Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[RuthR720]

I just cut a 9” x 12” sheet of felt slightly larger than the washers. I used machine screws for the axles. I placed the washers and felt on the inboard and outboard side of each main wheel and tightened the nylon insert lock nuts. It increases the takeoff distance only slightly. If braking action isn’t needed simply loosen the nut about a half turn. Today I adjusted them so my jet won’t move until my throttle is beyond 20%. I was able to land my Skyhawk in 100 ft. I’ll post some Phantom videos soon. Try it out and tell your friends. It works great!

https://youtu.be/YlUJ8IEz-fY

[RCjetdude]

How hard is it to balance the drag on both sides?

[Aros]

I like the simplicity of it. Nicely done! I may give that a go. I always tend to run out of room at the school parking lot I fly her at. (I have to turn her hard right before she goes off the pavement into a berm),

[Elbee]

...used machine screws for the axles, placed the washers and felt on the inboard and outboard side of each main wheel and tightened the nylon insert lock nuts.

RuthR720, Thanks for the tip. I am pretty sure that is what my C/C used on our "4" in the late '80's. Very quiet though deadly w/o the 12K foot runway.LOL I'll give it another try in 1/12th scale. :Cool:Best, Elbee

[Aros]

FYI...3DPup nozzles (ladder and cockpit as well) are back in stock...

https://www.motionrc.com/products/f-4-phantom-ii-3d-printed-nozzle-set

[brk6188]

Definitely going to give this a try -- on my Avanti first and then the scale ships ! Back in the 60's we used a coil spring wrapped around a split phenolic hub positioned on the wheel axle. The hub was glued to the wheel and one end of spring was extended into a lever, a thread attached running to down elevator. This "wrapped" the spring tighter on the split hub which clamped tighter onto the axle and slowed the model. I believe Dubro might have made a commercial unit that worked in this way?

[Hardway]

RuthR720, Thanks for the tip. I am pretty sure that is what my C/C used on our "4" in the late '80's. Very quiet though deadly w/o the 12K foot runway.LOL I'll give it another try in 1/12th scale. :Cool:Best, Elbee

LOL Lot of felt...……...Lots

[Dlxpkg2000]

It figures....I've been waiting for the Nose Gear & Main Gear doors to come in, and wouldn't ya know it, by the time I get to read the message that they are back in stock...THEY ARE GONE !!! Come On Motion......This is the 2nd model in a row, that I've purchased, the parts inventory doesn't meet expectations.

[themudduck]

Agreed.

<sigh> I have noticed during the last year that many spare parts have been out of stock for long periods... usually the ones that are very important such as LG parts.
Spare parts are typically high-margin items and they are very important to existing customers - so MRC should never allow them to run out of stock for actively selling airplanes IMO. They need to bite the bullet and consider getting the backordered items in with air freight instead of waiting for the next full sea container. As we can see, not having the parts just builds up some negative feelings.
AND... order more than 24pcs at a time LOL.

(PS yes actually I have been a product manager / inventory manager in my day job! :Nerd:)

A lot of parts seem to be identical between different planes, but this is not always documented. For example, the nosegear pin on the A10/F7F/F4 (which was backordered for some time) is the same part# as the NG pin on the Avanti 80mm (which was in stock). I suspect many of the landing gear parts (servos, struts, wheels, etc) are the same on different planes. It would be helpful if we didn't have to search through the parts pages on 8 different airplanes to find the part that we need. I mean I'd like to see a better cross reference.

[themudduck]

I really want to say (although I tried to offer some constructive criticism) -- that the general availability of spare parts for MRC-brand planes like Freewing is a REALLY BIG factor in me being such a RABID fan and loyal customer of MRC.

My opinion is that MRC is giant leaps better than the competition. Its so frustrating to try to get parts for other brands, when soon after purchasing a model you find there are NO parts available. At least with MRC I know that the parts will be available because MRC is supporting its models. - yes they do go on backorder sometimes, and so I'd like to see a little more attention paid to that.

[RCjetdude]

I really want to say (although I tried to offer some constructive criticism) -- that the general availability of spare parts for MRC-brand planes like Freewing is a REALLY BIG factor in me being such a RABID fan and loyal customer of MRC.

My opinion is that MRC is giant leaps better than the competition. Its so frustrating to try to get parts for other brands, when soon after purchasing a model you find there are NO parts available. At least with MRC I know that the parts will be available because MRC is supporting its models. - yes they do go on backorder sometimes, and so I'd like to see a little more attention paid to that.

My sentiments exactly as well. I can always put a notification on a part that is OoS but can't always do that with others out there and for the most part I can rest assured that they will get them in.

[dahawk]

Muddduck,

Very well put. It's tough to have downtime due to lack of parts availability. Sometimes I've had to MacGyver a fix just to keep a plane barely airworthy. I can usually live without the cosmetic plastic pieces but functional replacements such as LG can be a show stopper.

[RCjetdude]

Down time is what gives me the opportunity to blow the dust off some of the planes I tend to fly less often which is not a bad thing.

[barron06]

Great point. With 38 models, I sometimes get lazy keeping them rotated. While a bird is down due to wear'N'tear is OK, I have a problem keeping a wreck laying around. When an OOS part finally shows up, I try to add extra stuff I think I'll need in order to meet the free shipping. More than once, when I do this the original part goes back OOS. If MRC don't have it, I simply order my parts from RcCastle. They always seem to have parts stocked.

[bbaumer]

It figures....I've been waiting for the Nose Gear & Main Gear doors to come in, and wouldn't ya know it, by the time I get to read the message that they are back in stock...THEY ARE GONE !!! Come On Motion......This is the 2nd model in a row, that I've purchased, the parts inventory doesn't meet expectations.

if you need a left main gear door I could help you out, I’ve hsd to replace my right side twice

[Dlxpkg2000]

Thanx for the offer, but I took some sheet plastic and repaired my Main Gear doors. The Nose gear door is a lost cause. These will suffice until the parts are back in stock. Shop says about 2 weeks.....

[BigElectFlyr]

I'm in the same boat with the nose gear doors. I didn't receive a notice that they were back in stock, if even for less than a day. Does that mean they have more needed than ordered? Maybe we should be able to backorder these parts, so they would know exactly how many they need now, then order more for open stock.

Along these lines, about the nose gear, and doors, what are you guys who have broken the pin on the nose gear doing about the springs for the front door? Mine are stretched way out of shape, and as far as I can tell, they do not come in any of the parts kits.

[Aros]

Nice little sortie this morning before the heat turns waaaay up...Oh, and I bumped into this gal yesterday at the Seattle Museum of Flight... :Cool:

[GBLynden]

This is my buddy Robert's F-4 Phantom II with ordinance off grass.

[Hooligan]

I had to replace a faulty LED on the vertical stabilizer. After said and done, I plugged in the battery to check my work and I now have an issue. When I power up the plane I get a steady beep....beep....beep from the ESC. I've checked all the connections and re-bound the rx to the tx and still get the continuous beeps. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

JT