I’ve toyed long and hard over the past month or so whether to buy the E Flight Carbon Z Yak 54 or not, but having read a lot of negative comments on RC Groups about quality issues around servos, motor mounts and other niggles on the Carbon Z, I decided I would invest elsewhere.
I essentially wanted something that was aerobatic, could help me move into the 3D flying space and would be very easy on the eye.
Enter the Precision Aerobatics Addiction X in red, white and blue.
Luckily for me, my trustee local hobby store had some in stock at a very good price and having opened the box for me to show me the contents; it took me less than 5 minutes to make up my mind. I opted for buying the kit which included the power system:
- PA Thrust 40 outrunner motor
- PA Quantum 45 Programmable ESC
Later when I got home I opened the box and was presented with everything neatly bagged up (I’d already taken out the fuselage to inspect in more detail).
As can be seen from the following picture, the fuselage is very well put together and is strengthened with carbon.
Having studied the comprehensive black and white manual first, I started work on the wings first by adding the large ailerons. These are attached to the wings using the supplied hinges. Once the pre-cut slits have been opened up on both the wing and aileron with a sharp knife, the hinges were put in place and glued with thin CA ensuring that the aileron deflect the recommended 50 degrees up and down.
I’ve decided to go with four Hitec 82mg’s for this build and once the ailerons were hinged, I prepared the slots in the wing ready to take the servos. As recommended, a 3mm gap was left to iron down the overlap.
The motor box was next on the agenda and this was aligned up to the fuselage. Five carbon rods hold the motor box in place and having secured all these in, the motor box was then secured in place using 5 minute epoxy.
Having allowed the glue to set for a good hour, I then mounted the Thrust 40 motor into the correct position and secured it with the supplied washers and screws.
One thing that did surprise me about the kit was the fact that it did not include a propeller. Having subsequently tried to source this recommended propeller (VOX T-40X), it seems my only options are to try and get one direct from Precision Aerobatics in Australia or one of the other distributers in Europe. Thus far I’ve not been able to find anywhere in the UK, but have been recommended to go with a XOAR 14 * 7 prop as an alternative.
I will post more as I progress, so far so good, the quality of the kit looks excellent and it’s going together without any major issues. I found the following thread is also a very good source of information.
Addiction X Community Build Thread as well as the various threads on RC Groups which look at this model.
My problem now is splitting myself between the two builds which I have on the go, this one and my 52” Marstons Pterodactyl.
More to follow soon. Hopefully I’ll be able to capture a couple of video’s leading up to the maiden flight.
