This weekend on Saturday March 14, 2015 in San Antonio, my son-in-law Brendan Herrera and I were out looking for a place to fly RC helicopters and quads. We stopped by the Kitty Hawk ultra-light field which was listed as a good place. The field is located north east of San Antonio just north of I-35 off FM 3009. It was getting late in the day and the winds were almost calm. There we met Marvin and Ron who are motor paraglider enthusiasts. Marvin and Ron were kind enough to explain how it all worked and gave us lots of technical details. The motor unit consists of a two cycle gas engine (think overgrown weed whacker!), propeller / clutch, fan shroud and harness. The harness incorporates a seat for the pilot. The whole thing weighs in at between 50 and 80 lbs depending on the power rating. All of this let up to some flying which we recorded. The "wing" is a lightweight material that seems to jump into the air with only a small amount of forward motion by the pilot. Marvin was up and away on his 1st attempt. Ron was working with some new rigging and made several attempts but wasn't comfortable enough to fly. Below are the videos. Enjoy!

Marvin's take-off.

Ron's attempts.

Bill Simpson's Wendell Williams Moki 250

Aeroworks 100cc Yak 54 ProFlow Medium Front Dump

The ProFlow canisters are being installed on an Aeroworks 100cc Yak-54 with a DA-100L engine and MTW headers. The headers were cut to 11".

Here is the standard AW canister former which measures ~74mm. To install the ProFlow cans you will have to adapt the support former which is way too big for the ProFlow cans. I decided to try and come up with a way to attach the adapter such that I could remove it and return the airframe back to the original design.

I found an old support former from an AW 100cc Ultimate for a pair of 54mm RE-2's. The opening works with the ProFlow medium cans but you will need to apply some Vaseline or other lubricant to get them to slide in. Now all that is needed is to cut it down to fit in the existing opening.

And here we have it cut to fit behind the existing support former.

Fortunately the modified support fit neatly in the existing opening with no cutting or filing. I placed the adapter in and match drilled six holes for long servo screws. The holes in the existing support were enlarged as clearance holes so the screws only bite into the adapter. Use some thin CA on the adapter holes to strengthen them up.

And here we have the medium ProFlows installed! Header length was cut down to 11". This was good because the Yak was designed for the shorter TD-75K canisters. 

Close up view.

The ProFlows are a little closer than TD-75K's but it's not an issue. The throttle serve clears by ~1 inch or so. I didn't have the proper clamps so had to use hose clamps. This works well IF you don't tighten them too much. Also make sure after you snug them down to apply some heat. I use a small butane torch. The heat will help seat the couplers on to the header and canister.

I hope this helps anyone thinking about putting ProFlows on their AW Yak. There are probably better ways to accomplish this but I wanted to get to the field and try them out!

Bill Simpson Moki 250

Aeroworks 100cc Yak 54 Stars and Stripes scheme

Here is my 100 cc Aeorworks Yak 54 in the Stars and Stripes scheme. It is equipped with a DA-100L, JR receiver and Hitec servos. Just added headers and muffler "cans" which replace the stock mufflers. Should quieten it down some.

Here we are at the Dallas RC Club field in Seagoville. I think the temperature that day was like 104 degrees...

Here are the "new" headers and muffler cans installed. Thanks goes to Chris for the great deal on a used set.

Can't wait to fly it with the new setup.

Jim and his 50cc AJ Slick

SpotOn Pattern Plane

Here are some pictures of the internal parts like the engine, fuel tank and servos of a new plane designed to fly very precise maneuvers. It's a pretty tight fit to get everything installed.