Official Freewing 80mm EDF L-39 Albatros Thread

[RichJ53]

MAyDay MAyDay!!!!!!!!
Have had 15 or so flights on my original L39 with no issues till today. Has anyone else experienced this similar in flight issue.
First flight today i retracted the gear and the nose didnt. Cycled the gear and no further issue and unevetful.
Second flight, take off, gear up and half way into flight i pass by then out and climbing left turn then no power, heard fan go to nill, no directional control, im going down, then i guess i pulled back power thinking i lost the esc/battery and powered out going away. it almost was total confetti. Recovered and down off runway but not off field. Radio is X11, spectrum rcvr, stock setup, 6s RT 5000mah. Battery checked at 3.9 /cell on all six.
Has this been a possible bluebox loss of control? No prior issues in all flights till this one.
Range check with 11X was 34 paces, JR says 30. All controls worked enough for me to get it back tot he field so really curious if i should drop the bluebox all together except the lights and gear.
Happy New Years
Sam

sorry to read about your scary situation.

I am wondering if your ESC / BEC could have browned out? The fact you were having Gear trouble, might have caused excessive amp draw unknown to you during the flight. This could certainly cause your BEC to become overloaded or reach cut off voltage. I do not believe the Blue box would have been the root cause.

Rich

[Race 22 Crew]

Sounds like a failsafe on the radio. Loss of signal and the power goes to idle (usually). Signal reestablished and controls came back. Lots of L39 blue boxes out there without any issues that I’ve heard of. Good luck though. Let us know what you find.

[sam51401]

MAyDay MAyDay!!!!!!!!
Have had 15 or so flights on my original L39 with no issues till today. Has anyone else experienced this similar in flight issue.
First flight today i retracted the gear and the nose didnt. Cycled the gear and no further issue and unevetful.
Second flight, take off, gear up and half way into flight i pass by then out and climbing left turn then no power, heard fan go to nill, no directional control, im going down, then i guess i pulled back power thinking i lost the esc/battery and powered out going away. it almost was total confetti. Recovered and down off runway but not off field. Radio is X11, spectrum rcvr, stock setup, 6s RT 5000mah. Battery checked at 3.9 /cell on all six.
Has this been a possible bluebox loss of control? No prior issues in all flights till this one.
Range check with 11X was 34 paces, JR says 30. All controls worked enough for me to get it back tot he field so really curious if i should drop the bluebox all together except the lights and gear.
Happy New Years
Sam

[bbolz]

INteresting, one word of warning though, don't take your eyes of teh L39 when you are experimenting with the flaps. I did and ended up planting the plane. Repaired and ready for the next flights. in teh spring. Ilove that plane, with or wihtout gyro, don't really need it.

[xviper]

OK .It states in the manual that when you deploy flap that it advises you have 1 mm of down elevator mixed to your flaps and on high rate of flaps and 1.5 mm of down elevator mix to your flabs but I was wondering if the gyro would still work OK but I think I will not bother with down mix on the elevator . A mix of 1mm and 1.5 mm is not going to make much difference .On the maiden I will turn the gyro off and once I am sure everything is OK I will gain a lot of height then turn the gyro just incase Thanks

I kinda thought what you meant was elevator comp. That was the missing word. You are right, 1mm to 1.5mm of elevator isn't going to make a big difference on this plane. You can easily compensate manually, even without a gyro. Throw in 2 to 3 seconds flap deploy time and let it slow down a bit before using flaps and you shouldn't even notice any change. When you turn on the gyro, just be prepared to turn it off if the plane starts to oscillate. That means you need to turn the gain down a bit. This is easy to do if you have enough channels to hook up the master gain to the rotary knob on your TX.

[Captain Moron]

OK .It states in the manual that when you deploy flap that it advises you have 1 mm of down elevator mixed to your flaps and on high rate of flaps and 1.5 mm of down elevator mix to your flabs but I was wondering if the gyro would still work OK but I think I will not bother with down mix on the elevator . A mix of 1mm and 1.5 mm is not going to make much difference .On the maiden I will turn the gyro off and once I am sure everything is OK I will gain a lot of height then turn the gyro just incase Thanks

[xviper]

Hi , Have my L39 ready to maiden when the weather improves and I can get rid of this flu virus .I have installed a Hobby Eagle A3L gyro in the L 39 .Is it still OK to set the flap as per the manual ie 1mm with low rate flaps and 1.5 mm with high rate flaps or is it best to leave the setting on the flaps because I have the gyro installed ?

What are you setting at 1mm and 1.5mm? That isn't much for flap deflection. Or are you talking about "elevator compensation"? If you have a delayed flap deployment and you deploy flaps like a real plane (as the plane has begun to slow down) elevator compensation is not required, even without a gyro. However, if you have a tendency to deploy flaps instantaneously and before the plane has begun to slow down, elevator compensation will smooth things out without gyro, but having some elevator compensation will not make the gyro work quite so hard. It also depends on how much gain you have dialed in on the elevator axis gyro.
PS. You should start your maiden and trimming with gyro OFF.

[Captain Moron]

Hi , Have my L39 ready to maiden when the weather improves and I can get rid of this flu virus .I have installed a Hobby Eagle A3L gyro in the L 39 .Is it still OK to set the flap as per the manual ie 1mm with low rate flaps and 1.5 mm with high rate flaps or is it best to leave the setting on the flaps because I have the gyro installed ?

[John Bergsmith]

Replaced my stock 3530-1850KV outrunner for one of the new FMS 80mm V2 3280-KV2100. I put four flights on the L-39 with the new set up, can't really tell much of a difference. Speed, vertical, run time, battery temp, all seemed about what it was with the outrunner. The only noticeable difference was the inrunner seemed to run/sound smoother. Also, the FMS came balanced not requiring any adjustments.

[Evan D]

Fixed is a great thing, thanks for the update and blessings. Merry Christmas!

[Funfly3D]

Thanks Evan ...... I will take a look when I pull the retract. Not had this problem with retracts on any of my other Freewing aircraft ........ that's not of course to say that it won't happen!

Will certainly take your advice onboard and most likely treat all the retracts as you suggest ........ it can only do good in the long run.

As promised in my original post, an update re nose leg issue................... Took nose leg retract out and having checked it over was unable to visibly identify any issues. Cleaned and lubricated the moving parts with white spray grease following which there was little change in its operation (eg open ok but still very prone to stalling when 75% closed).

Changed retract unit for the new replacement supplied by Motion RC .................. problem solved now works perfectly every time.

So my thanks again to those that took time to respond to my original post and also to Pete at Motion RC (EU) for the absolutely first rate customer support.

Merry Christmas to all on Hobby Squawk and at Motion RC.

[JLambCWU]

Live maiden flight on the NEW Inrunner motor power system for the L-39. Definitely some more power, vertical, and flight time.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/motionrcfanmedia/permalink/575301579951427?sfns=mo

[garlandk]

The L-39 is my favorite Scale Sport flyer. For a scale plane she does great sport aerobatics. The power combo on this bird is also great on 6s.

[Funfly3D]

The lag g or jack screw in these sometimes needs a little grease. I use a white lithium and its amazing how it helps sometimes.

Thanks Evan ...... I will take a look when I pull the retract. Not had this problem with retracts on any of my other Freewing aircraft ........ that's not of course to say that it won't happen!

Will certainly take your advice onboard and most likely treat all the retracts as you suggest ........ it can only do good in the long run.

[Evan D]

The lag g or jack screw in these sometimes needs a little grease. I use a white lithium and its amazing how it helps sometimes.

[Funfly3D]

Welcome to HobbySquawk. I have never had the problem you are describing on my L-39 but I recommend pulling the retract, removing the strut and inspecting the strut pin to make sure it is straight and that it is seated properly. Look for any possible debris that could be limiting it's travel as well. Could be something jammed in the retract against the trunion. Also, make sure the retract mount it solid in the foam and not angled back. Check as well the tension on the gear doors. Do they bind at all? Good luck!

Hi RCjetdude, many thanks for your fast response, much appreciated. I will most certainly pull the retract and take note of the points you mention. Reasonably sure that nothing is jamming as the nose gear will on odd occasions retract and the gear door closes (approx 70% of time it doesn't) even then the retract struggles as it gets past the 75% closed stage! Since posting I have spoken with Customer Support who kindly returned my call from yesterday afternoon ......... they are sending me a replacement nose leg retract and confirm that this is not an issue they have encountered. Will add my findings for benefit of other owners once I have resolved issue (hopefully with new retract). Many thanks also to Pete at Motion RC (EU) customer support...... absolutely fantastic customer care.

[RCjetdude]

Has anyone experienced problems with the L-39 nose-leg retract stalling (definitely not fouling) when it attempts to close the nose gear door...... thus leaving the nose leg only partially retracted and the gear door half open ...... per photo. As L-39 owners will concur..... the door is closed by means of the front leg pressing on a spring-loaded tab which closes the door as the leg retracts inside the fuselage. It's not possible to de-tension the spring and lengthening the connecting arm by screwing the clevis out has no effect other that to cause the door to remain partially open once its max closed length has been exceeded. In short I'm wondering whether I have a "mechanically weak" nose retract OR is this a common issue with the L-39 which otherwise is a stunning aircraft both on the ground and in the air and is absolutely rock solid in flight. Should have indicated that this is a brand new aircraft (9 flights to date).............. so wear and tear is not the issue!

Welcome to HobbySquawk. I have never had the problem you are describing on my L-39 but I recommend pulling the retract, removing the strut and inspecting the strut pin to make sure it is straight and that it is seated properly. Look for any possible debris that could be limiting it's travel as well. Could be something jammed in the retract against the trunion. Also, make sure the retract mount it solid in the foam and not angled back. Check as well the tension on the gear doors. Do they bind at all? Good luck!

[Funfly3D]

Has anyone experienced problems with the L-39 nose-leg retract stalling (definitely not fouling) when it attempts to close the nose gear door...... thus leaving the nose leg only partially retracted and the gear door half open ...... per photo. As L-39 owners will concur..... the door is closed by means of the front leg pressing on a spring-loaded tab which closes the door as the leg retracts inside the fuselage. It's not possible to de-tension the spring and lengthening the connecting arm by screwing the clevis out has no effect other that to cause the door to remain partially open once its max closed length has been exceeded. In short I'm wondering whether I have a "mechanically weak" nose retract OR is this a common issue with the L-39 which otherwise is a stunning aircraft both on the ground and in the air and is absolutely rock solid in flight. Should have indicated that this is a brand new aircraft (9 flights to date).............. so wear and tear is not the issue!

[thisguy65]

L39 and the F22 are by far two of my favorite jets

[bbolz]

Home Depot paint labels for the L39 Camo: