Redwing 30cc Yak55 Buid Log

[3dmike]

The big round cowl is easy to mark for the cutouts for the muffler and spark plug.
View attachment 24984

The top 2.5m Allen bolts are easy to get to when installing the cowl, however, the bottom are a little more difficult! I took a 2.5m allen wrench and cut the short end off and found a piece of carbon rod that it would fit into. I glued it in place with a little CA and made an extension to reach the bottom screws perfectly. Be sure and use Loctite on the bolts...they will vibrate loose!
View attachment 24985

At this point I will go over all the linkages and take a look at setting everything up with the correct amount of throws (D/R, expo etc.). I will also take a look at getting all the linkages as close to 90deg as possible by moving in the rods one hole on the servo arm and maxing out the throws in the transmitter. Stay tuned!....

Herb, Just as a note from my own experience I had to put a piece of plexi glass in the cowl to limit the amount of air coming through as the air was swirling around in the cowl and caused a few flame outs. Just my experience. The plexi glass ended up looking like a key hole opening (if that makes sense) with 80% of the cowl blocking the air and only the cylinder area was open.

Plane: TBM Yak-54
Engine: DLE-55 and DA50

 

[GravitySux]

Herb, Just as a note from my own experience I had to put a piece of plexi glass in the cowl to limit the amount of air coming through as the air was swirling around in the cowl and caused a few flame outs. Just my experience. The plexi glass ended up looking like a key hole opening (if that makes sense) with 80% of the cowl blocking the air and only the cylinder area was open.

Plane: TBM Yak-54
Engine: DLE-55 and DA50

Thanks mike,

I was thinking the same thing.

Sorry for the delay in posting. I had my daughter come for a visit and had to take some much needed time off and spend some quality family time at the beach! I will get back to posting details on the first flight tomorrow!

 

[GravitySux]

I like how you took the time to paint the motor box. My 40% Carden has the inside painted like that. It looks awesome!

Thanks! It makes the plane look cleaner and more finished in my opinion.

 

[3dmike]

Hope you have an awesome maiden!

 

[GravitySux]

Ok everyone... Here she is

 

[gyro]

Ok everyone... Here she is
View attachment 25182View attachment 25183View attachment 25184View attachment 25185

Oh yeah! Bring the awesome on! Looks great Herb!

 

[3dmike]

Sweet how did she fly? I love that color scheme.

 

[GravitySux]

As you can see from the last picture, I did the maiden without baffling the front of the cowl. I will be adding some duct work in the cowl after the initial testing phase.

All I can say is WOW! The initial CG location was 6" from the LE at the root and she flew hands off requiring absolutely zero trim! The DLE 35 was plenty of power and pulled the Redwing Yak 55 skyward like a homesick angel. I did the 45 degree CG test and she tracked straight slowly falling to the canopy. Next was knife edge flight. I completed a pass from right to left and found a slight pull to the landing gear, same was observed when I performed a pass from left to right. I will add a mix to mix this out but it is not bad. I performed some sportsman IMAC maneuvers and found that the yak tracked straight as an arrow. I was really impressed with how well the plane performed these maneuvers. It felt like I was flying a much larger plane and the Yak also presents well in the air. I would definitely recommend the Redwing Yak 55 to someone wanting to get started in IMAC on a budget!

After about a 7 minute flight, I decided to land. No bad habits here as she penetrated nicely, even with the big round cowl, and settled gently into a 3 point stance and touched down gently.

I did not attempt any 3D during the first few flights due to the engine being new and not having the baffling installed. I will post the 3D performance after this coming weekend.

Here are my control throws as of now:

Low Rate Expo High Rate Expo
Aileron: 20deg 25% 45deg 75%
Elevator: 20deg 25% 50deg 75%
Rudder: 25deg 30% All you can get 75%

CG: 6" from LE at root

 

[3dmike]

Wow that's an awesome report. You gotta love it when a plane cg's out perfect with very little or no trim required. Congrats on such a great maiden.

 

[TimP]

Hey Herb - Glad you are loving it! Keep us posted on the 3d capability. I think you'll be very pleased. it rolls so clean. Make sure you do some rolling harriers and the like!!