Nerf whistles for jet sound

[Jody Shaneyfelt]

Yesterday I bought a Nerf football so I could steal the whistles out of it after watching Captain Mike's build video of the Freewing F-18
The whistles are pretty long compared to the thickness of the tail cone foam.
Just wondering if anyone else has tried this and how much of the length can be cut off without ruining the whistle.
I want to put one in my Freewing F9F Panther and FMS F-16 V1...
Thanks, Jody

[Boots Whirlygig]

Ha ha! I also bought into the Nerf whistles and had 2 footballs before my 70mm FW F-16 had even arrived. The whistles are quite large and I didn't see a practical way to utilize them on this plane, so I kinda put that project aside. Makes me wonder if Nerf has seen a sales spike because of us!

[Boots Whirlygig]

I would like to see MRC sell Nerf style whistles, a smaller whistle specifically suited for our hobby/obsession. Whistle design is tricky, and once you find one that works, you then have to install it "just right".

[TSHobbies]

I used the ones from the frisbee ..have one installed in my F15, but have yet to test it out.

[Greyhound61]

I have already exploited two NERF footballs and used the two shorter whistles in my FW F-86 and in my FW F-16. The whistling is outstanding :-) I have shortened one of the remaining long whistle down to approx. 2 cms and I have used it in my FW A-10 64mm. Also in this plane, the whistling is great. Just cut out a part of the whistle and re-glue the bottom of it.

[Z34]

Looks like I have a new bench project for tonight haha. Going to try and put them on my fms 70mm yak130. Does the whistling over power the sound of the edf or does it mix well?

[Alpha]

HI Z34 and Greyhound61, welcome to Hobby Squawk!

I have found that the output volume and pitch can vary greatly depending on where the whistle or whistles are placed in the duct. Every plane is different, so experiment with placement by tack gluing or simply taping them down inside the duct. Once you're happy with the sound, then securely glue them. Varying the size and placement of whistles can achieve different perceptible sounds in correlation with your EDF's original sound.

[chopper]

I have my E-Flite Sportsman set up to drop ordinance from both sides. Among the things I drop are some kind of Nerf foam tipped arrows that fire from a bow-type toy. Each arrow has a small oval whistle that is nearly flush with the tip (embeded in the foam on the side). When I have them loaded you can hear my Sportsman whistling very loudly. I usually mount the arrows with the whistles against the fuselage to keep them more quiet. I've never considered it, but I think the whistles would be fairly easy to remove and mount into a foam surface. They sound really cool coming down.

[CT]

I have installed them in my F-15, Stinger, and M262. The sound they make is just unreal, I look forward to flights just to hear them.Each install has its own unique sound, but is so realistic. I have installed them in the thrust tube and airstream to provide different tones. I also ordered them from Oriental Trading bulk (12) at a time each nerf has 2 whistles. It seems a waste to throw away good nerfs just to use the whistles but unable to find elsewhere.

[Boots Whirlygig]

I bought two Nerf Vortex Aero Howler footballs on Amazon. They set me back a whopping $15 a piece, but they have 3 whistles each, so $5 bucks per whistle!

[Alpha10]

Or you could just get a JP fan :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XWxxwAfs2E

[Alpha]

Test

[CT]

Oriental Trading Co., $4.75 per nerf, 2 whistles per = $2.38 ea

[Boots Whirlygig]

I'd like to have a working whistle design, that is less obtrusive in the exhaust nozzle. I'm thinking of designing my own, but I'm afraid I might end up with a dog whistle. :Confused: