wgeffon

My Feedback: (4)

Hey guys dont forget about this HUGE 3 day fly-in in Illinois.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_27...tm.htm#2722734

ckoerner

My Feedback: (2)

Here are a few picts of my Yak. I Have about 30 flights on it now. I love this plane. Had one mishap the other day. I always check to make sure the engine is tight before every flight. It seemed tight. I was letting someone else fly it and they said the throttle didn't seem right. SO I took it over and it seemed to be fine. So I decided to do an aneurysm. Bad thing to do. Then after the maneuver the throttle would not come back to idle. I thought it was the throttle linkage or servo. SO finally it comes to idle. I set up for landing. I get about 4 ft from the ground and the throttle comes back up. I decided to land it anyway. Kind of a hard landing. Cracked a wheel pant. I was able to shut the engine down. Walked over to it and the motor was loose. I lost 3 bolts from the firewall. The cowl was a little messed up from the hot muffler hitting it. Boy was I lucky. The only thing I could think of is there where two bolts still tight before the flight. I definitely will be putting a Fiber optic kill switch in.

MSP1957

My Feedback: (1)

Ckoerner,

Boy are you lucky. Throttle comes back on final, geez. How did you shut the engine down?? I am planning on a fiber-optic kill switch. i have heard this kind of story before.

Michael

looks like this Yak may have to be my winter project. Hopefully will see some planes sometime this year[sm=crying.gif],[]

SydDythers

My Feedback: (5)

Nice job ckoerner...I too just had a mishap [:@] Although my problem was my fault. I on my third harrier landing, I hit the ground a bit hard, I saw it coming and gave it throttle but the gear caught and ripped out while my plane flew off. Had to land in the corn that surrounds the field since a belly landing on the field probably would have done a number on the yak.

Gotta tell you though, that interlocking construction is confusing! I managed to figure it out but it took me a while. Gotta do some fiberglass reinforcing and she'll be ready to recover and stronger than ever.

What a pain! And that's the last time I try to harrier land anything...at least until someone eggs me on at the field again

J

rmh

For those who have not been there --
The doubled ply construction used on the fuselge is very light ,due to the holes placed for best weight strength.
The aluminum angles ,which distribute the gear loads, will stand a lot of abuse but if you apply a horizontal loading, the plates will tear out.
The result is a maze of pieces, as the doubled sides do not break of as one section - they delaminate.
Not all bad --
The best fix is to copy the shape needed onto new pieces of lite plywood - SIG and Midwest have this .
Where possible make the joint an overlap,that is cut off crushed, torn sections --then cut back one layer of plywood for 1/4" ,to allow replacement piece to get a lapped glue joint
Done right - you can do this all using thick and thin CA adhesives.
I had an off field landing -- which found the edge of a hidden ditch bank and this simply wiped the gear back- plates and all.
I had it fixed in about two hours .
I have done harrier landings since then -but I use a long legged aluminum gear , which flexes a LOT and takes up the shock .
Harrier landing are fun to see but really not a good idea unless you have a gear which will spring .

wgeffon

My Feedback: (4)

FWIW,
I had a ton of Harrier Landings on mine with the stock gear without any issues at all.

Mike Parsons

Here is part two of the other video. I was on the throttle a bit more this flight and the motor and ESC heated up a bit. Not out of range, but warmer than I liked

[link=http://epowerflight.com/Media/87yak/Yakpart2.wmv]15mb Yak-54 "E"[/link]

-Mike

Maudib

My Feedback: (51)

Mike,

I am SOOOO impressed with your work here... Without a doubt your e-Yak is at least equal but certainly looks more powerful than a DA-50 powered ship.

Kudos!

Also for those that may not know... Mike took Best of Show at SEFF this year with his Yak... Excellent Job!


You just need a purdy CF spinner on the front of that thing now...

Mike Parsons

Thanks . I had gotten a CF spinner from Chris that I intended to put on the yak. The problem was that the pre-drilled hole in the spinner was larger than my motor shaft. I tried with no sucess to find an adapter that would fill in that gap. I need to contact Tru-turn and see if they can lighten a spinner for me as I am already noseheavy. Either that or go ahead and order a white FG spinner from Esprit.

-Mike

ckoerner

My Feedback: (2)

After it landed the throttle came back enough so I could kill it with the throttle servo. I was real lucky. Someone was looking over me. I have everything back together now. The only way you can tell is by the cracked wheel pant. Oh well.



On the landing gear. Someone was doing a harrier right above the ground. The engine hesitated when he decided to pull out. The plane landed on the rudder and then smacked on the gear. I thought it was toast. We walked over there and the only thing broke was the pull-pull cables. Couldn't believe it. This plane will take some abuse.

Dave763

My Feedback: (1)

It's been awhile since I looked at this thread, so I thought I would post an update.

So far I have over a hundred flights on mine. The single hatch latch is working great, (thanks Maudib) no need for two of them. The bottom of the firewall needed a little reinforcement at the bottom edge. The carbon fiber tailwheel bracket delaminated( replaced it with a No. 231 tailwheel assy. Carl Goldberg).

Other than that, no problems at all. The DA 50 is running great with the KS 1060 pipe and the solid header from DA.

My club asked me to fly a 3D demo at our fun fly event, I was happy to show my stuff( this yak makes any pilot look good) rolling harriers, torque rolls a few feet off the deck, ya know.
When I went to the STARS rally on the 10th the CD, who saw me fly at my clubs event, asked if I would fly a 3D demonstration, of course I said,( I could feel my head getting bigger) I'd love to,....are you kidding? What a blast!


I LOVE this Plane!


Dave

Dave763

My Feedback: (1)

Fiber optic kill sw. on all my gassers!

wgeffon

My Feedback: (4)

Craig,

No need to hold back. That was me he was talking about.
Its built light but its not fragile.

Damn, I miss mine. [>:]

blue ice

My Feedback: (6)

I just picked up my Yak from Grey Hound. It is a all white Yak. The canopy is all clear. Do I use paint on it or cover it in vinyl? If I paint it , do I use paint in a spray can or can I get paint to use in a gun to match ultracote?

ckoerner

My Feedback: (2)

The RC car paints will work great for this. That is what they are made for. You paint the inside. The only thing is getting it to match. You can also use the paint in the can that matches Ultracote.

Ricmussman

My Feedback: (24)

Hey Blue Ice:

You will have to paint the outside of the canopy because of the frame all be mounted. I had mine painted by Jim Short at J&M builders. They matched their automotive paints exactley to the monocote I used. It looks sweet. I didn't want to try it myself because I wanted it to be right. I am sure that if you have a custom autoshop around they might be willing to paint it for you. Whatever you do I am sure it will look nice. I kinda like have a very unique plane that flies amazing, you will too. Cant wait to see some pics of your when you get it done.

ckoerner

My Feedback: (2)

Forgot about the frame!

bodywerks

My Feedback: (4)

He is asking about how to spice up the covering.
Paint is not a good idea for that, as it does not shrink and stretch like the covering does. If you are not experienced at covering, I would suggest using vinyl graphics, although it will add more weight.

Edge

Damn, I miss mine.


Wayne, I miss you[:-]

wgeffon

My Feedback: (4)

LOL.

"Wind er up"

Josey Wales

My Feedback: (61)

Wish i had one to miss!!

I hate to ask but has anyone heard anythng on the next batch?

rmh

Paint the Ultracote ?
sure -
best paint I have found is called Short Cuts - by Krylon - works on UltraCote - and on our foamies
Do this
wipe down model with degreaser
mask on pattern
using a fine Soft Scrub (a fine plastic pad)
lightly dull the masked area . Do not sand the Ultracote!
wipe down with tack cloth.
shoot a couple of light coats .
If you feel flush --get some pro painter to first spray thinned laquer black/clear into entire inside of canopy -It looks just like a tint.
buy a Testors paint pen (or someones paint pen) in matching colors -to touch up any scratch if needed.


C'mon guys painting ain't rocket science .
Here is mine --------- AGAIN.

wgeffon

My Feedback: (4)

Ok guys help me out.

Someone out there must have a NIB EF Yak that they would consider selling.
I'll pay you more than you paid...

Let me know.

Torqued-Up

My Feedback: (16)

Wayne:

There's one RTF in the marketplace... Probably not what you're looking for, but hey, it's an 87" EF Yak...

http://www.rcuniverse.com/market/item.cfm?itemId=115638

wgeffon

My Feedback: (4)

Thanks. I did see that but he wants to sell everything and I only need an airframe.
He also said local pick up.

Damn it sucks not to have one.