Foxtrot_019

So this looks like a Slow-Stick "want to be". I had a slow stick myself until it slowly deteriorated into the fragile state it is in now. I was one of those guys who beefed up the power on the slow stick and hovered it right off the deck as well as other insane maneuvers. This looks like a good replacement for it. Here it the tower Hobbies Link to it.
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bi...p?&I=LXEXK1&P=7
So who has one or who is thinking about buying one?
Tell me what you think!!!

-Foxtrot

3DFanatic

My Feedback: (5)

I think I'd take the dippy cross decals off.
I may get one. Don't know yet. I want something like that where each wing comes off indevidually to ease in storage and packingn around.

eflyer2

Just call me old fashioned but I go by the old addage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", first off the YardStick is not IMHO as strong as the SlowStick, second, a one piece wing is stronger than a split wing and in flight a split wing will not flex as evenly as a one piece wing and this could cause unwanted flutter or vibration that may hurt stability, third, why buy a Knock Off when you can buy the original that built the reputation that caused another MFG. to try to copy it to get a piece of the action, we are only talking about a $35.00 plane here, I think it's a no brainer, buy another SlowStick and have fun with it.

EF

Earthdrill

I'm with Eflyer2. My slow stick is my favorite plane, and it can't be replaced by some knock off. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Bud

Foxtrot_019

Well mine broke due to pour strength in the wing and tail section. The boom is bent near the motor mount and the landing gear has broken off numerous times. And no I'm not a bad pilot. Anyone else in my boat, (I could use some back-up).

-Foxtrot

eflyer2

Foxtrot,

You don't need back up, you need a new SlowStick.
GWS did the R&D on the SS and they deserve your business more than GP does for trying to knock off somebody elses hard work, if GP made it better or stronger thats different, but they didn't.

Not all products reach their "all they can be" out of the box, some need a little tweeking, the SlowStick is one of them.

Here's a few things that you can do to make a good plane better,

1- get a 3/8"x 3/8"x 24" balsa stick at the hobby shop and lightly sand two sides a bit and with a little pressure you will be able to slide the stick into the aluminum boom for a tight fit, this will increase the strentgh of the boom many times over and add almost no added weight.

2- wrap heavy thread or unwaxed dental floss to the upper third of the landing gear wire, take a couple of dozen wraps in a figuere eight pattern around the legs and then across itself and soak it with CA, this will stiffen the landing gear up very well.

3- when putting the tail together, use the double faced tape as well as the plastic strips to attach the tail pieces.

4- when setting up the main wing use 1-1/2" ~ 2" clear packing tape on the center part of the wing to hold the wing in the desired position, using a couple of pieces of packing tape will add alot of strenth to the wing and cut back quite a bit on unwanted wing flex.

5- don't use the rubber bands supplied with the kit for the wing, use them to hold the battery in place, get some bigger rubber bands at the hobby shop (1/4"wide x 6" long, they work better and also cut down on wing wobble.

Good luck with whatever you chose to do.

Ef

BuzzBomber

My Feedback: (4)

Why condemn the yardstik before it has had a chance to prove its mettle (or lack thereof)? I love GWS products, but it's not as if they pioneered the "stik" concept. All stick types are variations on a decades-old theme. Besides, the yardstik and SS are apples and oranges--one's a foamie, one's balsa. Both materials have merits. Not trying to ruffle any feathers, just stating I think there's room for both.

Foxtrot_019

Buzz bomber has a good point. The thing that I wanted to discuss was the parts of the slow stick (GWS) that failed on me due to pour design of the airplane.
1 The spokes in the wheels on the slow stick have a bad tendency to break leading the wheel as a whole to bend outward.
2 The foam construction, however light weight and easily fixable, there is a strength issue that I think can be solved by the wooden wing on the yardstick.
3 The movable wing saddle swishes the wing and causes stress cracks in the center of the wing. On the Yard Stick the wing able to come apart in the center thus not creating this problem.


eflyer2 's reenforcement suggestions are duly noted!!! The only thing that i would add are struts on the horizontal and veridical stabs made of very lightweight mobile wire.

Foxtrot_019

crazy fun fact!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you put the wing of the slow stick on back words, it still flies. However i don't suggest doing this a lot.

something to think about!!!!

-Foxtrot

3DFanatic

My Feedback: (5)

Sure it will fly. The pressure on the bottom is still greater then the pressure on top

Just not as efficient.

3DFanatic

My Feedback: (5)

Hey, put the whole works on backwards and reverse the motor and see if you can make a nifty canard

eflyer2

BuzzBomber,

Your right, I was rash to judge the YardStick before getting to see one up close, all I've seen is a picture and assumed it was a complete knock off and that was wrong of me, I am usually more accepting of these things but it might have been the fact that GreatPlanes used the same colors and graphics that GWS does on the SlowStick.

The other thing that got my dander up is that I am getting a little irritated at people that condem certain planes, mostly foam built models like the SlowStick and TigerMoth for instance, for being to weak, they put a 280spd motor on a TigerMoth and complain that the wings fold up, or use a 8.4V pack and b...h when the motor burns up, or complain when a SlowStick starts to get raged or floppy after they try to turn it into a 3-D plane or pylon racer, or use it as a lawn dart to often.

To those folks, I say, these planes are made of cheap parts and moulded foam because we want cheap, easy to build planes that fly reasonably well, If you want to buy a plane for $32.00 ~ $55.oo don't complain that you got a cheap pair of ugly wheels that break easy, don,t whine about stress cracks in the wing after fifty flights and ten crashes.
If these things bother you then spend a couple hundred dollars on a built up wood and film covered plane, but you can't have $200.00 quality in a $35.00 plane, so don't expect it and you won't be disapointed.

Just Venting.

EF

Foxtrot_019

I wasn't condemning the slow stick. I think it's a great plane, however where GWS went with cheap inexpensive parts like foam, Great Planes came back and perfected the model in areas that needed to be perfected. And you'r correct, you do get what you pay for. I loved my slow stick, it's just that i don't want to keep having to replace it.

-Foxtrot

eflyer2

Foxtrot,

I didn't take your words as a condomnation of GWS or the SlowStick, I only own two GWS planes, a TigerMoth and a SlowStick, I don't fly them on windy days and though they have been somewhat modified they have proven to be good planes capable of taking some rough use, neither of them has suffered a crash save for a tree reaching out and plucking the SlowStick out of the sky, luckily is was a thin tree and a good shaking got it loose with no damage.
Most of my other planes are scratch built with BlueCor FanFold foam and those also can take alot of abuse and keep right on flying, since none of these planes are costly and they do fly well and fix easily when damaged I have no reason to complain and find it irritating when others do.
I guess if I bought a $100.00 balsa kit and spent a month building and covering it and it didn't fly right or broke every time I looked at it I'd do some griping also, but when you think about the fact that a steak dinner in a good eatery along with a drink is going to set you back $35.00, It's hard to listen to someone complain because their $35.00 SlowStick won't last a life time.
I'm not talking about you, but about others that put down these inexpensive planes without giving a thought to what they paid for them.

With that said, Please let us know how you make out with your new YardStick, a detailed review would be nice and would give us a new option, SS or YS.

Good luck,

Ef

Foxtrot_019

OK, OK, OK the Slow stick is a great plane and we all love it. However i still want to know about the Yard Stick. That was the original intent of this thread and i'v yet to hear anything about it. So does anyone want to talk about the yard stick?

3DFanatic

My Feedback: (5)

I doubt it

BuzzBomber

My Feedback: (4)

I think we'll have to wait a few weeks until the yardstick morphs from unobtainum into LHS stock. If I see one soon, I may be willing to try it, as my GWS cub died a horrible death this labor day weekend. I did quite a bit of emergency surgery, but I refused to pay for new components, so if it doesn't fly with a 36" wing with a balsa spar and a direct drive 280, its up to the rafters for retirement. BTW, though it may seem like a good idea in the heat of the moment, don't EVER try to retrive a plane from a 75' hickory with a paintball gun. Bow and arrow works much better.

mcgoo656

I have had one (yard stik) since they were finally released. I actually ordered one on July 5th, it finally was released on December 16th! The battery that was designed for it was available until January 8th! So, as you can tell I wasn't at all happy up to that point. I got the battery and it is about 5 degrees here in central PA, but I really wanted to get a flight in with this Yard Stik since it has been setting on my work bench built for a month. My first flight totaled about 2 feet of altitude over a span of 45 yards. I knew it wasn't going to fly the greatest in the 6 mph winds we had, but I was still determined to get a least one test flight in. Anyway, when I backed the power off to about 3/4 to let it settle in it dropped like a brick. Not much damage, just the carbon/plastic battery holder/landing gear clip broke. This material is the same stuff Du-Bro super strength servo arms are made of, it is really brittle if it gets cold. So I am now waiting for 45 degrees and 3 mph wind or less to get another outdoor flight in. I'll let yall know how it flies indoors as soon as I get a chance.

Foxtrot_019

Sounds like it has some of the the same attributes as the slow stick. Would that be a fare thing to say? I know that the Slow Stick needed a little power to land, but i got better at landing with a little time. Neither of the planes like to glide at all.

aggie84

MC, did you ever get it to fly?? I tried to make my maiden flight with my YS yesterday and it flew like a rock. I too lost the battery/landing gear mount and motor mounts. I fixed the battery mount by wrapping it with thread and then coating with CA. The motor mounts I replaced with heavy tie wraps (I don't know how that'll work). I'm really pretty sick of this plane (see my post: "Yard Stik Issues"). I guess I should've stuck with the Slow Stik but I was taken in by the built up wing. I'm sorta new back in the hobby but I expected more from GP. They led the pack in quality 20 yrs ago. While the SS looked flimsy and after about 20 flights the wing collapsed it did, at least, fly. It also flew on a non-proprietary power system. Something about GP tying us down to a particular battery really aggravates me

Banjo

I started flying a Yard Stick about a month ago and experienced all the issues that you mentioned. I made new motor mounts from 1/8" plywood and a ty-rap which works much better than the original did. The battery holder became a non-issue when I went to a 3 cell (11.1v) 800mah Li-Po battery (my battery mount is now a rubber band). The increased voltage gave the plane enough extra power that it made it actually fun to fly. We have had it up to approx. 150 feet and have gotten 25 min. flight time with a little throttle management.
Great planes needs to upgrade the plastic parts and then this will be an excellent slow flyer.
Charlie

Foxtrot_019

I am interested in the battery you used Banjo. It is a 3 cell Lithium poly...how does it work for you...did you build it up your self?

-Foxtrot

Banjo

Sorry it took so long to reply, I haven't logged in for a couple of weeks.
I used a 3 cell 800mah li-poly that I got off ebay.
It works great and actually makes the Yardstick flyable. With the stock battery it is difficult to fly on a still day and impossible in any wind at all.

Foxtrot_019

That's great Banjo!!! Most all owners of the Slow Stick know that using a battery that has more power than the recommended battery for the plane results in better performance of the aircraft. It sounds to me that using a bigger and better battery for the Yard stick has the same affect.

-Foxtrot

bojangle

Think I'll design a new schtick and call it "Dip-Schtick". Ugly, slow, yard..? Anyway, to the topic... some friends got the yard stick and liked it. But I ask myself, how can they build these arfs or rtfs so darn cheap...then I examine them and get my answer. I agree, they are all cheap planes to fill a market. Disposable planes, just like diapers. When they start looking kinda sh***y, throw them out . If they had arf some 30 years ago, I wouldn't be sitting here looking at $5,000 worth of planes. If I could sell all my planes, motors, etc today, I would get a yard stick, insert C4 or other small charge, send it up and detonate it. Then I might retire,,,or not hehe.