Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[purduephigam]

This problem with the nose gear needs to be addressed by Freewing so nobody needs to worry about this happening to them. I'm on the fence of getting this model and I don't want something I'm going to need to modify out of the box.

Seriously?

[fhhuber]

I'm wondering the same thing. Grey Ghosts sure looks like a painted tail to me, and I don't know how easily a Sundowners vertical stab would work out if it were just a decal over dark paint...

For them to work by decals,the tail would have to be painted "low observable" grey like the rest of the airplane. Essentially meaning the plane would be in "primer" ready for applying any scheme you want.

[flyAA]

I'll post an update on this question later this month once finalized, standby.

Can you also comment on whether the ghost grey will be available in 8s? I’ve heard conflicting reports. Thanks

[RCjetdude]

Can you also comment on whether the ghost grey will be available in 8s? I’ve heard conflicting reports. Thanks

That was covered in post 2644. No plans for 8S on Ghost Gray. I have flown is both ways and honestly I think there is enough of a weight penalty on 8S that it is really not that much better than the 6S version. Just my observations.

[Alpha]

Quickfire questions, quickfire answers:

1) Ghost Grey 8s availability is still TBD, and to be clear, it is very unlikely. We'll post here and on the website IF it is made available, but again I don't plan on even touching that question until after the Holidays. Our holiday shipments are already queued, and there's a lot.

2) Ghost Grey PNP's tail color is most likely going to be ghost gray, same as the fuselage. This is the most versatile color to use with the factory decal sets for General Stalder's Grey Ghosts markings and Hoot Gibson's Sundowners markings, while being easy to mass produce and also easily usable for other markings might obtain from Callie. As I said yesterday though, this decision hasn't been finalized. We *might* stock different color tails as an additional SKU, but that's not likely at this point.

3) Pin material... honestly this is the first I've heard of it. Forums aren't our official Technical Support channels because it's simply impossible to read every single post made in every thread --anyone with a product concern is advised to please contact our official Technical support team at www.MotionRC.com/support so they can document it and consolidate the information. They regularly analyze the information received through our official email/phone/chat channels to identify patterns of issues and try to act proactively to evaluate, size, and resolve them. Two or three amid many thousands isn't a statistically significant sample, but if there is indeed a spate of pins that are "too hard", please notify Technical Support and they can submit the request to offer pins of different hardness, i.e. softer. There's always a balance with steels... all of our aircraft use the same pin hardness, all 80mms jets, all 90mm jets, and all Flightline's 1600mm-2000mm warbirds.

Anything else, please ask and I'll try to answer in the next hour or so before I go to bed.

[Woodcock]

This problem with the nose gear needs to be addressed by Freewing so nobody needs to worry about this happening to them. I'm on the fence of getting this model and I don't want something I'm going to need to modify out of the box.

LOL, you just eliminated 100% of all the models out there mate. LOL

Woody

[fhhuber]

Make the pins of music wire and likely something else will break before the pin breaks.

The mod I described leaves the
e-clip able to pop, hopefully before the retract rips off the nose of the model.

[crxmanpat]

I've seen concerns of pin problems on both the A-10 and F-4. Knock on wood, I've not had any break (yet). I've beat the nose pretty hard on my A-10 a few times, so I must have gotten a sturdy pin. ;)

Like Alpha said, if you have an issue (any issue) with a model you receive from MRC, submit a support ticket. That way the company knows where there may be issues that need addressing. They've done a pretty good job of this that I've seen, unlike some companies that make the initial buyers figure out all the problems, then issue a V2 of the plane. I'm sure a lot of the "issues" are discovered and corrected prior to the first production run as I know Alpha and the team put these through thorough testing before release.

[Hugh Wiedman]

This problem with the nose gear needs to be addressed by Freewing so nobody needs to worry about this happening to them. I'm on the fence of getting this model and I don't want something I'm going to need to modify out of the box.

All models have an issue or two and the F4 has by far less than any other model I have out of 25 (and virtually all of Freewing's/Flightline's planes have very few to none). I suspect that Freewing made the F4 nose pin out of a "stiffer" metal so it would not bend as easily as others I have. From my tests, the Spitfire axel (and other nose pins I have) will bend with less force before the stock F4 nose pin breaks. So pick your poison. The stock nose pin will handle more forceful landings without failing, but with any harder metal, when it reaches it's max, it breaks. The other axels some of us are using will bend on a landing that the F4 stock pin would have survived. I'm convinced that on a hard nose landing that would have broken the stock pin, the modified pins will bend significantly.

Of course, if I was more proficient with landings, I still, after all is said and done, would have stayed with the stock pin. Maybe a few hundred more decent landings and I'll switch back to the stock.

[Pogo]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before but it's only the dark coloured pins that are super brittle and should be avoided- the steel coloured are fine, in my experience. I just received a new nose retract (A-10) and it has the "good" pin, so hopefully the dark ones are no more. :Cool:
Tom

[EA-6B Geek]

Callie is magic. Here are the decals she's made for me, awaiting the arrival of the Ghost Grey F-4. I could not find a clear example of the squadron logo you can see in the small diamond shape, but somehow she has managed to produce a fantastic rendering of it. Amazing. Must be magic. I'm ready for that next F-4 Motion!

[Hugh Wiedman]

I don't know if this has been mentioned before but it's only the dark coloured pins that are super brittle and should be avoided- the steel coloured are fine, in my experience. I just received a new nose retract (A-10) and it has the "good" pin, so hopefully the dark ones are no more. :Cool:
Tom

Pogo, I wouldn't be so sure about the steel colored ones being "fine". In the hammer test I did on the stock F4 pin and the Spitfire axel pin (post#2650), both came new in the last month (the last batch Motion had of each). The stock pin did not look like the dark colored pins and in fact looked identical to the steel colored Spitfire axel, and I wondered myself if this was a new batch. That pin broke, and the photo shows the inside, which looks darker. I still believe the stock pin is stronger and will put up with rougher landings, but if you go too far, it breaks. The other softer pins will not break, but the down side is they bend much easier. So pick your poison, or get proficient in landing (which is what I need to do).

[seaviper]

If your Cg is right and you just land with throttle there is no reason to bang the F-4 in like a brick. It is so light. I got tons of flights on my F-4 on a field rougher than a cob. No gear issues. And mine was from the first pre-order batch.
The thing is this. The F-4 will get real slow with flaps out. You need to keep some throttle in and land with throttle. Otherwise you will pancake.

If it helps anyone, here is a video of myself and my wingman doing some touch and goes with a couple of F-4's. We are not perfect. And I had a harder than normal touch and go in the middle. But the bird can handle that kind of stuff.
Anyway, mine is the green one in this video.

There is no reason to ever hit the nose gear hard on the F-4. I can see banging in the mains on a hard landing. We all have hard landings from time to time. Do not land on the nose gear. Ever.

A "hard nose landing" is not a landing. It's a crash.

[e4dragongunner]

Awesome flights and landings boys!!! Well done!

[seaviper]

Thanks E4.

I want to add something. My intention is not to come off sounding like a know-it-all. Really I just want to help if someone is having trouble landing the F-4.

There is a big misconception out there about these foam models. I see it in my own club. Otherwise intelligent people equate foam jets to park flyer foamies. They talk about fixing them up with packing tape, etc. I just shake my head and keep silent most of the time. No, Virginia, I don't fix my nice jet with packing tape....!@#$%^

If you are flying a 70mm or larger foam jet, you are no longer in the park flyer world.

Maybe grab another bird and get some time doing touch and goes. The 80mm series of jets are PERFECT for this. Eventually you won't be breaking any pins. And you will enjoy the hobby more I think.

And before anyone gets all red-faced, I have busted plenty of gear in my 25 years of RC. But I don't do it often. And I try to learn from the event and not repeat it.

[Ron1950]

Patrick in your vid of the l39 and the f4 and another plane the f4 seemed very slow compared to the l39..was it half throttle or just slow lol?

[seaviper]

Patrick in your vid of the l39 and the f4 and another plane the f4 seemed very slow compared to the l39..was it half throttle or just slow lol?

Ron we were talking about that Sunday. The F-4 flier, Clint, thinks that his F-4 is slower. I am less convinced. Honestly though, I do not know. He is getting his L-39 tomorrow. After that we will all be flying L-39's. So we may never know.

In our first formation video we did a full speed pass side by side. They looked pretty closely matched to me.
passes at 1:00 and at 1:26

[Ron1950]

yup seemed much faster in that vid

[e4dragongunner]

Thanks E4.

I want to add something. My intention is not to come off sounding like a know-it-all. Really I just want to help if someone is having trouble landing the F-4.

There is a big misconception out there about these foam models. I see it in my own club. Otherwise intelligent people equate foam jets to park flyer foamies. They talk about fixing them up with packing tape, etc. I just shake my head and keep silent most of the time. No, Virginia, I don't fix my nice jet with packing tape....!@#$%^

If you are flying a 70mm or larger foam jet, you are no longer in the park flyer world.

Maybe grab another bird and get some time doing touch and goes. The 80mm series of jets are PERFECT for this. Eventually you won't be breaking any pins. And you will enjoy the hobby more I think.

And before anyone gets all red-faced, I have busted plenty of gear in my 25 years of RC. But I don't do it often. And I try to learn from the event and not repeat it.

Ha!!! Amen...... Always Always.. asking my self.... " What did you learn"

And there is no substitute for stick time! KEEP GOING UP!!! I am burning 9 batteries each session now.... really seeing the difference in comfort and ability!

[seaviper]

6 batts here