Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[fhhuber]

Finally pulled the trigger on a Grey Ghost.

I have learned quite a bit about 3D printing since I printed the cockpit kit and think I can make a better print by changing to natural filament and altering some settings.
The natural is more flexible and seems stronger.
I think it will be a better choice for all of the stuff under the wings too.

[slamdance64]

I pulled the trigger on the Grey Ghost the other day too. I cant wait to start to put it together next week. I have a 3D printer on it's way but I went ahead and sprung for the 3d parts from MRC :-) I am in the shallow end of the pool for 3d printing for a while :-) Callie is busy working on my graphics, and I am waiting for a few more parts from some guys on Squawk before I can finish it off. It's ok, as there is still a lot of snow here anyway :-( Lots of time to get 'er done

[Elbee]

As Nomenclature Application Madness sets in, I got the 'anti-glare' painted which finishes the cockpit with the exception of gluing down the canopy. Some airbrush-weathering to tone down the markings yet to go. Best, LB

[Bobaroo]

I like your Rear View Mirror there LB. NiceOne !!

[thisguy65]

Do you have the fly this bird fast? I've got 2 eflites have been having alot of trim issues. Thinking about ditching them both and getting Freewing. Got the Eflite mainly for the size but more so for the flight time.

[TMoyer]

Here is my rendition. Ghost grey 8s. VMFA-513 Flying Nightmares. My dad was an F4 maintenance technician in this squadron based at Cherry Point. It was pretty difficult to find any photos of this livery online, but I was able to find a few. One of the pics below is what I went off of for the graphics. Callie did the graphics. I used the Motion 3D printed cockpit parts and exhaust nozzles, or as my dad calls them “turkey feathers.” Pilot figures are JHH 1/12 scale jet pilots. Radome was painted white, as well as the landing gear and wheels. Thinned raw umber was used for the panel lines and some weathering. For the exhaust nozzles, I used Model Master burnt metal and accentuated with Model Master exhaust. Exhaust used around the tail as well for the soot. Overall clear with Minwax WBPU Matte finish. Did a good job of sealing the vinyl graphics and knocking the high gloss off them.
Travis

[Elbee]

Here is my rendition. Ghost grey 8s. VMFA-513 Flying Nightmares. My dad was an F4 maintenance technician in this squadron based at Cherry Point.
Travis

TM, Absolutely beautiful work. Well done. Best, LB

[TMoyer]

Thank you!

[Bobaroo]

VeryNice !!

[Aros]

TMoyer, looks fantastic! Bravo!

[e4dragongunner]

Boom! AWESOME well done! Love it.

[fhhuber]

Do you have the fly this bird fast? I've got 2 eflites have been having alot of trim issues. Thinking about ditching them both and getting Freewing. Got the Eflite mainly for the size but more so for the flight time.

What trim issues?

Tendency to wave the wings at speed and drop a wing into a spin with no warning at stall?
One that I have seen on several aircraft and often turns out to be a minor misalignment of aileron neutral. Just one turn of a 2-56 clevis pushing both ailerons down can give a plane some very nasty habits but you have a hard time measuring that the ailerons are not really straight.

A small off-angle of the nozzles can also cause major issues. The issues will vary with power setting.

[thisguy65]

What trim issues?

Tendency to wave the wings at speed and drop a wing into a spin with no warning at stall?
One that I have seen on several aircraft and often turns out to be a minor misalignment of aileron neutral. Just one turn of a 2-56 clevis pushing both ailerons down can give a plane some very nasty habits but you have a hard time measuring that the ailerons are not really straight.

A small off-angle of the nozzles can also cause major issues. The issues will vary with power setting.

Elevator, they are "pre-set" from the factory. No easy to get to with the rudder off. CG is 180-190, I'm at 175-180. At 70% throttle I'm having to use just about all my down trim to keep level flight. Drop the gear and the nose pitches down.

The other one is my Dad's but I'm not taking it up until we figure out whats going on.

Been over CG, the "pre-set" marks on the fuse and elevator.

[fhhuber]

Pitch change with gear deployment is normal for many aircraft. It adds a lot of drag below the previous center of drag.
This combined with dropping flaps can lead to a significant pitch down.
Typical solution is to use a computer mix to automatically add elevator when gear is down and when flaps are down.

The nozzles may be angled to pitch up , compensating for the landing gear to aid in takeoff.

That could give the result you describe.

There have been reports that the Freewing may benefit by having the nozzles realigned.

I would expect similar effects with most F-4 Phantoms. These type effects tend to be seen with certain designs regardless of scale

So, basically, the model appears to be just fine.

[thisguy65]

Thank you for the info. I assure you it's not because I've reached out to many other's who have this E-flite., no pitch change when LG deployed. My other 22 planes don't change pitch angle like this F4 does. Most say less than 10 clicks for level flight, I'm at 20+. The maiden I had to use all nose down trim. HH is getting a call in the morning. Starting to wish I went with Freewing instead. The flight time of 3 min, is a bummer. I don't fly full throttle 24/7, guess I'm more scale flyer?

I'm was more so posting here to find out if the FW F4 needed to be flown fast (staying above 60% throttle the whole time)

[Bobaroo]

Thank you for the info. I assure you it's not because I've reached out to many other's who have this E-flite., no pitch change when LG deployed. My other 22 planes don't change pitch angle like this F4 does. Most say less than 10 clicks for level flight, I'm at 20+. The maiden I had to use all nose down trim. HH is getting a call in the morning. Starting to wish I went with Freewing instead. The flight time of 3 min, is a bummer. I don't fly full throttle 24/7, guess I'm more scale flyer?

I'm was more so posting here to find out if the FW F4 needed to be flown fast (staying above 60% throttle the whole time)

Doesn't need to be as a bunch of Videos have shown, but I certainly fly mine at FullThrottle for 80% of the 3:20 I've got it in the air. Mine is heavier than most cause of all the Mods I've done on mine, and I can still fly slowly, land slowly and I suppose Crash Slowly if I'm not careful about it !!

[thisguy65]

Doesn't need to be as a bunch of Videos have shown, but I certainly fly mine at FullThrottle for 80% of the 3:20 I've got it in the air. Mine is heavier than most cause of all the Mods I've done on mine, and I can still fly slowly, land slowly and I suppose Crash Slowly if I'm not careful about it !!

Looking at freewing videos now. Could spend little more coin and upgrade the ESC/EDF and get longer flight times? Wonder how the 6000 Pro that just came out would work.

[Hardway]

Got to rub on this one after the demo flight...… 2003 I think....:Cool:

[thisguy65]

Is this profile kinda hard to see? Debating between the camo and ghost grey.

[RCjetdude]

I tried putting two of the new Admiral 4S 6000 Pros in my F-4E which has a JP 8S fan in it and I can't get the batteries back far enough to get it to CG without modifications. As it is I just flew it on my normal Roaring Top 6S/2S 5000 70C packs until I can decide how I want to get the 6000's to fit. I don't have any trouble seeing either the gray or camo versions personally. I flew an E-Flite Viper recently and noticed issues keeping it in trim but have not flown the new F-4. I did get to watch one get assembled which was a snap and it appears to be a nice bird.