I finished building this Great Panes Yak-55 this morning, it's the "Flex Foam" one. I have always had landing gear and never hand launched anything except my little toy A/A. In the video of the plane they show an underhand toss but cant tell if the TX is in his other hand. Anyway, anyone with this plane or any suggestions woud be great .... Thanx.....


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I used to fling my SX2 (similar EPP construction) by the left wingtip like a HLG. The only wrong way to launch these things is tail first

Personally I would simply grab it by the canopy and give it an underhand toss with about half throttle.

The little 3D foamies just fly out of your hand at low power settings. Just hold by the canopy from above, hit power, and let go!
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grab under the fuse right where the aileron hinge meets the wing. Mine flies beautifully out of my hand at about 1/2 throttle with a gentle toss.

On a side note- it looks like you have some "up" deflection tuned into your ailerons- maybe it is just the pic. This plane flies great with just a bit of "down" differential tuned in- makes the plane more floaty...

I grab it on top where the zipper is . Give it full throtle and toss it upwards. Work fine as long as you have a 3 cell lipo.

Originally Posted by MKMotorsport

grab under the fuse right where the aileron hinge meets the wing. Mine flies beautifully out of my hand at about 1/2 throttle with a gentle toss.

On a side note- it looks like you have some "up" deflection tuned into your ailerons- maybe it is just the pic. This plane flies great with just a bit of "down" differential tuned in- makes the plane more floaty...

WoW...This is great cause I thought maybe I was the only one who had one of these. Thanks for all the help. Anyway, the dierctions were alittle vague on Aileron to wing setting so I just guesed, the wing is kinda round and tilted so I just used my best judgement. Yes, I'm using a TP 3-cell 2100 mah with a CC 18 amp ESC and Hyperion 2213-24 outrunner....I've used this setup on other planes and works well even with heavier planes. Here's a pic of Ailerons. Also can you steer me to any threads or forums on the YAK that could help. Other than that this is my first low wing and I'm hopeing the wing area will keep me out of trouble...Oh, what about landing without gear?.....Hmmmmm...Thanx

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Did you buy that from Duncan's? If so, I am the one that advised you to get this one and both of us were there at the same time... Small world.
I am new to foamies and found it very easy to hold it at about 70 degrees up, 3/4 throttle or more, depends on the thrust and let it go. The neat thing about these is they (mine at least) just take off and don't do many things unless you tell it to which brings me to the next point. How good does your left thumb work? Rudder turns at first, ailerons to keep it flat and don't give it much throw anywhere or let your radio do this for your with the exp... if it has it.
Get a prop saver if you don't have one. A must for this plane or you will be going through props WAY too often.
I just got my Pitts Bipe going yesterday. Crashed and broke it 4 times already but tonight I had a blast. I GET IT NOW. These are fun fun fun. I get bored with the slow stick and I can fly this out of my back yard too but it is a challenge. Keeps you on your toes, at least me on mine. I can't wait till the next semi-calm day. These don't mind the wind too much either.
Sucks we are getting 30 mph winds saturday here in the valley, ayh? Friday won't be much better either.

Rick

On Landing Just Line Up And Kill Power And Glide Her In You Wont Break Any Props If You Have A Prop Saver If Yo Uare In The Grass Do That But If On Asphault Or Concrete Just Try To Bring Her In Real Slow And Kindo Just Let Her Fall Out Of The Air Very Low To The Ground. If You Want To Land Regular Do It But Eventually The Fusalage Will Start To Get Torn Up On The Bottom. Oh Yah Does The Foam Really Bend I Would Like To See That

They do bend. You can fold the tail section all the way to the wings. Neat first 3D type plane. If you get really aggressive with close to 90 degree throws it will flex but for a 1st foamie it will suit him just fine. I wish I started out on one of those.
A fellow flyer intentially crashed his in front of me to show me how crash worthy it is. I was impressed.

Thanx for all the tips.....Do you guy's think that my "ailerons" in the pic above look correct? Pic is taken with TX on. Like I said the directions were alittle vague.........Yep ..thats weird we were in "Duncans" at the same time...I didn't realize that you were the one that steered me in this direction.......And yes this wind and rain thats comming SUCKS!

Your ailerons in your latest pic look good, they have a slight amount of "droop"/differential tuned in. Looks very similar to how mine is setup in the side on shot. You should be good. The first pic was at a bad angle I think....

Originally Posted by MKMotorsport

Your ailerons in your latest pic look good, they have a slight amount of "droop"/differential tuned in. Looks very similar to how mine is setup in the side on shot. You should be good. The first pic was at a bad angle I think....

Cool.....Thanx.........To bad we are getting our first rain in 140 days here and 20 - 30 MPH winds the next few day's. Any Negatives on this plane I should know about? I'm alway's in grass never pavement and I'm basicaly a park flyer...loops, T & G's. This is my first low wing so I'll just be flying a pattern while I get used to it. Does this plane have any "tip stall" issues? I assume it doesn't need as much airspeed to stay airborn as my Ultrafly Cessna? Sorry just trying to get some idea's............Thanx