Official Freewing F/A-18C Hornet 90mm EDF Thread

[Carlbrainiac]

Man, ya gotta love 4K video!!

Yeah he doesnt do things by halves. Hes invested heavily in both his models and his YouTube channel. He flies turbines as well and is currently in the process of building a 2 metre SR71 black bird!

[Aros]

Now THAT is someone after my heart!!

[Carlbrainiac]

Now THAT is someone after my heart!!

If you subscribe to his channel he is doing a step by step build of it too. Really interesting building method. Massive jigsaw puzzle of foam pieces.

[Carlbrainiac]

Just a thought. Who was it saying they were down on power and thought it might be due to their high above see level location?

I only bring this up because I did my maiden on a 4500 mah 40c battery. Despite the battery being light. And despite it working fine in my Avanti. In the F18 it was massively under powered. This is one model that needs a decent C rating pack to deliver the power required. Min 50c from my experience. I'm now almost exclusively using the Admiral packs in this model. 6000s and 5000s.

Just giving my findings to see if others have found this.

[crxmanpat]

I use a RoaringTop 6S 6250 35C in mine, plenty of power. The RT is a true 20C pack, so it can deliver 125A all day long without damage to the pack. Makes my Hornet zip right along.

[Carlbrainiac]

Hmm interesting. Maybe it was just because it was a really hot day when I tried mine then. Been fine on other batteries ever since. Perhaps I'll try them again.

What sort of flight times are people getting. I'm finding with my admiral 6000s I have to set a timer of 4 mins and land around 5 maybe 5 and a half mins. And with my 5000s I find I have to set a timer of 4 mins and land around 5 mins.
But then I am still getting used to her. Could probably throttle manage better. When I was flying in formation with my buddies A10 I was using a lot more throttle and pulled my 6000s down to 3.6 per cell on that flight so quickly brought them back up to 3.8 storage charge when I got home.

[Patriotic_Banana]

Hey everyone,

Just finished building my F-18 and noticed (same as Carl and a few others on this forum) some issues with the elevator servos. When they are returning to center they jitter on their way down, like they cant handle the torque produced by those huge flying stabs.

I am fine with replacing them, but I would need to order the servo's and tear it open again. I have a limited window for my maiden and want to go for it, but don't want to lose a model to bad servos.

What I fail to understand is why Freewing would cheap out on servos used to drive the largest control surface, and why they went the other direction on the F-22?

[Carlbrainiac]

Hey everyone,

Just finished building my F-18 and noticed (same as Carl and a few others on this forum) some issues with the elevator servos. When they are returning to center they jitter on their way down, like they cant handle the torque produced by those huge flying stabs.

I am fine with replacing them, but I would need to order the servo's and tear it open again. I have a limited window for my maiden and want to go for it, but don't want to lose a model to bad servos.

What I fail to understand is why Freewing would cheap out on servos used to drive the largest control surface, and why they went the other direction on the F-22?

I would not fly it on those servos. Honestly not worth the risk. I know its tempting but just be patient and put a ticket in with motion. I'm sure they'll sort you out. I think they're getting to know this is an issue now and have said future versions will come with the full metal gear servos. It's not worth losing a nice model. You're just asking for it with those servos in my opinion. It was agony for me as I put in a very early pre order expecting it to come much sooner than it did. I ended up waiting 3 months. Then it finally arrived and those servos didnt even survive me setting up the control throws! So had to wait again. But I'm glad i did.
peeling back the covers is no big deal as long as you glued them on with the foam tac. They'll go straight back. And while you're in there take the opportunity to take the slop out of the rod by removing the 4 screws, lift off the two bearing retainers then cut and lay in some small strips of paper to take up the gap in the plastic housing around the bearing. Worked wonders for mine.
Oh on another note check your canopy latch. I lost my canopy on maiden. Had to get another. So I added some strong magnets either side of the latch on the fuselage and the canopy. Been fine ever since.

[Patriotic_Banana]

Are those elevator servo's normal or reversed?

Also how in the heck do I get the decals off the sheet. I don't know if mine is special or if I am special, I have had no luck.

[fredmdbud]

The elevators are a normal-reverse pair.

The decals are water slide, soaking in shallow water will release them eventually. Do not use too much water, because residual adhesive from the backing helps adhesion. Modelers sometimes add a drop of dishwashing detergent for a mild soapy bath that helps with positioning until you squeeze the water out from beneath the decal.

[Carlbrainiac]

https://youtu.be/Y0-ndkejEG0 No bragging rights on this landing. But the afterburner looks awesome! Lol. First flight at a new field. Been used to flying at a very small site so just slowed her up too much. Need to come in on full flap and more throttle. I did get much better landings that day but of course not on camera lol Also not used to having so much air space. I didnt know what to do with myself lol. I have now joined this club. Their field is amazing

[Aros]

Hey, we've all had worse. Nice job overall! She's in one piece!

[janmb]

https://youtu.be/Y0-ndkejEG0 No bragging rights on this landing. But the afterburner looks awesome! Lol. First flight at a new field. Been used to flying at a very small site so just slowed her up too much. Need to come in on full flap and more throttle. I did get much better landings that day but of course not on camera lol Also not used to having so much air space. I didnt know what to do with myself lol. I have now joined this club. Their field is amazing

Great filming by Dom as always!

And brilliant flying again - smooth and consistent. And awesome to see someone that hasn't forgotten that even fighter jets have rudders and should use them :D


As for the landing, in the interest of being maximum picky, my analysis would be something like this:

- a little hot initially on early final - not much at all, just a tad. But it does matter further down the timeline
- looks like you had a gust or two during final, so can't blame you for that lol. Would love to see a more stable pitch attitude though, but hard if choppy conditions for sure
- about 1 meter above ground, when you want to arrest your descent rate, you pull a lot of elevator instead of adding throttle. And since I know you know better, I am willing to bet a good deal that this is a direct result of bringing a tad excess energy into that situation in the first place - which in turn discourages/denies throttle usage and promotes elevator overuse.

[Hoomi]

https://youtu.be/Y0-ndkejEG0 No bragging rights on this landing. But the afterburner looks awesome! Lol. First flight at a new field. Been used to flying at a very small site so just slowed her up too much. Need to come in on full flap and more throttle. I did get much better landings that day but of course not on camera lol Also not used to having so much air space. I didnt know what to do with myself lol. I have now joined this club. Their field is amazing

One of the cool things with that video is, with many of the scenes, all you'd need to do is dub in audio from a real F/A-18, and most people wouldn't be able to tell it's a scale model. Nicely done!

[Carlbrainiac]

Thank you guys. I am totally in love with this bird and I'm always trying to improve so appreciate feedback good or bad. To be honest I'm my own worst critic. Always striving for better. I love the challenge of flying a model and making it fly like the real thing. As we all know this is no easy feat because of scale speeds and wind bouncing the model around. But when you get it right to me it's more satisfying than nailing a full aerobatic display with a high end aerobatic model.
What really helps with this model though is it just looks so real in the air. It really doesnt take much effort from the pilot to make it look good other than just keep it smooth and not too erratic and yeah dub over some real engine sounds and you'd almost have no idea lol. Might be a bit puzzled why an F18 is circling a field. Maybe a terrorist farmer... lol. But other than that yes it was a long wait for this model. Yes they had one or two teething problems. But my god at the end of the day well done yet again freewing. In my opinion the only manufacturer to be considered when looking at EDF jets.

[Carlbrainiac]

Great filming by Dom as always!

And brilliant flying again - smooth and consistent. And awesome to see someone that hasn't forgotten that even fighter jets have rudders and should use them :D


As for the landing, in the interest of being maximum picky, my analysis would be something like this:

- a little hot initially on early final - not much at all, just a tad. But it does matter further down the timeline
- looks like you had a gust or two during final, so can't blame you for that lol. Would love to see a more stable pitch attitude though, but hard if choppy conditions for sure
- about 1 meter above ground, when you want to arrest your descent rate, you pull a lot of elevator instead of adding throttle. And since I know you know better, I am willing to bet a good deal that this is a direct result of bringing a tad excess energy into that situation in the first place - which in turn discourages/denies throttle usage and promotes elevator overuse.

As for using the rudders. I've gotta be honest I'm still just banking and yanking at the moment. Not sure where you thought the rudders were being used. I do need to learn to use rudder more. On all my models. Think I should get myself a heli again because you cant fly those round without using rudder lol.
Think I just developed this irrational fear of the rudder after I knife edge flicked of my favourite aerobatic models into the deck a few years back. I was gutted. But yes rudders are there for a reason and I need to start getting the confidence to bring them back into my flying. I'm planning on starting getting more into 3D aerobatics as well so that gives good rudder instruction. But I know with jets rudder use is very different and used incorrectly can cause major issues. But used correctly it will fly even better and I'll be able to do some more of the manouvers I'm aiming for.

[janmb]

Not sure where you thought the rudders were being used.

One the base turn onto final. But I guess I was fooled by the wind yawing the plane for you then :D

Really recommend getting into coordinated rudder turns on jets as well. When doing low g turns, especially during a landing pattern, they work great and reduce stall speed a LOT.

For my part, I turn jets one of two ways, depending on what I want to achieve:
1. Coordinated rudder turns. In this case, the rudder is the primary control, while elevator, ailerons AND throttle are all slaves to maintain status quo. Rudder turns the plane, elevator and opposite aileron keeps the attitude in check.
2. High G turns. In this case, the elevator becomes the primary control, but very importantly, BOTH ailerons AND rudder are slaves to maintain attitude. Essentially a high bank and yank turn, where aileron and rudder is continuously adjusted to maintain correct attitude. A jet that does not need rudder during high G turns is nose heavy and should be adjusted. (this is very much the case for full-size fighters too)

[flystrydom]

Hey F18 geeks!

Just a quick question and apologies if I missed it in the thread... is anyone using a gyro in their F18? I'm thinking of using one for the windier days just to keep her steady and scale.
AS3X, Aura8, HobbyEagle? Many choices... ??

Thanks guys!

[Elbee]

Hey Y'all, Question: I would like to add somewhere around .5"+ (15mm) or even more in depth to the OEM Cockpit, so how much depth (ballpark or typical) are y'all finding between the bottom of the cockpit and the top of the battery? Best, LB

[crxmanpat]

LB,

It all depends on where your battery sits, and how high it is. I use a heavier RT 6250, so the front edge of the battery is right at the battery strap. In that location, there is plenty of room to add depth to the cockpit.