The old lady got me a PNP version of the carbon z yak. She left it un-wraped with a bow under the the tree and said I can even open it up until morning.. How sick is that!!! MERRY CHIRSTMAS EVERYONE!!

I found a PNP Yak under the tree as well

I also got a PNP Yak! I was sure it was the stinsion!!!!!! Was I ever surprised!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gotta love the girl friend!

So I maidened the Carbon Z Yak this morning. Four flights in temps around 31F.

I do think Eflite have a winner. This plane assembles in 30min. Basically bolt in landing gear, bolt in main wings, bolt in tail feathers (No Glue), bind, check surface throws and your good to fly. Other manufacturers have to take note of this, a fully 3D capable plane ready to fly in 30min. If you are sick of or don't like building, this is a great plane to consider.

CG is near perfect with stock battery, if you slide pack back slightly then CG is almost neutral.

Flight Time - 6.5min on Stock Pack and Turnigy 2600 30C's. Standard 3D sequence. Batteries sucked down to around 70% discharge.

Flight Report:

Summary - Fly's great with no bad tendencies, more than adequate power. Fully 3D capable.

Hover - (B) Takes a little locking in but once there, hovers well, and torque rolls nicely.

Upright Elevator and Harrier - (B) Some wing rock, but not disruptive to flight. No wing snap (tip stall) noticed when full elevator applied.

Inverted Elevator & Harrier - (A) No wing rock or snap, and can cruise around all day in inverted harrier.

Waterfalls - (B) Could not get it to rotate tight around wing axis, but this is something I will work on over next few flight.

Rolling Harriers - (A-) Needs a fair amount of stick input, but when you get them going, they look great.

Blenders (A) - Nice, very nice, on 100% throws the plane transitions nicely from the nose to ground aileron roll to the inverted blender very nicely. Looks great.

Knife Edge (A) - Some minor elevator coupling to canopy. I didn't mix, I just flew around it. Will do knife edge loops (pinwheels).

Gentlemen Aerobatics (A+) - this plane is very smooth, so pattern type aerobatics are great looking and easy to execute. Super smooth upright and inverted. The aero-foiled tails surfaces are a big help here.

Eflite did this plane right. Top quality components, super easy assembly, and a great flyer. All for $299 PNP or $399 BNF. Other companies, take note, this plane raises the bar, and I hope to see more RTF planes of this standard to come to the marketplace.

The landing gear seems strong, I flew off very short grass and the wheel pants were fine. Landings are normal for this type of plane, a couple of clicks of power and glide in with a small flare. Do not harrier this plane in (see post #126). If you clip an elevator corner, you can damage the elevator. Tail wheel appears a reasonable type and pretty robust.

And if any of you interested in how it compares to a balsa plane, I fly 3DHS 42" Slick, 47" Extra SR and a 48" Extreme Flight Vanquish. I could feel no difference in the flight character. Plus the foam design looks great, the perfectly cylindrical cowl and fuse would be hard to replicate in balsa.

Thanks Y'all.

Nice Review Little Oak !!!!
Looking forward to flying mine.... SOON... I HOPE !!!!!
Walt

Further to my post #124. DO NOT HARRIER LAND THIS PLANE. If you catch the elevator on an angle as your coming in, then you can break off the corner of the elevator. There is actually a weak spot where the glass fiber line is embedded diagonally along the elevator, it broke off along this line. Pictures attached tell the story, before and after.

I am going to add some additional carbon fiber to strengthen this area. I may run some tape along the edges also, certainly tail touches should be avoided, as the foam is only 1 cell width at these edges.

I'll email Horizon about it tomorrow.

Thanks Y'all.

Originally Posted by helicow

I am waiting to push the button on some batteries - any one have any opinions on which of these would be best?

Turnigy 2650mAh 4S 40C
Configuration: 4S1P / 14.8v / 4Cell
Constant Discharge: 40C
Peak Discharge (10sec): 50C
Pack Weight: 322g
Pack Size: 144 x 42 x 25mm

Or this one (heavier)

Turnigy 3000mAh 4S 40C
Minimum Capacity: 3000mAh
Configuration: 4S1P / 14.8v / 4Cell
Constant Discharge: 40C
Peak Discharge (10sec): 50C
Pack Weight: 360g
Pack Size: 143 x 42 x 28mm

Seems to be a nice fit size wise.

Bob

Im using Turningy nano 4s 3300mah and they fit perfect.

How's the CG with those. At 12oz, they are a couple oz's heavier than stock, though this plane can carry a little weight. It's a tad heavy out of the box, but the wing loading is not too bad. A little mass can help in some aerobatics.

Maidened mine today.. It was not the best day. Snowing 25 degrees and 15 MPH winds but I am just that crasy. Wind blew to much and mine thumbs were to frozen to really tell anything. But I will say the plane flew nice. Didn't fly very heavy at all.. I am using a g force 3300 MAH battery and inverted it fell toward the nose very little. Harrier with 45 degree elevator travel had a little rock. Can't wait to try out a 2200-2650 mah 4s to see how the cg and weight feels.. Hovers felt nice. Torque left little evidence of it and with full aileron throw anti-torque rolls were possible. So far I am stoked!! I was looking for a great and convenient practice plane for my 100cc birds and this seems like it..

any possiblity that the Carbon-Z could fly on a 3s lipo or is it 4s only?

Originally Posted by HuffDaddy

any possiblity that the Carbon-Z could fly on a 3s lipo or is it 4s only?

It could but you would definitely need to increase your prop atleast a couple of diameters to get any decent kind of power.

Tim

looks like it comes stock with a 12x5.25 .... so increase the prop to something like a 14x5?

Originally Posted by HuffDaddy

any possiblity that the Carbon-Z could fly on a 3s lipo or is it 4s only?

Only using 3s, with 11.1V would mean you would need to draw around 80A to get the required power to equal the stock setup (~800W). You would have to prop up significantly, use at least 40C packs (assuming 2200mah capacity) and then likely blow the ESC as it is not rated to 80A and probably the motor (not exactly sure of the motor specs).

So to summarize, I would say no, not possible with stock components and not recommended.

Hope this helps.

Got mine for X-mas. Just putting it together (weather is yucky anyway). The elevator and rudder hinges seem stiff and I'm concerned that they won't center well. A little oil loosened them up but not completely. Haven't tried the ailerons yet because I don't have the Rx in it yet.
Has anyone had trouble getting the control surfaces to center well?
I don't like the battery in the front, it limits the battery choices. Has anyone tried mounting the battery in the belly?
Looking forward to flying this one soon.

Kip

I am trying to narrow down lipos that would work in a couple other planes... would a 4S 4000 mAh be too large/heavy for the CZ Yak?