Official Freewing 90mm F-4 Phantom II Thread

[GliderGuy]

Locharrow, use a soldering gun vs iron. I was happily surprised how nicely the fulcrum wetted with solder. Use a washer type that also wets well.

Nice to have an understanding spouse! Get her something special, too.

-GG

[locharrow]

Thanks GG. I didn't think that fulcrum would solder but I'll give it a try. I had one unit where the travelling bar went too far and allowed the fulcrum to slip. I built up a superglue pad on the wee tag that hits the switch to stop it earlier and that. fixed it.

Shredded the nose of the SU35 yesterday in trees ...pure pilot error ..:face_with_symbols_o ..new fuselage needed....wife encouraged me to buy it :punch::f4:

[GliderGuy]

Assuming the play is fore/aft play along the retract axis…you can disassemble the retract servo and remove the large silver rotating part. Then solder a thin washer to the side that hits the plastic body when in the gear down position. This thin washer will fill the gap and the play will be greatly reduced or eliminated. Use a washer that has the diameter of the width of the rotating body.

Reassemble the unit and check for proper operation.

-GG

[locharrow]

Out with the beast or/and the SU35 every day this week, some days two sessions. Unbelievable flying weather, very calm, light cloud with an odd light shower but not the blinding sunny days like last week. Fulcrum in the nose gear unit seems to have a fair bit of play after the pummelling of the hard pitted grass surface...any easy fixes or is it a new servoless retract unit ???
Temptation is getting the better of me, moved the new F4 from the spare room to the dining room table ..:speak_no_evil:.........:punch::f4:

[Hugh Wiedman]

I'm thinking about retiring the beast as it has been up trees, landed in bushes and just plain crashed and fixed once.:

Those are the best kind, a warrior with experience still capable of going back into battle. Mine fly best the more epoxy they have and the more times it's been fixed after "mishaps". Trees are there for alternate runways. Just "fixed once" means it's virtually brand new! The aircraft I have problems flying are those that have never been repaired and are in "pristine" condition, they make me way too nervous. Fortunately, I have very few of those left in my hangar.

[locharrow]

Your further back than me Hugh, I came forward of 195mm because of the sensitive stab. I had a problem with wing rocking on nose high landing approaches but the gyro fixed that. I also removed a large section of the fan cover, framed it with 1/8th balsa strip and laid in a fine mesh grill to get air into the fan.

I'm thinking about retiring the beast as it has been up trees, landed in bushes and just plain crashed and fixed once. I have a new one in the spare bedroom that I look at and drool . Problems problems .................:rolling_eyes: :punch::f4:

[Hugh Wiedman]

Great flying weather, no wind, beautiful light blue/grey skies, most unusual over the past few days for Scotland, lovin' it ..plane behaving perfectly , easing back the C/G to "test the boundaries" and it's becoming twitchy on stab so I think I'll quit while I'm ahead:punch::f4: !!

Where did you end up? On all my other EDF's, I'm usually at least 15mm or more behind recommended. For some reason, on the F-4, about 198 mm is my limit instead of the 190 recommended. She definitely doesn't like to get into too high of a nose up attitude at slower speeds without stalling, and seems some of that is from reduced airflow into the fan since it does not have any cheater holes. Not sure if that's correct or just my misconception.

[locharrow]

Great flying weather, no wind, beautiful light blue/grey skies, most unusual over the past few days for Scotland, lovin' it ..plane behaving perfectly , easing back the C/G to "test the boundaries" and it's becoming twitchy on stab so I think I'll quit while I'm ahead:punch::f4: !!

[locharrow]

Very nice Hugh...the landing approach is very carrier style for an F4U :corair1:. I puffed my LiHv 5200 Bolt battery so I'm back on HRB 6000s. Was back out this morning, great conditions.... but, after all my bumming about smooth landings, on my second flight I touched down wrong side of a ball ditch and had to hop ever it. Landed on the other side heavy-ish on the nose gear and bent the pin so that is afternoon gardening abandoned! :punch::f4:All fixed now..had to clean the underside as it was covered in muck behind all three legs, water in the bucket was black, should improve the aerofoil considerably !!

[Hugh Wiedman]

What is the recommended blade count for the 8s setup? I started with the 6s 9-blade inrunner setup, but converted to the 8s 12-blade inrunner. Was wondering if changing the 12 to the 9 and keeping it 8s. Still sluggish on grass field take off.

I'm with locharrow , using the 6S 1835 Kv 12 blade, get's off in less than 100'. I believe the 12 blade has more 0-60 punch :muscle: than the 9 blade, may not be as fast at top end (who knows though), but flying off of grass it's my personal "pilots choice" in fans. Have it in both my F-4's, the F-16 and both of my F-18 Hornets, all flying on an SMC 6200 mah 40C, although the F-16 also flies on the SMC 8100 mah giving over 5 minutes of flight time with no degradation in take-off distance or performance, IMO! Not the easiest fan on the wallet though, and at that price the least it should do is take you to dinner once in a while!

Have a friend at our field with the 8S 12 blade version and we both get off the grass in the same distance, although his is a bit faster (not a priority for me, take-off and unlimited vertical is all I need), and for some reason he just can't get over 3 minutes of flight time, while I'm at 4 minutes. Of course that all depends on the batteries and whether you're always at "firewall" throttle like he is!

[locharrow]

What is the recommended blade count for the 8s setup? I started with the 6s 9-blade inrunner setup, but converted to the 8s 12-blade inrunner. Was wondering if changing the 12 to the 9 and keeping it 8s. Still sluggish on grass field take off.

Fly off grass all the time .........Freewing 6s 1835kv 12 blade motor......not sluggish in the least. The F4 leaves the trap like a greyhound and is up in 30 yards. Might not break speed records in the air but does what it does with panache..........:punch::f4:

[rlcamden]

What is the recommended blade count for the 8s setup? I started with the 6s 9-blade inrunner setup, but converted to the 8s 12-blade inrunner. Was wondering if changing the 12 to the 9 and keeping it 8s. Still sluggish on grass field take off.

[locharrow]

Today....not a cloud in the sky...no dogs ...no footballers. I'm so used to overcast skies or dusk flights that for half the flight I had only a sillyet...siluette...sliuete :face_with_symbols_o..a dark shape in the sky and searching my memory for what my previous move was!! Pretty scary at times but made it back for a veeerry smooth touchdown. :punch::f4:

[Hugh Wiedman]

Oh that poor F-18, what's up with that ugly yellow/ grey F-16? Not my cup of tea for a paint scheme.

Believe it or not, the Black Aces Super Hornet sustained very little damage and was flown again shortly thereafter, this time without the turbine flame out but missing a few parts from the undercarriage. And the F-16 scheme, definitely ugly, but the pilot is a regular at Top Gun and flies it so well it's maddening! Give me a couple weeks and some spray cans to make it look respectable!

[PRAYER3290]

Cool

[Robbie9859901]

Not as many people here, but we have smokey Montana skies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebQiFGKiPYc&t=188s

[DCORSAIR]

Got out today along with about 40 other guys at our field, all of them flying large scale and turbine. First decent weather in a long time and of course it had to be on the weekend. Was only able to sneak about 4 flights in on my F-4 since the pattern was usually full! Fernando, of RC Chaser videos snuck my "little" F-4 in on his video anyway. He was hoping I was taking the Mig or the F-18 Tiger out but we had a stiff crosswind and way too many large turbines to contend with so some other time. The F-4 flight is around 4:20 on the video. Not one of my better landings as I was rushing to get out of the way with 4 others in the air and 3 guys who ignored my call for landing and started to get out on the runway, but she still lives to fly another day. I really like this F-4 with the 12 blade inrunner and an SMC 6200 40 C, gives me over 4:00 of flight time.

Oh that poor F-18, what's up with that ugly yellow/ grey F-16? Not my cup of tea for a paint scheme.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Got out today along with about 40 other guys at our field, all of them flying large scale and turbine. First decent weather in a long time and of course it had to be on the weekend. Was only able to sneak about 4 flights in on my F-4 since the pattern was usually full! Fernando, of RC Chaser videos snuck my "little" F-4 in on his video anyway. He was hoping I was taking the Mig or the F-18 Tiger out but we had a stiff crosswind and way too many large turbines to contend with so some other time. The F-4 flight is around 4:20 on the video. Not one of my better landings as I was rushing to get out of the way with 4 others in the air and 3 guys who ignored my call for landing and started to get out on the runway, but she still lives to fly another day. I really like this F-4 with the 12 blade inrunner and an SMC 6200 40 C, gives me over 4:00 of flight time.

[davegee]

"and the sun "almost" broke out a little amongst the low and dark clouds." That's a nice summer day in Scotland Dave ! :hot_face:

You know, locharrow, the weather and low clouds and the sun peeking through around sunset and the hills is exactly how it felt sometimes on some vacations in Scotland. I remember once we drove to spend the night in Drumnadrochit, before taking a boat tour on Loch Ness to try to find "Nessie" the next day. It was beautiful, just like last night. If only I had had my rc airplanes to fly, too! (LOL)

[davegee]

It looks so good Dave! It sounds like a great evening! And Wyoming weather doesn't disappoint, it always seems to provide a reminder that change is the only constant.

At least for a short period last evening, everything lined up, including the weather, and it was a very beautiful, peaceful moment. I don't savor times like this enough.