Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[BenAtkinsonUK]

Ground testing the RX today went well.
I had some frames lost but zero holds at any point...

The RX is back behind the board (but ESC has ferrite rings and the antenna is further away from the battery than the crash day PLUS I have a satellite that I hadn't got on crash day)

Feeling a lot more comfortable there....the RX isn't broken at least.

Will still do a longer test once I've reinstalled the RX and further ground runs and fast taxi's before committing to another flight.

Cheers guys

[locharrow]

Ground testing the RX today went well.
I had some frames lost but zero holds at any point...

The RX is back behind the board (but ESC has ferrite rings and the antenna is further away from the battery than the crash day PLUS I have a satellite that I hadn't got on crash day)

Feeling a lot more comfortable there....the RX isn't broken at least.

Will still do a longer test once I've reinstalled the RX and further ground runs and fast taxi's before committing to another flight.

Cheers guys

I was doing fast taxi runs when it lifted off...........suppose there must be a good side to that but I didn't c##p for a week !!

[Alphonso]

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

Hi there, this F4 probably has the best weighted suspension of any FW edf. On my 3rd grass season with the same nose gear and pin. I land it scale most times , ie fast and the gear soaks it up fine. On the taxi back you can see the gear working and the model looks super smooth and level, most unaltered planes bump around and wheelie back to the pits. This models ground handling is superb and was well documented on release.
I bought a spare nose gear with my F4, and like was mentioned above, I found it to be quite rough in action and used the same method to smooth the insides and greased it up.

[locharrow]

[DMich55]

Ordered the 8s version yesterday, does the stock version have enough power or should I upgrade ?

[Fili]

Had a guy at the field with one of these. He tried to take off and pulled the nose straight up and of course stalled it and crashed it. Tore out two of the landing gear and a few scratch marks on the belly.
After a string of profanities he was going to stomp on it and chuck it, but a fellow club member stopped him. he took his battery out and left the plane there for whoever wanted it. Well...I ended up with it and after some TLC I've been able to log at least 30+ flights on her. All told all i got is 30$ into her (broker nose gear) and a few hours of my time. Not nearly as fast as I thought she'd be (clocked and 92mph at cruising speed, best dive 105mph) But she looks great on the ground and in the air and she's a welcome addition to my Air Force

[Elbee]

Fili, Great story and pleased she has found a 'good home'. Welcome to "Hobby Squawk". Glad you're on board. Best, LB

[Mizer67]

I never seem to luck into situations like that, great catch. Congrats.

[locharrow]

This is just to show how well off all you guys with the runways and manicured flying site are !! If it's not birds it's dog walkers and/or footballers !! Hard on the landing gear !!

[Ian b]

Ground testing the RX today went well.
I had some frames lost but zero holds at any point...

The RX is back behind the board (but ESC has ferrite rings and the antenna is further away from the battery than the crash day PLUS I have a satellite that I hadn't got on crash day)

Feeling a lot more comfortable there....the RX isn't broken at least.

Will still do a longer test once I've reinstalled the RX and further ground runs and fast taxi's before committing to another flight.

Cheers guys

Ben,
you want to check the joint where the bec is soldered into the EC5 plug as mine had a dry joint causing the bec to cut in and out!! Luckily found it on the ground and now replaced with a separate rx pack. It would have caused your loss of radio.
Ian.

[Bogietrim]

Had a guy at the field with one of these. He tried to take off and pulled the nose straight up and of course stalled it and crashed it. Tore out two of the landing gear and a few scratch marks on the belly.
After a string of profanities he was going to stomp on it and chuck it, but a fellow club member stopped him. he took his battery out and left the plane there for whoever wanted it. Well...I ended up with it and after some TLC I've been able to log at least 30+ flights on her. All told all i got is 30$ into her (broker nose gear) and a few hours of my time. Not nearly as fast as I thought she'd be (clocked and 92mph at cruising speed, best dive 105mph) But she looks great on the ground and in the air and she's a welcome addition to my Air Force

I don’t have any speed telemetry on mine, but have an 8S setup and she definitely hauls the mail. The airframe handles the extra weight just fine if you were maybe looking to get a bit more speed out of her. I have had the stock FW 8S as well as a JF set up in it. The stock FW is actually pretty good and has a nice sound compared to the JF. Enjoy her either way!

[BenAtkinsonUK]

Ben,
you want to check the joint where the bec is soldered into the EC5 plug as mine had a dry joint causing the bec to cut in and out!! Luckily found it on the ground and now replaced with a separate rx pack. It would have caused your loss of radio.
Ian.

Good point, I do need to check that. Does seem a little flimsy for Freewing that joint. Did you just wobble the cable about and stumbled across it cutting out?

[Ian b]

Ben,
plugged battery in and had no power at the bec, wobbled the wire and it came on! It appears they spot weld the wires in not solder and thus not a good joint.

[themudduck]

Today I flew as a guest at an RC field with a paved runway. This place was a private airport in the 1960's. It was really fun to come down for the landing and hold that high-alpha position and just let it settle perfectly in, no worries about the runway being too short.

I took a belly-cam video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IOkB8HKsSk

PS I use a 3-axis gyro from Motion, it works extremely well.

[Elbee]

Today I flew as a guest at an RC field with a paved runway, It was really fun to come down for the landing and hold that high-alpha position and just let it settle perfectly in, no worries about the runway being too short. This place was a private airport in the 1960's. I took a belly-cam video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IOkB8HKsSk

PS I use a 3-axis gyro from Motion, it works extremely well.

TMD, Great landing, Sir and a beautiful flight. Bravo Zulu. Best, LB

[Bogietrim]

Even with all the new releases coming out (which I have bought one or two....) I just picked up another one of these. Awesome 8S custom painted. I just couldn’t resist.

[Spad Driver]

Am expecting my freewing F-4 to arrive on Friday!.
boy am I excited!.
Am thinking of this scheme for Callie to make for me what do you guys think?.

[Mizer67]

Even with all the new releases coming out (which I have bought one or two....) I just picked up another one of these. Awesome 8S custom painted. I just couldn’t resist.

That was a nice one you bought.

I was thinking of picking it up and swapping out the motor since it's near me.

[Bogietrim]

That was a nice one you bought.

I was thinking of picking it up and swapping out the motor since it's near me.

Yeah, I surely didn’t need it, but I just couldn’t resist. I have the stock 8S and like the performance.

[e4dragongunner]

By passed the Mig... and purchased my 3rd 8S.... Love the F4.... Full repaint! and Callie Graphics!