Yeah. I am starting to realize that the yak 55 is basically an upgraded version of the yak 54. It seems that they took all of the weaknesses from the 54 and put them into the 55. There are a lot of awesome little upgrades from what I have read about the 54.

Whose edge 540?

Dard had an Edge 540 recently purchased. was asking about that, thats OT though

Gotchya

Did you manage to take time out to work on the plane? Any update :-)

Yes, actually. I got the elevator servos installed, and the upgraded pull pull assembly showed up today. The wire they supplied for the pull pull cable was just not long enough, so I got the sullivan kevlar system. I also got a lipo receiver pack to power the sullivan skywriter smoke pump. I went ahead and mounted the engine, just to get a feel for how the general balance of the plane is, and I have to say it seems it is going to be right on. I have lithium nanophosphate packs from fromeco that are somewhat substantial in weight, as well as the smoke pump. Right now with no wings on it balances perfectly about half an inch behind the wing tube. With everything in place, it should work out perfectly, so I am very happy with that. Also, I got a lot of programming done. So once I can put the pull pull system on, the plane will be ready to go.

So does that mean without the smoke and with DL50 the plane will be tail heavy ???

I cant say that for sure. I am fairly certain that with the 3w55 (listed at 4.2 lbs with no ignition or muffler) AND the smoke system AND all of my batteries and ignition up front, I should be fine. It depends on what batteries you use to how you can balance the plane. The smoke system is insignificant. The skywriter pump weighs almost nothing, and the tank will be on the CG. I would think if you use nimh or linapho batteries you could just use a bigger pack to balance out the plane. There is room from shifting various things around, as well as putting your engine farther from the firewall to help out with the balance. I think you might end up needing some lead if you dont use a heavy enough engine and/or batteries.

OK, well, my club meeting was tonight, so I got some decent feedback from some other guys at the club when I brought the plane. I did some cutting of the cowling. No air holes, just holes to fit the sparkplug/cap and the exhaust. I think I have an idea of what I am going to do for cooling holes. I have everything done except for the pull pull setup, and the balancing. I am going to put the plane on the balancer without batteries and ignition and smoke pump, and then add the rest to make it balance perfectly, which should be no problem. I will post pics of the entire layout once I am finished. In the mean time, if there is anything anyone wants a pic of just let me know and ill be happy to post it.


Thanks

hi there, i have the mh katana 87 inch powered by a da 50 and cannister. Well built easy to put together and a dream to fly. 3d's extemely well. the yak will be a dream.

Good to hear. The only thing I am worried about at all is what kind of control throw to put on it. I have conservative throw to start, but am planning on cranking it up as high as my servos will allow eventually

yeh go the max

You could always change it after you get some flights on it.

Yeah, thats what I usually do with new planes. Like on my sebart sukhoi it said to put 60 degrees of elevator in it. I didnt start off that much, but i eventually got there and am glad I have it there

So when should we expect the flight report?

Well over this coming week I should be able to finish it up. I am planning, depending on weather, to fly it next saturday or sunday. I have a friend who is a video journalism major who will tape the maiden for me. Then once I get a good grip on the plane Ill get her to video a 3d flight and an imac type flight and try to compare how well it does both.