Yamha Quicks

Yamaha Quicks came in several varieties, mostly with a variation in the engine mount. The early ones had the engine mounted on top and the later ones with the engine mounted underneath. The ones with the engine over the wing were referred to as YOW. The engine under the wing got the designation, YUW.

Sail sets were based on whatever the sail loft thought would look good in the first years. About the middle of 1980, several sail patterns were emerging as pretty, one even having the distinction of being referred to as the Team Eipper colors. In 1981, a color chart was prepared and sent out which offerred about ten standard color patterns. Other customer choices were extra cost from then on.

While not deserving a subsection of its own, there were a few dozen weightshifts made with the Chrysler West Bend engines rated at eight horsepower. A very poor performer, it was quickly replaced with the Yamaha rated at fifteen. Both the top mount and the bottom mount engines had nearly identical drivelines, a cog clutch/pulley combination on the engine shaft and a segmented toothed gear on the drive shaft. The shaft was hollow, made from a piece of cro-moly tubing. The prop was a 48 inch wood prop. This was an effective combination for all but the heaviest of pilots. A person weighing 150 found the Yamaha to be a powerhouse. The heaviest I ever saw get airborne was a man weighing 270.

The early kits had some differences from the later majority of kits. They had a straight axle. This gave no toe in to the wheels and was discontinued when the FAA decided that footlaunching was a requirement. The high bend in the humped axle allowed ones feet to go under it while running during take off. Abother difference was the attach point of the lower tail wires. The early kits had the wires attaching to the tri-bar crosstube just as on the plain Model C hang glider. The later kits, the larger majority, had the wires attaching to the axle. The entire landing gear setup on the early kits could be removed allowing unencumbered foot launch.

Footlaunching was a thrill most people will never know. Taking that last step into the air is quite a thrill. The excitement of a foot landing matched it however. On a dewy morning, sliding touch and goes could be made with tennis shoes slipping along the grass. Falling during the takeoff or landing could mean getting hit by the prop, a dangerous possibility. Guards were installed but were not strong enough during a good hard flop !!

Assembly and disassembly was eased by the use of wingnuts and safety pins for most of the structural connections. Tee pins were also used for the rudder pivots and many of the tube to channel joints. While these items sped up the operation, they also offerred the distinct possibility of coming undone. The ball lock tee pins would fail to fully engage if even a small piece of dirt got in the sliding tapered pin.

Later models were shipped with a hand operated trim tab located on the rear of the stabilizer. This consisted of a piece of plywood covered with colored dacron, actuated by a friction held lever made of scrap tubing. It worked rather well considering its simplicity. The throttle was a small trigger lever on the right tri-bar downtube. It had an adjustment to maintain a throttle setting. The harness was very spartan. It was a small childs swing seat, plastic, with a strap running under it and up in front of each arm and a loop to attach around the root tube. Most top mounts had a root tube made of round stock. Double Quicks had a sharp, square cornered root tube and the later under mounts with the Yamaha had the present style of round cornered root tube.


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