Yak 54 30ep 1280mm (ARF)

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Customer Rated

Feb 04, 2014

Just correcting my ratings as I forgot to set them in the previous review. Also, the aerobatic qualities of both the SU-29 and Yak 54 are outstanding. You can pretty much do anything you want and there is really no need to be on full bore with the SK3 motor unless going vertical until out of sight. Consequently the battery comes down just warm.

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Customer Rated

Feb 04, 2014

This is my 5th balsa and ply ARF from HK, following the Decathlon, Zlin 50L, Pitts 12, and Sukhoi SU-29. It is the best quality so far of all of them. I thought the landing gear seemed stronger but as usual one side folded up like spaghetti when i dropped it in from 6 inches on the maiden. Oh well. Never had these problems when I used to fly nitro. Anyway, I bought it to replace my 1300mm SU-29 which mysteriously didn't pull out of a loop so I will compare these two planes as they are very similar. Both setup with Turnigy Aerodrive SK3 - 4240-740kv spinning a 13x7 prop. 4S 2650 Nanotech (also 5S Zippy) and Turnigy Plush 60amp ESC. The SU-29 feels lighter and somewhat faster when flat out level. It can be flown slower at a very high angle of attack and its stall is more gentle. It can be landed slower. The Yak 54 airframe is a bit more rugged. It feels more precise and crisp in the air but I believe it has slightly higher wing loading and a thinner airfoil section. It stalls a bit more viciously (not much) and has a slightly faster approach and landing speed. Both can be flown in windy conditions with good penetration. A 4s pack with the SK3 is more than adequate with either plane but they'll handle a 5 cell if you want to go nuts. Its a hard call between the two but I think the Sukhoi is a bit more forgiving.

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Customer Rated

Jan 11, 2014

Arrived double boxed and free of damage. The airframe quality is good and the covering excellent. I cannot fault this area and the quality surprised me. I did reinforce the motor box with fibreglass and epoxy. I do this as a matter of course on all my planes.
I am using a Hacker 30/10 XL motor with Hobbywing 60 ESC and 3700 3S Zippy compact battery. My first flights were with an APC 12 x 6E prop but I will try a 12 x 8 as after 5 mins I had 40 pcnt left in the battery and I felt the plane was struggling a bit on vertical lines and spins. It has no vices and will turn on a sixpence without any sign of stalling. The only thing I have changed are the wheels. I put slightly larger ones on and did not fit the spats. The undercarriage could be a bit wider (say 25mm) to help with landing stability.
I can recommend this plane.

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Customer Rated

Nov 17, 2013

Very nice plane for the money. We'll built with a strong and lightweight structure. I went with a 3s setup using an Emax 2820 motor turning a 13x8 wooden electric prop, this setup pulls around 400 watts and is fine for precision aerobatics, more power would be needed for 3d.
I use a 2600 3s but needed about 40g of lead in the nose to balance. A bigger battery could easily be accommodated.
Savox SH0256 servos fit perfectly.

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Customer Rated

Nov 14, 2013

I bought the yak 54 and run into a couple problems to pass on. The elevator won't slide through slot so I cut out slot to the rear and glued piece back in after I glued elevator and rudder in. Second the combo motors recommended are rear mounts won't assemble properly so I cut back motor mount added a new mounting plate for some plywood I had ad reinforce with thinner plywood. Should work fine. Don't forget your 2 degree offsets.

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Customer Rated

Oct 31, 2013

I have had this plane for 6 weeks and like most things about it. Nice clean and shiny cowl. The construction is good, and the landing gears can take a hard landing without breaking. I used a SK3 3536 1050KV motor and a 12x6 APC prop. 60A ESC is plenty. The ampmeter showed 42A of current use with a 4S 2200mah battery. The plane files very stable in the wind as well. It floats easily and allows you to land with no bad habits. Then I decided that I wanted to replace the motor with a B25 Turnigy motor, as recommended by H.K. It only took one flight to rip the entire motor mount out and have the ESC and Motor fly away from the plane 200 feet up in the air. The plane floated and landed with minimal damage. New motor mount was added and reinforced. I guess this is a common problem with this model, since one of the videos shows another Yak loosing its motor the same way.
Aside from the weak motor mount issue, I believe this is a great plane at a great price.

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Customer Rated

Oct 04, 2013

I have over 80 planes of which about 20 of them are assembled. The rest are waiting to come to life. This Yak is amogst the best 5 planes that I own. It surprised me with its price, quality, and handling characteristics in flight. It's build well the monocoat does not have any wrinkles in it, the cowl fits great and has a very nice ridgid structure. The gel coat on the cowl is without spider cracks and the artwork matches perfectly with the lines in the on the Fuse. The motor is mounted from inside the motor mount, which has limited space. This allows you to place motors around the size of 35/36 class. I used a SK3 3536 1200kv (Hobby King) with a 11X5.5 prop and a 60A ESC. The plane is so light at 1300g, I can fly either a 3S 2200mah or a 4S 2200mah without distrubing the CG. This thing flies like a rocket. I have 100pcnt on my ailerons with 20pcnt expo, 60pcnt on elevators with 30pcnt expo and 100pcnt on my Rudder with no expo. The servo horn mounts are laser cut into the control surfaces making it easy to CA all the carbon fiber flat horns in a matter of minutes. the push rods are rather thin for my taste but can easily change them to a 2mm thick rods. You can't ask for a better plane at this price range.

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Customer Rated

Aug 22, 2013

8/21/2013. I've been flying this particular model for well over a year without any major problems. The model was packaged well, and the build quality is great. As others have said, the covering is amazing and the whole plane looks great at the field. So the reason for the 4 stars on quality. My left aileron trailing edge was glued on incorrectly and droops down. I notice it as the airplane dives and builds speed, the plane rolls right. I've learned to overcome it but its annoying. The cowl is very fragile. Gear appears fragile but I honestly have had no trouble with it all year (on concrete runway). Next was the horizontal stab. I took the advice of others and beefed up the trailing edge with a 3mm square carbon rod. I notched the bottom of the T.E. with a Dremel router deep enough to sink the rod span wise. You can see the rod but it is flush. To date that has held up extremely well. I also purchased a HXT alloy composite mount 85/36mm from HK PRODUCT ID: SC-FWM-2530. I was also able to add in right thrust and still have the G25 fit without rubbing. That mount may seem too short but fit absolutely perfect without being overly heavy. The feet turn out on my model instead of in as the picture shows. It also took some trimming/ drilling and ingenuity to get it to work but it wont break. The setup: Turnigy G25/870KV (turn shaft around

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Customer Rated

Apr 11, 2013

Avio muito bom, recomendo comprar junto um suporte para motor pois o que vem bem fragil.

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Customer Rated

Apr 09, 2013

Arrived double boxed and went together easily. Needed to strengthen motor box for power of SK3 motor. My set up is SK3 3548 700kV, 12x6 MA prop, 4S 3000mAh, 4xHS65MG servos. Maidened today and was very impressed. Flies very controllably but has great response for 3D. Colour scheme is very visable from the air and helps with orientation big time. I recommend this one.