aggie84

Is it just me or has anyone else had problems building their GP Yard Stik? I took one back to my LHS yesterday because it totally broke up while I was assembling it. First, the front wing support stuck on the fuselage boom when I was trying to "slide it up". Problem was, once it stuck, it stuck. I couldn't go up or back with it. Then, when I was trying to snap the battery holder into the front battery holder mount the locking tab broke off the holder and the mount cracked! Then when I, very, very carefully tried to snap the holder into back mount, a tab off the back of the holder broke also. OK, so its nothing a little CA won't fix, so we'll march on. I then tried to "slide" the rear motor mount over the motor and broke one of the capacitor leads off where it was soldered to the case. OK, I own a soldering iron, guess I'll fix this too. Finally I tried again to move the wing (remember the stuck wing support) so I could adjust the CG. The fuselage boom cracked lengthwise and then snapped!!!!

Rather than go back to a Slow Stick (which I'd had until the wing snapped at the leading edge rod connector) I thought that I really wanted something a little sturdier so the built-up wing and looks of the YS were appealing. So guess what!! Instead of getting my money back I traded for another YS! I started to put this one together last night and my dang battery holder tabs broke again.

Again I ask; "Is it just me?" (I did notice that Tower is backordered on the plastic parts replacement bag, so maybe that should tell me something)

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

The Yard Stick is a new plane. It's normal for the whole planes to show up long before the parts. It may be that the plastic parts bag was never in stock in the first place...

In what little Yard Stick talk I've encountered, yours is the first I've seen with fragile parts issues. Could it be that you're just abnormally ham-fisted, and even your most delicate attempts would crush a normal human being's skull?

aggie84

The owner of my LHS sorta suggested the same thing but its not true. Knowing that the tabs were fragile I was especially careful to have them lined up properly so they both inserted at the same time. Just as I was about to have them inserted into the mount, one of them would snap. This time, when I was sliding the wing and battery mounts onto the fuselage boom I was very careful to sand the inside of the openings on the mounts so they would slide easily. I was surprised at how much sanding was necessary. The fuselage boom got quite a bit thicker as it went from the tail towards the front.

My shop is a cinder block with little/no insulation so this time of year it stays in the mid 40's to 30's with a couple of small heaters to keep me from freezing (its amazing what we'll go through for this hobby). I wonder; coul the cooler temps be causing the plastic to be briitle?

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

Now THAT might be a plausible explanation. I was only kidding when I suggested the ham-fisted thing BTW.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time Great Planes made a mess out of an electric airplane. They have yet to produce one with a power system that wasn't designed by throwing a bunch of random parts in a box, giving it a shake, dumping it on the ground, and grabbing the components that landed pointing North...

valc

I bought a yard stik not too long ago. Personally, i need to learn patience, becuase the fact that it was cheap, red, and supposely able to fly wherever and whenever made me buy it, and all the necessary accerories on a whim. Well, i haven't had the same problems that aggie has. But, when i got onto a place to fly, i turned on full power, and gave it a toss. The excitement lasted for all of 5 seconds when i noticed it was taking a hard left. I quickly applied up elevator and right rudder to even it out, but it came to an almost complete stop. Before long it took a hard crash into a tree and it snapped the battery holder mounts clean off. I repaired this using CA, and some metal nails to brace the holder back in. Then i figured it wasn't balanced laterally, so i did that, and sure enough it was a little off. Then, i noticed the tail was warped from me heat gunning the monokote. So i flattened that out as best i could. Lastly i checked to make sure the wings were vertical and not low on one end. I did this by eye though. I did measure each wing from the ground and there was about 3/16 inch difference. I thought that wouldn't matter, so my next test flight resulted in the same thing. The stik veared hard left and basically just crashed, and re snapped the battery mount off. I was really pissed, and as of right now, it is sitting in my room 90 percent dismantled. I want to get the replacement mounts and give it another shot. I just don't feel right giving up. Anyone possibly know why it vears to the left. (my stab is slightly bent up on the left side standing behind the plane, does that affect it?)

Matt Kirsch

My Feedback: (21)

There are many reasons a plane will veer to the left. Many of them don't even involve balance or surface alignment...

First, there's your launch technique. Launch straight ahead, not up. Give the plane a gentle toss, not a heave. For early flights, have a friend hold the plane over his/her head and jog into the wind with it. They can feel if it's going to fly, and then just let go.

Second, there's the piloting. Remember that the elevator is not the Magic Up Stick(tm). A plane won't climb without adequate momentum/airspeed/power. It will just stall and veer to the left if you yank full back on the elevator. Counteract a tendency to turn left with right rudder only.

You definitely want all your control surfaces to be as straight and square to each other as possible. A little bit off is okay. Heck, sometimes a LOT off is okay. I've seen some pretty whacked-out stuff fly, and fly well. Still, straighter is better. Twist the surfaces a little bit past straight, then tighten up the covering with a HOBBY-type heat gun or covering iron. When you let go, the surfaces will be straight. If not, keep twisting and shrinking. It sounds like you warped the surfaces by tightening up the covering when you built it.

Check your balance front to back too.

BillHarris

The Yard Stick has potential, and has some good design points.

I like the carbon fiber leading and trailing edges of the wing, as well as the CF fuse tube. Look closely, they wrapped tubes, and not pultruded. They are more resisitant to splitting. They are further strengthened by gluing a wood plug into the end. As far as I have seen, the construction of the wings and the tailfeathers is superb. The covering work is excellent. The rudder and elevator use tape hinges which are applied properly. The wings have a correct amount of washout twisted into the wing panels. The "modular" construction of the wing mounts and battery/servo/etc holder is a good idea and allows snap-together assembly.

But it falls apart from this point. I don't think that the plastic fuse parts will be that durable. I'm replacing the wing mount-battery/servo/etc holder with ply/lite-ply parts. The motor mount was mickey-mouse and is destined for failure early on. It's getting replaced. The motor, which seems to be a Mabuchi 300 with an MPJet bushing gearbox. Could be better, I'm replacing it with a GWS 350. The collet prop adapter has a threaded part that is too short to attach the prop, I need to get a replacement from GP on that.

I plan to use the plane for AP and modify it so that it can be disassembled and backpacked into remote locations.
As a "prefab'd" plane, it shows promise. But as an into ARF, it could frustrate the neophyte.

--Bill