...yep, hovering does take a while - and the challenge definitely adds a new dimension to the hobby!...

...ScottK - you're right, i wasn't using any Elev. - Flap mix - i'll try it the next time out...

...Jive Turkey - when you get the YS figured out, it should be awesome on the Knife...

Termagator - "What if the tips of your ailerons are all beat to BILLY HELL?<GRIN>...G" - would that mean that you're flying off of asphalt?

I'm going to post a ? on ys engine forum, to see what dave thinks. I WANT to hover tommorow, so to speak, but thanks for the reality check, that it won't come that soon!...........another note to self; learn to hover this year, but have fun doing it!!!! Be determined, but don't get discouraged! It's all about havin' fun flyin' and becoming a better pilot all around, which "trying", at least, to hover will help me do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jive Turkey,
Dave will tell you, like you stated before, You will have to lean your motor out to get it to run right. It won't run right that rich at 2 1/2 turns out. it runs great at approx 1 1/2 turns out. YS 63 has some lifter noise. As long as your Gap is set right, go with it. don't forget you will need to check your Gap when the motor is cold.

Bottlerocket is right as well. If you have the smallest leak in your fuel system, it won't run right either. To test if you have any leaks in your fuel lines and system. Fill the tank about half full. Then with NO Glow starter, just turn the prop over about 20 times. Then let it set for a few minutes. then after a few minutes, take off a fuel line. If it makes a hissing sound. Your in good shape. Your fuel system is OK.

But you will need a tach to set this motor. You can't get it set right by tring to tune it by ear. Your low end will have to be set with a tach as well.

here is the link to how to set you low end.
www.ysperformance.com click on tech tips, then on YS doctors page. then it should tell you somewhere in there how to set your low end.

Hi Guys
Did'nt take me long to hover.
I Have the G2 Real Flight Simulator and that helps alot.
And i learned very quick to hover.

here's a picture of me hovering!!

Dean

I have a tach, I'm going to try new tank and lines today. Also, I looked up morgan feuls, and cool power15% only has 17% oil! No wonder they don't print the oil content on the bottle, may account for lifter noise. I' going to add a few ounces of synthetic motorcycle (2-stroke) oil to a gallon and see how she runs.

They don’t print the oil % because it would only be relevant if every fuel had the same type of oil from the same processor.

Good reading if you hadn't the chance yet:

http://www.powermasterfuels.com/facts.htm


Makes a lot of sense, and might keep the "red herring" of oil % from dominating your fuel considerations.

Jive Turkey,
I use a Hayes tank with my YS63 and I haven't had a problem at all. But I tried using Great Planes tanks, and Dubros and they end up leaking.

Oh great! I just bought a dubro, was using a sullivan, LHS doesn't carry hayes. My buddy suggested using silicone (caulk) around the stopper when installing it on the tank.........My question is, do tanks tend to leak around the stopper, or does the tank itself spring a leak, or both???????????

If your ailerons are beat to BILLY HELL might mean your knife edges are a lil close to the ground. lol

To Gbond,
What size 4 stroke are you using on your Knife? Your video looks great. Looks like you are well on your way to pretty impressive flying.

...thanks, got a long way to go, but the challenge to keep trying to improve keeps it interesting...

...it's a Saito 72, APC 13x6, Magnum 15% fuel w/20% oil, OS Type F glow plug...

WhOO hOOO!.............put a new tank on, new lines, new filter, added a couple ounces of klotz syn. 2-cycle oil to my gallon of cool-power 15%, and this ys engine is running like a scaret cat-burgaler!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's supposed to be a balmy 37 degrees here in MI sat., thinking about flying for the first ( or maybe it's the 2nd) time this year. I don't know if I'll try to hover, maybe just get the thumbs loosened up again, and the engine/plane tweaked in (no, I'm not going to lean the ys too much till I at least get a gallon through her, then still, not TOO much). But I AM looking forward to this season more than I ever have, since 1999, the year I soloed with my sig kadet lt-40 (r.i.p.).................I need to order my feul for the year the 1st of march, anyone recomendations? I was either going to get wildcat ys 20/20, or some wildcat 30% syn. heli feul, or a combination of both, depending on $

JiveTurkey,
glad to hear the Ys is running great now. I had a dubro leak within the first couple of flights. so if your motor starts acting funny its probably the tank.

Mine leaked around the stopper. I couldn't ever get my stopper tight enough.
But I have heard storys where the the YS will split a tank.

Glad to hear that its running great. Now you get to enjoy the performance of a YS.

Just get the YS 20/20 and use it until you get it broke in and running well. I'm surprised it runs so well on the 15% with extra oil. Then when you get the hang of setting it, you can get some 30% and let it sing. The nice thing about the ringed four strokes is you can go back and forth between nitro contents and just set the needle...

Chuck, when I said "great", I haven't really tweaked it out totally yet, it's just that it was running horribly before with the bad tank. I'm running a 13x6 apc and have run almost a 1/2 gal. through it on the stand. It peaked at about 11,100, and I backed it off to about 10,700. I can't imagine what this thing will do when it does have the time on it and I get some "real" fuel, anxious too find out!.......can you say 1-overpowered-knife!.......man I LOVE that 4-stroke sound! I don't know if I'll ever go back to a 2-s.......Thanks for the fuel suggestion, my LHS orders a HUGE fuel order in march, so I'll probably get 2 gall. of 20/20 and 2 of 30% heli.

BURN LOTS OF GAS!!!!!!!!! IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN...

Citation x, exactly how much gas does it take? Tee Hee, just kidding. My goal ( I think goals are good ) is to harier/hover "pretty" good by the end of this season. When I say pretty good, I don't mean rock steady hovering for a full tank of gas with multiple tail touches. But fairly low, fairly long hovering, where the guys at the field will say, "Hey look, Ben's hovering!". Only I know how good a pilot I am right now ( let's face it, you have to be a pretty good pilot, to set a goal like hovering in a year! If your still having to "think about it" all the time, just to fly around and land, your probably setting yourself up!) But hopefully I'm not too overconfident, and as I said before, the worst that can happen is I'll improve as a pilot!............Now tork-rolls, well, that's another story, and in my opinion, another milestone altogether, I wouldn't lump that goal in with hovering ( although it is a hovering manuver) to me it seems at least 10x harder than hovering alone!

got the fuel pump for my citabria, should be able to hover longer now

I Have my YS63 on my knife ARf and love it. It weighs 5.4lbs dry.

I could only imagine what it would be like on my knife kit that weighs around 4.5lbs. It would pull out like a rocket.

Mine weighs 4lbs. 9 1/2oz...............o.k., 10 o.z............real happy it came in under 5lbs!................I don't think a YS cares either way though!!!

Took the knife out today cruised around for a while, the ys was running good, so I said what the heck............pulled up vertical, and held it there for a split second, the first time that that is!......subsequent tries, got longer and longer (some shorter)....But, I definitley WAS hovering!!!!!!!!!!!!I'd say the longest was 6-7 seconds, which I did several times. I don't know if you guys believe me that I did this on my first try out, but like I said before, last year I was trying it and could hold it for a couple of sec. max. I think all the suggestions here + the ys make all the difference. This year is gonna be the year, I can feel it. Speaking of "feeling" something, all the posts so far, speak of that "feel", or a "groove". I'm starting to "feel" it!!!!!!!! I'd say about 100 more times out, and that feel will somehow feel natural. After the 1st time out, heres my conclusion, so far............THROTTLE, THROTTLE, THROTTLE!!!!!!!! If you can master the throttle, you can hover (it's not that easy, but generally true)! Next is RUDDER, RUDDER, RUDDER!!!!!! I'd say the 2 biggest causes for me to fall out of a hover was, not giving enough throttle at the right time(it's funny how you can control the nose with throttle, almost more than with elevator!) and not giving rudder input correctly, either too much, not enough, or the wrong direction. Either of these mistakes, and your out of your hover! One good thing about practicing hovering, is you can (or have to!) recover from ANY attitude!

I was doing all of this, between 15-25 feet. I tried it lower, about 8-10 feet, but once I messed up, there wasn,t enough air to recover, and hit pretty hard. A little thin ca aroud lg mount and I was back flying.........so for now I deffinitley feel more comfortable higher up!

Like I said, it was only my first time out , still got a long way to go, but I'm a pretty fast learner ( or so I've been told) So, I'm pretty confident that by the end of the year, I'll "get" it.

Thanks everybody, I'll keep you posted on my progress. (My bro. got a digital camera, and I just remembered my Dad's got a digital camcorder. If I can figure out how, I'll post some pics or vid.

Once again..............THANKS!


ps. I'm ordering a case of wildcat 30% heli feul this week, so It should help with throttle management even more. My LHS ( r.c.'s hobbies in laporte, In, a mom and pop and son hs, it's in there basement!) places a huge order march 1st, so you REALLY save on dough from hazmat shipping......get this, $17.75 a gall.! ys 20/20 $16.25 ......good prices, huh?

One more thing I forgot to mention.......at the risk of sounding like a chronic liar ( we all know of at least one guy like that, I'm sure, you know, mr. "been there, done that") When I was hovering, and perfectly vertical, it tork rolled, no really, it happened twice, the first time it went about 2/3 the way around , second time it made 1 full revolution. It happens so fast, it didn't register that it was a tourqe roll, till after it happens. Any way, I know that it was just a fluke, and really, not what I'm shooting for right now.

Today is supposed to be 25 mi/hr winds and snow, so I'll probably won't go out, but it's killin' me, all I can think about is getting more practice!

Hey Jive glad to hear you got it vertical, I've been flying the pbf over here in elkhart for the last week or so, I'm not taking any nice birds of till it gets a little warmer. And the rate your going you'll be hovering real good before the end of spring. Believe me it won't take long and you'll be keeping 3 to 5 feet off the ground for an entire tank of fuel. Hey the sun just popped out maybe I will get one out lol.

...sounds like you're both making good progress - keep it up and keep us posted - left hand profiency is the key (throttle and rudder)...

...man, that's some good fuel prices - i pay just over $20/gal. for 15% Power Master...