Hi Chad,

The last I knew the plane was retired and hangs in the hobby shop of one of our sponsors. That was about twelve to fifteen years ago. It doesnt seem that long ago.

Carlos G.

Coming soon to a warbird race near you!

I would very much like to steal your builder

He's not my builder Tony. I couldn't afford him! [] Robert is building the airplane for himself, he just asked me to do the design work. He has been known to build for others though so it couldn't hurt to ask. (Assuming you haven't already!)

What I'm wondering is why Robert didn't have that beauty at Speed World last week. Wow, that's beautiful!

Robert has been flying his Hellcat for close to two years now and last week's race was the first time for it! If that is any indication then you may not see the Yak until some time in 2013! [X(] (Just kidding Robert ) Actually, the Hellcat was a relatively laborious build and Robert has a lot of time wrapped up in its construction which is why he has been a bit leary to stick it out there with a bunch of ARF "missiles". If you saw it then you know it's a relatively large target compared to what most guys are racing. I tried dilligently to make the Yak much easier/quicker to build than the Hellcat for just this reason. Not sure how well I succeeded in that but we did manage to come in about a pound lighter than the Hellcat which was the other target we were aiming for with the design. So with more wing, less weight, and more motor (YS 1.40) we have high hopes for the Yak.

Whats that cowl covered in? DAMN SHARP looking!

Cowl is covered in Monokote except for the nose bowl which is painted. Luckily the nose bowl on the full size is painted as well so that kept things a bit simpler!

I just have to say that he shape of the plane combined with the color scheme looks incredible. Not to offend the intention, but I think that it has the look of a late 1940s racer; the ones I really like.
-Brian

Both the shape and color scheme are very reminiscent of the Hughes H-1 for sure. Thanks for checking in Brian and for the kind remarks.

Today was the big day! A few tense moments right after take-off when orientation was lost temporarily (chrome = not good!) but a successful test flight ensued. It was a bit pitch sensitive which I think was the result of the CG being just a bit too far aft for the small tail volume but it seems to track well otherwise and looked like it cornered very well. I'm sure it will take Robert a dozen flights or so to get it dialed in to his satisfaction but, to my eye, it appears like it is going to be a good airplane. The plan form just looks spectacular in the air and I should have some in flight pics coming soon. The only bad thing, everybody thinks it is a Hughes racer!

That's what I thought when I saw the all blue wing. All silver for me!
And some stencils will help. It's a georgious plane!
Congrats on the maiden!!!!

Tim

Thanks Tim! My Yak will be "Perestroika" with the lime green wing but I will probably scuff my fuse a bit to look like natural aluminum rather than the polished. Of course the full size "Czech Mate" is currently getting a new wing and may emerge in an even cooler paint job when it is done so we will see what happens.

The promised flight pics from Joe Balabon, i.e., "Uncle Joe" here on RCU.

Hi Chad,

Will any plans or parts be available for the Perstroika ?

Carlos G.

Hi Carlos,

I doubt that I will do a finished set of plans but I can provide the design drawings which are enough for the experienced builder to work from. I can probably get you a cowl and canopy as well. Send me an email at the address below if you would like to discuss it further.

[email protected]

I spoke with Robert today and he is taking "Czech Mate" out again tomorrow for some more testing. He has moved the CG forward a bit and reduced the down thrust just slightly in an effort to cure the porpoising issue encountered during the first flight. I'll report back on his findings for those still following along.

Chad,
What were the original incidences and airfoill used?

Hi Chad,

It appears that cwvmodels.com is more or less a website address with no means of emailing you. I am interested in the design drawings as I would like to try the model as an electric. The cowl and canopy are parts that would be helpful.

There seems to be a bug in RCU because I have had trouble posting and sending emails through RCU. It has been a serious PITA to try and get anything done here at RCU sometimes. I guess I will try your Ph # listed on your website.

Best Regards

Carlos G.

Hi Tim,

The Yak uses the SD6060 and the wing and stab are set at -1 relative to the datum while the engine is at 0 as designed. (1 degree of downthrust essentially.) When Robert built the airplane he left the cowl 1 inch longer than scale and moved the engine out to match thinking it would help with balance. As it turned out the airplane ended up nose heavy (or so we thought) so, before the test flight, he moved the engine back 3/4 of an inch and somehow gained an additional degree of downthrust. After the test flights we decided that the CG needed to go forward a bit so he moved the engine forward out to its original position which returned it to 1 degree of down thrust. I just spoke with Robert a few minutes ago and he reported that the new CG has totally cured the airplane of the pitch sensitivity and that it "flies frickin' awesome". Take offs are easy with little rudder needed and he says it settles right in on the mains for easy landings. To be honest I think the change in CG was the big issue and I doubt the additional down thrust would have made a big difference had he kept it. Either way it is flying good now with the incidences and thrust angles as designed and with the CG probably around 26% or so. (We started at 28%)

Carlos,

My email is [email protected] but there is also a link to contact me on the web site. You can try [email protected] as well if that one works better for you.

All finished, on to the next one.

VERY NICE!!

Thanks Tim, I'll pass along the compliment to Robert. By the way, I have not forgotten the article on the Bearcat retracts for you. Just have not found the time to dig it out of storage and get it scanned yet.

A couple more shots courtesy of Joe Balabon. I guess he missed the flight but he got the landing! Man I can't wait to get back to work on my own.

She's a beauty! Great work Chad and Robert.

Thanks ID! I forgot to add that the airplane registered 126mph on the radar gun over the weekend. I'm not sure if that is good or bad for a model of this size and power but I'm sure Robert will make good use of it in one class or another. We are thinking of doing another Yak-11 hybrid, "Maniyak" this time, and going smaller for YS 1.15 power. We will do it as it appeared originally when owned by Ascher Ward. I think this was the first Yak-11 to ever turn pylons at Reno.