ZH YAK-54 EP 45inch ARF

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Customer Rated

Aug 14, 2014

Its a great sport flyer. Set it up with a high c 3 cell or a smaller 4 cell for some decent aerobatics. I tried setting this plane up for 3d but it really is too heavy to perform great high alpha manoeuvres. There is a lot of wing rock in high alpha also, inverted is great. A great plane, just on a tad on the heavy side for its size.

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Customer Rated

Apr 26, 2014

The motor mount is made of cheese & will fail. I made my own. The firewall needs to be reinforced. I used 6oz fibreglass & some carbon tow. The instructions are appallingly bad & a lot of the included hardware was missing or very different from the instructions. The wheels are also cheese & need to be replaced. I replaced clevises & control rods throughout. I used the rudder pull cable but replaced fittings.

Build quality is surprisingly good & it goes together square relatively easily.
I used Hitec HS 81 & HS85 servos as I had them. Turnigy 3542A 1250kv & 60a Plush ESC with 10x4.7 prop on 3s. Pulls 46a WOT so around 500 watts.
Flight report in reply.

Al

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Customer Rated

Oct 13, 2013

Don't get me wrong the yak is a nice plane the need to make a stronger bulkhead is the biggest thing when you've made it as strong as you think is enough make it stronger.Maiden flight of my yak saw the engine break loose as soon as it was airborne and down came the plane just off the runway just happen to be a pole there 1 wing irreparable fuselage damaged cowl damaged where the engine went through landing gear ripped out,Dont think I'll buy another 1 I'll buy something that'll take the same motor ect..

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Customer Rated

Sep 17, 2013

Plane arrived in excellent condition. Went together very well with all surfaces in alignment. I used a 36-48 700kv motor, 45a ESC, and 12x9 prop that I had lying around. The hardware supplied with the kit was fairly poor and did not match those shown in the instructions, so I had to fish around in my parts box to complete the model. I strengthened the motor mount with epoxy and carbon fibre strands. I also used some light plastic sheet on the cowling to block off the gaping opening and a little bit of sheet to block off excess air flow to the plane interior. Extra magnets were added to the canopy to hold it in place. I have had 6 flights with the Yak so far and it is a smooth well behaved aircraft. The model could do with a higher kv motor for better speed, but I wanted to make this a budget project and use the gear I already had. With a 2200mAh battery placed 10mm from the motor, my Yak balanced out perfectly. Great value plane for the small amount of money spent.

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Customer Rated

Feb 18, 2013

If your looking for an all out 3D plane, this probably isn't the first plane you'd turn to. It does harrier (inverted and upright), rolling circles, will hover etc, but seems heavy in the air doing so. I flew Maiden flight today with turnigy nanotech 35-70C 2200 11.1 3s with a 12x6 turnigy wooden e prop and 30a esc and 9 gram servos.

With this light setup it still felt heavy and stalls easily. You have to be on your thumbs at slow speeds with this one. I believe its built more for fast aerobatics or fast 3D. It doesnt slow down very well and needs to be flown in quite fast for landing.

I will be putting mine on a diet and lightening the load as much as possible. Lighter pull pull cables and hardware and lighter taller carbon landing gear, the stock alloy one is heavy and too short. With a 40a esc and a slightly taller 12x8 prop i think i'll get this thing hovering and playing nice. Right now it hovers but doesnt carry enough power to pull out with authority.

My canopy also keeps blowing off. Will need to seal up the firewall somewhat to stop this happening as i've already cut cooling holes in the bottom of the fuse with no avail. As soon as diet has taken place, i'll throw up another update on this review.

For this all out 3D pilot.. Its not cutting the mustard.. For aerobatics and everything else.. A great stable plane.

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Customer Rated

Jul 20, 2012

Ordered my YAK54 from germany just before UK Warehouse open. About same price with postage though. Got here within 2 days and well packaged. Brilliant service. Now to the plane, pretty damn good, mine is fitted with a emax BL2820/07 swinging a 13x8 prop and 3s 2300mah. Drawing about 39A so about 450Watts. Flys very well indeed although havn't had time for full testing yet. Like other reviews, I have fitted another magnet in the canopy to stop it flying off in flight (not tested yet). Had to strengthen undercart with some ply struts and also extended undercart to satisfy the 13x8 prop. For *45 odd quid you cant go wrong really. 3 crowns for quality though this is because it just feels a little bit weak in places ie undercart area and motor mount. Covering, hardware and instructions all pretty good aswell. To sum up, if I smashed it up tomorrow I would seriously consider buying another.

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Customer Rated

Apr 22, 2012

Plane was packaged well and shipped quickly. The hardware kit could be improved upon, but it was only $80. The aileron hinges were not centered and needed to be reslotted. Do yourself a favor and reinforce the motor box with light ply and epoxy. I epoxied all the corners and it still ripped apart at about 3/4 throttle. It is a builders arf.

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Customer Rated

Mar 30, 2012

ARF arrived promptly from usa warehouse. Everything looked great, assembly went well until I tried to plug in the wing panels. I GOT TWO RIGHT WING PANELS !!! I guess I will find out what HK customer service is like.

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Customer Rated

Mar 10, 2012

Habe die Yak gebaut und bereits geflogen. Fr den Preis ist die Verarbeitung vollkommen in Ordnung. Folie ist massive und gut gebgelt. Bei mir fehlte der Motordom !!! mit dem org. Fahrwerk passt max. eine 13" Schraube. Fahrwerk am besten vor dem ersten Flug schon verstrken.

Zu dem Preis vollkommen OK ! (sofern alle Teile vorhanden sind)

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Customer Rated

Mar 01, 2012

this plane isnt a bad plane to fly it looks really good in the sky and awesome for 3d flight i enjoy flying this plane