The green machine fly's again!

Finished and test flight success!!!!

Friday the cowl arrived late so I planned to paint it and mount it Saturday. Once I saw the plane could be finished and ready to fly if I just had the engine back from DA I decided to pull my new engine out of my SBACH and put it in Wayne’s Yak until his came back.  I was excited to see this plane get back in the air.  So I called Wayne and told him to bring some gas to the field Sunday, I don’t think he really believed me.

The only cowl available from the US distributer was one for a different scheme so I had to paint it.

I added some clues where the fuel goes.

By 9:00pm the plane was in the trailer and ready.

Test flight went perfect. We just needed to adjust the throttle servo a bit and Wayne was back to hovering on the deck. Well a little higher as he built his confidence back up.

It’s great to see the green machine back in the air but in all the excitement I forgot to take pictures.

 

 

Wings are finished

Wow, I feel like things progressed really well today. The wing sheeting has been fixed and even re-covered. I got the smoke pump, tank and gas tank installed. Even the throttle servo is in waiting to be connected the engine.

The only cowl we could get was a yellow one so I will need to airbrush it Apple Green when it comes in.

About the only thing left is to GAS it up and test fly it.

Keep it straight.

I did all the measurements to make sure everything was put back together straight. After repairing both main stringers and two formers down the fuselage I checked for twist and banana shape which can be common with repaired fuselages. I happy to report it was perfect.

The rudder is repaired, covered and back on the fuse. All the bottom stringers on the fuse have been spliced and replaced.

Most of the balsa needed to be replaced around the wing support and this was the hardest area to keep straight while gluing but thankfully CA with zip kicker made this go by pretty quick.

The engine box is painted and waiting for the engine to return from DA. Next I will strip part of the wings and begin the skin and tip repair.

Engine Box Complete

Day two.

The engine box is attached to the fuse and sandwiched with ply stringers going back 8” into the main walls of the fuse and epoxied in place. It’s probably stronger than factory.

The correct right and down thrust came out perfect.

I am glad most of the sanding is over, if I sneeze one more time I think my head will come off.

Much of the bottom of the fuse is soaked with smoke oil so after cleaning and sanding I applied a generous amount of Cover Grip so the new covering will adhear to the wood.

I should have the fuse complete, firewall fuel proofed, painted and ready for covering tomorrow and then onto the rudder and wings. I see a re-maiden flight next weekend.

 

Right angle thrust.

Cleaning the smoke oil off.

Sandwich bottom stringers going back into the can tunnel.

Wayne's Yak re-build.

10 years from now we will probably have a fuel meter on our transmitters but for now we just need to remember to fuel up by relying on our distracted brains. Poor Wayne was ever so excited to get in his first flight on our second day at a giant scale fly in. He put plenty of smoke oil in but whoops that’s all folks. Of course you only run out of fuel when you are in a hover 3 feet off the ground.

As I stood next to Wayne watching him fly as his spotter the last words I heard him say were “Oh Sh%t” and then thud. It just sat there so peacefully waiting for us to gently roll it over and shed a tear as we carried the many large and small pieces back to the pits.

Sooooo we re-build………..

The plane fell over on its back and landed upside down motor first so the engine box snapped in half as well as the rudder. The wings got a couple surface cracks on the tips.

Rule #1 save all the parts to examine later, thankfully we did. When I was not so excited and distracted I was able to focus while it was spread out over the bench and I could make a plane. I would piece together the engine box and trace for new parts.

I ran a re-enforcement 1/8” ply down the inside of the fuse to help sandwich and secure the new box. Since I was able to trace the old parts, lining up the new firewall was easier to get the right angle and down thrust. For the firewall I laminated two 3/16” ply together for extra strength. The firewall is glued in with 30 minute epoxy and clamped for 24 hours to dry.

The only new parts needed other than wood is a cowl and the spinner. The engine will be shipped off to DA to be inspect and repaired as necessary. Oh and a prop.

Tomorrow I install the re-enforcements and start on the bottom of the fuse where a couple stringer snapped.

Broken bottom stringers.

The parts:(

Just not enough!

These tanks are made for 3D flying. The clunk may seem short but for 3D its not. The clunk needs to be able to move all the way around and back quickly.

Laminating the firewall.

Glued with CA to trace the sides.

Firewall glued and clamped in place for 24 hours.