I just became the new owner of a Dynaflite Piece O' Cake. My uncle picked this plane up along with another one at an auction a while back with the intention of finishing the build and flying it. Well the project was pushed to the back burner. He was just about to throw it away when I said that I would take it. My experience with airplanes is pretty much non-existent but I have always wanted to learn. I am looking for as much information as possible about this plane. I do not have the manual. It looks like they can be purchased from Dynaflite but if anyone has a copy they don't want any more or would like to either photocopy or scan the pages for me that would be greatly appricated. According to Tower this plane is marketed as a Trainer Plane. The engine they suggest is a Cox Black Widow .049 engine. The one thing that noticed about this engine is that it has no throttle control! It appears that all of their engines that are this small have no throttle control. Intersting.

Here is some pictures in its curent state.....









Since this is my first plane and my first time building a kit any information/tips/suggestion will be helpful. Also along with any tools. I will also be looking for any information related to skining the plane but as you can see that is a ways off.

-JR

Edit: I noticed on the plans that they make a reference between balsa and spruce wood. I have two boxes full of different wood but I am unsure of how to tell the difference between the two. Is there a way to tell what wood is what?

The manual can be ordered:

http://www.dynaflite.com/faq/service-faq.html#q6

Thanks for the link. I know the manual can be ordered but the price seems outrageous. $15.50 for a photocopy of a manual. Plus I would have to wait 4 to 6 weeks. I am hoping to find a member that has that manual and wouldn't mind scanning it for me. If I don't I will have to go that route. Could you tell me what kind of information I would find in this manual? How big is it?

You can buy a Norvel engine with a throttle.

Ah. Thanks for the info. Would an engine with a throttle make it easier to learn?

JR
the Piece-O-Cake is a two channel motor glider. You hand launch it and the engine is only supposed to run for a minute or two to get you to altitude then shut off. Then you you hunt for thermals. I have flown mine a few times for around 30 min's.

Spruce wood will be heavy and hard compared to balsa. Spruce will generally be a white wood like a 2X4 only hopefully a lot smaller. Balsa will generally be a more tan color. Sometimes on the plans there is a picture of the different end grains of the woods.

I will see if I still have the manual down in the shop.

hope this helped
DEG

It's a reaaly nice plane and under-utilized as a trainer. Personally, I like it better with a .10 with a throttle. A Norvel .07 would be a good choice for this plane. You can use small servos and a small battery to save weight and space.

Thank you for the information. I was curious why the engine specs only said that it would provide me 5 minutes of run time. So it is supposed to glide after the engine cuts out? So I am guessing this glider is ment for slightly windy conditions?

Actually, the Piece 'o Cake is for any conditions. The engine is used to get it aloft, instead of a winch or Hi-Start. If you go with a throttled engine, then you have a regular power plane that sips fuel and flies fairly slowly.

Here's the current version:

http://www.dynaflite.com/airplanes/dyfa1009.html

I bought the Pieco-O-Cake thinking that I want to learn to fly and an instructor is not convienent right now and this might be the right plane to learn on. Well I got it built and flew it three times yesterday. The third flight was successful with nice landing. (I have 14 very short incomplete flights on a now very battered two channel Jr. Falcon from a yardsale prior to this). I put a Norvel .049 with throttle on it by mounting a micro servo on the out side of the fuselage thinking this will make it fly even slower. While in a Hobby Store, a guy told me that the design is a little off because the incidence of the horizontal stabilizor is not the same as the wing so I shimmed up the horizontal stabilizor. I had to add about 25 quarters to the nose to balance it. When I hand launched it it flew straight and slightly climbed. It was trimmed real close. The first flight I forgot about the throttle and flew it full speed until it ran out of fuel. The long glide phase was great because the plane was slow. I hit a tree in landing. The second flight I remembered the throttle and slowed it down and it flew great. Hit the powerlines on landing. By the third flight I was caught up enough with the plane to try to trim it but couldn't find the trim buttons without taking my eyes off the plane. (I hear that will cost you).

I believe this plane will teach me to fly. After hooking up the servos and not having a computer radio, I wish I had hooked up the rudder servo to my aileron stick. The throttled engine helped but without one is OK because all I was trying to do was get altitude before I ran out of gas.

Your plans look like a version before mine. Mine has pushrod tubes instead of balsa. I don't have scanning abilities but the book is handy. If you have no plane modeling experience then the book is even more useful.

GLF

Hey, i just bought a Piece O' Cake, althought it hasnt come in the mail yet.. If its any help i will gladly send you my manual, but your version looks maybe the version befor mine. Well, if your interested just ask.

-Eric

Thanks for the offer. I ended up purchasing the manual from Dynaflite. It was well worth the money.

Using 3 channels and a Norvel .061 the piece of Cake is an excellent plane to learn to fly with.

Throttle control is a HUGE help. I highly advise having it. The weight added is insignificant to the model's flying capabilities. (especially when you are using it as a trainer.)

If possible... get an instructor. If not, then a motor glider such as this, or the Dynaflite Butterfly (big brother to this plane) would be a safer option than the traditional .40 class trainer. The most imnportant flight is the first... an experienced pilot really needs to trim the model to fly right. (preferably one experienced with sailplanes when dealing with this model... some power plane pilots don't know how to fly the sailplanes correctly!)


If you can't find an instructor... start with un-powered hand launches... just short glides mostly straight ahead. Barely bump the rudder and watch the effect... be ready to give a bump of up elevator. (bump and let go works with these things.... if they are trimmed.) The more rudder you use, the more elevator you will need to keep the nose from dropping. (it never will be a lot though...) Do a LOT of this practice before trying with the engine running.

Small stick movements and avoid using more up elevator than necessary. (avoid using down at all.)

Initial with-power flights... don't put much fuel in the tank. and don't run the engine at full power. You want to just extend that glide into a full circle, then land. Next try a full circle the other way.

When you feel ready to take it higher... remember 2 tricks:

1) point your shoulders the way the plane is headed. if the plane is pointed at you... look over your shoulder. this helps you to turn the correct direciton.

OR

2) prop up the low wing when the plane is comming toward you. This wll level the airplane.

If you start to lose control of it... let go (and turn the engine off) It will try to level itself. (if it has room...)

Motor-gliders and 2-meter sailplanes such as the Gentle Lady are the only designs appropriate for teaching yourself on. (but an instructor will certainly help... you won't break it as often with an instructor.)

Whats the best kind of covering for this type of plane??

Best is one of the lighter Iron-on coverings such as Solarfilm, EXCEPT... avoid Towerkote and Econokote (same thing... different label) The wing gets part of its strength from the covering. Towerkote just doesn't have the strength.

Monokote and Ultrakote are OK... just a little heavy. The strongest and heaviest Monokote colors are the very pretty translucents. They can be beautiful looking on a plane like that one... but do add some un-necessary weight.

It will take nearly all of two 6 ft rolls of iron-on covering to do the plane if you plan the pieces out well. If you have excess waste you will need a 3rd roll. (its easy to have excess waste...)

After you get this one built --look at the Big Brother --The "Butterfly " I am on my 3 rd Butterfly --I sell them as fast as I can build them --Beautiful plane --easy to see --Good Luck

Well.. I only sold one Butterfly I built... I built about 10 or 12 in the last 25 years though. My pics of the last 2 aren't the right file format to upload.[&o]

Would silk covering be good? I was looking at towerhobbies.com and saw the Dave Brown Skyloft silk covering, it looks pritty good, but I have never used it []......so if you or anyone knows about it please fill me in with its quality. thanks

Hey,

When i was flying one of my model plane in a smaller area then im use to, I noticed that it gets alittle hard to judge how far away the plane is from lets say a tree when its on the opposite side from me. I was wondering if anyone has any advice for me[8D].....thanks

Hi Model,
The butterfly has a 78 inch wing span .I would not attempt to fly this big of plane in a small field .It is possible to get it to slow down (Speed brakes ,spoliers ,flaps ) but if you need any of these -the plane is too big for the field ..Get a small park flyer.Hobby-Lobby has a lot of small ,cheap park flyers .Become a member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA).They put out a great magazine every month ,and they will tell you of any flying clubs in your area.Most Flying clubs have larger flying fields where you can fly bigger planes,plus the members will be happy to give you ideas on ways to increase visibilty..Good Luck -----

Ummm... the Dynaflite Butterfly is 99 inch span.

No... its not a small field airplane. Its difficult to keep it inside a double-wide football field if you are a GOOD pilot. Figure a beginner needs 200 yds by 400 yds. (if getting help from an instructor double that on his own)

I was thinking of its smaller version ..The "Piece of Cake" .Its 78 in.You are 100% right .The Butterfly is even bigger yet ..Good reason to find a bigger field .I have a 200 X 300 field close to me ,but I will still drive 6 miles to a sactioned flying site rather then risk hitting a tree ,house ,or worst of all --A young child .Planes are like magnets to children ..Take it out to the country .

Where I live I have house after house and a occasional football/baseball field. I have flown many model planes that can cover alot of distance in a short time in the fields. By the way, i fly way over the trees and children. My question was edging toward areobatics that requier you to come cloeser to the ground (below "tree level"). You guys where exaactly right that the "piece o cake," and "buterfly,"are big planes and dont normally pull off areobatics (from my understanding), i didnt mean to post my question in this poll [], sorry...(just in case anyone can help me on this poll) but, i do have a parkflyer called aerobird by hobbyzone and I still have alittle problem at judging the distance (btw its a pritty fast parkflyer) between the two distances[&o]...thanks for reading!!