Extreme Flight 110" Yak54 - GP-123

[Joe Hunt]

I used a little trick I taught @Tavis when adding hinges... just drill a hole through the hinge line where you want the hinge and then each side will be marked for drilling. :sneaky:

[Joe Hunt]

I tossed all the china hinges out and used Robarts glued in with epoxy. Done.

[Joe Hunt]

I used my traditional blue DUBRO balljoints vs the included china ball joints. I would happily use the 3mm turnbuckle pushrods that came with the ARF, but I had these blue ones that were the exact same length so I used them for fun.

[Joe Hunt]

Fun 4th of July (Jeff had on the whole stars and stripes outfit, hat, shirt, shoes. haha). It was just the two of us (and our wives) all afternoon/evening on a perfect weather day. No bugs for some reason, maybe they take the 4th off? haha The girls bbq's the best sliders on pretzel bread and life was good.

[Joe Hunt]

I contemplated a DLE-120, a DA-120, a GP-123, and a BE-124. In the end I went with a GP-123 from http://www.aviatorplusrc.com/rcaviation/ Joe Lewis has a really good reputation.

[Joe Hunt]

Another perfect evening at the field with no flies and no guys. haha 80 flights on the DLE-170 and although it was quite strong out of the box, it is a real powerhouse now. Original eight 9380s I got have over 200 flights on them now and still performing like they're brand new. And, still my all time favorite plane to fly, even though it actually doesn't "fly" very well. haha One of the guys at the field crashed his 2nd plane on a powerbox engine kill. Not sure why he tried it a second time. I don't know anything about them, whether they are great or not, but my IBECs from techaero have been flawless.

[Joe Hunt]

I know, right? I wouldn't have believed it when I got back last year. I was still thinking 3W CS was cream of the crop like the old days. And, they still are the highest quality to me. But, power to weight, the DLE beats all the other 170cc motors. And, at half the cost of the DA and 3W. A couple of things have gotten better for us since I was gone and this is one of them. I wouldn't have even considered it if it wasn't for @Tavis. He said once his DLE-170 got the new reeds it was almost as strong as his 180cc class engine. And, smooth. Says he's keeping his DLE for sure. Also, GP, I wouldn't have considered it but again @Tavis says stronger and smoother than a DA-120. Supposed to have the bugs worked out now, and they're saying they do on the GP-176 now too. We'll see. Even the brand new BE engines 124 looks great in the flying videos that are posted of it. Getting to be like TV, stereo, and computer components... where brand loyalty is not the way to go. With those you have to stay with whoever is on top of the game at the moment.

[Joe Hunt]

The ZDZ-180 was the most impressive motor I ever ran... for about 40 flights. It either came with, or developed a problem. @Tavis 's and @Spats have not had the same problem and both have over 100 flights on theirs. Eventually I might try another one to see if I just got a bad one. The ZDZ-180 is like an old hand picked 3W 150QS but on steroids. I just don't know if they have an inherent problem or if I just got unlucky with the one I received. ZDZUSA did not offer a replacement but did offer a full refund, so I took him up on that as I did not trust that particular engine. And, because of that one engine I still don't trust the ZDZ-180. That might have just been an isolated case, but how am I to know that? I have what I call the dreaded "ye ol' experience of one." Most of the time we're making our decisions based on one experience, because there just isn't the time and money in this hobby to setup scientific testing. I have to say, though, that my DLE-170 for half the price just honks my plane around like there's no tomorrow, so there's no real urgency about replacing it with a motor I'm unsure of. My ZDZ-180 was a linear, quality feeling, ridiculously powerful motor, though. I miss it, but I don't trust it.

[Joe Hunt]

I know, again I only have my experience of one. I never had a performance issue. What happened was I noticed I had drag on my prop when I would rotate it. So, I sent it in. ZDZ USA said the crank was out 29 thousands. That is clearly a problem. Whether it was pressed and not trued, or whatever, I do not know. And ZDZ could not figure it out either, so I wasn't going to run it, for sure. I was just going to sell it but ZDZ USA offered a full refund so I took it.

[Joe Hunt]

I couldn't agree more. I was going to just buy another one to see if it happened again because the motor was honestly like no other I've ever experienced... as I said, reminded me of the quality and linearity of my old team 3W 150QS motors, but with just startling power. But, I've been slow to buy another one for a several reasons. One is that I just bought a DLE-170 and thought what a great time to compare it scientifically to a ZDZ-180 and DA-170... since I had both of those engines on the same plane. @Tavis had been telling me his experiences with the DA-170, 3W-170CS, DLE-170, and ZDZ-180... all on stock mufflers (which is all he will fly for the best hovering). He had been telling me that the DLE-170 on stock mufflers destroys the DA and 3W on stock mufflers. And, that with the www.fastcarbs.com reeds (dual stage boyesen reeds) and a walbro carb that the DLE-170 was almost as good as the ZDZ-180 that he loves so much. Said he wouldn't' get rid of his DLE-170, it was that good. So, I thought I really need to have this scientific comparison... same exact plane, swap the motor, and really see the exact difference. Then there's the size thing that I considered... I am really seeing myself going mostly 120cc size in the future. I like to fly too fast and too violently for these 170cc plane and engines. I'm just abusing this 122" Extra doing full throttle rifle rolling loops... the downloads are so fast. Even the horizontal full throttle rifle rolls look painful for the ol' girl. haha To say nothing of Torkanos... which I've really stopped doing because they are just too violent.... full throttle into a dead stop cartwheel. :O So, yeah, the DLE-170 is really honking hard and getting the job done totally (ballistic out of site uplines, etc.)... I'm thinking to move away from 170cc class planes... had a REALLY bad experience with a ZDZ-180... so just not hugely motivated to buy a new ZDZ-180 right at the moment.

>>>I'd say chances are that one particular was just a fluke.<<<

I've thought 90% that "a fluke" was most likely it. 10% if you push them you'll tweak the crank (as big pylon racers will tell you, there is no crank that you can't knock out of alignment in the air, which is why they weld their cranks together). There was also the delivery, the box was open and the engine had fallen out. The driver asked me if I wanted to accept or reject the package... the engine looked fine and I didn't think anything of it... until 44 flights later. haha You know, I only put a few gallons through it in just a few days... it was still a new motor when I sent it in. Could have been from being dropped, but it's so hard to prove anything now. I'll go with fluke, but it's bad when the fluke is the first one. Like our field inspectors say "one bad, all bad... or one good, all good." I've got to psychologically overcome that my first one being bad was a fluke. Whilst my OCD (CDO alphabetized) worries that there just might be a crank problem if the engine is really flown violently. Then take my DLE-170... I've put almost three times as many flights on it... and a lot of that violent... and no problems at all... no drag on the prop. So, then I get to thinking maybe that's because the DLE-170 is less prone to have the crank thrown out of alignment. Or? Basically, you don't want to get me thinking. haha Just give me something that good that works, so I think about that. haha Like the Hitec 9380s, Hitec 9360s, the AeroTech IBEC, et al. Anyway, yes, hopefully just a fluke... and maybe someday I'll get a second one to see. If I'm even still flying planes that big. haha here we go again with the circular reasoning. lol