Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[Aros]

Some will like this jet and some don't, once you have flown as many flights with it as I have, you will learn to love it. I think most guys just over control it, I fly mine all stock out of the box as far as servos and setup, I do have the 1835kv in mine now and with no expo, dual rates or flaperons programmed, it flies very well as is, you just have to learn how it likes to be flown.

Very true...Once you "Get her" then she is a great jet. Reminds me of the F-14...There is a learning curve but once you get it, the rewards are great. Still, let's be honest...This is a heavy jet. This model is how many years old? Certainly not New Gen in the literal sense. If we were to re-do this model, it would be much lighter with a much more robust power setup. I hope that day comes.

[DCORSAIR]

What CG did you finally settle on?

I have my CG around 118mm to 120mm, anything aft of that and you will have a handful trying to land it, it does perfrom better with the CG aft but it lands so much easier with it nose heavy. I hope to get a video one day on how this jet is able to fly and land, the slow flight looks very scale with the gear down and as you pass by pull the gear up and add in the power as the gear retracts, looks great.

[Phantom]

I have my CG around 118mm to 120mm, anything aft of that and you will have a handful trying to land it, it does perfrom better with the CG aft but it lands so much easier with it nose heavy. I hope to get a video one day on how this jet is able to fly and land, the slow flight looks very scale with the gear down and as you pass by pull the gear up and add in the power as the gear retracts, looks great.

I've been eyeing the ARF plus, T- bird one for a while... the constant talk about her being a handful to fly, heavy, and underpowered has delayed me pulling the trigger though... any thoughts on using the 8s setup from the YAK-130 to power her?

[JamesonC]

I keep hearing people talk about a new "high performance" version of this F16 with the new inrunner in it but I have never seen it on the website anywhere.

[Aros]

I think it's more wishful thinking but I am keeping my fingers crossed for an updated version!

[DCORSAIR]

I'm not aware of any updates on the F-16, only the 1550kv outrunner was replaced with the new 1650kv outrunner, don't know why they don't just drop in the 1835kv inrunner and be done with it.

[DCORSAIR]

I've been eyeing the ARF plus, T- bird one for a while... the constant talk about her being a handful to fly, heavy, and underpowered has delayed me pulling the trigger though... any thoughts on using the 8s setup from the YAK-130 to power her?

Just go with the ARF plus if you already have an ESC to use, and get the 1835kv inrunner on 6S, it flies great. If you don't have an ESC then it's better to get the PNP one and then sell the 1650kv outrunner or fly it as is until you get used to how it flies and then put the inrunner in it.

[Phantom]

Just go with the ARF plus if you already have an ESC to use, and get the 1835kv inrunner on 6S, it flies great. If you don't have an ESC then it's better to get the PNP one and then sell the 1650kv outrunner or fly it as is until you get used to how it flies and then put the inrunner in it.

So the 1835kv inrunner on 6s is enough to make up for the weight of the bird? I was going to throw in the 1390kv on 8s in her, over kill you think? Or is the added power null do to the added weight of the 8s system? I seem to remember when folks were complaining about the YAK-130 being heavy and under powered the 1390kv 8s system was Freewings answer...

[wolpertinger]

I keep hearing people talk about a new "high performance" version of this F16 with the new inrunner in it but I have never seen it on the website anywhere.

Heard this too on the Merry Boozer channel. Said he was flying at Fall Nall.

[DCORSAIR]

Well, I can't say anything about 8S, I only fly 6S on all my EDF jets, I upgraded my stock F-16 to the 1835kv and I upgraded my Yak 130 as well, my buddy did the same on his F-16, the Yak was a big improvement over the stock 1700 that came in the early Yak 130, so flight times are 2:30 using mostly 3/4-full throttle, longer flights if you want to use power management which I don't, lol. Sorry guys I'm not much help on 8S comparison, I just like the idea of one battery, I have 12 - 6S 5000 Batts., So no need for me to buy more batteries for 8S.

[Hugh Wiedman]

I have my CG around 118mm to 120mm, anything aft of that and you will have a handful trying to land it, it does perfrom better with the CG aft but it lands so much easier with it nose heavy. I hope to get a video one day on how this jet is able to fly and land, the slow flight looks very scale with the gear down and as you pass by pull the gear up and add in the power as the gear retracts, looks great.

I also finally settled on the CG at 120mm. With the upgraded inrunner (which is slightly heavier than the stock), I had to add an additional 1 1/2 oz lead in the nose and cut out some of the underside of the canopy to get a 5000mah as far forward as possible. I had messed around with the CG and tried it from 118 all the way back to 135 (yes, I was living on the edge there ). It flew best with the CG around 126-130, however, landing it that tail heavy (at 135) was a major challenge. As soon as you reduced power when coming in to land, the nose rises up, so if you still have enough airspeed, it balloons up, then drops in a stall. If your at the "perfect landing speed" and 6" off the deck, reducing power puts it in a high AoA and it lands nicely, but when have I ever been at the perfect landing speed, like never! The only way I could get it to land properly with my mediocre skills was at 118-120mm. It still actually flies well there, you just need a little more up elevator trim at 50-60% throttle. Of course, if your "Balls to Wall", which this baby loves to be, no additional trim needed.

Itching to try it with one of my 6000mah batteries, which sets perfect on the battery tray to give a CG of 120mm. Just thinking though that adding an additional 5 ounces of weight can't be good.

[DCORSAIR]

I also finally settled on the CG at 120mm. With the upgraded inrunner (which is slightly heavier than the stock), I had to add an additional 1 1/2 oz lead in the nose and cut out some of the underside of the canopy to get a 5000mah as far forward as possible. I had messed around with the CG and tried it from 118 all the way back to 135 (yes, I was living on the edge there ). It flew best with the CG around 126-130, however, landing it that tail heavy (at 135) was a major challenge. As soon as you reduced power when coming in to land, the nose rises up, so if you still have enough airspeed, it balloons up, then drops in a stall. If your at the "perfect landing speed" and 6" off the deck, reducing power puts it in a high AoA and it lands nicely, but when have I ever been at the perfect landing speed, like never! The only way I could get it to land properly with my mediocre skills was at 118-120mm. It still actually flies well there, you just need a little more up elevator trim at 50-60% throttle. Of course, if your "Balls to Wall", which this baby loves to be, no additional trim needed.

Itching to try it with one of my 6000mah batteries, which sets perfect on the battery tray to give a CG of 120mm. Just thinking though that adding an additional 5 ounces of weight can't be good.

Sounds like you figured the F-16 out.........!!

[Phantom]

Well, I can't say anything about 8S, I only fly 6S on all my EDF jets, I upgraded my stock F-16 to the 1835kv and I upgraded my Yak 130 as well, my buddy did the same on his F-16, the Yak was a big improvement over the stock 1700 that came in the early Yak 130, so flight times are 2:30 using mostly 3/4-full throttle, longer flights if you want to use power management which I don't, lol. Sorry guys I'm not much help on 8S comparison, I just like the idea of one battery, I have 12 - 6S 5000 Batts., So no need for me to buy more batteries for 8S.

I have a good deal of 6s batteries as well, but while using two 4s in series to get 8s for my YAK-130, I decided to try the same technique for 6s packs. I use both lower mah 6s packs in parallel to increase mah capacity, and large mah capacity 3s in series to create 6s packs. See the photo below, what is I've found is I can put more mah on board each jet, cheaper and lighter than buying 6s packs. The 4200 mah packs are 6s in parallel, allows me to put 8400mah on board for the weight of a 6000mah 6s. The pack on the upper right side are also 6s in parallel, not quite as light as the Hobbystars it still gives me 5300mah for the weight of your average 5000mah 6s pack, and the two packs together are also shorter. Below that pack on the right hand side is two 3s pack 5000mah in a series, about the weight of a standard 4000mah 6s pack but not as wide.

[DCORSAIR]

I have a good deal of 6s batteries as well, but while using two 4s in series to get 8s for my YAK-130, I decided to try the same technique for 6s packs. I use both lower mah 6s packs in parallel to increase mah capacity, and large mah capacity 3s in series to create 6s packs. See the photo below, what is I've found is I can put more mah on board each jet, cheaper and lighter than buying 6s packs. The 4200 mah packs are 6s in parallel, allows me to put 8400mah on board for the weight of a 6000mah 6s. The pack on the upper right side are also 6s in parallel, not quite as light as the Hobbystars it still gives me 5300mah for the weight of your average 5000mah 6s pack, and the two packs together are also shorter. Below that pack on the right hand side is two 3s pack 5000mah in a series, about the weight of a standard 4000mah 6s pack but not as wide.

Yeah, I did that with my HSD J-10, two 4S 5000 pks to make 8S, it worked out good but I like the single battery idea, just works better for me.

[OV10]

I have a good deal of 6s batteries as well, but while using two 4s in series to get 8s for my YAK-130, I decided to try the same technique for 6s packs. I use both lower mah 6s packs in parallel to increase mah capacity, and large mah capacity 3s in series to create 6s packs. See the photo below, what is I've found is I can put more mah on board each jet, cheaper and lighter than buying 6s packs. The 4200 mah packs are 6s in parallel, allows me to put 8400mah on board for the weight of a 6000mah 6s. The pack on the upper right side are also 6s in parallel, not quite as light as the Hobbystars it still gives me 5300mah for the weight of your average 5000mah 6s pack, and the two packs together are also shorter. Below that pack on the right hand side is two 3s pack 5000mah in a series, about the weight of a standard 4000mah 6s pack but not as wide.

You're claim appears to be very misleading. You cannot bypass the laws of physics regarding the composition weights of LiPo cell structures.
In the above claim that is in bold print the actual weights are known to be..............
HobbyStar 4200 40C 6S........515g x 2 > 1030g versus the HobbyStar 6200 50C 6S(closest I could find to compare) at 850g
Your 8400mAh of capacity is adding almost another 200g(.44 lbs) over the single pack.

I use 2 x Admiral 5000 50C 3S packs in series instead of one Admiral 5000 50C 6S as a better method of controlling internal cell IR's due to heat.
I pay for this in additional weight.
A 5000 3S weighs 372g x 2 for a total of 744(26.2oz) + 28g/1oz for the series connector whereas the one 5000 6S weighs 732(25.8oz)

[Phantom]

You're claim appears to be very misleading. You cannot bypass the laws of physics regarding the composition weights of LiPo cell structures.
In the above claim that is in bold print the actual weights are known to be..............
HobbyStar 4200 40C 6S........515g x 2 > 1030g versus the HobbyStar 6200 50C 6S(closest I could find to compare) at 850g
Your 8400mAh of capacity is adding almost another 200g(.44 lbs) over the single pack.

I use 2 x Admiral 5000 50C 3S packs in series instead of one Admiral 5000 50C 6S as a better method of controlling internal cell IR's due to heat.
I pay for this in additional weight.
A 5000 3S weighs 372g x 2 for a total of 744(26.2oz) + 28g/1oz for the series connector whereas the one 5000 6S weighs 732(25.8oz)

OV-10, I humbly apologize if you felt my preference for using dual packs to get more capacity for less weight and less money was very misleading. I certainly wouldn't dream of bypassing the laws of physics lol

A better comparison per your example would be comparing the Hobbystar 8000mah 6s 100c of which I own two verses the "HobbyStar 4200 40C 6S........515g x 2 > 1030g". So the 8000mah 6s weighs 920g, pretty close to the two 4200 packs, yet I get 400mah more capacity. But in all fairness to the laws physics, there is a 110g difference for the additional 400mah. I also acknowledge your valid argument for the additional albeit small increase in additional grams for the extra connector. Now that the physics are squared away, on to the reason as to why despite physics I still prefer using two packs....economics and versatility. 1 8000mah 6s pack costs 159.99, while 1 4200mah 6s pack costs 69.99, so for the versatility of being able to put a double pack in my larger edfs I also get to use the single 4200mah 6s packs in my smaller edfs, all while saving 20 bucks, or to be exact, $20.01.

Disclaimer, all information provided in my posts are for entertainment purposes only. Please note, do not operate any aircraft based on my opinions. I am not responsible for any damage or loss of aircraft due to my gross misrepresentation of the laws of physics.

Keep it light guys!

[OV10]

NICE congenial rebuttal...............................I totally do get your versatility/economics practice. Same principle reason I have for using 2S and 3S packs in series to make 6-10S power systems along with the remediation of heat dynamics for larger celled packs. Bottom line to remember though about cell power, every mAh costs in weight.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just finished installing the RC Geek afterburner on the F-16 with the upgraded in-runner. Debated what to do with the existing ring afterburner, but decided, what the hell, lets have both of them. The stock ring AB glows red, and the RC Geek AB is more yellow, so when they both come on, it sort of makes a burnt orange glow, yellow further up the exhaust tube turning into red, still quite cool looking. The pictures don't really get the different color hues, but glad I left both of them working.

[Aros]

Looks great! I don't want to burn bridges but I personally have found his to be the brightest centerburners in the industry.

[gooniac33]

Looks great! I don't want to burn bridges but I personally have found his to be the brightest centerburners in the industry.

The F-104 and F-16 are some of my brightest! I need to get myself an F-16 and change your mind... LOL