with the length(s). There is still work to be done before I'd trust 'em in the air, but @ least I'm making progress. What is confusing is that I had to adjust the left side shorter and the right side longer...by quite a bit. Haven't measured since then, but I'm guessing a good 1/4" difference in length between the two. I dunno! Would be nice if I could pull the cables with the ball links still in place (to get accurate measurements), but they don't fit through the exit slots in the fuse.

I think I'm going to make up a new set of cables from the "spare hardware drawer" just to see. I plan on making the test set EXACTLY the same length (left & right) & measuring out "tick marks" in order to quantify the difference between the two lengths while I adjust them.

Joe, I would appreciate the measurement on your SWB horn whenever you can get it. Good luck w/ the maiden!

xtraflyr

My Feedback: (11)

I just measured mine and its actually 3.5 from hole to hole. It might measure 4" if the arm was'nt offset..

Good luck with it today Joe!!

Frank

ArcherIIDriver

Thanks, xtra...that's a big difference between the SWB & the MPI. If my memory is correct, my MPI is 4 & 1/32" from hole to hole.

xtraflyr

My Feedback: (11)

No problem,I figured I might as well go and measure for you. Joe's to busy doing the maiden on his Yak,hopefully!!

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

You were correct sir !!!

This.....is an awsome plane. I thought it was cheesy that they all said wow and started a WOW club but that's really the best word for it. WOW !!!

I got lucky today. There was virtually no wind, which is incredible. And there was a little sun. This is the first ARF that took no trims....not one click. But I did dial in the stabs with a Robart incidence meter, and checked the wings which were perfect.. It paid off. This thing floats, is totally neutral at 7" CG, and flies like a dream. Especially in 35 degree air at 800 feet ASL. The DL 50 with side dump pulls out of a hover aggressively for a 17 pound, 12 ounce plane. It's the perfect powerplant. the Area 51 with side dump would be another great choice. I got in about 5 flights. I had the 87" Yak and it has much the same feel but bigger and better. I like the looks more too. The fatter fuse/cowl and long gear.

Comparsion to my EF Extra? The Yak is more neutral, 4 point rolls are much easier. Also it flies on its side better. Hovering is easier and rolling harriers are incredible. It's fair to mention that my Extra's CG is more forward so that could explain some things. The Yak has a lighter feel to it. They are both awesome and I like having one of each. That was my plan...to have a more precision aerobat and a total 3D monster. The Extra flies a little faster, less drag. The Yak is only 2 ounces heavier. Carryin the Yak around the house is a beeotch. The long wide gear gets in the way.

I had two things go wrong that weren't a bid deal.
1) The Spectrum receiver was not responding to my 9C with Spectrum module when I first powered it up. I did a few power resets of both the tx and rx and finally it came back. Not sure why this happened, never did it in the basement while I was setting it up. So that freaked me out but I did a few more power resets and it kept coming back. So I did a range check with the engine running and it passed fine. I was nervous about flying after that but I did a crazy thing and flew. Didn't have that problem any more the rest of the afternoon.
2) My right wheel pant started to crack a tiny bit but it was the last flight and it was minor. I think the water from the field got into the ply and epoxy joint and broke it loose. That and the bumpy patch in our field that were supposed to be a repair. I avoided this really bumpy area for all but the last flight. It will be a no brainer 15 minute fix.

Sorry the pic's were so far out but I didn't want to get too low on the maiden flight. I like that one he snapped of the landing.

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

A couple more.

Pennzoil at 32:1 does spatter a bit. This is after 5 flights...or was it 6?

ArcherIIDriver

Congrats, Joe! Looks great! Is that a new DL50 or have you run it before today? The splatter reminds me that I didn't seal the wood around my elevator servos! Better add that to my "to-do" list.

What were your control throws set at & how did you feel about them?

Oh, yeah...and those grass baggers (spats) don't look so bad after all. I'm still leaving mine off, though. I'm too cool for spats [8D]

Gatorb8

Joe,
Gald to hear you were wowed today!!!!!!!!!
Nice job on the set up requireing no trim[8D]

I noticed very little exit air holes in your cowl, looks like you are relying on the holes in the back of the pipe area.
I stuck one of those $20 temp thermocouples from Tower that remembers max temp, I would be courious to know what your max engine temps are with that set up measured at the back of the cyl by the spark plug. I'm getting 250-300* F. You may have to wait for spring, you have a slight advantage with ambient temp this time of year!

I got out today also, 8 am was low 60's and zero wind. The repaired A51 ran great.
I gave it half throttle down the runway and she lifted off slowly then did an abrupt roll and crash. My heart stopped and my brain was searching for any input, then I noticed the plane was still flying and it was only the canopy that did the roll / crash!!!!!!!!!!!Holy Sh****************T, calm down and fly her back! Flew really wierd without the canopy.
Evidently I had a small brain f*rt and forgot the canopy screws. I need a better routine!
Guess what I'm doing tonight? ..........glueing the inside of the canopy with canopy glue[]
Have fun!
Gator

ArcherIIDriver

LOL!!! Great story, Gator! Glad she lived to play another day!

JoeAirPort

My Feedback: (41)

Gator !!! Holy crap you had me nervous there for a bit....glad it was the canopy only. Way too nice of a plane to crash.

Today was a perfect 3D flying day. And I couldn't resist doing some torque rolls, harriers, and rolling harriers, high alpha knife edges. What a fun plane.

Oh this is new DL-50 that was already flown and tuned for cold weather so it ran flawlessly in the Yak. It was in an Edge for about 10 flights. These are great engines.

PS: Gator I opened up my pipe tunnel inlet just behind the engine head. So the hot air gets sucked right out of the cowling. Also I the oil pan and muffler provide some outlet area. Most guys that are running pipes are doing this with no problem. I asked Extreme Flight and they said it should be fine. I should really zap it with a heat gun in warmer temp's to see what head temps I get after landing.

AirWizard

My Feedback: (3)

Joe.......Did I see a grin on your face in one of those pictures..........You thought we were CHEESY?

Welcome to the club!!!!!

cjcyclesrc

My Feedback: (10)

Joe,

Glad to here your madien went well. Great looking plane!! The black splatters look about normal. What oil did you run before?