View attachment 98635 View attachment 98636 I have been working with the second flight video for a while now and You Tube is being very slow tonight. I will try to get that video linked as soon as it is done processing. Until then, how about a little flight report?
As many of you know, I was very apprehensive about putting this new bird in the air. Not because I doubted the integrity of the airframe. Seriously, it is a Pilot RC. I have zero worries about any of their planes. I also was not worried about the setup as it is the same setup as was on the previous Yak. The only question in my mind about the set up was the receiver. Being that it was in two "HARD" belly landings, I was concerned that it should probably go in to be checked up. However after reviewing the data from the last "incident" the first Yak really didn't come down all that hard. It was actually softer than the first belly landing when the 210 reeds took a crap and the motor died. The second when the 212 crank broke was more of a forward momentum with no airspeed gear ripper outer. LOL. I range checked the radio and system which checked out good. So no excuses left not to give this a whirl right? Umm, what about that no account 212? Yikes, I was quite nervous. But hey, gimmie the sticks, I will fly it.
I fired up the 212 and she sounded as good as she did a couple of days ago. A little on the rich side, but would rather it was a little rich than lean. Throttle response was very very crisp. After taxing out to the runway, I did some control checks again along with the steering check. All was good to go. Lets do this. I advanced the throttle forward and the Yak departed in true majestic fashion. Straight down the runway the tail came up as usual and the plane basically lifted off by herself. Nice and level and solid. I put her into a shallow right hand climbing bank and gained some altitude. Pulled her to a safe level flight and checked my trims. No rudder...No aileron...."ONE" click up elevator. Actually it was two, but two was too much. Came back to one...still ever so slightly too much. But none was not quite enough. I may have to step that back to a half click up trim. I opted to fly her with one for the time being. After I was confident the 212 was going to run, I made some shallow banks at about half throttle. The Yak responded with crisp accuracy. The 212 was really sounding good so I decided to go upstairs. Up where the star ships play. She pulled an upline in a straight and perfect arrow direction. I could hear the quad "dub" pulling on the power but noticed it was not even...kind of phasing. Ah ha... a little more rich on the settings than thought. Course it could be the 32:1 Ashless breakin mix I am giving her. I could also see some smoke trails that told me she was a little on the rich side. Never the less, she climbed effortlessly and I pulled her over the top and chopped the throttle to set up for a down line. The Falcon 33x11W has really good braking effect. That coupled with the bluntness of the round cowled Yak, she came straight down and a very manageable speed. Two aileron rolls and pulled out straight and level and added in some throttle. The 212 responded sharply and precisely. At this point I am starting to relax a little. I decided to unleash the ponies for just a few seconds. The 212 came on like a Ferrari. The Yak picked up speed rather quickly and did not waver in altitude or latitude. She is just now starting to show her true fashion. I made a couple more uplines and a few fly by's. The motor sounded really good. Coming in from the East, I rolled her on her left side for a knife edge pass. ZERO coupling. Absolutely no input other than rudder. I was very impressed. However I will say I was quickly reminded why I like "push/pull" rudder setups. As you all may remember, the previous Yak had her Hitec HS 7990's mounted in the tail with direct linkage. This one has the '90's in the belly midship in the servo tray with cable "pull/pull". The previous Yak took nearly no input on the stick for maintaining a knife edge. In all reality, probably less than 1/4 stick. With the new Yak, she was almost 1/2 stick to maintain the same degree of angle of knife edge flight. So is the cable pull/pull as accurate and precise as the direct linkage "push/pull"? Not in the least. But still plenty strong with both those 611 oz. magnetic encoder servos. I know for a fact the SD 260 will do a knife edge loop with the 7980's in the same configuration as the new Yak. Given more altitude before attempting the same maneuver, I am certain the Yak will too. I just don't like cable rudder systems. But, I will take it. Especially since the new Yak flies absolutely beautifully. The wind was up, and down..and nothing at all. Then up.... Ugh....Idaho is notorious for this. After I was pleased with the initial flight, I decided after about 5 minutes it was time to set her up for landing so I could check everything over. Just like the previous Yak, she lines up into the wind very solidly. A little touch of power from the 212 to keep her pulling forward...I started my decent after turning from base to final. She started settling down straight and level. Just before the threshold, I chopped the power. The wind picked up at just the same time and so I added just a little...a click or two of throttle. The big Yak settle down to within a few feet of the runway...a little flair...a little burst of power and she was on the racing surface again. In one piece. Whew! Glad that one was over. But.... it was the first flight of the 212 on the previous Yak that also went well. Lets get through a second flight with more power added before I make any assumptions. I am still not convinced.
The second flight was much like the first with the exception of I released the reigns just a bit more. We adjusted the needles a tick before putting her back in the air. I also mixed the 32:1 break in oil with my normal hi test 40:1 redline mix. About half and half of each. The 212 responded even more crisply and more strongly. By this time the wind had changed direction and increased in speed. I gave her more power and off she went. I pulled her into some much harder upline pulls adding more power than the first flight. Three or four times going full power on the throttle stick. She handled it just fine. I figured I would see how she does in some rollers. "UP HIGH"! Not even going to take a chance down low. Ok, she did good. So I decided to test her 3W brute force strength. I pulled her into some higher than normal hovers. Here is where I discovered how hard that 212 will pull. With the prop back washing like crazy, the Yak just hung there. First two were not so pretty. Still trying to get acquainted with her. Even though she is identical to the previous Yak, she still has her own personality. Yet, just like the first one, this Yak pulls out crisp and clean with that 212 up front with no effort at all. I put about 9 minutes in the air on her with the second flight. Ok, I am a little more convinced now. The 212 was running so sweet. The Behemoth Yak flew impeccably. Not a single concern. Not a single worry. Not a single weird or out of the ordinary problem. I lined her up and brought her home to mother earth once more.
All in all, I am very pleased with everything. The plane flies great. She looks great in the air too. It's kind of cool when the sun shines on her. At a far distance, it is like there is huge "glowing" red lights in the sky. LOL. The "dub" quad runs amazingly strong. The next few flights I plan on pushing the throttle stick forward more and for longer periods. Once I feel really confident, down on the deck she will be. Nothing like that big Behemoth Yak staring you in the face with a rudder bumpin' hover. All in all? She is a definite keeper for sure.
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. I am so glad your Big Yak flew so well. Now hopefully you can relax and fly it. You certainly deserve the right to with everything you've been through. . . . . 
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. Best to you buddy.