37.5% Aviation Models Yak owners.

[torquen]

Dear all Aviation Models 37.5% Yak customers,

We would like to bring to your attention a matter that has risen with the wings on our 37.5% yaks. There have been a few cases of the wings cracking on this model and we want to stress that you pay close attention to what your wings are doing structure wise. There has been two wing departures so we want to bring this forward to keep everyone safe and also hopefully save your plane and equipment. We have already made the modifications that are necessary to keep the wings from breaking and will offer the new sets to the owner of these planes at “No” cost. We want to make sure that the customer stays satisfied with Aviation Models and its customer service. We are very sorry that this has come around but this is something that many manufactures have gone through. We want to make this work out for the customer without additional headaches. The wings will be shipping out next week from China in the Orange checkers scheme. We also have the Red, White, and Blue scheme wings on the way. Please contact www.aerobaticmodels.com and provide the serial number and color scheme of your plane as well as all your shipping and contact information. We would also like for you to inspect both of your wings before contacting us and take note of how they look. We would like for you to take a look for any visual cracks in the ribs and also make sure there is no separation between the rib and the leading edge, main spar, and trailing edge. Include a brief comment on how long and how many flights you have on the plane as well so we can get a true number of problems.
If you know of a friend flying this plane please let them know so we can take care of them right away. The 37.5% Yak is the only plane being affected, so no worries on any of the other Aviation Models products. Thank you very much for all your patients and cooperation.

Sammy Lee
Garrett Morrison

[Dennis C]

I know of one departure.

Im glad you guy's steped up and made this statement.

[SUPERFLYJAY]

now heres a perfect example of what i said in another thread about aviation models !!! heres a company who found a problem with one of their planes, (which i happen to own) and stepped up right away to correct a serious design flaw in one of their aircraft before someone lost their plane due to a wing comming off, and more important than the finacial loss the safety factor associated with this. Any of us flying these large planes realizes the serious injury that can happen if one of these birds hits someone 40lbs at over 100mph hitting a person would almost mean serious injury or death. I applaud Sammy Lee and the staff at AM for conducting business in the way it should be conducted. Sammy you and all the reps and Garrett make us fellow modellers proud to do business with you. And let me say the yak i bought will def not be the last AM product in my hanger. Thanx guys for the great product and the great customer svs. Im sure you guys will be around for a long long time.

Jay

[rdgood]

Sam and Garrett,

I did talk to Darcy about this - he did inform me of his wing breaking but not departing. FWI - I think that Aviation Models is doing absolutley the right thing here. He said that his wing did fit a little too snug thus causing difficulty in removing the wing from the Spar tube. This is when the wing was crunched he suspects.
I will be replacing mine just as a precaution.

My next Giant Scale will be Avaition Models!!

Anyway you guys Rock!!!

Ronster

[torquen]

Hey Ron that is exactly why we wanted to bring this to the public. Go ahead and provide all the information that I wrote in my first post so we can build a list of everyone that needs a set of wings. We would call up everyone, but our email contacts were lost went a server crashed so we are building a list again. Thanks for you understanding, we are really trying our hardest to make everyone stay happy.
Garrett Morrison

[rdgood]

Garrett,

So where exaclty is the serial number located on the 37.5% ???

Thanks,

Ronster

[torquen]

Hey guys, just wanted to let you know that you can find your serial number on either of the wing roots or on the indside of the engine box. When you send the email to us please include all your contact info and shipping info as well as your full name. We will put you on a list and when the wings arive they will get shipped out.
Like I was saying, only a few cases of the wings have had a problem but I would hold of because its just not worth the damage it could cause if something failed. Please wait for the new wings to come out.
Garrett Morrison

[rdgood]

Garrett,

Sure enough - mine is 0083. I just sent in the info to the west coast guy Tripp.

So Garrett - are going to be at the West Coast Aerobatic championships at Mollala this year??

Just curious -


Thanks again,

Ronster

[Mithrandir]

I think it is great for AM to be upfront on this... hats off

[DarcyWingo]

I agree, when mine first had a problem I talk to Sammy great lengths on how mine broke and what the fix should be. Mine at first was an isolated incident, but after the others had a problem it was aparent there was a flaw in the design.

I am real happy to see that Garrett and Sammy came up with a great solution and went public. That shows the integrety of a company..IMO

Good Job guys!

[bodywerks]

Top notch customer service! I just hope the fix isn't a band-aid like it appeared to be on another manufacturer's wings. Their fix added 10 ounces to a 100cc plane! Usually when something like this happens, it is a design flaw and the only real fix is a new design, although another 10 ounces or so on this huge beast with a onefiddy on it ain't nothin'...

[TheTank]

On mine, the grain on the sandwiched root rib was all running the same way, lending itself to crack laterly from root to tip. When it cracks right down the center, you take the chance of having the blind nuts pull through, resulting in ejecting a wing panel when there is nothing left to hold it in. Simple fix in that the grains just needed to be crossed (mine had about 30 HARD flights on it before one side slightly cracked). I fixed mine myself by adding 1/8" ply to the back of the root rib in a cross grain pattern. I accept responsibilty though, if I still blow the wing off, i consider it my fault. Therefore, i recommend to anyone to just wait and get a new set of wings.