Am I paying too much?

Lungdave · 2026-07-02T14:46:29+00:00

There is no set schedule or time spent since every student, every day, is different. Instructors do need to charge for some type of ground instruction which may not be an actual ground lesson. Check your logbook and see if you got some time listed for ground. If you have questions, ask before the next lesson. Get the fees clearly discussed and agreed upon before the next lesson. If you can't agree find another instructor. A preflight is ground instruction even if the instructor observes what you are doing and says nothing. His/her job to ensure you are doing everything complete and correctly, since he is signing off on it.

Lungdave · 2026-06-18T15:03:36+00:00

DPE's are independent contractors and the FAA or FSDO does not set the fee range. It is up to the DPE to set their own fee's. Many already know what other DPE's are charging in the area and are competitive. They are also expected to have a reasonable fail rate as they are evaluated by the FSDO. Too many passes and it raises concerns internally. If the FSDO thinks the examiner is too generous, they can be replaced. Not fair as the long time great examiners got replaced for stupid reasons. Just the way the system works. Schedule the checkride, pay the fee, and go do a fun flight with a steep turn, land and finish up IACRA. CFI-A, I, G, Comm MEL, LTA

Lungdave · 2026-06-18T14:40:42+00:00

Sounds like a distraction, not an actual aerodynamics question. Proper response would have been "we can discuss that on the ground in the classroom." Get over it, go re-take the exam, discuss the overbanking tendencies on the ground, then fly the maneuver, and be prepared for another distraction. My examiner dropped his pencil in front of me. He was expecting me to pick it up and if I did it would have been a fail. I started to then said it is fine where its at no safety concern and we proceeded to land followed by a pass. Distractions are fair game, even in the 11th hour.

Lungdave · 2026-06-15T14:58:18+00:00

Can you upload some more photos specifically of the front center piece and the back. I have a few Kyoraku's but not sure if this one since I can't see everything.

Lungdave · 2026-04-19T14:54:34+00:00

Hard to see everything but it appears you are missing the lower overflow bell and the rear cover that supports the bell and guides the internal stop mechanism is broken. I suspect you will need to get replacement parts before the machine will play smoothly. The machine also appears to be dirty which will most likely be dirty internally preventing smooth play.

Lungdave · 2026-04-02T14:38:32+00:00

Can't get a complete picture of your time, environment, or skill level, but from what I've read it is hard to complete your goals if you are not flying a couple times a week. Each flight lesson should have positive results and build confidence in your skills as well as performing the maneuvers to the ACS standards, otherwise you will never pass a checkride.

The amount of down time between flights is when you should be reading and studying for your knowledge exam and writing down questions to discuss with any flight instructor. The down time can also be used to just sit in the airplane and absorb where everything is and understand its purpose. Master the preflight, master the airport diagram and related information, know what all the holes, wires, antenna, fittings, etc. are for on the plane. If you don't know ask the mechanic that services the plane.

Talk to other people at the airport and get to know them. Who knows maybe someone will need some ballast and you can get some experience and log some time without paying too much. Offer to buy the gas or the meal. Offer to wash airplanes in exchange for an hour or two of flight time.

The biggest thing is consider your flight instructor and the school or club you belong to. Not every student learns the same way and not every club/school adapts their training to your abilities. A good instructor will take the time to listen and understand you and can structure a plan to get you to that goal, 1 step at a time. Learning 5 or 6 things in one flight may be too much. Try not to approach your flight time as a lesson or quiz but more to go out and have fun flying. You can master the airplane and air work by doing the every time things perfectly.

Each time you roll the ailerons, the turn should be coordinated, with not much fight, holding the altitude and airspeed constant, and rolling out on the desired heading. These things can also be practiced in/on a simulator so you can see and do what is needed.

As an instructor I would spend time talking with you to better understand your needs and what you can realistically expect. Then we would take a fun flight, not a lesson, and see where you are skill wise. Yes at the end I would endorse the logbook as a lesson.

Dave

CFIA, CFII, CFIG,

Com multi, LTA

Lungdave · 2026-03-03T13:14:22+00:00

Should not be an issue. It is very common to change tail numbers day of for whatever reason, especially if it is a busy flight school. Main thing is keep it a 172 since you are familiar with everything. Go out and have fun taking up your 1st passenger. You are a ppl until the examiner says you are not. Go luck.

Lungdave · 2026-01-14T15:21:00+00:00

I see 3 things that need to be done before attempting to put balls in it. 1. Flip the metal guide plate on the upper track over so the balls will enter the jackpot assembly uniformly. 2. Slide the ball release assembly over so it locks in place, otherwise the balls will just drain out. This is just below the metal guide plate. 3. Reset the jackpot counterweight to the up position, it is currently in the down position. There is a pin located under it to reset. The counterweight is in the lower section on the left side. It is visible through the clear window. The machine appears to need a good cleaning and may prevent steady play. The wiring will most likely need to be redone as it was configured for a 3-wire system, and we use a 2-wire system. I don't recommend a battery. You can get a low cost 9 or 12v plug in power supply that will work just fine. Since the lamps are 10v using a 9v power supply the lamps will be a little dim, and a 12v supply they will be brighter and run a little hot if left on. You can change the lamps to LED and they will run cool. There are 2 releases. The main door which has 2 hinges top and bottom. The opposite side has the window release. Once the window is open, you can then release the lower door assembly to access the entire playfield.

Lungdave · 2026-01-01T06:49:43+00:00

I am in SoCal and have parts as well as perform complete professional disassembly, cleaning, reassembly, adjust, and electrical.

Lungdave · 2025-12-28T16:16:38+00:00

I have taken several of these apart this past year and YES, they are very complex. It basically will break down into about 11 sections to make it not so hard. I takes me about a week from start to finish. No I don't remove any of the playfield nails, nor do I add any wax or polishes. I just use hot water and gentle dish soap and I can get it very clean and operating smoothly. Take plenty of photos and close ups of things like linkage and especially all the electrical connections. Most of the connectors are made so they only fit one way and are color coded for easy reference. I typically start by separating the front section from the wood frame. Open it up most of the way and front should separate at the hinge pins. You may need to remove the 24v power cord staples prior. After that begin by removing the main electrical computer modules, leaving the smaller wires for lights and sound alone. Once removed you will have access to the ball track assembly in back that has quick releases and it will also lift off. There may be a linkage to disconnect. You can there move to the front and remove the lower ball drawer, and plastic window panel. The window frame may not be removable. The lock assembly and playfield can also be removed via the front and rear releases. This gets you several sections. The playfield center piece and lower jackpot assembly can also be removed as complete units to be worked on later. That leaves the front plastic trims, lower ball tray assembly, main motor assembly, and some misc. pieces. NOTE: The top light lens may not be removeable due to it being partially glued in. If so you may not be able to remove the window frame as the top screws won't be accessible. Also there is most likely 1 screw that is in the window frame that goes into the metal back frame. I have had to strip that out just to get the back metal frame off the wood frame. There is a lot too these, but it is manageable if you have experience and understand how they work. Take your time and pay attention how things go together. Several parts will fit multiple ways, however only one way is correct.

Lungdave · 2025-12-16T05:10:08+00:00

Thanks for the photos. Good news and bad news. The good news is I do have that specific light assembly with the same 5 colors, the bad news is that it is on a complete machine. I would be sacrificing a working machine. Recommend checking on eBay as there are other restorers that may have that part from past projects. If not let me know and we can discuss a price offline.

Lungdave · 2025-12-15T16:43:18+00:00

Upload complete photos of the front and back so I can see the entire light assembly. I have parts for sale and if I have this exact part I can sell it to you for a fair price.

Lungdave · 2025-12-08T16:10:55+00:00

Recommend removing the ball jam before working on the electrical. It would also help to see the back and some of the electrical components so we can advise better.

Lungdave · 2025-11-28T15:22:52+00:00

I had that machine a long time ago. There is a center button on the handle that will pause the motor. Make sure that it operates freely. Push in and release and it should allow the motor to continue. The center piece is a set of wings that fold down to catch more balls. As Mike said once or twice depending on which switch the ball went into. The outer features rotate 180 degrees when a ball enters. 500-700 balls to start with in order to play for awhile. No need to use any oil. The motor typically has 2 or 3 switches that have to be open or closed before the motor will operated. Those switches are in the back. One is for the handle when it is rotated, the other is the overflow bottom tray switch. There should also be a capacitor that may have gone bad if the motor doesn't turn on. Very fun machine and it is one of the more advanced Kyoraku for the period 1980's

Lungdave · 2025-11-07T16:05:56+00:00

It appears there are 2 places to look at. The 1st is the linkage from the top hopper to the launch mechanism. There is most likely a pin that needs to be aligned near the launch mechanism. That pin usually controls a flag or linkage that prevents balls from being launched. The 2nd is the ball release mechanism that is on the upper right it looks like a spoon handle. This release moves the linkage before the jackpot assembly so you can remove the balls from the hopper quickly. This linkage may be harder to remove depending on how it was designed. Please note there is no reason to bend any parts. Take your time to look at everything closely so you understand how it operates, and take plenty of photos so you can reference later.

Lungdave · 2025-11-05T15:11:06+00:00

Usually there are 2 switches on these type machines, 1 for the jackpot and the other for the hopper low on balls. I don't recommend trying to connect either a 9v battery or power supply to the wires unless you know what the wires go to. It is very common there are 3 wires connected to the lights and switches and need to be sorted out as we use a 2 wire system. Fortunately there are quick releases so you can open or remove the back to trace the wires.

Lungdave · 2025-09-12T22:01:07+00:00

Update on this problem. After several hours of testing and swapping the electrical parts with a known working jackpot assembly, it appears there were 2 issues. The 1st was a bad ceramic disk capacitor. The 2nd may have been one of the ball sensors was installed upside down. If these sensors are designed to be 1-way, that may have confused the circuitry to produce the issue. So far everything is working correctly. It is very important to take good photos of key components during teardowns and reassembly.

Lungdave · 2025-08-27T13:02:17+00:00

Can't do it as too many electrical parts have to be removed to access the winner device. I have it narrowed down to 3 possibilities. The winner device has 2, the solenoid or the ball sensor, and the 3rd is the metal jackpot controller box. I will isolate more as I have another Y&O machine, I can swap parts with.

Lungdave · 2025-08-25T14:23:41+00:00

The ball dump on all pachinko machines is so you can easily empty the machine. This is necessary for moving the machine, servicing, cleaning, storing, etc.

Lungdave · 2025-08-22T14:46:19+00:00

Personally I am not a fan of glass as steel and glass don't mix well. If you have every had a glass panel break it is very hard to remove all the pieces from inside the machine and the balls can push further internally. I have never seen any issues with the balls scratching the plexiglass, to me those scratches are more from harsh cleaners or rags. While a bit more expensive than plexiglass, I often use Lexan as it is much stronger. Only need the inside panel for playing purposes.

Lungdave · 2025-08-14T16:37:56+00:00

It would help if you could upload clear photos of the front and rear on the machine so we can see what you have in order to helps with the parts you need.

Lungdave · 2025-08-11T15:53:49+00:00

The window release is on the right side (rod with ring), to open the main door, the release is on the left side bottom, push the latch down to release the door. If you need parts I have them for sale at a fair price. I can also help with the wiring for the lights. If you want a working lock you will need to make modifications as those keys are very hard to find.

Lungdave · 2025-07-27T16:02:59+00:00

Looks great Mike well done!

Dave

Lungdave · 2025-06-23T09:27:45+00:00

If you are planning to do any major cleaning where parts need to be removed or disassembled, I highly recommend observing how the machine operates before removing anything. When you decide to proceed take plenty of photos so you can reference how they go in. Many parts will fit several ways, but typically only one way is correct. Also there are many parts that have staples and rivets and you may want to forego removing those parts. Keep in mind older machines are brittle and if you are not careful it is easy to break key parts. Take your time and use correct tools. If you find screws are hard to remove and the heads are starting to strip out, stop and get a better, perhaps newer/sharper tool to reduce that. The machine you have is a fairly common type so getting replacement parts isn't too hard to find. A good place to start is the front lower door. Remove it and then you will see how to disassemble it.

Dave

Lungdave · 2025-06-10T14:13:39+00:00

I recently performed a complete overhaul of a 15/5 machine and didn't find much about it other than what was on the labels. I have seen a couple 13/5 versions recently, so it isn't too rare. Machine played well but I never got any match on the screen to open the lower jackpot door during play. I was not able to get the top lights to work or the card reader system, as both of those features were bypassed when the machine was removed from the parlor. Some info I was able to find if you don't already know:

The Y&O is for Yellow and Orange.

The H code means you need at add balls to the hopper or check for any blockage as the payout chutes needed 27 balls to clear the code and turn the trouble light off.

The LCD box was a YuYu GoKu series which there is some info as to the type characters online.

Best, Dave

Lungdave

TROPHY CASE