mgnostic

I found a Morris Hobbies kit for a 1/2A Yellow Jacket at a hobby/pawn shop in Ft Worth (Richland Hills, actually). The plans show four channels and a Norvel. I'm thinking build light with two channels and a sure start. Any Thoughts?

iflyg450

I got one off RCU. The guy had 4ch a aileron servo in each wing. AND a Norvel 074 up front. It flew great till the tank was dry then It was a shuttle landing. A 049 would be best

mgnostic

I figure that I will fly it like I do my 1/12 combat plane. Elevator, aileron and full throttle till I'm ready to land. There is no landing gear so landings will be deadstick anyway. I built most of the wing in one setting.

vupilot

I had one, it was actually my first kit I built, all the others were ARF. It was a great flyer. I had a Norvel .061 r/c and elevator and aileron controls. LOW high speed passes were my favorite with it. It would do big or small loops great rolls and would fly in as much wind as a 60 size plane with no problem. I had the YJ for about 5 years. I was looking for another to buy and couldnt find any so I bought a SureShark instead and that is also a sweet plane kit for $26. I put the same .061 in it too.

DeviousDave

The designer of the Yellow Jacket is local to me, I've seen a handful of them but never talked to anyone but the designer that had flown one.

Remby

My Feedback: (3)

This was a model posted in a older magazine, if it is the same Yellow Jacket from that era.

MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS Sept 1977, The Yellow Jacket 1/2A Pylon..

iflyg450

I'll second that the sure shark is a blast to fly. I am running mine with a norvel 074 ITS A BEAST!!! AS FAST AS ANY 40-60 size plane. AND you get 7min flight on 1oz of juice

BuzzBomber

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Maybe I'm off-base here, but you found an R/C 1/2a plane kit in a pawn shop?! That would NEVER happen around here. A) I think I'm the only guy left in a fifty mile radius who still admits to owning any 1/2a engines; and B) I have only one good Norvel left and I'm taking it to the grave!!! Back on track, I always wanted to try the Yellowjacket. Lemme know how it turns out.

Duane-RCU

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This isn't just any pawn shop, this place is pretty neat (IF it's the same one I'm thinking about) I got and old 422 pylon plane there last year.
I have two Yellow Jackets still in the box. I think one might go electric. Building season is about over so I don't know when I'll get to them. I'll watch this thread for any tips !

mgnostic

I think it is called Airport Pawn and Hobby. It looks like your grubbier variety of pawn shop. A lot of random tools, cheap stereo equipment, a couple of guitars and a few guns but about half the building is hobby stuff. It is cluttered and disorganized but at least they had some kits and not just a bunch of cookie cutter arfs. The prices on the stuff I looked at seemed pretty okay as well. Places like this can be fun because you never know what treasure you might find under a pile other "stuff".
I got the wing on my yellow jacket framed up but then a box of Kwik Poly arrived and I have been working on glassing my TDM J2M3 Raiden.

jeffie8696

Love to see some build photos. Sounds like a fun plane. I have a DNU with a Norvel .049 and 2 channels. I have yet to fly it but it is proven.

"Maybe I'm off-base here, but you found an R/C 1/2a plane kit in a pawn shop?! That would NEVER happen around here. A) I think I'm the only guy left in a fifty mile radius who still admits to owning any 1/2a engines"

I can relate Bomber buddy. Just for fun I took a Cox .051 TD into my LHS and they looked at it like it was from another planet.

mgnostic

Here are some build pictures of the wing so far including one with a fuselage side. I also tossed in a couple of shots of two other small projects I'm working on. One is a TDM J2M3 Raiden and the other is a Pica Zero that I have been repairing.

jeffie8696

Where are the Japanese planes?


Theres one.

And there is the other.[sm=lol.gif]

mgnostic

Take another look, I had to edit the post due to a poor connection.

jeffie8696

Have you flown the Zero? It looks ready to go. Love to hear about it.

mgnostic

The Zero is a pretty good flyer. The Pica kit is a relatively easy build although some of the wood was a little soft. I muffed a hand launch and cartwheeled it, hence the need for repairs. The engine is a Thunder Tiger.25. One thing I have noticed about both the Pica Zero and the FW190 is that both need to carry a bit of speed and power to maintain a glide for landing. Both come down pretty fast when flying dead stick. In contrast my Arsenal VG-33 (a pointy nosed airplane) will carry a lot more speed and float quite a ways when landing. Most of the airplanes of this size with tapered wings that I have flown will snap if you pull too much high speed G. The Zero is no exception. On launching this plane likes a strong heave upwards at about a 15 degree angle. When trying a strait ahead launch it is likely to land before it really gets up to speed. High speed dives with low passes are a real hoot with these planes. I never flew any 1/12 scale combat but they make nice sport planes that you can just toss in the car without much fuss. I finish my 1/12 scale birds with Kwik Poly and light weight fiberglass and then paint them with lusterkote. It seems to hold up well.

jeffie8696

Kinda sounds like the covering is rather heavy maybe? I am not a builder myself.

mgnostic

The trick is in the toilet paper. Kwik Poly is a very thin resin, about like water and it wicks into the fabric of the cloth very well. I use lightweight fiberglass .5 to .75 ounces per yard. You lay on the cloth and use a disposable brush to paint the resin into it. After the cloth wets out you can use some toilet paper to blot up any excess resin. I use two layers on the bottom of the fuselage and the center section where the wear and tear occur. With some primer and wet sanding you can achieve an incredible finish but I usually don't bother. I use just enough resin to get a fuel proof skin. The process is messier and more labor intensive than monokote but it is lighter, more durable and adds considerable strength to the skin of the airplane. I have hear of people glassing over tissue covered frames but my own experience only extends to fully sheeted airframes. I have done a half dozen planes using this technique. No wrinkles, no matter how hot it gets in the car. The Kwik Poly has a very short pot life of about five minutes unless you keep it in a ice water bath. It takes about ten minutes to set up in the plane. Relative to other resins it sets up quickly and you can have finished wing in about an hour.

jeffie8696

Cool .

build light

Me likey very much!
The specs on Morris's website for this plane I think are not accurate. I will be glad to be corrected if wrong. but a 27" wingspan and 39" length??? [] Come on now, be straight with me!

http://morrishobbies.com/product_inf...products_id=69

I also found a nice picture of a Morris Yellow Jacket.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/attac...mentid=1549626

Robert

mgnostic

The wingspan is correct but from the spinner to the tip of the tail mine will measure 26.5"

mgnostic

I've made a little progress on the Yellow Jacket. At this point my choices are a Sure Start on 2 channels or an AP .061 with 3 channels. Right now I leaning toward the cox.

mgnostic

I finally finished up the Yellow Jacket and got in a maiden flight. The power plant is a franken-motor. The back plate is a sure start. The case may have been a black widow. The cylinder has the large exhaust port and sub piston induction. The case has been on several planes and has been spun up using an electric starter so the nose of the case was a little worn. I trimmed a brass washer to fit the snout of the crank and fitted it behind the propeller boss so that there isn't any play in the crank. I used a cox 5x3 rubber ducky prop. My best guess is that the all up weight is around 12 oz. JR radio with elevator and aileron. The fist flight was a little short as the engine flamed out due to a too rich setting. I just made a lap around the pattern. I leaned it out a little for the second flight and made it through a one oz tank. The launch was very easy with just a gentle toss into the wind. The airplane has a very positive climb out. The roll rate is good and it loops with ease. I must have build in some positive incidence as it takes several clicks of down trim for level flight. Power off glide is fairly steep. The stall was benign but you're not going to soar very far. All in all a nice little sport plane.

Mr Cox

The engine just needs a little more downtrust than what it has on the drawing.
Here is mine, about 10.5 oz with a Cox 05RC in the front. I'm tempted to put in a Norvel .061 instead, should drop the weight to below 10oz and add another 1000rpm.

mgnostic

Even though the weather was atrocious, at 104 degrees and winds of 15 gusting to 20, I got in a few good flights with the Yellow Jacket. My engine is well broken in so it is an easy starter. I did seem to have some trouble with it wanting to run too rich in the air but it was taching 19000 + on the ground with a cox 5x3 rubber ducky prop. The hand launch is easy needing only a light toss at an upward angle. The climb out is good. Although it will speed up in a dive, it doesn't seem terribly fast. The roll rate is pretty good and it tracks well. I added a little down thrust as suggested in an earlier post. The Yellow Jacket is reasonably aerobatic but a throttle and rudder would help a lot in this regard. All landing are dead stick. This plane is not a glider. The plane is easy to control engine out and it didn't have any problems with bad stalls but the angle of descent is pretty steep. Keep it over head and maintain a little altitude during the last part of the tank and you can park it at your feet. The Kit was a pleasant build and the quality of the material was good. If you get a chance to buy one of the planes, snag it.