LoL,

And I thought you were a stickler for weight BW

Well, a fellas gotta do what a fella gotta do.

Bottom line is this plane is too heavy for a 50cc engine at 18.5 lbs+. My review will state so. Yet I wouldn't be doing a good job of "reporting" if I didn't also point out the 3-4 easy things I did to drop over 1 lb of weight.

I think this serves the manufacturer as well as the consumer.

I'll point out that installing a larger engine will offer a much better power to weight ratio, but at the cost of wingloading.

These are such beautiful planes and well built (if overly so) and it would be a shame for many 500cc guys to dismiss it as too heavy. I hope my review will open the door to more 50cc guys emjoying this aircraft.

If I can get it to 17.25 it'll be the same weight as my CHP DV and it flies very well with a DA50... at times I could want for a little more power to weight, but not often... so that is my goal... anything udner that is icing.

I'll be finishing up some projects in the next couple days and will hammer ont he Yak right after. I hope to get my standoffs this week and get the engine mounted, surfaces hinges, servos installed and start looking at balance. It would be REAL nice if I could out one rudder servo in the tail instead of going pull-pull, and perhaps with the 3 oz savings I can do that... we'll see.

Gentleman,

Here is a picture of the tail with home made Lanier decal, don't like the myler stickers, so this one I cut with my vinyl cutter out of 2 mil premium vinyl.

Also, my instrument panel, weighs almost nothing (about a third ounce). It is made from black construction paper with 3/4" holes punched. I then down loaded pictures of full scale instruments form various sites (Chief Aircraft is a good place). Then printed them on photo paper, cut them out and glued them to the backside. The aerobatic sequence chart is from the IAC shrunk to the appropriate size. You can make the panel look even better by pouring clear paint over the instruments. Since this panel is under a tinted canapoy, it looks ok.

I'm looking at about 20 pounds, maybe a couple ounces short of that. Maudib mentioned a little more weight savings in the front. When I cut off about a 2" x 1" piece on the bottom front of the firewall to make room for the pitts muffler, the removed piece two ounces. Sheeted the area back with 1/8" at almost nothing.

Took about an ounce out of the landing gear plate. Has anybody drilled holes in the landing gear itself?

Blue Skies & Fair Winds,

Rege

3dflight,

Nice looking panel!! I am planning to drees up mine with a panel similar to yours. I have photos of the actual full scale Yak 54 which I will like to reproduce.
By the way, noticed your side by side tanks under the panel photo. What size are those?

I am...just giving maudib a hard time!!LOL!

AirTech,

They are 20 oz DuBro tanks. Had enough room to put 1/4" foam under the tanks and a small piece in between.

Blue Skies & Fair Winds,

Rege

Rege,
Thank you for the information. Good luck.

Just got my Yak 2/16. Looks good. Need a recommended engine. Understand the DA does not quite have enough oomph. 3W makes a good product, although I do not know which engines have the newer ignition. I have to buy an engine anyways. Some recommendations? Been flying models 5 yrs and pattern 3 years. Been messing with YCD 3D for 3D stuff. Now its time for gas 3D. Is pulling down the weight that critical? I understand higher wing loading means increased speeds, but is it that critical on this type of plane? I really don't want to do a bunch of mods for no reason.

Hey patternman,
I think it all comes down to flying style. If you want full 3D performance from this bird then following Maudib's and others tricks will put you in that range of power to weight ratio. Close to what my pattern buddies call the "falling leaf " weight range
I have powered my Yak with a 3w 70 which automatically puts me in a different range. More brute power for crazy vertical maneuvers but I will lose something in the "lighter than air" maneuvers. After building this one first hand I think I would be inclined to look for lighter bird if I did have a DA 50. The EF's certainly set a tone hard to follow. How about a zdz 60 ?? seems to me to be the perfect combo !

If you are looking for the "feel" you have with the UCANDO then yes, the mods are necessary. Because that plane offers BTOH power to weight and light wingloading...

Built stock, the Lanier Yak will give you either but not both depending on engine selection. 50cc will feel decently light, but P2W will not be there for the pull-outs you waant from low speed maneuvers. The 80's will be phenominal power, but not have the floaty feel.

The ZDZ 60 or Evolution 58 probably is the best engine selection for this aircraft stock.


I did get my standoffs today from [link=http://www.forgues-research.com]Forgues Research[/link]

Once again Roger... nice job!

They weigh 5.2 oz and that's pretty good considering how long they are 4.25"... (The stock 2.5" ones are like 3 oz...) When ya gonna start turning titanium Roger?

Maybe I'll get some engine mounting done before the weend...

Patterman,
I have mine ordered to be delivered this week and will be powering with a MVVS 58. I presently have 2 of these motors and they are crazy strong. My WH Edge (about 18.5 lbs.)will hover at about 1/4-1/3 throttle and pull out like a rocket out of sight. Plenty of power. I have read that it rivals any 80cc on the market.

Technical specifications from the manual

Bore 42 mm Stroke 42 mm
Weight of complete engine without ignition* 1820 g
Fuel Unleaded 95-octane fuel
Maximum power output ** 8.5 HP/6950 RpM
Weight of ignition unit 165 g
Lubrication Oil with petrol in mixture 1:40
RpM range 1000 – 7500 RpM
two-blade propellers:
22x10, 22x12, 22x14
24x8, 24x9, 24x10, 24x12
25x7, 25x8, 25x9, 25x10, 25x12
26x7, 26x8, 26x9, 26x10

three-blade propellers:
22x10, 22x12
24x9, 24x10, 24x12

Patternman,

I am powering mine with a 3W 75iUS, should provide plenty of power. However, it is a 5 1/2 pound engine with muffler and ignition. I will say that my 73" wing span Goldberg Ultimate will go out of sight verticle with the 3w 75iUS. And it weighs north of 20 pounds. I considered a ZDZ 60 (as I have a ZDZ 80 and it runs well), but had the 3W. Not quite finished, but I suspect I will put the batteries behind the wing tube to balance and right now I have one rudder servo in the tail.

Blue Skies & Fair Winds,

Rege

Have any of you MVVS 58 guys thought about what prop and muffler you're going to use? I'm thinking of going with the can type muffler for this thing to keep noise down, most important for me, and for more power but I have no idea how to go about mounting it yet. I'd kind of like to mount it in the plane itself but I've never done anything like that before and I'm worried about making the firewall weak with this engine. Plus keeping it vented so the heat doesn't mess my covering up or keeping it away from my gas tank.

Haven't gotten a prop yet but I was thinking of a Mejzlik 26x8 or 10N, when broken in I'd like it to hit at least 6 grand or close enough. I want a prop that will mostly to keep the sound down. It would also be cool to say, "My plane has a 26 inch prop!". I might get a cheap 24x10 to break it in with so it will be easier on the engine though.

I noticed the Evolution 58 GX didn't come with a mounting plate (a sheet of paper). I'm guessing the thrust line is right in the middle of the mounting holes for the engine? Looks like a job for autocad. Print it out to scale then trace it to transparent paper, tape it to the planes cross hairs and use a scratch awl to make the holes. Is anyone using a different or better way?

Last but not least is the receiver. I can't make up my mind if I'm going to go with a single 9 channel PCM Rx or two 7 channel PPM Rxs. The dual servos in the wings are going to be a pain no matter what but I think two receivers would help. The wing itself would hog 4 channels and the elevator 2, but with two receivers I'd cut it down to 3 channels. If I didn't use a choke servo I'd be fine with the 9PCM. This is my first gasser so I don't know if I need one or not. Three servos for an engine does seem like a lot.

Okay one last question, does the fuel tank that comes with this thing support gas? And how do you run the vent line for the fuel tank. Is it the same as glow?

Thanks everyone for reading and good luck with your yaks!

The Lanier isn't really a canister friendly design, but an experienced builder could get one a going. Probably something like one of Dick H's channels.

There's bee a good deal of discussion on the 58 on this thread... you might want to some more research on what people are getting with it and with what props.

26x8 or 10 is WAY too much prop for a 60cc engine. And the specs showing a prop range from 22x10 to 26x10 is nuts.

An efficient 24x8 or 10 will most likely be the sweet prop for this engine allowing it to operate in it's optimal power band and giving good spool up.

An 80 spins a 26x10 optimally... and me thinks the 58 has had a little too much Y and E added to their HP (hype).

YMMV...

I agree with Maudib, the MVVS may be a powerful enigne, but I have a ZDZ 80 and two 3w 75iUS engines that all are spinning a mejzlik 26x10. I could hardly imagine a 60 cc turning it very well. I would recommend a 24x10 or x8.

Blue Skies & Fair Winds,

Rege

I made a template out of transparent vinyl (quilting pattern making material) by measuring exactly a 78mm square. If you join the corners through the center, and draw lines perpendicular from there to the sides you get a perfect pattern. I then punched holes at the 78mm intersections, and mesured the offset of the carburator to mark the center of the carburator hole to be cut in the firewall.

The 26x10N is only with the header and canister @ 6,000 rpm.

I am turning a Bolly wood 24x10 @ 6,000rpm static with a slimline pitts modified to fit.

Pulls an 18# BME YAK-54 around like its nothing. Verticle till you cant see it anymore, how high do you need to go? This is at 5,000 ft elevation.

Spools up fast enough to get the YAK moving verticle from a hover. Alot of people use the term "Rocket", I like to compare it to a good TOC set-up. Not afterburners but it jumps into verticle when you tell it to. This is the kind of power 3-Ders are looking for, very resposive usable power. Not too much, but enough when you want it. In other words I dont wonder if I should have used a bigger motor and I'm not wanting for more power-yet.

I will be interested in the flight characteristics of those who went for power and those who stayed light. Thanks for the input.

You should not at all need a 26" prop on this plane no matter what motor. As far as the MVVS 58 and this plane, a 23x10 or 24x8 would probably serve best. You just don't need a 26" prop on this plane.

Ya 26" on this size plane is overkill. I went to 4" tires on BME for more clearance with a 24" prop. The plane set up with an MVVS 58 would only be about 3/4-1lb heavier. If a plane needs more weight in the nose to balance then a bigger motor makes more sense than dead weight, just a thought. Also this Lanier YAK could use a bigger motor for its size. Its bigger and heavier than all the other 50cc YAKs, it would be a good fit for the MVVS. If you could get this plane to come in at 18 -19lbs with the MVVS it should be a good combo and at 17-18 it would be awsome. I think the DA-50 is ideal for 14-17lbs and the MVVS 58 is more suited for 17-22lbs for 3-D. If you just burn gas and loaf around having a good time then you could use a G-62 and fly it at 20lbs.

Finally got my maiden in.
One flight only, temps in the upper twenties with light winds so it was all my finger could take ! But I couldn’t wait any longer..
Had to tinker with a few things before getting off the ground. I think my throttle servo was having an aneurism from the cold.
The takeoff , flying and landing were all very predictable (as expected). I made a few knife edge passes and did half a dozen low speed snaps. Didn't try anything crazy, yet. All in all the plane fly's "big" in the air, meaning It has the presence of a bigger plane and fly’s that way as well. Snaps are very predictable with just a little spill over at the end. Knife edge will require some mixing, not much but there is a little coupling to deal with. I was playing with the trim’s and found it to be very pitch sensitive , even with the CG in the middle of the suggested range so I think I'll crank up the expo and play some more with the CG. I have plenty of power with the 70US with about a quarter of the throttle stick to spare. Climbing maneuvers are just a matter of pointing the nose up and pushing the T stick forward. Nice... landings are uneventful, I did a couple of touch and goes and felt that I could almost set the plane up, cut the throttle and set the transmitter down Of course I didn’t ! but it felt that way

I bought one,broken canopy,busted cowl,sheeting busted on hatch next to the cowl,sheeting busted on rear deck in two places,contacted the dealer,told him to get me a cowl and canopy and I would be willing to replace the busted sheeting myself.
He contacted Lanier and said the lady but he didn't say lady he used the B word on the other end was very rude and said to send in the cowl and canopy and when they got a shipment in they would ship the new ones out but didn't know when that would be.
I think its pretty bad to spend 500.00 plus bucks on a airplane and get this kind of service.
He also asked if I could assemble the plane and fly it till they got a shipment in and she said no that we had to send the damaged products in immediately.

NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS.

hey neal - just return the complete kit back . if you got it from tower . they are the best to deal with. billl - wrc flyer

I have already talked with Tower they can't take them back because their contract with Lanier states that they cannot send back any kits,and don't stock any replacement parts.