3D Romeo
Posts: 441
Joined: 10/3/2002
From: Romeo,
MI, USA
Status: offline
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Well, I just finished going over my fuselage to see how it compares to Gallileo's...
The first thing I noticed was the weight. I didn't weigh it, but it does feel awfully heavy when taking it out of the box. I also agree that WAY to much wood was used in the construction of this version.
As for the fit...all of the parts in mine seem to be lined up a little better than Gallileo's. However, mine was also lacking glue in a surprising amount of areas. This is kind of expected on most ARF's these days, but with the amount of things left unglued in the fuselage, I'm really worried about what the assembly of the wings, and tail group, might be like (where you can't see it because it's covered)?
If I took photos of all the areas that Gallileo did, they would all be surprisingly similar. However, my gaps seem to be smaller, and things are a little better positioned.
The canister tunnel has gaps in many places, and I'm also missing the two pieces of wood that seal off the front area. If you look at Gallileo's photos of the landing gear area, there is also lightening holes that should have been covered over with covering (at least in my opinion). The way it is you will get exhaust, and debris, inside your fuselage (depending on what type of canister, or muffler you are using).
My wing tube, and elevator, sockets are both made out of thin cardboard just like Gallileo's, and slightly crushed, too (although not as badly as Gallileo's), and the wing tube is slightly crushed at one end, too (which will no doubt prevent it from going into the wing).
The two piece main landing gear that comes with the new Yak is simply a joke!
Mine did come with a bunch of usable hardware. They no longer use the little metal angles for double truss control connections. The new Yaks come with the old bolt through the control surface method, and all the hardware supplied seems to be on par with Nelson hardware (so it's definitely usable). The only problem is that the Yak ships with the manual for the old version. So until they come out with a new manual, you are on your own trying to figure out where everything is suppose to be located. It looks like they have a piece of plywood glued to the top, and bottom, of each control surface, but I don't know if there is any hardwood in between (which there should be, if done correctly), or if it just balsa? I don't really want to start drilling holes until I find out more about how they did this. They did reply to one of my PM's, and said they'd email the new manual as soon as they get it.
Mine also came with 7 very fancy looking purple anodized aluminum servo arms (5 singles, and 2 doubles). They are probably designed to mount to the round wheels that come with servos, but if I used them I'd feel much safer mounting them to aluminum hubs like AirWild Uni-Hubs. I haven't decided yet, but I'll probably just use the AirWild MLP arms that I bought for another project.
There is probably more to write about, but it's time for dinner, and that's all I got time to write about right now.
To sum up...My initial elation upon first opening up the large box, and seeing what I thought was a very nice kit for the price, quickly turned to horror! As I realized that the airplane I received wasn't anything like what I ordered, or what is described, and shown on NitroModels website!!! The color scheme is the only thing that the two airplanes have in common. Aside from that, I would NEVER buy a large scale airplane with a two piece landing gear! Nor would I even considered buying this Yak if I knew how heavy it was. The weight shown on NitroModels website is incorrect! There are pieces missing on the fuselage, misaligned, and even falling off from lack of glue! Which makes me wonder how other areas that you can't see, like the wings, are put together?
Just a very very poor decision on part I guess... 
Mark
P.S. - I'll try keep you updated on my Yak as I get into it, but right now I have to build a couple other planes first.
< Message edited by 3D Romeo -- 4/11/2008 3:23:06 PM >
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See I told you I was a good Pilot...Doh!...Never mind...
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50cc Yak 54 -- Help me out guys!!! - 
