Official Freewing 64mm F-105D Thunderchief

[GBLynden]

I received my shipping notification! I am so excited :)

[Arcangel]

Hola` my friends,

I just thought I would give my personal assessment on the 105 and all the fun she has brought to my field. I got mine on the Wednesday after Christmas and had her ready to maiden on that weekend. Only mods I could do was the upgrade to a 4S 2836 - 3300kv power system running on an Admiral Pro 4S - 2500 50C pack that I had left over from a FreeWing A-10. Installation was uneventful and required no dremell work or foam cutting. The power system dropped right in and I used a ZTW 65 amp Mantis ESC because that was all I had left on hand for ESCs. She balanced at factory location with just the battery and no additional weight needed. :Cool:

The maiden flight was a handful and quite exciting. The 105 took several seconds and a few feet of airspace for her wings to catch up to the motor and she almost did not make it off the ground. Ounce her wings got sufficiently flying, she became a rocket. I would best estimate that at full throttle, she could easily out run the FW A-4 and could probably keep a good pace with a FW Stinger 90. :Scared:
Her flight controls in this configuration was extremely sensitive, and down right twitchy. I had to drop her down to 60% dual rates and 40% expo on the ailerons but keep 100% dual rates and 30% expo on the elevator. Her flight time was 2 minutes + 20 seconds for a couple of go-arounds and she landed with 65% left on the battery. I estimate that I could probably get 3 1/2 minutes maybe four with good throttle management. Her landing was just as exciting as her take off as she dropped like a boat anchor when the power dropped off below 30% throttle. I had to land her hot just to make sure she reached the runway and let her slide a good 100 feet for her to come to a full stop. Only damaged she took was from the plywood ventral fin splintering near its tip. I put 2 more flights on her in the 4S config and did not really enjoy flying her that much, so I switched out the battery to an Admiral Pro 3S 2200 40C pack

The 3S system took a lot of weight off her wing loading and really made her a better flyer although not nearly as fast as with the 4S battery. I bumped the aileron dual rates up to 70% and lowered the expo down to 30% and kept the elevator dual rates and expo the same. Take offs were much nicer as she just went out on the path my friend could throw her at a good solid pace while she picked up speed. Her flight characteristics got much better and she flew just like the Panther or the Crusader. Her landings were much easier as she would actually glide in on minimal throttle and her touch downs on the runway were a lot softer. I brought her in after 2 minutes + 30 seconds for go-arounds and she landed with 45% left on the battery. I would estimate that the 3S battery will give me 3 minutes of solid flight time + another 30 - 40 seconds for go-arounds. ;)

The only mods I plan to do to the 105 is add a couple of stand off near the horizontal to stiffen up the elevator wire { the elevator wire has a lot of flex when you give her full up }, cut a new ventral fin from carbon fiber plate and replace the plywood fin, and a new paint job for SEA cammies.

I have put 2 more flights on her in the 3S config and set my flight timer to 3 minutes and use another 10 - 20 seconds for setup and landing and I'm ending up with my battery coming in with 25% left on it and just barely warm.

I hope everyone enjoys their F-105 as I am. :)

[Boots Whirlygig]

Arcangel so the FW 64mm A-10 edf unit is a direct fit? The pictures of it shows an inlet lip, the unit in my 105 doesn’t have this inlet lip therefore I’d have to either cut foam or cut off this lip. Plus on 3S, 4500kv - 3300kv aren’t you losing thrust?:Confused:

[Arcangel]

The new 64mm 12 blade fans from MotionRC come with the inlet rings not glued on. You can get them at MRC for $7.49. As for my A-10, I just squeezed the fan shroud to crack the inlet ring loose and took it off. I got lucky that it did not have a ton of glue and that tape securing it. :Whew:

Yes, you are going to lose quite a bit of thrust dropping down to a 3S battery running on a 4S 3300kv system, but the airframe behaves so much better with the lighter wing loading than she does with a 4S battery. On the 3S battery she flies just like my upgraded panther. Good speed range and fantastic vertical.

The 4S battery just made the 105 super fast, but it also made it a lot more difficult to get her air borne, super sensitive to control, and it had absolutely no glide capabilities. You either brought her in on 1/3rd power or she was coming down like a brick.

I suppose if speed is your thing, the 4S system upgrade and battery would be a good start. The installation of the external landing gear would solve the take off and some of the fast landing issues, but you would still have to deal with the control sensitivity.

[Tony617]

Just wondering, I see that Motion RC has the landing gear available for the F-105. The description does not say how large the wheels are. Are they large enough to fly off of a short cut grass runway? I am good without the LG if the wheels are too small.

Thank you,

Tony

[Boots Whirlygig]

I just received my gear, 50mm mains and 35mm nose. Good for paved surface only, IMO. I got them because my shoulder is tender from throwing the Opterra that weighs a lot more than the thud. Just waiting for spring! :saywha

[WildBillG]

Hola` my friends,

I just thought I would give my personal assessment on the 105 and all the fun she has brought to my field. I got mine on the Wednesday after Christmas and had her ready to maiden on that weekend. Only mods I could do was the upgrade to a 4S 2836 - 3300kv power system running on an Admiral Pro 4S - 2500 50C pack that I had left over from a FreeWing A-10. Installation was uneventful and required no dremell work or foam cutting. The power system dropped right in and I used a ZTW 65 amp Mantis ESC because that was all I had left on hand for ESCs. She balanced at factory location with just the battery and no additional weight needed. :Cool:

The maiden flight was a handful and quite exciting. The 105 took several seconds and a few feet of airspace for her wings to catch up to the motor and she almost did not make it off the ground. Ounce her wings got sufficiently flying, she became a rocket. I would best estimate that at full throttle, she could easily out run the FW A-4 and could probably keep a good pace with a FW Stinger 90. :Scared:
Her flight controls in this configuration was extremely sensitive, and down right twitchy. I had to drop her down to 60% dual rates and 40% expo on the ailerons but keep 100% dual rates and 30% expo on the elevator. Her flight time was 2 minutes + 20 seconds for a couple of go-arounds and she landed with 65% left on the battery. I estimate that I could probably get 3 1/2 minutes maybe four with good throttle management. Her landing was just as exciting as her take off as she dropped like a boat anchor when the power dropped off below 30% throttle. I had to land her hot just to make sure she reached the runway and let her slide a good 100 feet for her to come to a full stop. Only damaged she took was from the plywood ventral fin splintering near its tip. I put 2 more flights on her in the 4S config and did not really enjoy flying her that much, so I switched out the battery to an Admiral Pro 3S 2200 40C pack

The 3S system took a lot of weight off her wing loading and really made her a better flyer although not nearly as fast as with the 4S battery. I bumped the aileron dual rates up to 70% and lowered the expo down to 30% and kept the elevator dual rates and expo the same. Take offs were much nicer as she just went out on the path my friend could throw her at a good solid pace while she picked up speed. Her flight characteristics got much better and she flew just like the Panther or the Crusader. Her landings were much easier as she would actually glide in on minimal throttle and her touch downs on the runway were a lot softer. I brought her in after 2 minutes + 30 seconds for go-arounds and she landed with 45% left on the battery. I would estimate that the 3S battery will give me 3 minutes of solid flight time + another 30 - 40 seconds for go-arounds. ;)

The only mods I plan to do to the 105 is add a couple of stand off near the horizontal to stiffen up the elevator wire { the elevator wire has a lot of flex when you give her full up }, cut a new ventral fin from carbon fiber plate and replace the plywood fin, and a new paint job for SEA cammies.

I have put 2 more flights on her in the 3S config and set my flight timer to 3 minutes and use another 10 - 20 seconds for setup and landing and I'm ending up with my battery coming in with 25% left on it and just barely warm.

I hope everyone enjoys their F-105 as I am. :)

Thank you for the info Arcangel. I did the upgrade on mine and the fan crapped itself while testing it in the shop on a 2200 4S. I then bought the new motor from Motion for it, and also found an issue with the lip as previously stated, but now know to remove the lipped flange and try again. Word of warning on the fan blades going to 4S, as i have no way of knowing if the fan had an issue from the factory or it crapped itself due to an over speed condition.

[TiredIronGRB]

Guys...just fly it!

[Hardway]

Building mine today. Going with gear and an A3-L gyro and a Spektrum 610 receiver. Stock power system. Adding a pilot and repainting the cockpit.

[SeeMeDo]

Need some help fellow Thunderchief fans. I need to replace the fan because something, the esc or servo leads, took out the blades.

do you have to remove the vertical stab to get to the screw for the fan on the motor?

Jeff....:)

[TiredIronGRB]

Need some help fellow Thunderchief fans. I need to replace the fan because something, the esc or servo leads, took out the blades.

do you have to remove the vertical stab to get to the screw for the fan on the motor?

Jeff....:)

It probably has some glue on it, just be careful and pry it out. You will find that the ESC probably broke loose and got into the fan, when you put it back together glue the ESC in with some Foam-Tac.

[Arcangel]

Guys...just fly it!

Ahhhhh,
But I don't like the sound of the angry vacuum cleaners anymore. :Crying:

[CFIT rob]

Its definitely give and take with the design of these park jets. Im very happy with my F8,have yet to maiden my 104. I do wish there was a better sounding fan. I can tolerate the vaccuum whine ok (unlike the exwife..all whine and no performance)but if there was a 3s fan/motor that give it a woosh sound without too much tradeoff in amp draw or thrust that would be awsome. Any one have info on change sun fan/motors. Junk? Ok?

[brk6188]

Agree about "just fly it". We maidened two yesterday and both were easy to launch and to fly -- we both got 41/2 minutes easy on 3 x 1800 packs. Other than to do it "just because" see no reason to change from stock, cannot imagine flying characteristics will be significantly better. My CG was per the manual but trimmed for cruise was getting nose up when going to full throttle. The power/glide in to landing was very precise and landed at the spot everytime. Did not notice any control loss at full throttle due to pushrod flex. Expected the same whine as those little SkyAngel jets but this one isn't near as bad as those are -- our fans seem well balanced. Anyone put a Wicked motor/fan in one yet ? Approx 3mm on aileron and 8mm on elevator. 30% expo.

[crxmanpat]

Maiden and two other flights on the Thud today. Flew great, just like the F-8 Crusader. Using RoaringTop 3S 1800 35C packs, and still have to push them pretty far back even though they are pretty light. First flight the aileron rates were too high, even though I did similar to what the F-8 is currently set at. Turned those way down and it flies great now.

[Valkpilot]

If you keep in mind you hand launch the park-jets, it should have a high or mid mounted wing. A Draken would be cool!

All ready in production in 3 color schemes at another site.

[Boots Whirlygig]

All ready in production in 3 color schemes at another site.

I meant to say that a FreeWing Draken would be cool!

[Twowingtj]

I meant to say that a FreeWing Draken would be cool!

Yes it would!

[crxmanpat]

I could only find one Draken available, the E-Do Model 64mm version. I too would love to see Freewing do an 80mm version! In camo please, not the red/white scheme everyone has been putting out.

[Boots Whirlygig]

I’m not going to use the wing aileronvaters, and just use the tail. I think pilot Ryan said something about that. It should give me all the roll control I need, seeing that you guys are using 2-3mm deflection. I ordered from Callie’s to dress up my Thud, will be shipped out this week and I have a couple months of winter to apply them, can’t wait!!