A Complete LX Models F22 Build

[xviper]

I am currently in the midst of my YF-23 build. It looks very similar to your F-22 in appearance and process. It's not the best quality kit I've encountered and those supplied retracts are odd - not sure how long they'll last if they will work the first time at all. Bench tests were not smooth and a bit problematic. I hope it flies as well as the F-22 in the videos in this thread.

[Arcangel]

xviper,

Congrats on the YF-23, at least I can feel at easy that I am not the only guy building one.
Before you get too deep in the build I'll give you some first hand advice on the landing gear.... DITCH THEM !!!! They are crap. The springs in the main gear are soft and you will lose half of the gear's compression if not all of it just from the model's own weight. :Scared:

I ended up using the main gear from the FreeWing 80mm F-5 with the main shaft pins from the FW ME-262 to get the right orientation on the wheels.

The nose gear came out of a FW Mig-21 I had available and I installed the landing gear mounts from the FW 90mm F-15 Eagle.

I've also had some troubles with their ESCs. One of mine failed on testing run up.

Also be ready to repaint the plane. The paint Banana Hobby used on this model and their F-4 phantom is really soft, rubbery, and my other paints from Homedepot or Lowes do not like to stick to it well.

I was hoping to be a little further along before starting a new build thread on the YF-23, but I do not want to high-jack this one. If you don't mind, I'll start one this weekend and get some pics up to show some of my progress for ya.

[xviper]

Before you get too deep in the build I'll give you some first hand advice on the landing gear.... DITCH THEM !!!! They are crap. The springs in the main gear are soft and you will lose half of the gear's compression if not all of it just from the model's own weight. :Scared:

I was hoping to be a little further along before starting a new build thread on the YF-23, but I do not want to high-jack this one. If you don't mind, I'll start one this weekend and get some pics up to show some of my progress for ya.

I suspected those retracts were going to be trouble, just like the original ones on my LX A-10. I will take your advice and not use them. I have Freewing and FMS retracts from old dead planes that I can adapt.
Please do the YF-23 build thread. I got the kit version and the build video from RCInformer was only marginally useful. He did the PNP build. The kit version involves a lot more detail.

[\o/woohoo]

Is this the lx yf23? I owned the pnp version and only had 2 flights on it before an esc blew on me. I sold it.

Gentlemen i have a friend who is soon to join hs. He has an lx f22 that he purchased on a swap meet for under $200. Its a pnp version and we want to open her up. Is this possible you think??

[xviper]

Is this the lx yf23? I owned the pnp version and only had 2 flights on it before an esc blew on me. I sold it.

Gentlemen i have a friend who is soon to join hs. He has an lx f22 that he purchased on a swap meet for under $200. Its a pnp version and we want to open her up. Is this possible you think??

What did you want to open up? The fans/motors can easily be changed out since there's a foam hatch that is removed to access them. The ESCs, however, may be a bit more involved as they are typically buried inside the two clam shell halves that are glued together. You can of course, cut yourself another hatch to access the ESCs once you figure out where they are.

[\o/woohoo]

Viper thank you.

Once the fuselage is glued can we cut it open? Has it been done? Is it worth it in order to bring it up to freewing status? Thanks again.

[xviper]

Viper thank you.

Once the fuselage is glued can we cut it open? Has it been done? Is it worth it in order to bring it up to freewing status? Thanks again.

I suppose you could cut it along the seam but you risk slicing into the servo wires that run in channels in the seam. However, if you're going to replace all the servo extension wires anyway, it won't matter.

[\o/woohoo]

Well he decided to purchase a kit version. Much better. And i will be doing the same.

Now i have my own questions. Do i need a reverse edf unit? If memory serves, i remember owning a freewing su35 twin 70 with 12b fans and i believe they were counter rotating edf units (the spin opposite directions from each other) is this required? And thank you again.

[Arcangel]

Well he decided to purchase a kit version. Much better. And i will be doing the same.

Now i have my own questions. Do i need a reverse edf unit? If memory serves, i remember owning a freewing su35 twin 70 with 12b fans and i believe they were counter rotating edf units (the spin opposite directions from each other) is this required? And thank you again.

No, you don't have to use a reverse EDF unit. The F-22 has it's fans really close together in the main fuselage and you can use (2) standard EDFs with no problems. The FreeWing vr.2 SU-35 with the newer stock 12 bladed EDFs are actually standard rotation on both. The upgraded inrunner units are the only 12 blade fans that offer a standard and reverse impellers for the 70mm class.

[xviper]

I'm actually using the twin fans from my old, dead SU-35. One is counter-rotating.

[\o/woohoo]

Sweet news. Im thinking of using the same electronics from the su35. Should be similar in performance i hope. I saw his raptor today and nearly asked it to marry me. Maaaann why is fw lacking this baby?? They have the 64mm i dont see why they cant blow it up at least an 80mm or single 90mm.

Anyway thank you so much for the prompt response. I will be reading through this thread for more info.

Oh one more question, are any of you running standard flight controls or tailerons etc?

[Arcangel]

I like to keep my setups as simple as possible, so I mostly run standard flight controls unless the manufacturer dictates otherwise.
Once you're comfortable with the model, you can change the flight control mixing later on when you want to get jiggy with it. ;)

[\o/woohoo]

Yeah. I owned the fw 90mm f16 and tried tailerons and nearly cratered it. Switched to standard & oh my gawd much better.

[xviper]

Oops, I just noticed that the 22 also have elevators. In this case, what I said above does not apply so I've deleted it.

[xviper]

Deleted. Moved to YF-23 thread.