Has any of you flyers built a PICA, WACO YMF5. I'm thinking of building a 1/5 scale one using a YS 120. I'm curious about how they flew and any construction areas that require additional engineering. Thanks in advance, Duke
Duke,
Yes, I have one, covered with Coverite, painted red, powered by a OS 160 twin, JR rig (dual elevator and dual aileron servos), and it is one of my all time favorite airplanes. It flies wonderfully, does all of the aerobatic patterns (it is not a 3D plane), no bad stall tendencies, pretty much lands as it should (does not float but does not drop either--just right), and is a favorite in our club. Most folks really like this plane.
I built a shock absorbing landing gear out of LG wire, brass tubes, washers and springs. The gear worked out perfect.
Watch out for a couple of areas. First, be careful on the wing mounting wires and N struts to make sure that you meet the proper incidence requirements and you do not unwittingly warp the wings with the N struts. Practice your soldering techniques and use silver solder on the wing mountings and landing gear. The other concern is where the top wing sheeting meets the center section on both sides--reinforce this from the front to the back with light weight FG cloth. I do not know why but the glue joints seem to seperate here. I have seen this seperation on two of these birds.
We have another 1/5 Waco almost complete in our club and it is going to be powered by a mid size gas engine like a G-45. Your YS 120 might be a little light, but a YS 140L should be great. I have seen another flown with an OS
108, 2 stroker..Build it light and you will have a great flying airplane. Mine weighs 12.5 # dry.
Good luck and let us know if you have other questions about this bird.
Tim
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