Rebuilding the Yak...again.
- Thread starter stangflyer
- Start date
stangflyer
I like 'em "BIG"!
Oh goodie goodie goodie...looky looky what came today. Wee haa. Time to get back on the big Yak.
stangflyer
I like 'em "BIG"!
Ah man...give me 16 or 17 minutes aight? Geez, the wood just showed up. I need 12 or 13 minutes to get prepped and set up. Maybe another 3 to 4 to git er done! Lol. Actually, the rear half of the fuse is repaired. The small little section didn't take but a minute. Basically just a few drops of ca on some formers that popped loose. Really no big deal there. Tonight we'll build a front fuse half.ITS NOT DONE YET??????????
And awaaaaaay we go!
HRRC Flyer
GSN Sponsor Tier 1
ITS NOT DONE YET??????????
Hey, I didn't think a moderator was allowed to be a Smart A__ ! ! ! ! ! . . . . . . .
stangflyer
I like 'em "BIG"!
He's not. But the smart ass is allowed to be a moderator. Hee hee.Hey, I didn't think a moderator was allowed to be a Smart A__ ! ! ! ! ! . . . . . . .
So I have the front fuse half wood unpacked and layed out. Looks like everything made it in tip top shape. Considering the US post office took over where EMS left off, that in itself is a feat recently unheard of. I swear, for the last 10 months to a year, every single package I get delivered by the post office, the package is crushed, smashed, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable as a shipping container. I only found one small balsa banjo that was damaged. But a drop of ca fixed that. And since it is a doubler for a vent hatch it won't impede the reconstruction of the fuse. Speaking of reconstruction, there are so many pieces of wood here I think I may go wacko. And here I thought recovering these beast earlier this year was bad with all the various stripes and such. Man, this thing is going to be a jigsaw puzzle assemblers dream come true. Lol.
Time to get started.
As mentioned earlier, the rear half of the fuse is taken care of, so I'll set it aside until the front half is built. Then I should be abe to just marry the two halves together. Hey...wait a darned minute. I ain't marrying anyone unless she has gorgeous huge red j€&s.
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BalsaDust
Moderator
Hey, I didn't think a moderator was allowed to be a Smart A__ ! ! ! ! ! . . . . . . .
Hmmm where is that ban button at???? HEHE
HRRC Flyer
GSN Sponsor Tier 1
stangflyer
I like 'em "BIG"!
I got a good start on the Yak reconstruction today. I put a full day into re-assembling the forward fuse half and made pretty good progress. I had to change things up a bit. I had actually planned to build the front fuse half and then marry the front to the rear fuse sections. After looking things over really well this morning, I chose to start assembling the fuse a piece at a time. I figured it would go together quicker. I had forgotten how big this thing. Once I got part of it assembled, I was quickly reminded of just that fact. I started by cleaning up the inside of the rear fuse sides. The residual factory glue was actually pretty easy to remove. Once that was done, I did a trial dry fit of the front/rear fuse section joiner doublers.
Next, it was time to glue the doublers into place. Medium CA was the call for pretty much the entire days work. It sets quickly and is strong as nails. Thankfully I had my clamps handy to hold the pieces in place while the CA cured.
After the doublers were glued in, It was time to install the F7 former. I decided to work my way from the rear fuse section forward. It worked out pretty well this way. Since most every piece for forward fuse section is incorporated with the rear, it was much easier to work my way to the front. I attempted using my clamps on the smaller cross brace of F7, but found them too strong and they were warping the brace. Ah ha!!! Clothes pins! I "KNEW" them little buggers would come in handy someday. No, I don't use them to hang clothes. Anyone knows they are for building R/C planes. LOL. They worked perfectly. Just the right amount of tension to keep the pieces in place without warping anything while assembling the parts.
With former F7 in place and cured, I then assembled the rudder servo tray/fuse side joiner. Man this thing is beafy. I noticed there was a modification to the parts Tony sent. My original fuse had the servo tray slung mid fuse and therefore the F37A sides were doubled in a different location. The new revision, (Probably found on all recent and current 40% Yaks) slings the rudder servo tray lower in the fuse. I think I actually like this design much better. It allows for a "LOT" more room in the fuse and makes it so much easier to access the wing bolts. With the old design, the wing bolts were kind of difficult to get to. With the new design, they are right out in the open. I like that!
Once the servo tray was assembled, I trial fit it into the rear section of the fuselage. The tails of F37A slide right through former F7 and stop in slots of former F8. Kind of cool how the alignment of these pieces sets the total alignment for the rest of the forward section of the fuse. From this structure assembly, the rest of the fuse can't help but to be perfectly aligned. Especially since each and every piece of the fuse parts are "keyed" and interlocked. It would be pretty difficult to get a twisted or warped forward fuse section.
While I was waiting for the rudder servo tray/rear fuse joiner to cure, I laminated the forward motor box/inner fuselage sides to their prospective doublers. I considered using wood glue for this procedure but again chose the CA method. I just needed to make sure that I was 100% perfectly precise when I layed the two sections together. I sure wish I had the gluing process for this step that they use at the factory. But then, I don't have an oven to bake the sections in, so it would have taken a long dang time. So CA again was the call for this.
Once the doublers and motor box sides had cured, I started assembling the sections one at a time. Piece by piece the fuse started taking shape once more. I noticed more changes to the fuse as opposed to my original forward fuse. For example, the canister tunnel is about 8" shorter on the new design. Which in turn eliminated one of the bottom belly hatches. Since I am not using canisters, I seen this as no problem. Also, since I took the 5 hours or so to open up each cowl louver, there really doesn't need to be a reason to open up the belly for engine cooling. Again, I really like the re-design of this section. Much cleaner and not near the parts to build back into place.
With the forward fuse taking shape quite rapidly, I wanted to double check alignment of all the reconstruction thus far. I slide the new wing tube sleeve through the fuse sides and what do you know? Perfect fit and alignment. Once I glue the sleeve in, I will be able to cut off the scrap from the inside fuse sides. For this I am definitely using Epoxy. I have not seen CA adhere to the sleeves too well so I think this would be the call for this assembly.
Ok, so I have found the one and "ONLY" error in this whole rebuild. I did a trail dry fit of the firewall to make sure everything is aligning up like is should. That is when I noticed the error. The firewall is clearly and precisely stamped: DA 200. WTF??? Apparently Tony did not realize there is a gorgeous Huge Jugged Red Head of the 3w persuasion being hung on this bad boy.Oh well, no big deal. The 210CSTS is going back on the front of this beast all the same.
Now we're up to putting in the belly formers. These are the ones that give the big Yak it's round shape. Again, like the rest of the rebuild parts, they are "keyed" and interlock so it is pretty difficult to assemble them incorrectly. All in all, Pilot R/C makes these planes pretty "stupid" proof for reassembly. Which is a "REALLY" good thing for me. LOL.
As you all can see, the big stack of replacement wood pieces are quickly dwindling down to nothing. I have not glued in the top motor box plate as of yet. I will wait to glue that into place after all the tri-stock is placed and the rest of the fuse is completed. From what I have accomplished today, I figure one more full day of re-assembly and this big bird will be very close for new covering. I set a goal to have this back in the air by the end of September. From todays progress, I am pretty certain that goal is going to be very easy to meet. Maybe even beat it by two weeks. Course, I will have to take a break this weekend. After all, man can not live on building alone. He also must allow some time to fly. LOL. Besides, The Sukhoi is beginning to feel a little neglected since it had to stay home during the Tri-Cities Huckfest. Maybe I will take her out on a special date. I think I will need some "round" plane stick time.
More to come tomorrow. I will post photos as I progress with this rebuild.
Next, it was time to glue the doublers into place. Medium CA was the call for pretty much the entire days work. It sets quickly and is strong as nails. Thankfully I had my clamps handy to hold the pieces in place while the CA cured.
After the doublers were glued in, It was time to install the F7 former. I decided to work my way from the rear fuse section forward. It worked out pretty well this way. Since most every piece for forward fuse section is incorporated with the rear, it was much easier to work my way to the front. I attempted using my clamps on the smaller cross brace of F7, but found them too strong and they were warping the brace. Ah ha!!! Clothes pins! I "KNEW" them little buggers would come in handy someday. No, I don't use them to hang clothes. Anyone knows they are for building R/C planes. LOL. They worked perfectly. Just the right amount of tension to keep the pieces in place without warping anything while assembling the parts.
With former F7 in place and cured, I then assembled the rudder servo tray/fuse side joiner. Man this thing is beafy. I noticed there was a modification to the parts Tony sent. My original fuse had the servo tray slung mid fuse and therefore the F37A sides were doubled in a different location. The new revision, (Probably found on all recent and current 40% Yaks) slings the rudder servo tray lower in the fuse. I think I actually like this design much better. It allows for a "LOT" more room in the fuse and makes it so much easier to access the wing bolts. With the old design, the wing bolts were kind of difficult to get to. With the new design, they are right out in the open. I like that!
Once the servo tray was assembled, I trial fit it into the rear section of the fuselage. The tails of F37A slide right through former F7 and stop in slots of former F8. Kind of cool how the alignment of these pieces sets the total alignment for the rest of the forward section of the fuse. From this structure assembly, the rest of the fuse can't help but to be perfectly aligned. Especially since each and every piece of the fuse parts are "keyed" and interlocked. It would be pretty difficult to get a twisted or warped forward fuse section.
While I was waiting for the rudder servo tray/rear fuse joiner to cure, I laminated the forward motor box/inner fuselage sides to their prospective doublers. I considered using wood glue for this procedure but again chose the CA method. I just needed to make sure that I was 100% perfectly precise when I layed the two sections together. I sure wish I had the gluing process for this step that they use at the factory. But then, I don't have an oven to bake the sections in, so it would have taken a long dang time. So CA again was the call for this.
Once the doublers and motor box sides had cured, I started assembling the sections one at a time. Piece by piece the fuse started taking shape once more. I noticed more changes to the fuse as opposed to my original forward fuse. For example, the canister tunnel is about 8" shorter on the new design. Which in turn eliminated one of the bottom belly hatches. Since I am not using canisters, I seen this as no problem. Also, since I took the 5 hours or so to open up each cowl louver, there really doesn't need to be a reason to open up the belly for engine cooling. Again, I really like the re-design of this section. Much cleaner and not near the parts to build back into place.
With the forward fuse taking shape quite rapidly, I wanted to double check alignment of all the reconstruction thus far. I slide the new wing tube sleeve through the fuse sides and what do you know? Perfect fit and alignment. Once I glue the sleeve in, I will be able to cut off the scrap from the inside fuse sides. For this I am definitely using Epoxy. I have not seen CA adhere to the sleeves too well so I think this would be the call for this assembly.
Ok, so I have found the one and "ONLY" error in this whole rebuild. I did a trail dry fit of the firewall to make sure everything is aligning up like is should. That is when I noticed the error. The firewall is clearly and precisely stamped: DA 200. WTF??? Apparently Tony did not realize there is a gorgeous Huge Jugged Red Head of the 3w persuasion being hung on this bad boy.
Oh well, no big deal. The 210CSTS is going back on the front of this beast all the same.Now we're up to putting in the belly formers. These are the ones that give the big Yak it's round shape. Again, like the rest of the rebuild parts, they are "keyed" and interlock so it is pretty difficult to assemble them incorrectly. All in all, Pilot R/C makes these planes pretty "stupid" proof for reassembly. Which is a "REALLY" good thing for me. LOL.
As you all can see, the big stack of replacement wood pieces are quickly dwindling down to nothing. I have not glued in the top motor box plate as of yet. I will wait to glue that into place after all the tri-stock is placed and the rest of the fuse is completed. From what I have accomplished today, I figure one more full day of re-assembly and this big bird will be very close for new covering. I set a goal to have this back in the air by the end of September. From todays progress, I am pretty certain that goal is going to be very easy to meet. Maybe even beat it by two weeks. Course, I will have to take a break this weekend. After all, man can not live on building alone. He also must allow some time to fly. LOL. Besides, The Sukhoi is beginning to feel a little neglected since it had to stay home during the Tri-Cities Huckfest. Maybe I will take her out on a special date. I think I will need some "round" plane stick time.
More to come tomorrow. I will post photos as I progress with this rebuild.
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Jetpainter
640cc Uber Pimp
Going together fast!