Construction (Page 1)

Over the course of the past few years, I've been getting more and more involved with the competition end of RC. Particularly in Scale Aerobatics or IMAC. It's a very challenging aspect of the RC world, and can really drive one to perform. But like most other forms of competition, equipment plays a big factor in giving one that winning edge. Hence the Carden Yak 54.
After doing some research, and watching what others out there were flying, I came to the conclusion that a larger, more neutral airplane was needed in order to stay competitive. The Carden Yak has all those attributes, which led me in making my choice. I also know that Carden has a reputation out in the RC world of having very well designed kits, that fly well, with all the support one could every ask for.

Motor Box:

Here are a few pictures of the construction of the motor box. The box is mainly constructed of 1/8" ply, and I took the liberty of lighten as much of the material as I could, while retaining it's structural strength. The key here is to make sure you keep all aspects of the motor box square. As I constructed the motor box, I also installed the motor to get an idea of how the exhaust will line up, in relation to the box and eventual canister tunnel.

Exhaust:

As you can see in the pictures, I am using a 3W-157 CS, with Pefa canisters. The Yak has a round fuse, and because of this, it limits the amount of space needed to fit canisters. Since the motor box was a little smaller than in most Carden designs, I had to modify the 3W mounts so that they would fit properly. I was then left with the problem of mounting the rings to the motor box, so I made these little aluminum "L" brackets that tapped into the rings, and to the motor box as illustrated.

Fuse:

Now that the motor box is complete, the next step is to build the fuse. The fuse is built over the plan, upside down. The first step is to build the fuse sides, and then once built, to join them over the plan. The motor box will then also be joined in, along with the wing tube, to create one structure that is all intertwined. This form of construction is very strong, and if done with a little care, will give you a very straight skeleton to form the rest of fuse with. Here are a few pics of the process:

A few more pics as the structure begins to come together. Again, keeping everything square is very critical in these steps.

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