Yellow Jacket Rudder Elevator Spoiler Model Sailplane

The 2m Yellow Jacket RES comes from Sonoran Laser Arts (Corky Miller) in Fountain Valley, AZ as a complete kit (excepting covering film, glue, etc). Laser cutting is clean, precise, and parts are well thought out self-fixturing. Greg introduced me to this plane knowing my comfort with flying slow fliers and me not being good flying speed and acrobatics. The plane is bungee launched from an adjustable tow hook. My plane weighs 15 ½ oz, probably on the heavy side due to my corrections for fuselage construction goofs. The wing spar and leading edges are carbon fiber tubes and rods respectively. The fuselage is built-up balsa with a carbon boom and balsa built-up tail feathers. The wing ribs were all very precisely cut, each one number marked, and conveniently stacked together with rubber bands. The spar holes are deliberately undersized, but I found that twisting a tapered reamer BACKWARDS to size the spar hole by slightly compressing the balsa without removing material simplified the wing assembly. The wing tips are removable. The wing angles are all self-fixtured with the connecting tube holes accurately located. The assembled and plugged together wing sections came out to Corky's precise polyhedral dimensions with no further re-work. I was impressed.

Instructions for wing construction are on the full-sized drawing. However, the fuselage drawing is on an 8 ½" x 11" sheet with instructions. Corky told me that being a kit for experienced builders he didn’t feel a full-sized fuselage plan was needed. Again, self-fixturing features made the assembly straight forward and accurate. Very little effort needed to "clean up" to make parts fit and assemble. Excellent material quality.

Assembled and with electronics and NIMH installed, plane balanced to spec by merely shifting battery location. Once trimmed, I subsequently removed the weight of the plastic receiver housing to shift CG back slightly which improved fight. The spoiler is very effective.

In summery, it’s an excellent kit, gratifying to build, relatively inexpensive, and flies great.

Видео Yellow Jacket Rudder Elevator Spoiler Model Sailplane канала South Bay Soaring Society