Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[locharrow]

How to l and a Freewing F4..................

[BenAtkinsonUK]

That looks precarious!

re my control issues / signal loss in my f4, I came across this in another spectrum rx manual, I am using y-harnesses, no idea if they’re amplified or not? Is there a way to tell?

“IMPORTANT: Y-Harnesses and Servo Extensions
When using a Y-harness or servo extensions in your installation, it’s important to use standard non-amplified Y-harnesses and servo extensions as this can/ will cause the servos to operate erratically or not function at all. Amplified Y-harnesses were developed several years ago to boost the signal for some older PCM systems and should not be used with Spektrum equipment.
Note that when converting an existing model to Spektrum be certain that all amplified Y-harnesses and/or servo extensions are replaced with conventional non-amplified versions.”

[GliderGuy]

Amplified will have circuitry....similar to this

[Hugh Wiedman]

How to l and a Freewing F4..................

Interesting CG measuring technique, looks just a bit nose heavy

[BenAtkinsonUK]

Amplified will have circuitry....similar to this

Ahhh! Ok, no... just standard y-cables then I think! Think I’m going to switch the Rx that’s in avanti (which works super well in that ) and see How that goes.

[locharrow]

"Interesting CG measuring technique, looks just a bit nose heavy" It was not my fault, I was totally engrossed in watching it sink on full flaps,gear down and lights on when a tree jumped in front of it !!

[Evan D]

Five great flights on mine today. One of my main struts came a little loose effecting steering on the ground but otherwise she flew perfect, straight and true. No pitch changes with throttle.

[BenAtkinsonUK]

Nice to hear it, Evan!

Where does everyone have their receiver? Starting to think I have an rx problem but just seeing what the deal is with your receivers before I do a good bit of testing this weekend !

Ben

[Evan D]

Mine's in the back of the bus with a satellite all the way forward... My battery bay may look funny because I moved my control/ interconnection board aft and cut foam to move batteries back. Then I moved the battery tray back and added a small square of foam in the front to cover the space. The pic on the left is how it looks now and the one on the right before I moved the tray. When I built it I was using 1050g 8S packs. Now I'm using packs that weigh 880g.

[GliderGuy]

My receiver is mounted on the left sidewall just far enough aft so it clears the rear of the battery. My antennae goes forward from there running along the left sidewall. I moved the battery as far to the right as possible, so the battery is off center. Note: Left being defined as if you are sitting in the cockpit.
-GG

[BenAtkinsonUK]

Thanks Evan, GG (and Hugh who’s helped me a lot thruout)...

Mine isn’t a million miles away, as I say I’m looking forward to testing but really think the RX might be faulty. (If it wasn’t before that heavy crash certainly won’t have helped )

Looking forward to reporting my findings!

(and for anyone else - let me know if you place it anywhere different! Thanks!)

[locharrow]

"When I built it I was using 1050g 8S packs. Now I'm using packs that weigh 880g." Evan Does that T plug not explode every time you connect it ?? When I was using ordinary XT 90's they sparked like h###. I switched to XT 90 Anti-spark and they don't spark at all now.

[Evan D]

Used to it... I only have antispark on my 12S stuff...

[okcrcpilot]

Mine's in the back of the bus with a satellite all the way forward... My battery bay may look funny because I moved my control/ interconnection board aft and cut foam to move batteries back. Then I moved the battery tray back and added a small square of foam in the front to cover the space. The pic on the left is how it looks now and the one on the right before I moved the tray. When I built it I was using 1050g 8S packs. Now I'm using packs that weigh 880g.

Evan, please tell us what batteries you are using that save you so much weight. Thanks!

[Evan D]

Not news as I've mention these in a lot of threads here and on RCG.

I have 13 (but four are for sale on RCG) of the 6S and 8 of the 2S. That site also has E Speed versions of the 5200 and I have 3 of the 6S and 3 of the 2S. I also have a few 6S/ 2S combos of the HS 6200's and I still have 3 of the the old Zippy Compact one piece 8S 5800's but they are heavy. Before Covid RC Juice used to have great sales and their sale prices were just awesome. Plus they would swap connectors for free.

https://www.rcjuice.com/lipo-batteri...o-battery.html

https://www.rcjuice.com/lipo-batteri...o-battery.html

Using one of these- https://www.rcjuice.com/hardware-acc...-no-wires.html

And I have two of these- https://www.rcjuice.com/lipo-batteri...o-battery.html


All that said I constantly sell off batteries that start to get puffy when I find better ones available. It seems the newer HS's get soft faster than older ones I have. The E Speed seem a little better. I am really liking a new brand I buy from Amazon, Socokin, but have only bought their 3500 4S. I love them and already have a dozen of them. I have the three Flight line twin war birds, the P-38, Tiger Cat and Bronco I use them in, in pairs plus use them in a bunch of other4S birds. I hope they release more sizes.

[djmoose]

Has anyone noticed really tough to insert wing connectors for the ribbon cable? I have the A-10 and they connect up just fine...however, I can't seem to insert the F-4's connectors completely...not to mention it's pretty tough to do with about an inch of cable when attaching the wing. I got it together, and have function with all of the servos, but I don't feel the connector/plug is seated onto the receptor on the wings.

Any thoughts?

[Evan D]

Unplug the cables in the fuselage to give you extra length to plug them in and then re-plug them in the fuselage? Get longer cables? Replace with Y's and extensions? Don't fly it until you are sure it's seated.

[locharrow]

"Don't fly it until you are sure it's seated." Absolutely !! I had two loose pins that actually pushed out.

Back to the "bad mistake" park today and had three flights, did my first vertical roll, looks fantastic, I can't get over how solid and forceful the F4 looks when it's up. No problem..... till I landed after the third flight. There is an old cricket wicket with artificial turf that still has the holes for stumps ( bet that's confusing)..... well, the nose leg caught up in one just at the end of the landing run out and broke the swivel pin in the nose gear. I thought that was me ##### till I could get a replacement pin which could take weeks here in the UK...so...I raked around in the trusty parts box and found an old H9 wing bolt similar in dia. to the pin....cut it to length....cut off the head leaving about 1mm on the shank then twirled that on the grinder till it was narrow enough to fit between the lugs of the fulcrum but not fall through. Took a few tries but turned out great. Ground flats on the shank for the steering and locking screws and it works a treat. One thing I found out is the front suspension locks up something terrible. The interior where the spring etc. fits was rough! I smoothed it with fine wet and dry sandpaper wrapped round a drill bit. That, and a wee bit grease, did the trick.

[Elbee]

locharrow Great tip on the suspension. Noticed that as well. I'll give it a go. Have you or anyone else, clipped off the NG internal spring to help soften this one? Best, LB

[locharrow]

locharrow Great tip on the suspension. Noticed that as well. I'll give it a go. Have you or anyone else, clipped off the NG internal spring to help soften this one? Best, LB

No, last thing I need on a rough grass field is a bouncy nose !!

[Elbee]

Copy that.