Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[davegee]

Davegee,

We have had rain and 20-30 mph winds. Suppose to warm up next week and start to be nice. Haven't flown the maiden yet, need to keep practicing with my semi-scale/ sport models until I feel confidant again. As you know a lot of hours in our Corsairs and I want to be on my toes. I have been flying those when weather has been right. I have a Jet Hanger F-4 alll in primer and may install EDF in it. Have a nib OS 91 and Dyna-max but don't think I will use it. I think the Motion F-4 is lighter than a Jet Hanger F-4 as I installed scale gear, flaps and cockpit years ago,it would probably.weigh 12# after paint. Best Regards, Rex

Hi Rex: I just checked my FW F-4N. It has an all-up weight of exactly 9 lbs with all the ordnance, brakes, A/B lighting system, scale cockpit and a 6S 5000 mAh battery in it. It's less than I remembered, but at this altitude of 5000 feet MSL it is a sled. Likes going fast. I should get a bunch of flights out of it and the A-4 this year, I hope. I think on Monday, weather permitting, I'll fly my F-18C again. Getting more comfortable with it, a bit each time I fly it. Just have to get out more often. The museum projects I wrote about earlier are starting to pile up now. So, I'll have less time to play with my airplanes, but still plan to get out when I can to fly.

Just got back from the field now after doing a flight test on my FL Spitfire that I have had for about 6 years now. On a recent landing, not even a bad one, the fuselage split vertically several inches on either side of the fuse where the hatch cutout is. Repaired it and flew it again, and even with smooth landings, it came back. Last time I found some long 1/4" carbon fiber tubes that I glued into foam recesses on either side of the fuselage interior and got three flights today in good shape. So, I think it is fully "operational" again!

Here's hoping for nice Spring weather for you to fly your new Corsair!

Cheers,

Dave

[jetfool]

Davegee,

We have had rain and 20-30 mph winds. Suppose to warm up next week and start to be nice. Haven't flown the maiden yet, need to keep practicing with my semi-scale/ sport models until I feel confidant again. As you know a lot of hours in our Corsairs and I want to be on my toes. I have been flying those when weather has been right. I have a Jet Hanger F-4 alll in primer and may install EDF in it. Have a nib OS 91 and Dyna-max but don't think I will use it. I think the Motion F-4 is lighter than a Jet Hanger F-4 as I installed scale gear, flaps and cockpit years ago,it would probably.weigh 12# after paint. Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Davegee,

Great looking planes. My favorite planes from the Vietnam era. 28 degrees, A bit cold for my bones. I hope to have a Motion F-4 someday. Rex

Thanks, Rex. My A-4E I chose to use a paint scheme from VA-152, which flew off of the USS Shangri-La during the Viet Nam war. Couple neat stories I remember hearing about the Shangri-La. It was one of over a couple dozen Essex class carriers to come out of WWII. The Shangri-La was named after the mythical paradise in the Himalayan mountains that a very popular book and movie came from back in those days. After the Doolittle Raid, President Roosevelt was queried by a reporter about where in the heck those B-25s came from, since we had no known air forces within thousands of miles of Tokyo, at the time. Not to give away any secrets to the reporter, Roosevelt just said something like "They must have come from Shangri-La!"

A friend recently sent me a video of astronaut James Lovell, now 95 years old but looking pretty good for his age. He was being interviewed, and talked about some close calls he had in the Navy. He was assigned to the USS Shangri-La in the 1950s. He was on a night mission in the Pacific, and was attempting to find his way back to the ship and plugged in a little light that he made attached to his kneeboard to see it better in the dark. Unfortunately for him, when he did so, it shorted out all lights for the plane's instruments! He had to put his little flashlight and clamp it by his teeth to try and see the instruments in the dark. While he was doing this, he noticed a phosphorescent light on the water below, which he deduced was algae being churned up by the screws of the carrier. He followed the trail and then found the carrier and landed safely. In the movie Apollo 13 with Tom Hanks, who played Lovell, they talked about this very story from his Navy flying days.

It's been a long winter for us and a slow climb out of winter to Spring. It snowed earlier today, but I think we might finally be getting untracked for some warmer more pleasant temps, and of course More Flying!!

Have you flown your Corsair yet?

Davegee

[jetfool]

Davegee,

Great looking planes. My favorite planes from the Vietnam era. 28 degrees, A bit cold for my bones. I hope to have a Motion F-4 someday. Rex

[davegee]

davegee Pretty darn good-lookin' airframes there, Mister. Best, LB

Thanks, Elbee. I think these two are the highest "pucker factor" planes for me in my little fleet, especially since I haven't flown them for about 6 months! But they came through like champs. I'm glad I have wheel brakes on the F-4, because at its landing speed and our "shortish" runway, it Needs them!

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

davegee Pretty darn good-lookin' airframes there, Mister. Best, LB

[davegee]

I took out my Freewing F-4N and A-4E today for some test flights, hadn't flown them since last fall. They didn't disappoint! I don't have much to fix or change on either one. The scratchbuilt A-4 nosewheel door needs a slight adjustment so windstream won't push it in the way so the nose gear won't retract all the way, but everything came back in good shape.

On the F-4, I flew with the stock Sidewinder missiles on the wings on the pylons, but also flew with two 3D printed Sparrow missiles that you can see on the bottom of the fuse in one of the pics. They are attached with magnets and I've had them for years.

Only 28 degrees this morning, but NO wind, so it was time to fly! I'll include the pics of the A-4E along with the F-4 pics.

Cheers

Davegee

[Matt Mathias]

Sounds like an excellent maiden, thanks for sharing.

[locharrow]

First sortie today with the F4...taken apart over winter and fitted up with A3 V2 gyro..breek wetting time because goal posts are all over the place..... very different animal to the Pitts which takes off in ten yards.....Powered up...fed in a bit up once speed increased and it lifted off...,released up and it settled into level flight. did a few circuits ..nothing fancy as I was concentrating on getting a line for landing in the one length available between goal posts. Brought it in closer to me than usual, boy it looks great close up with gear and full flaps and nose high ....,touched down and ran out on course. Wife was with me, think she was more relieved than I was...I wonder why???

[locharrow]

Many years ago flying my H/9 Mustang the elevator control horn broke off and left me with no elevator.. Plane banked but couldn't pull a turn. I flew round in huge rudder turns feeling at the throttle for a bit of height control, as one should ...:face_with_symbols_o. Cut a long story short, CG must have been in the right place as I managed to take it way out and gradually reduce power and it landed nice as ninepence. Went home, changed horn and underpants and all was good to go again! :see_no_evil:

[GliderGuy]

Interesting flight this afternoon. As I made the turn-around at the far end to take off, the rudder servo locked up at full right rudder throw. I thought the cross wind was causing the “odd” take-off run. The nose wheel steering kept her going.

Definitely in the air…SOMETHING was wrong. Once I established she could be stable, I brought her in without issue. Got a servo to replace, for sure.

You may want to take your F-4 up and gradually add full rudder and fly her around up high to learn how to control her. Good practice for when a rudder servo jams off center.

-GG

[locharrow]

Nope, servo is just glued in. Could be on the base. I wiggled mine out with a good bit of "pull" and stuck in a full size analogue one. Never had a problem with it.

[Having Fun]

I am looking to replace the elevator servo in my F-4. I have used a hobby knife to clear any glue on the sides of the servo but it still won't come loose. When I put my hobby knife down along side the servo it feels like there is a plastic base the servo is setting on. Is the servo somehow connected other than glued?

[jetpltrich]

" I’m a 62 year old kid having fun."

Richard your still youngster , I've got 20 years on you and I'm still at it..Two weeks rain is just a wee shower in Scotland . F4s are grounded at the moment, Grass is either frozen hard and bumpy or wet and soggy when the frost thaws. Flying an FMS Pitts to relieve the tension, it doesn't seem to mind what it takes off or lands on!

You are my hero!!!

[locharrow]

" I’m a 62 year old kid having fun."

Richard your still youngster , I've got 20 years on you and I'm still at it..Two weeks rain is just a wee shower in Scotland . F4s are grounded at the moment, Grass is either frozen hard and bumpy or wet and soggy when the frost thaws. Flying an FMS Pitts to relieve the tension, it doesn't seem to mind what it takes off or lands on!

[jetpltrich]

F-4 rocket shoot update:

Two weeks of almost non-stop rain has delayed the program, however, today was absolutely perfect and so with that I got some much needed flying in, it’s such a blast flying these EDF’s. 6 flights today, 2 A-6, 3 T-7A, and 1 F-4.

I test flew the F-4 with the rocket hung on the belly with a motor in it. Hung on the one inboard wing station was a camera, then two drop tanks. The test was to see if I had a hung fire could I get it back safely. What I didn’t think was gonna be a problem was the power needed to get that plane up and around the sky. It was only a 2:30 minute flight and final approach had me carrying 60% power when normally it just takes 25% power. It was a successful test but an eye opener. The battery after touchdown only had 20% left. I think I should put the A-10 on this shoot. It’s proven it can do it with no issues.

Yes Xviper, I hear you loud and clear. I don’t think weight is the issue rather drag was the culprit. It was cool as s….. watching it flyby though. All kinds of junk hung on the bottom of that dude, oh so cool!

I’m a 62 year old kid having fun.

Richard

[Eddie P]

Awesome paint, Cape! Congrats 🤠

[Cape Jets]

absolutely beautiful Phantom! Hope you wiill not get the gator effect. Did you seal or protected the surface?

Yes, I coat all my planes with MinWax Gloss Poly. This bird has 4 coats black gloss and 4 coats of the minwax. My first attempt at doing a full repaint. After hours of watching all the videos I took the plunge. Real happy with the results. Thx for all the response.....

[Dougcarr73]

Probably obvious, but I only put my airplanes in the sun when they are turned on and ready to go. Otherwise, it's pure shade for them.

Two tips: I throw lightweight blankets (airline blankets) over them when they are in the van. And, I generally don't leave them in the van and make stops. Just straight to and from the field. If it's really hot out, I spray a fine mist of water over the plane before putting out there on the runway. Helps to keep a dark plane cool while at a standstill. That water is gone after you rotate.

It's really the heat at the surface that kills the foam. Even clear coating will not stop all of the damage that you can incur.

Great tips, Nuts! I always keep my planes in the shade even when it's cold out. But I've never heard of the spritz before takeoff. I'm adding that to my checklist. The longer flights with my 7000 size packs in my B2 bomber would benefit from cooling before takeoff, because it's already alligatored after the summer. This tip will enable me to save my B1 Bomber during the hot GA summer heat.

[Elbee]

NnV, great tips and methodology. Very concerned about the "Sea Blue" of the Tri-color scheme on my new build Corsair. Will give these a shot. Best, LB