Saito 1.25

Wow... what a comparison between the Saito and the YS. The YS gave nothing but problems and the Saito yielded none. It has been run forty minutes with the first ten minutes at 4,000 rpm or less and five turns of needle valve open as reccomended. The second tank was kept 6,000 or less. Some leaning of the top end began with the third tank and the fourth tank it was run up for just a second to high rpm of 8,700 with a 15-8 master air screw prop and then set back to 8,300 where it will be kept for the initial flights. Idle and transistions were super. Yet... is to flip the test bed inverted as the installation will be inverted. Idle mix will be adjusted inverted and if all is well, the work to fit to Akrobat will commence.

A good bit of work was needed to make the motor conversion. A 1/2 inch aluminum plate was milled to accept the motor and this plate mounted to the existing beams. With the YS, hardwood beam shims were used but with the smaller footprint Saito and weight to burn because it's lighter, a yoke was milled from 1/2 inch aluminum in an attempt to hold the integrity of the mounts. The elevator and throttle servos required swapping to accommodate the throttle hook up on the other side. Even though the mount was much heavier, two additional ounces of weight were added and a spinner nut turned and threaded for the motor shaft and spinner screw. If only I'd known this would be the engine... I'd not gone with the removable stabilizer and the extra tail weight it added and I'd gone with a lighter tail wheel bracket and saved close to a half pound of total weight.