flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

If the weather holds here in North Carolina,I hope to maiden this plane on Thanksgiving day.I have a DLE55 with canister and just wondering if anyone knows of any bad habits this plane has and also,is the center of the wing tube the best place to put the CG for first flights?Thanks

captain stowed

Amazing, I'm maidening mine on Friday! Pilot yak 54, DLE 55, chinese canister

There are a couple of threads on FG about this plane, which is where I got all my build info from. Many have said that anywhere between the front and middle of the wing tube is a good starting point.

No bad habits that I've heard of. Good luck with the maiden!

Michael.

flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

Hey Captain,sounds like we have the same set-up.I had to toss the connector that joins the cannister to the header and the spring clamps and replace them with a piece of heater hose from the auto parts store and standard hose clamps,after that it hasen't leaked any at all.When you purchased yours,did the canister/engine come in a package with the plane?I wonder if replacement parts are available for the canister/exhaust.If you have any info on this,it would be appriciated.

captain stowed

My exhaust connector leaked as well on the first engine run. I sealed it up with a high temp silicone sealer and have had no further leaks during the 2 tanks on the ground I did just tuning it. The heater hose sounds like a good alternative too since it should be gas proof.

I bought the engine and cannister in a combo from china, and the airframe from the Pilot rc distributor here in Australia.

I've read a bit on the exhaust header that I have on this and other sites, and it looks like this type of flex header will have a limited life. When it dies I'll probably replace it with a mandrel bent one from DA.

Hey, given you're in NC and I'm in sydney, if you waited till the thursday afternoon which is my Friday AM, we could have a spiritual maidening at the same time!

Michael.

captain stowed

So Dave did you get your maiden done?

I flew mine today but the winds were really quite unfavourable. Our field is in a valley and when the wind is from certain directions it gets very turbulent. In australia, we need a heavy model inspection for anything over 7kg so today I just did the check flight to satisfy the inspector and left it at that. I'll try for another go on Sunday.

FWIW I had my CG about 1/4" back from the forward limit (middle of wing tube) and it felt OK for the limited time I flew it. Plenty of elevator authority and practically no pitch down while inverted. I need to fly it much more to work it all out properly, but it's a starting point at least.

Anyway, all the best with yours.

Michael.

flyerdave

My Feedback: (212)

Okay Michael,you really have a head start on me because I didn't get to fly mine yesterday.The weather was fair and I had big plans,but doing the family thing took longer than I had expected and really was more important although there were several times when I was looking outside wishing that I was at the flying field.Sounds like you had a good first flight and now I'm even more anxious to see what mine will do.By the way,I am having some trouble with locating my receiver and receiver battery.Because the wing roots set inside the fusalage,The area between the rear of the fuel tank and where the canister tunnel steps down is very limited on mine.I am now trying to figure out how to get these two components close enough to the CG not to throw it off and also have access to the front wing bolts.If you could let me know where you located yours,that might help me greatly.Thanks

captain stowed

Cool Dave, take your time. Family always comes before playing with toys, unless you can do the both together. I've not figured out how to do that yet though! My yak took me 5 months from the purchase of the ARF, so don't feel bad!

For my install, I had to insall everything as far forward as I could get it. That means RX batts, ign batt and throttle servo on the motor box. The RX can go behind the wing tube as it's so light and cable routing is more important

Anyway here's a few snaps of my install. For the receiver, you should just be able to see it in the photo. I drill and file square holes into the flat portion of the can tunnel either side of the receiver. Then I stick a match stick between the holes below which forms pins for 2 x rubber bands. The receiver sits on 1/4" foam. The remote RX for the Spektrum AR7000 just sticks on with Velcro. I made special battery mounts for the twin A123s up front. After having flown it this way, I would recommend sticking to a CG in the middle of the wing tube if you can get all the stuff forward enough. You may need more ballast to acheive this. I had to fit a 150g aluminum spinner.

More flights tomorrow I hope.


Hope it all helps.