Here is a photo I just received from Keith Harris. Its the 2M Std Wing Electric. Looks awesome and he wont have to worry too much about others with the same thing. Nice Job!!!
This photo was sent in from the 2021 Nats in Muncie, IN. Tom Scully nails a landing in ALES with his YJ 3.5M.
Tony Kay recently sent a photo of his freshly completed Yellow Jacket 3.5M. I think the yellow pod really sets it off. Excellent job Tony.
This photo was recently sent in by the models owner Reeves Lippincott in Alaska. This beautiful GS Electric was built by Rohan Ricker and photographed by Jim Coe. As soon as the weather warms I am sure this beauty will be soaring with the Eagles.
Eric Hill from Toledo, OH recently finish this Yellow Jacket 3M built for winch launching. Eric took his freshly completed model to the Toledo Weak Signals meeting to show it to other members. Eric sent me some photos, and another club member sent me some also. Tom Como assisted with the maiden and in Eric’s works “such a great plane”. The final weight is 39.25 oz. Congratulations, you did a really fine job Eric. 11-16-2020
Gary Baughman from Seattle, WA sent in this photo of his very nice Yellow Jacket 2M GS-F5 with these words.
“This is a photo of my YJ that I’ve been flying since completed last spring. It’s a great kit and I enjoy how well it flies”
I love seeing all the different color combinations.
Jamie Thomson from Madison, WI just submitted a nice photo of him with his beautiful YJ 3M and 2M F3RES -Lite Wing. Notice that BOTH are line launch models. The matching blue and white colors on each really shows well. He says they have been enjoying them both this summer. Its hard to beat two nice YJ’s with a lot of green grass and blue sky’s .
Thank You Jamie
Greg McGill (Glidermang) with one of his beautiful custom GS V Tails. GS stands for Glidermang Special as Greg really desired a lite model with a scalloped TE. Greg inspired the design and really likes the end result. His lightest weighs just 12.5 ounces. Greg has built and flown most of the models available today and I love hearing his thoughts. Not to mention how cool this photo is.
Joel Slavic just submitted photos of his recently completed 3M and 3.5M REF. He also has a 3.5M V2 RES to complete now.
Joel’s comments:
Hi Corky! Hope all is well with you and yours. Well just got back from a great day flying the Yellow Jackets, 3 meter, and a flapped 3.5 meter. I can tell you that these are the best flying birds in my hanger to date! I was just thrilled with the 3 meter, but the 3.5, that’s a whole nother story. Its better than my 3 meter, and I think its more nibble too. The flaps work very well, but I do need to add in some elevator to compensate, no big deal. Please see attached photos, and feel free to use them if you would like. Thank you again for designing such fantastic aircraft! I do have a 3.5 spoiler version that I need to build yet, but these are way to much fun at the moment. Well, thanks again. Cheers, Joel
7-29-2020 Michael Wood submitted photos of his recently completed Yellow Jacket 2M. He wants to hang it in the living room but ran into the “I don’t think so” response. Great looking model.
7-13-2020 Cliff Hunter’s beautiful new 46 oz Yellow Jacket 3.5M. Cliff is a Torrey Pines Gulls member and is planning to fly his new YJ F5J.
Here is a photo of Jeremiah Seifert with his beautiful recently completed YJ 2M F5 Electric. It is equipped with the Std Wing. I am including his kind comments about the model. I think the Red and Black color scheme looks awesome.
Hello
Just wanted to thank you for this fine kit, pleasure to build with quality parts.
The flight characteristics are very good, flies very true and I cant get over how light and agile it is. Thermals like a dream, already have “specked out” multiple times.
Thank you again and I will likely be building a 3m someday in the future.
Jeremiah Seifert
West Las Vegas (pics are out near red rock)
John Richard a local flying buddy built a beautiful 3M last year. This year he decided to build a 3.5 with the V2 wing. He designed and scratch built a V Tail for it. The total AUW is 40 oz and it fly’s like a dream. His building skills are excellent. Its very difficult to find any flaws and he took the time to carefully sand the laser char off the ribs.
Don Brown was gracious to send me a photo of his new 2M GS Electric. Orders for this model have been very popular. Don did an awesome job on this one.
Florida is a very popular place for soaring activity, especially when its cold in most other places.
On January 4-5, 2020 they organized a two day F3RES Contest. F3RES has been a popular event there and they set a good example for others.
Congratulations are in order for Allan Parsons – 1st Place Expert and Tom Boyd – 2nd Place Expert. Three Yellow Jacket are proudly displayed front and center. Allan is left with red sweatshirt and blue/white wing, Tom Boyd to his right, and of course John Kennedy to Toms right.
Thank you for the great photo
Over the weekend FSS “Florida” had their Toys for Tots” two day contest. Allan Parsons decided to battle a field of moldies in the mixed launch contest with his YJ 3.5M. Here’s some photos he sent. Allan did quite well in several rounds.
Make the final landing turn with confidence down low standing on a wing tip.
Zero in on the spot with full spoiler up
Strut away with a BIG O’l Smile!!!!
Nice Job Allan
Greg Pope just finished his YJ 3.5M. He also fly’s 2M both F3RES and Electric. He model turned out fantastic.
What Greg had to say on RCG about the maiden flite:
“I had a very small window yesterday evening to rush out to the sod farm for a couple initial tosses and low flights. First toss, she just gracefully floated across the field. 
That straightened out, a couple of low energy climbs under power.
All very preliminary but all I can say is, “Oh my goodness.” This big ole bird floats like the Hindenburg. Everything in slow motion. Stalls recover quickly. Low level turns no issues. Parking the stick in a lower corner, no issues with tight spiral. Tight turns with lots of up elevator, no issues. Turn to approach 100 yards out at 15 ft and you have to do a go around! “
Its a beauty isnt it!!!!!
Larry Jolly and John Kennedy recently made a trip to Germany with their YJ 2M’s for a large F3RES contest that had over 60 pilots. The contest was Sept 7-8, 2019. It rained a large portion of the time so they did not get many rounds in, but they did make a lot of new friends. During Larry’s travels he sent me several photos featuring his new Red, White, and Blue YJ with an extended nose. As you can see Larry is quite proud of his YJ’s. I really appreciated getting these photos and wanted to share them. I don’t know all the back history behind some these locations but a couple of them are in very famous locations at or near where apparently soaring got its beginning.
Thank you Larry for the photos
Matt Dickey ordered two YJ 3M Electrics. He built his model first and just completed his fathers model. I must say its very beautiful and with the black and white it will show up well in the sky. Nice Job Matt, and I hope you and your father have many good days flying your YJ3M’s together.
Matt sent these great photos and comments 9-28-2019
Dad finally came to maiden his plane. He had it specked out on the second flight and had nothing but great things to say about the performance. We created a spoiler to elevator mix together that really helped nail the landings! He wanted me to share the photos with you! Thanks again for making some great planes.
Matt
Terry Tombaugh just finished this very nice 3.5M for the BAM in Albuquerque, NM. Terry has built the 2M, 1.5M, and now the 3.5M. It took Terry a little less than two weeks to complete this model.
More on the Nats
Tom Scully also captured 3 rd in 2 Meter Competition using his Bungee. First and Second were winch launching molded models and the point spread was only 100 pts between them. He lost a few points in one round and was very close to taking first place.
Tom Also took 2nd in F3RES. Yellow Jackets placed in 2nd through 5th. A great day for the Yellow Jackets
Tom Scully flew his award winning YJ3M at the Nats 2019 ALES event. As mentioned before Tom won 1st place in the 2019 sailplane builders contest in Toledo, OH. Tackling a crop of moldies (45 entrants) Tom was able to capture 6th place for an award. Obviously Tom is a very good pilot and his model has been carefully trimmed and balanced. Congratulations Tom-Very Nice Job
Tommy Lamnek said on RCG
“Tom Scully flew the YJ very well in all 11 rounds. His point total was only 342.2 behind the winner. I can attest the plane is built very straight and sturdy at an all up weight of 40oz. Not sure where the cg is for him. I timed for Tom most of the rounds and got a first hand look at how the plane flies. It floats very efficiently and slow in a thermal when you want to and signals the lift very well. Keeping the tips and tail light helps greatly. However, when needing to scoot fast to another spot in the sky the YJ does it easily at 40oz. LD is very good. I’d suggest that you spend quality time setting up your landing configuration and get it happy. Flatter landing approaches, as opposed to steeper approaches, is better with this plane. Dropping the nose just makes it go fast. Not needed close to the landing circle.
Wind was between nil to 12 mph most of the Contest. These are just some quick observations from watching it fly these past two days. It is an honest sailplane”
Keep in mind that this model qualifies as a Woody.
Mike McGowan is shown with his awesome Red-White-Blue YJ 3M. Mike flew in F5J at the Nats 2019. This is a very nice looking model.
Joe Sampietro with his YJ 3M E at the Nats 2019 in Muncie. Joe participated in F5J flying his beautiful YJ 3M. Joe ordered a wood only kit and built his model up on a CLM Pro 132 Fuse Set which he already had.
On July 20th 2019 the RMSA Club in Denver organized a F3RES Contest. Congratulations to Bowdie Ormsbee 1st Place and Peter Wickwire 2nd place flying their Yellow Jackets. Bowdie is pictured with his orange and white model. Peter’s model is not in photo however Reid Roberts is proudly displaying his YJ high center in the back row. We know that many of the most competitive models in west were there so it was a good day. Sonoran Laser Art also made the Glass Beer Mug trophies.
Reid Roberts commented on RCG that “F3RES is where its at”, and I totally agree-you just cannot beat the fun and the performance you get from a fairly low cost model.
Below is a recent photo of Larry Weller with his newly completed YJ 3M. The photo was taken on maiden day and Larry reported he was very happy with the flight performance. If don’t know Larry is pretty famous for his build log on the YJ 2M on RCG. His work is second to none. More photos of his build with an explanation and some nice personal touches can be seen starting with post 1104 here:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3039744-Yellow-Jacket-3M/page74
5/4/2019-Jon Vance just provided this photo of his recently completed YJ3M. Jon built 2 previous 2M’s that were also gorgeous. He provided the specifications and comments about his completed model. I have seen Jon’s work in person and all his builds are flawless.
Thank you for the photo Jon, have fun flying your newest member of the YJ family
Hi Corky: I have attached pics of new YJ. The last time I tried to upload photos to RC Groups, I had problems. Feel free to publish pics as you see fit. Here are the details: weighs 39.6 ounces, CG at 109-110 mm, Neu 1102, 3.5y, gear ratio 5.5 to 1, GM 14×7 carbon prop, GM 32×6 carbon spinner, MKS 6110 HV servos for elevator and rudder, Hitec 85 metal gear for spoiler, Spektrum 6 channel telemetry receiver and Tattu 850 3 cell lipo. Test flights last week were outstanding. Climb rate with Neu motor is 150 meters in 12 seconds, and with 6 ounces of ballast….150 meters in 20 seconds. Keep up the good work.
Here is a fresh photo of Matt Dickey with his newly completed YJ3M. Matt also has a YJ2M both F3RES and Electric. Plus he is building a YJ3M for his father.
Thank you for all support Matt-Have Fun
Jerry Parks is about ready to cover his YJ3M Wing. He is pictured with his daughter Grace. Jerry says that Grace really likes the planes and has to have a rubber powered free flight when they’re at the park. What a great photo!!!!
April 18, 2019 Here are a couple of photos of John Bannerman’s freshly completed YJ 2M F3RES from the great state of Michigan. The yellow and black checker board trim adds a unique touch. Nice job John and thanks for letting me post it here.
March 30, 2019 the EVEF Club held a TD contest at our club field in Mesa, AZ. It was and F5J format with launch height penalty but a laid back timeline as you could launch anytime between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM to get 6 flights in. There were 11 pilots of which included 5 molded and 6 build ups. Each class was scored separately. I am pictured in the center and managed to get 2nd, Bill Wilson to my right took first, and Patrick Dennis to my left took 3rd. John Richard is on the far left and Iain Glithero on the far right. We had a blast competing with our YJ 3M and 3.5M sailplanes.
Dave Millonig in Florida liked his YJ 3M so much that when he found out I was working on a 3.5M he said “is yesterday soon enough”!!!
I agreed to send him the RES kit which is ready. He builds pretty fast and does really nice work. Here are photos of the second complete 3.5M as designed. The first complete was built by me, and we have several at our flying field on various fuses and tail setups.
Here is a photo of my 3.5M (#1). The AUW is 41.9 oz and it has 1220 sq in Wing Area. That puts the wing loading at 4.95 oz sq ft. It is equipped with a DualSky 1100 KV motor, 850 MAH 3S Tattu Battery, KST Daviga digital servo’s under the wing leaving the front portion under the hatch open. With this battery it required an addition 1.5 oz for balance which is included in the weight. The stock CLM-Pro booms for 130 fuse were heavier that what was needed for balance so I had them custom make some lite booms which are looking pretty good if you want a lite plane for F5J competition. I have room to use a larger battery with no penalty.
Chris Pinette’s new YJ2ME. The mix of color and enhancement of graphics really sets this model off. Wonderful work Chris, thank you for sharing.
Dave Millonig in Florida just finished his YJ 3ME. Beautiful with colors especially on the bottom that should make easy to see. Nice job Dave!!!
Jerry Parks in Las Vegas provided a photo of his very nice YJ 2M F3RES
Ford Rollo first built a YJ 2ME and like it so much he decided to build a 3ME. You can see his colors and finish work looks really nice. I think he built this in about month. Nice work Ford!!!
Jim Allen in Las Vegas just competed his very nice YJ 3M 12/2018. Congratulations Jim!!!
The Yellow Jacket 2M F3RES made a very good showing at the F3RES International Contest in Albuquerque on 11-10 and 11-11-2018. We had some cool weather early morning and pretty strong winds in the afternoons. At 13 mph wind we were getting some awesome launches. I want to congratulate Larry Jolly for his 2nd place finish. Also all the great guys showing what the YJ can do. I am pretty sure there was a few more that are not in the photo. 28 contestants signed up to fly, I believe we ended up with 26.
Yellow Jacket Flyer Photo Below.
My Teammates at the F3RES International 2018 in Albuquerque. Larry Jolly and Walter Higgins. Thank you for all the fun we had!!!
Steve Schwartz in Ohio just completed this very nice looking YJ 3M. The color combination is really beautiful. Thank you Steve for sharing the photo.
Mike Brinson from Ohio first built a Yellow Jacket 2M with both F3RES and Electric fuses. His craftsmanship of these models is excellent. When he decided to build the 3MRES I was excited to see the final result. Mike used the CLM Pro 130 Fuse and Installed a motor using the mount supplied with the kit. He was kind enough to send me photos of the completed model, and has just maidened it. His final words on RCG were “Happy Camper”
These great photos are from the Connecticut guys. Photography credit goes to Alan at Shootsnaps shootsnaps@libraphotography.com
Matt Dickey built this awesome orange and white YJ2M. He recently added the electric fuse for small field flying. Enjoy your new electric Matt!!!
Greg McGill “Glidermang” just completed his Yellow Jacket 3M. Greg likes to launch using a bungee. Greg usually fly’s DLG and F3RES planes and does quite well with them. I believe he told me this was the biggest plane in his quiver and he is having a lot of fun with his new BIG PLANE.
On July 27th & 28th an F3RES Contest was held at the Nationals – AMA Headquarters in Muncie, IN.
1st Larry Jolly
2nd Greg McGill
3rd Tom Scully
A HUGE Congratulations to the winners. Now if you can believe this, all three flew Yellow Jacket 2M’s the majority of the rounds. We do have to realize though it takes a great pilot and a pretty good plane. I’m thrilled they chose to fly the YJ.
Links to photos
Links to Scores-See Report #11
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?3109680-F3res
July 28th RMSA held another F3RES Contest. This format is doing very well and growing in Colorado. Andrew “The Canuck” took first place with his Yellow Jacket. Andrew is pictured second from the right in the front row with his beautiful red and white Yellow Jacket. He also enjoys flying his plane on the slope.
Congratulations Andrew-Very Nice Job
On July 14, 2018 Pilots gathered for a cross state postal contest in the West. Two clubs in Colorado (Denver, Colorado Springs), Albuquerque, NM, and Two Pilots in Arizona banded together. With 30 pilots on hand Bowdie Ormsby took First Place flying his beautiful orange and white Yellow Jacket. Congratulations Bowdie, and thank you for choosing the YJ.
Also thank you to John Hsu and Greg McGill for organizing the event. Greg took second flying with his YJ in two of the rounds. Awesome event guys.
Here’s a beautiful photo taken by Curtis Suter of Ford Rollo bringing his YJ 2M Electric in for landing. Taken in Helena, MT
The Yellow Jacket 2M also fans up north. Here’s a great photo of Canadian Team and their excellent workmanship.
Raymond Foley of the Toledo Weak Signals was the first (besides me) to build a complete YJ3M RES Kit. Ray fly’s in a local Monday night league using winch launching. Ray was very motivated to get the kit and complete it in time for the league beginning.
Ray’s Maiden Report directly from RCG
Hi there from Toledo!
Maiden Flight Report
Well, based on post #217 above, this morning I called my friend Tom Como, the organizer of the Weak Signals Monday Night Sailplane League, to ask for his assistance with the maiden flight of the Yellow Jacket 3 Meter, He told me that he was following this thread all along and had told his wife that they should expect a call from me in the near future. I suppose that it is okay to be predictable sometimes.
So Tom said we should meet at the Weak Signals Field at 1:00 pm EDT, like drop and go pretty much but okay. He arrived first and was setting up the winch and turn around pulley when I arrived. He brought his AvA pro with flaps also to get some practice before the Monday Night league.
In the field house I assembled the YJ3M and he assembled his AVA pro. The similarities were striking to me but what do I know? Tom Suggested that he would hand launch the YJ3M for preliminary trim checks. He gave a mighty heave and the YJ3M sailed away effortlessly and landed about 150 feet away. Well that was pretty good and no trim changes were necessary, huh. So we did it again and saw the same flight characteristics.
Okay, Winch Time.
Tom suggested that we launch the YJ3M with a gentle tap tap launch and see how in would go. Well it went up like a homesick angel to around 250 ft agl and the hunt for lift began. In the winds today the YJ3M penetrated effortlessly, indicated lift very well and responded to the lift most excellently. Check out the time on the stop watch for flight #1 (oops flight #2,really), see photo 3 below. No trim changes were required aside from initial set up on the bench, outstanding! The later flights were not as long as the wind kicked up with most flights easily making 5 minutes or thereabouts.
There is usually some learning curve with most new planes, not so with the YJ3M. It felt natural and easy and frickin’ delightful. There was no tendency to drop a wing even during hard banked turns, wonderful. In reality the less I bothered the YJ3M the better it flew.
I don’t like to disparage other folk’s stuff but the Ava pro ( the sailplane I have lusted after for ever.) at twice the price and a half pound heavier was hard pressed to indicate and fly in the lift that the YJ3M showed and in which it climbed away handily. Huh!? Go figure.
The general consensus was “WOW, that is amazing. What a wonderful sailplane.” and “This should be quite competitive in the Weak Signals Monday Night Sailplane League.” Just what I hoped it would be.
Glass slippers beware!
Tom Como assisted with the maiden and provided all the photos below. Below is what Tom had to say!!! And thank you very much Tom for the help and feedback
Yeah, I’ve been watching. I have to keep an eye on my competition.
I must say, Ray did a fine job with the construction of his YJ3.
It flies really good. Winds today were probably 6 to 10 mph and the YJ flew as if there wasn’t any breeze at all.
I’ll let Ray tell you all about it. I don’t want to steal his thunder.
Tom Como
Additional info about Ray’s YJ3M
I can say Ray was very excited with the phenomenal performance of the Yellow Jacket.
Actually a slight correction to what he said above.
It was the second flight that was 12:57.
The first launch was about a half a normal launch. Just to make sure everything was flying as it should.
That first flight was only around 4:30 or so.
It was the second launch that we went higher.
The winch only is set up for 500’ and the YJ3 was about 300’ – 350’. Ray quickly found lift and continued up from there.
I must say, I bought a new Ava Pro flapped (3.2M) earlier this year and just got if flying last week. I couldn’t get the lift he was getting. My Ava Pro flapped weighs in at just 46 oz. AUW
So Ray was definitely out flying me today but I’m still tuning my Ava for best results.
I have to admit that Ray’s YJ3M is definitely going to be a contender for this year’s Sailplane League.
Ray, you surely have a nice flyer!
Best to all!
Tom Como
Ray responds to Tom’s comments
hi there from Toledo
Tom is right, “I am so excited and I just can’t hide it…”
What a magnificent flyer the YJ3M is. I am delightfully surprised and tremendously pleased at this point. Next Monday is the first Weak Signals Sailplane League evening of the season. I can hardly wait.
But as they say “We shall see.” 
Tom Scully’s beautiful build took 1st place in the 2018 Toledo Show; builders competition; Sailplane Category. Congratulations Tom!!!
Anatol Polillo and crew with 3 Yellow Jackets on the east coast. I love this photo!!!
Brad Juntunen set out to build his 2nd Yellow Jacket as lite as possible. Notice the lightening holes and servos positioned more forward in the pod. Close to 13 oz balanced. The lighting holes remove very little weight and they take out some strength (especially in the TE) but it does look very attractive and fly’s nicely.
Andrew (The Canuck) recently finished his YJ 4/2018. It took him about a week to build it.
Eddie, who is a very fine builder did a magnificent job on his YJ Electric. He likes it so much he scratch built a baby to go with it.
Greg McGill built a Yellow Jacket with both Lite and Regular Wings. Greg, being very experienced with DLG’s and German kits installed pull springs.
John and Andrew’s YJ’s in Denver
Jon Vance has built 3 Yellow Jackets both Line Launch and Electric. He really out did himself on the last 2. These planes are truly works of art and all John’s planes perform wonderfully.
John Hsu’s early flights after things warmed a bit in Denver. John is also a fantastic photographer.
Larry Weller, a true master builder did an unbelievable build thread on RCG. Larry is also has true talent in photography and documentation.
Many have commented how much his thread has helped.
The ground finally thawed out enough in Michigan for Larry to maiden his awesome build. Thank you very much Larry Weller
BTW-Larry did a few mods of his own. This is builder/Pilot plane and some of these mods are nice if you want to invest a little more. With that said I don’t recommend messing with the wing, but getting your weight forward to reduce nose weight is the place to focus if you really want the lightest structure. It does cost more!!!!
Me flying the Yellow Jacket Electric at Dave Beach in Carlsbad, Ca. Love this place!!!
Barry Andersen updated his T-Hawk Fuse with a Yellow Jacket Wing and HT12 Stabilizer.
Barry’s Comments
“A very well produced kit. All the parts are bundled in groups and very accurate. The wing goes together very easily. A fun kit to build with a great deal of online help and pictures at rcgroups.”
Jeff Dessert’s new YJ Electric. The color combination is really cool. There have been a number of guys in Canada building Yellow Jackets. It’s not uncommon for builders to make minor modifications to suite their own preferences. In this case Jeff used a Blaster V Mount for a full floating stabilizer and a front motor mount.
Jeff reports
“One final note on covering. White and Purple are Ultracote Lite. Orange is Ultracote Fluoro Orange. Red stripes on underside of outer wing panels are Esaki tissue applied with Future floor polish”