RE: Lanier Yak
 

Well, I picked mine up today. Two boxes.

This plane looks great! The only damage I can see is the L.E. anti-rotation pin on the right wing got pushed into the wing, breaking the 2nd rib in. Should be an easy fix. I found the wing tube to be slightly loose in the fuse, but super tight in the wings. The cowl had bumped further onto the fuse during shipping, causeing some dents to the balsa and the covering. The covering job is amazing. The lazer cutting is fantastic. The cross members in the fuse and lasered to the thickness of the vertical formers (thin!).

My weights bring me in at almost exactly 12 lbs. My ZDZ 50 NG with bolly 22x8 prop, ignition, and wrap-around pitts supersonic muffler weighed in at 4 lbs, 6.7 oz - giving me a 16.4 lb plane before any electronics, glue, etc.

Peter

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Hey Peter...

It IS a really nice plane isn't it? The guy who covered this is a true master. And I mean that... when peeling it back you can see how he did it and it was simply perfect.

If you can get a hypodermic needle, squirt just a little rubbing alcohol underneath the areas that might have a dent. (I had one minor one) It's swell and when you iron it disappear... alternately you can ***** a coupe teeny holes with a pin and drop some RA onto it, it'll seep through and do the same thing...

Mine was kind of jostled in the box too... while it all made it O.K. persay... there's a good bit of movement in there... canopy, wingtube was loose and flapping. I suppose you can't complain if it arrives pretty much unbroken though.

Well if nothing else... at least tey are CONSISTENTLY 12 lbs out of box... let it air out in the house and it'll drop 1/4 lb... mine has! It may be moisture too from when they sheeted the trurtle deck and belly, as well as picking up moisture during the ocean voyage.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

hey guys - BME is comming ouy with 55cc size engine in 2 or 3 months at 2 lb 1 oz .

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Hopefully it'll be here in that timeframe... I dunno...

And it will NEVER balance in this plane... did I say NEVER? :)

It'll be hard to balance in most any ARF... but htis one? I just don't think you can lose 1 lb in the nose and the necessary 4-6oz lbs in the tail... :)

It's an awesome thing though... there are some airframes I'd REALLY work to get it into... like the new EF plane... whatever it may be... QQ 85" Yak, etc...

RE: Lanier Yak
 

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RE: Lanier Yak
 

I will eat my own words if someone gets a BME in this thing and balances it without adding dead weight and without going beyond the recommended aft CG range...

RE: Lanier Yak
 

hey dave - to help on the balence how about going to a pull -pull on the rudder and pull -pull on elv. . pull-pull elv. work fine . bill wrc-flyer

RE: Lanier Yak
 

The pull-pull rudder is almost a given, but I could be surprised... I prefer direct pushrod myslef when I can get it.

Never was much a fan of pull-pull elevators... and have simply decided to not try them anymore... had them on the DP Ultimate and they worked O.K., but well... there always seems to be too much stretch and loosening of the cables and I just don't feel comfortable with the potential flutter issues.

There's also the bearing thing that you install in the fuse and it kicks two pushrods to the elevators and a single liong pushrod to a single elevator servo in the fuse. Not sure if I'm ready to bite into that sandwich either... :)

Yeah they are definitely things you can do to balance if you've got a really light engine like the upcoming BME55... but even then... I doubt this plabe would balance with a 55 if you placed the rudder and elevator servos on the engine box! :)

I really think it'll be work to get the DA-50 balanced... maybe not. We'll see.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

fi the CG range is anything like my Lanier Edge, you WILL have to go 1" aft to get the right 3D feel to it. So don't worry about getting too aft.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

put the reciever battery in the spinner, you'll ballance just fine

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Had my buddy bring over his EF Yak wing tonight...

It is about the same length (but again the EF Yak wing recesses in the fuse 1.5" or so... When I aligned the "fuse markings" on his wign with the end of the Laneir wing, I had about an inch sticking out the end.

The Lanier wing has a longer root rib... 22.5" vs. EF 21" but a smaller tip 10" vs. 11"

Ailerons are MUCH bigger... EF's is 4.25" constant... Lanier's is 4.5 at tip and 6.25 at the root.

The Lanier chord is thicker too... 3.25" vs EF 2 5/8"

Some comparison pics...

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Can anyone tell me if the elevators come in the wing kit? Thanks

RE: Lanier Yak
 

A little more progress...

Tank on CG install.

First I selected a 16 oz Dubro tank instead of stock... 16 is ALWAYS more than I need for 15 minute flights.

1: To tall to fit under wingtube so I used a razor saw to cut a smal hunk out of the former below and slightly in front. Then I created a post from two light balsa sticks. This will be a support for the rear of the tank floor.

2: I then cut a strip of liteply to cross the fuse and create a ledge for the tank floor to sit on and glue to. Ties the weight across the former well and into a couple stringers too.

3: Tank floor is lightened and double sided velcro glued to the bottom, then plate glued in place.

4: 1/4" foam rubber is CA'd to the plate. Two strips of single sided velco is placed on top of the tank where the straps cross it (this keeps the tank from sliding anywhere, or the straps from sliding off the tank) and strapped down.

Basically the tank is on CG, and after weighing, with the smaller tanks and not using the much larger tank floor, I save a total of 1.5 oz even with the veldro and foam added.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Yeah... what Waco says... so much for old fart memory... :) 39 is way too old.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

My elevator haves came in the wing box, the rudder came in the fuse box.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

hey dave - a buddy of mine tolled me he has used a heat gun to re-shape some of the fule tanks. bill - wrcflyer

RE: Lanier Yak
 

That's a good tip and definitely usable in a lot of situations. Usually though you decrease capacity of the tank somewhat as you can't really strectch it as you can squash. U've also never tried it personally because I woory about compromising the seams. Plenty of guys have done it in the past... but I'd be the first... ;)

Besaides. in this case I needed to create a floor tank anyway for the tank to strap to, and even though it's gas I still like to pad it. I needed some room under there. It was a simply mod, and anytime I can safely remove material from a little heavier plne... well... it's a good thang... ;)

A little trick I do peform is to lightly sand the bottom of the tank. When I am conpletely finished with the plane and everything is tested, I'll thick CA the tank tot eh foam rubber. Between this and the velcro on top of the tank for the straps to hold onto, the tank will have a hard time ever sliding out.

I made a little saw from dowel rod. I slit the end with a jigsaw, slide an Exacto Razor Saw n there, and drill two small holes through the handle and blade. A couple brads slide though abd are trimmed off flush n the other side and a little tape to hold them in place. Very small and reaches a lot of little places inside a plane. CUts pretty well and clean. The a llittle finishing with a sanding block.

BTW: know it seems paltry to keep reporting "I saved .7 oz and 1.5 oz" but I've already done it several times. It doesn't take too many opportunities to save upwards of a half-pound of these little things if you take advantage of evry plausible opportunity.

As it is I've saved 4.1+.7+.7+1.5 = 7oz... Nearly 1/2 lb already and I haven't done hardly anything to built it yet.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Every ounce that can be taken off another step towards increased power to weight....no step can be too small in this regard.

I look forward to hearing how the next ounce is stripped from the Yak.

When oh when will my Yak arrive..

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Well the options are certainly slimmer at this point.The only aft-cg weight to lose now (without major surgery) is the belly balsa and I'll leave that in until after the review and first flights... I'm guessing another 4-6 oz can be saved in belly balsa.

There is probably 2-3 oz from the gearplate forward that can be lost.

Adding a servo bay in the center of the wings would save about 4 oz.

And the CF stuff should save about 12 oz.

So if I did it all I will have dropped about 2 lbs... this would put me at 16.75 lb mark... very respectable for a plane this size.

Even with the $150 expense for the CF stuff this still makes for a very attractively priced Yak that is "tweaked". And a fella can always get it, and do the CF stuff later if he chose to... spreading his "investment" over a longer period...

I don't think they all have to be perfromed... but at least the ones I've done already are easy for the average builder and will make a big difference in balancing...

Hopefully yours'll be at the door soon...

Hey rchotdog! I didn't mean to hijack the thread... just wanted to participate... you got one going, can we get some input form you too?

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Maudib,

I'd like to thank you for all of the lightening ideas. My total weight of the stock parts came in at 11.8 lbs. without any plastic bags.

I will be doing a build thread, on another forum, and I will be using most of your lightening ideas, with kudo's to you, of course. The one thing I won't be doing is using one servo per aileron. My servo's will be HS-5925's, I like the speed.

I won't be having any difficulty with the balance, since I will be using a ZDZ-80 with a Supersonic pitts.

My motor weight, with ignition is 74 oz., muffler about 8 oz. The standoffs will be very light as I will only need about 1/2".

Thanks again for all you do on for this community.

Ken

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Thanks Ken for the nice comments.

I've learned so much online that I can't fathom not sharing it back.

And of course there are so many ways, methods, etc... mine certainly aren't the best or only ones... but if I share then people can try them, or compare them to other methods and pick and choose what they are most comoirtable with.

When it comes down to it, building your own plane with the utmost confidence allows you to enjoy it to the fullest when it's in the air.

Loks liek you got a lightre one... if it holds true like mine it'll drop anothr 2-3 oz drying out. I'm glad you are not going with the single aileron mod... with that 80 you're gonna want that peace of mind. This thing will haul heiny with that ZDZ on there.

I will probably not do the servo mod either... at least until after I fly it and finsh the review. That is something certainly the manufacturers would not want to "promote" others do. My other mods ate ones that I feel most anyone building an ARF should be capable of and really is an important option for those that may have balance issues. They will be listed as lightening options in the review.

Build on man! Make sure to share some pics on here as well... there will be plenty 80cc fellas who could benefit from your install notes/pics...

RE: Lanier Yak
 

hey dave - here is another tip on fitting a tank or other items in a tite aera to be lined with foam. - put the foam in place - cover the foam with a layer of that micro thin shopping bag . - slide the item in and hold it in place while you pull the bag out. --the bag will silde out real easy bill wrcflyer

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Now that's a GREAT tip. It never occured to me to use it with the foam... I do something similar with velcro... slide a thin strip of plastic between them until everything is in place, then slide out the plastic and "wiggle" to interlock the velcro. To remove, take a credit card or other thin rigid item and wiggle it through the velcro.

Keep 'em coming!

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Hey guys,
Just an FYI..
I'm not sure that this hasn't come up in the Lanier Extra or Edge build threads but I thought I should just mention it here also.
The directions are a little vague in the area of the elevator hinging. Both the first and second hinges on the stabs will need to be trimmed for installation. Also my third hole on each stab had a little bit of internal wood material that needed to be cleaned out with a 3/16 drill bit to get the full hinge installed.
Of a little more importance or concern is that four of the included adjustable control horns in my kit were missing the cir-clips that keep the pivot pin in place. If you didn't look closely you might not even notice until it’s too late. I know some or maybe even most builders will elect to not even use the included hardware as it is a little light for this application. I have chosen to use the stock units for the dual ailerons but not on the tail. I have some spare hangar 9 stuff I’ll be using there.

RE: Lanier Yak
 

Thanks for the heads up... another tip is to insert the stab tube in the stab when inserting those trimmed hingepoints to make sure they are short enough.. if they are not and they are forced... it can dent/cave in the phenolic sleeve in the stab making it impossible to insert the tube later. With the tube already in, it'll keep the sleeve from being damaged.