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Product Review:
DawgHouse R/C - Yak 55SP

Perspective By:
Mike Bargman

Manufacturer Contact:

DawgHouse R/C
541 E. Main Street
Brownsburg, IN 46112
317-852-4744


Manufacturer Website:
http://www.dawghouserc.net

FlyingGiants Ratings:
Packaging:
Kit Quality:
Ease of Build:
Huckability:
Overall:
Introduction

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Well, we've all seen the 50cc Yaks and the 50cc Edge 540's and the 50cc Extra 300's...what about a 50cc Yak 55?? I haven't seen one until now. This is the new DawgHouse R/C Yak 55SP. Looks neat, well built, definitely a new design. Let's take a better look...


Out of the Box:

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My first impression of this plane out of the box was pretty impressive. Everything was packed pretty well in the huge box that showed up at the door. Everything was wrapped well and had it's own little spot in the box. I brought the airplane to my friends shop so I could mock it up when I brought it out of the box. Wings, stabs, fuse...all in great shape and covered well with Oracover. It's not "chinacote" like some would think, it's very similar to Ultracote. When I mocked it up, everything fit nice and tight. The wing dowels, which are carbon fiber pins, needed a SLIGHT sanding on the tips to make them slide better into the holes in the fuselage. Not a big deal at all. That took all of about 2 seconds.
 
The hardware in the kit is pretty nice. Robart style hinges, pushrods, ball links, gas tank...everything is pretty solid.


Product Specifications
Wingspan - 87''
Length - 81''
Weight - 16.5lbs to 17.5lbs using 50cc-60cc size engines
Wing Area - 1451 sq in.
 


Putting it together
The instructions with this airplane do lack a bit of explanation with some steps, but if you are an experienced builder, this should not be a problem at all. The pictures in the manual are plenty to get the airplane together.
 
The first major step I took, was to hinge all the control surfaces. DawgHouse provides Robart style hinges for the control surfaces. I did have a few of the hinges that had loose pins, but a quick stop at the hobby shop while buying epoxy for the hinges solved that problem. I picked up a package of Robart hinges and replaced them. As usual, I lubed up the hinge pin with vaseline to keep that nasty epoxy out of the hinge so I don't get any binding. Put the epoxy on the hinge and the hole, put all the hinges in and slap the control surfaces on and tape them together so minimum separation occurs. Once that was completed, all that basically needs to be done is stuffing it with all the equipment. (Servos, Engine...etc). I used all the stock hardware with the kit. The hardware is pretty solid. I saw no problems with the hardware in the kit except for a few of the hinges. I've had problems with hinges in the past, so I'm pretty picky about things like that. :)


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Installing the "stuffing" was really pretty easy. All the hardpoints are installed and ready for control horns, servo bays are ready for servos, everything was pretty straight forward. I decided to put a Desert Aircraft DA-50 in this airplane. DA's in my opinion are relatively dummy proof and have the best reliability and customer service from any other engine I've ever used. Coincidentally, Scott from DawgHouse includes a template for drilling the mounting holes for a DA-50. THANKS SCOTT!! That saves a headache when mounting the engine, trust me. Tack the template on the firewall with hot glue or a dab of CA....drill the holes and viola! You have yourself a firewall ready for a DA-50. Beautiful!! Doesn't get much easier than that.
 
Before I go any further, here's a list of all the equipment I used on this airplane:
 
5 JR 8611a Servos
Hitec 645MG Servo on Throttle
Spektrum AR-7000 2.4ghz Receiver
Fromeco 5200mah Battery on Receiver and Servos w/ HD leads
Fromeco 2600mah Battery on Ignition
2 Fromeco Regulators
Fromeco Badger switch on RX
JR HD Charge Switch on Ignition
JR Servo Extensions and JR Aluminum Servo Arms
Desert Aircraft DA-50R 50cc Engine w/ stock muffler
Pete's 3 inch Carbon Spinner
Meijlik 22x8 Carbon Prop
 
All other hardware is stock.
 
 


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A couple of things that I found tricky with putting this airplane together was the placement of the gas tank and the throttle servo. The gas tank was mounted all the way up in the front of the motor box behind the carb. There were no pre drilled holes or any real easy way to secure the tank with a strap or zip ties, so I wrapped velcro straps around the motor box and secured the tank that way. The throttle servo has a custom mount (included) made of lite plywood that you use to glue to the airplane depending on the engine you use. Since I used a DA-50, it was a little tricky to mount the throttle servo, so here's what I did. I mounted the servo to the mount, and epoxied the mount to the inside top of the motor box. It took an extra hand from a friend to help me manuever it in, but we got it in, clamped it down and it works great.
 
The cowl is not pre-drilled and requires some measuring to get the holes lined up on the mounting blocks. The mounting blocks have blind nuts pre-installed, so once the holes are drilled in the cowl, the supplied screws and grommets hold the cowl on very securely.
 
Once that was done, I bought some graphics from Craig Koerner (ckoerner) here on Flying Giants. He did an AWESOME job on the graphics.


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Performance

Since the weather here in the midwest has made it hard to completely trim an airplane accurately, it took me a few flights to get it right. On the maiden flight, I used 1 click of down elevator trim and that was about it. The airplane came in just a tad tail heavy, but other than that, it was dead on. I did need to use some mixing to keep knife edge straight. The airplane wanted to pull to the canopy just a touch, so I used about 4 or 5% down elevator to make the airplane stay straight, and about 4% outside aileron to hold the wings straight as it wanted to roll to the top wing during knife edge flight. 2% down elevator mixing to hold downlines which is typical of most airplanes. I managed to bring it down into a hover and pull out to see what kind of vertical performance I could get out of it and it's pretty ridiculous. Pulls out with really good authority and that's with a DA-50R with 1 gallon thru it and break in prop.


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NA


Conclusion
All in all, this is a great airplane for the price. You really can't beat it for what it costs. Don't be surprised if you have to do a little sanding to some parts to get a clean fit, things were a little tight when installing some things, so sandpaper and a file is a must. Not a big deal, it's expected with most ARF's in my opinion. The instructions leave a little to be desired, but 99% of it can be completed without any real instructions. I would say that if I didn't have an instruction manual, I still could have completed the airplane without any major problems. Hardware is great and the airplane flies very well once it's trimmed out. I'm going to fly it in local IMAC contest in a couple of weeks here, so I'll let you know how it goes.

DawgHouse R/C
541 E. Main Street
Brownsburg, IN 46112
317-852-4744
http://www.dawghouserc.net
 
Default DawgHouse YAK 55SP
DawgHouse YAK 55SP

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Old 07-15-2008, 12:22 AM   #2
chucku
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
It looks like an awesome airplane.
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Old 07-16-2008, 10:44 AM   #3
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
Mike, how do you like your iPhone?
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Old 07-16-2008, 10:52 AM   #4
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
nice review.. did you get a auw weight on it?
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Old 07-16-2008, 11:39 PM   #5
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
Mine came in at 16 lbs. DL 50,stock muff, NIMH, no spinner.
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Old 07-24-2008, 11:13 AM   #6
Mike Bargman
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Awards Showcase
FlyingGiants Good Dude Award: For stepping up to the plate, being a part of a fundraising effort for a good cause. Thank you. - Issue reason: Thank you very much for helping with the recent donation drive. The Golden Turd: A time honored tradition. Awarded to members who are deserving of ridicule for their antics in the community forums. - Issue reason: Mike receives the coveted Golden Turd in conjunction with our inaugral SVA award for this gem: http://videos.pitsbros.com/bored.wmv - 4 minutes of our lives we will never be able to recover. The SV (Stupid Video) Award: Awarded to members who come up with incredibly lame videos. - Issue reason: Mike receives our inaugral SVA award for this gem: http://videos.pitsbros.com/bored.wmv - 4 minutes of our lives we will never be able to recover. 
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
16lbs is about right. LOVE MY IPHONE!!!
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Old 08-01-2008, 10:06 AM   #7
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
Just to let everyone know check the engine box over and glue eveything , because this thing fell apart on me . Thanks Mike ......
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Old 08-01-2008, 10:16 AM   #8
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
I added some tri-stock to mine even though it seemed to be glued well enough. I understand that BlackBirds popped loose so I beefed mine up.
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Old 08-07-2008, 02:21 PM   #9
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
Man, I'm excited! Mine will be here next week! This will be my 1st 50cc bird!
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Old 08-08-2008, 05:04 PM   #10
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
I have one of these bad boys. Looks good right out of the box. Great quality for the price. I'm planning to get it in the air soon with a 50cc. Thanks for the review, this will make my build time a lot shorter.
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Old 08-08-2008, 06:37 PM   #11
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
I look forward to a pilot report after 30 or 40 flights!!! Wanna know how she harriers upright and inverted.. Harrier rolls left and right.. does it survive a blender?? Will if do a KE sppin?... etc etc etc.
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Old 08-08-2008, 08:35 PM   #12
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
Mith,
Once I learn Harrier Roles I will let you know... ! :-) I can pull off the occasional Hover, Harrier and Knifes edge spin I will let you know about as soon as the bird is trimmed and I have a chance to try them..

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Old 08-09-2008, 09:52 PM   #13
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
Quote: Originally Posted by Mithrandir
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I look forward to a pilot report after 30 or 40 flights!!! Wanna know how she harriers upright and inverted.. Harrier rolls left and right.. does it survive a blender?? Will if do a KE sppin?... etc etc etc.
Yes! Best airplane I have ever flown.
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Old 09-29-2008, 11:05 PM   #14
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
I have the same Yak from Cermark, at least I am pretty sure it is the same one, and mine came in at 18.5 pounds with a TOC 53 and single A123 receiver pack. Not sure where all the extra weight came from..
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Old 09-29-2008, 11:50 PM   #15
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Default Re: DawgHouse YAK 55SP
Don't know either unless it's not the same plane. I tried a stall test on mine the other day at a high idle and it just kept flyn' around with full up elevator !

I've since added about a half pound to mine. 4oz. more just changing to Dubro wheels (I broke a hub), and added spinner.
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