AEROWORKS 35% 260, assembly, discussion, and flying thread

[Flatlandman]

	Quote: Originally Posted by red_z06
	bodywerks: I am looking forward to the detailed build thread and forthcoming video.

Some body didnt read the thread

[red_z06]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Flatlandman
	Some body didnt read the thread

I'm the guilty one

But, I assume someone else will step in.

[Flatlandman]

hehe i hope some one does

[bodywerks]

Someone will, and if you guys are at sealevel or close, you'll love it. My signature below says it all...

[Flatlandman]

What weight did you get on the parts

I hope the weight on the 50cc is respectable i am committed through my lhs to the 50 so what ever it is i have to live with 1000' above sea lvl

[aviti]

Is the plane heavier than the advertised range? I believe the advertised is 26-27 with 100 cc engine. That being said it should weigh in that range with a DA 100 and stock gear etc. I know bodyworks was hoping for 23-24 lbs with BME 110, carbon gear and tubes, etc. Seems like that should have been possible so curious if this thing is coming out heavier than advertised.

[why_fly_high]

I guess it didn't "dry out" enough.

Dan

[Flatlandman]

Unless they used heavy balsa i dont think its gonna be over whats adv

the constuction looks all up to date. Theres not to much extra wood any where

[bodywerks]

Well, since Rocco maintains that it should be around 26-1/4 pounds with the DA and the lightest setup possible, and that the production model he did the instructions for came in at that weight, then I am open minded. I know that you can lose a little from cutting out the cowling and not adding baffling and stuff, but Mine came in at 18 pounds with all the stuff in the kit taken out of the bag and assembled, except the hardware was left in the bag and stuffed in the fuse. Even if you dump 1/2 pound off of that for stuff that gets cut out and the extra bag weight, you're still at 17.5 pounds.
Then add another 10.5-10.75 pounds in equipment and you're at 28 pounds, minimum.
For you sealevel guys this may not be a problem, but even at 25.5 with the BME and all CF stuff, it will fly at my altitude like a 30-31 pound 100cc plane does at your elevation.
It's still a nice plane and I hope to see some build/weight/flight reports on it, but I need around 23 pounds or less to get the performance I need. While I feel I will be sacrificing Quality big time by going with the Somenzini Yak, I am quite confident that the 23 pound range will be doable with it.

[ShortBus]

You should move hehe

[aviti]

Bodyworks - As a comparison, I weighed my TBM 35% 260. It is not covered or painted yet but I included the airframe, cowl, canopy, gear, wing and stab tubes, wheels, bag of hardware, wheel pants and tank. That all totalled just under 12 lbs. This plane is known to be 23 lbs or less all up with a DA so to hit 23 lbs with the Aeroworks would be tough.

[WTF]

"While I feel I will be sacrificing Quality big time by going with the Somenzini Yak, I am quite confident that the 23 pound range will be doable with it."

Aren't the Somenzini Yaks the best out there? Bodywerks what do you mean by this?

[bodywerks]

	Quote: Originally Posted by aviti
	Bodyworks - As a comparison, I weighed my TBM 35% 260. It is not covered or painted yet but I included the airframe, cowl, canopy, gear, wing and stab tubes, wheels, bag of hardware, wheel pants and tank. That all totalled just under 12 lbs. This plane is known to be 23 lbs or less all up with a DA so to hit 23 lbs with the Aeroworks would be tough.

I know, but it's kinda tough to get Rocco to just come out with weights of his aircraft parts, so the only thing I had to go on was his word that the prototype weighed 26 pounds with the DA, stock muffs, and Nimh batts. I saw the prototype fly and it had the P2W of 26 pounds at our altitude. Based on that, I figured on subtracting 1.8 pounds for my lighter BME, 1 pound for CF Gear and tubes, and a couple ounces in battery weight. It was only logical for me to assume that 23.5 pounds was possible. The only way to know for sure was to either wait and see what other people were getting, weight-wise (which is what I should have done), or buy one and hope Aeroworks was accurate in their claims. Well, after weighing it and getting what I did, it only seemed logical that even 24 pounds was way out of the question. Of couse, I decided not to build it, so we won't know for sure, but hopefully we get some unbiased weights posted with detailed equipment lists. If it comes out to 26 pounds all stock with the DA and stock muffs, then we will know I was wrong. Of course, that is to assume that their entire kit contents started out at or near the same weight as mine...Who knows, maybe I just got a heavy one, but Rocco didn't want to go through the trouble of sorting through them to find a lighter one, and I can't blame him.

[bodywerks]

	Quote: Originally Posted by ***
	"While I feel I will be sacrificing Quality big time by going with the Somenzini Yak, I am quite confident that the 23 pound range will be doable with it." Aren't the Somenzini Yaks the best out there? Bodywerks what do you mean by this?

Don't get me wrong, the QQ Yak is nice, but they will fall apart if you don't maintain them for the first couple months. They are ultra light, for an ARF, and have a good number of minor weak spots.
By "sacrificing quality", I was refering to it compared to the Aeroworks. Unless you have one, you don't know how well-built it is. There is plenty of glue in most places where it needs it, and Rocco has specifically designed this line of ARF's to last several seasons with little or no maintenance. Most of those little idosyncricities (spelling) that most people have come to expect from having a gasser have been taken care of.
I know for a fact that the QQ is going to need a little help with the hatch fit and mounting, and it the landing gear area, and on the cowl mounting tabs, but it has more wing area and is lighter than the Aeroworks, and that is what I need.

[bodywerks]

	Quote: Originally Posted by Flatlandman
	Unless they used heavy balsa i dont think its gonna be over whats adv the constuction looks all up to date. Theres not to much extra wood any where

You can't compare it to the 50CC Yak, if that's what you have been looking at.
The production 260 had several mods done to it that were implimented in the prototype 50cc Yak, so it's weights shouldn't change much.
However, the Production 260 gained a good deal of weight in the hatch alone. They have a thicker canopy that includes the matching base that is glued to the hatch base (you can see the lip on the hatch - that's where the plastic starts), and the hatch was painted yellow instead of covered in yellow to have a better color match. Plus, the cockpit is solid 4mm balsa whereas the prototype was an open structure. To give you an idea, the hatch for the Aeroworks weighs 1lb, 6 ounces, whereas the QQ hatch weighs 13.1 ounces.