Official Freewing 80mm EDF L-39 Albatros Thread

[Evan D]

Sounds like you have it plugged into the landing light slot. Or you have a bad blue box (MCBe).

[Flyingjunky]

Is it normal for the red wing light to go out when I raise the gear? not a big deal , but my others the red land green light stays on entire flight

[jetpltrich]

I will put my thumb behind the tape to do my CG. I honestly rather be a tiny bit tail heavy. I am not a fan of having to being nose heavy trying to land a jet on a maiden. Thanks for the tip.

THE NEWBIE

So I took a look at my CG mark this morning and they are only 8mm aft what the book advertises. So I do my CG check on this plane gear up and the plane flipped upside down hold the plane with my index fingers on the CG marks on the tops of the wing. That’s how I do it with this plane other planes are different and everybody has their way of doing it. She flies great for me where I have the marks and the way I check it.

Rich

[NEWBIE]

I’ve run the 5000 and 4000 Admirals and getting CG with the 4000’s is no problem, however, I’m not running the book advertised CG, I think I’m 10-15mm aft of it.

Rich

I will put my thumb behind the tape to do my CG. I honestly rather be a tiny bit tail heavy. I am not a fan of having to being nose heavy trying to land a jet on a maiden. Thanks for the tip.

THE NEWBIE

[jetpltrich]

I recently put this together and I put a 4000 battery in it and the cg is still to tail heavy. I am going to get a heavier battery. 5000+

I’ve run the 5000 and 4000 Admirals and getting CG with the 4000’s is no problem, however, I’m not running the book advertised CG, I think I’m 10-15mm aft of it.

Rich

[NEWBIE]

I recently put this together and I put a 4000 battery in it and the cg is still to tail heavy. I am going to get a heavier battery. 5000+

[MNFinn]

The older blue cubes did have some quality issues. The newer MCBe is much more reliable. I have heard many blame thing on it and get Motion to replace it and then find that didn't fix the issue they had. I guarantee the vast majority of people that buy FreeWing planes, pretty much all, not all but most, have them, use them without any problems.

The MCBe does a few things. Mainly it reduces or eliminates the need for Y connections, simplifying the wiring. It also has the ribbon cable outputs that simplifies connections to the wings and in some newer planes the tail servos. None of that is modifying or making any control changes. In addition the MCBe has circuits to control the sequential opening of the landing gear doors some planes need and also have outputs for lights and circuits for flashing lights. All the light outputs have resistors in line to reduce the output voltage to about 3.3V that the LEDs use.

In addition to the male to male connectors between the receiver and MCBE and the ribbon cables you also have the connection board on the other end of the ribbon cables at the wing roots and, in some newer models, the tail. Personally I have seen more issues where the factory plugs a servo in wrong on the back side of the wing root board than in the MCBe itself. Also some have reported issues with the ribbon cables themselves. And yes some report issues with the MCBe, many being that they powered their plane with a separate BEC or a replacement ESC or a LiFe battery all of which was putting more than the 5.5 V that the FreeWing and Flightline electronics are rated for.

All that said I have bypassed some functions on some of my planes. But not because I don't trust the MCBe. Mostly so that I can have specific servos on separate channel on my receiver and get tailerons, full span ailerons, crow, and rudder air brakes.

On my high flight time L-39 I have the wiring stock as it came wired through the MCBe with absolutely no issues.

Bottom line is do what you feel the most comfortable with. If you choose to remove it entirely do so, if you want to bypass the main flight controls do so. Do what you are comfortable doing.

Thanks for the good write up on things. I actually like the concept of the MCBe, so if it functions as advertised, I'm planning on keeping it.

[Evan D]

The older blue cubes did have some quality issues. The newer MCBe is much more reliable. I have heard many blame thing on it and get Motion to replace it and then find that didn't fix the issue they had. I guarantee the vast majority of people that buy FreeWing planes, pretty much all, not all but most, have them, use them without any problems.

The MCBe does a few things. Mainly it reduces or eliminates the need for Y connections, simplifying the wiring. It also has the ribbon cable outputs that simplifies connections to the wings and in some newer planes the tail servos. None of that is modifying or making any control changes. In addition the MCBe has circuits to control the sequential opening of the landing gear doors some planes need and also have outputs for lights and circuits for flashing lights. All the light outputs have resistors in line to reduce the output voltage to about 3.3V that the LEDs use.

In addition to the male to male connectors between the receiver and MCBE and the ribbon cables you also have the connection board on the other end of the ribbon cables at the wing roots and, in some newer models, the tail. Personally I have seen more issues where the factory plugs a servo in wrong on the back side of the wing root board than in the MCBe itself. Also some have reported issues with the ribbon cables themselves. And yes some report issues with the MCBe, many being that they powered their plane with a separate BEC or a replacement ESC or a LiFe battery all of which was putting more than the 5.5 V that the FreeWing and Flightline electronics are rated for.

All that said I have bypassed some functions on some of my planes. But not because I don't trust the MCBe. Mostly so that I can have specific servos on separate channel on my receiver and get tailerons, full span ailerons, crow, and rudder air brakes.

On my high flight time L-39 I have the wiring stock as it came wired through the MCBe with absolutely no issues.

Bottom line is do what you feel the most comfortable with. If you choose to remove it entirely do so, if you want to bypass the main flight controls do so. Do what you are comfortable doing.

[MNFinn]

So, I've been doing even more reading on the L-39 and Freewing in general, since this will be my first Freewing plane. It seems like the blue box has been an issue for folks in the past. Is that still true of the newer planes? I'd hate to lose a plane due to a control box failure in flight.

[MNFinn]

I fly off short DRY well mowed grass no problem, 1/2 flap take off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XYs4wQjWk&t=16s... If you can get one with the new 2150kv 12 blade edf motor then do so. lighter the battery the better off grass

Thanks for that info. I made the order. It looks like it's got the 12 blade 3658-2150Kv in it, just going by the description on the page. I generally don't fly within 2-3 days after rain, so the grass is generally pretty dry.

Going to read through this thread to try to get more info on the plane.

[paulrkytek]

Looking at getting a second EDF to add to my hangar, I have an E-Flite Habuss 70mm as of right now. I'm looking at the L-39 ans my possible number 2. The only thing is that I fly off a grass field. How does the Albatross handle grass?

I fly off short DRY well mowed grass no problem, 1/2 flap take off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XYs4wQjWk&t=16s... If you can get one with the new 2150kv 12 blade edf motor then do so. lighter the battery the better off grass

[MNFinn]

Looking at getting a second EDF to add to my hangar, I have an E-Flite Habuss 70mm as of right now. I'm looking at the L-39 ans my possible number 2. The only thing is that I fly off a grass field. How does the Albatross handle grass?

[WarbirdFan66]

Hello Zman,

my set up is as stated in the manual. Only the settings on my Spektrum iX14 radio are as follows: AIL Expo 30% / Dual Rates 80% // ELV Expo 30% / Dual Rates 70% // RUD Expo 30% / Dual Rates 100%. It works fine for me.
The L-39 Albatros has no bad tendencies and has honest flight behavior. Have fun !!! :-)
Here are a few more pictures:

From WarbirdFan to WarbirdFan, very nice pictures mate....good job J.

[SanExup]

A fellow club buddy flying his new (replacement) L39. I had seen the camo version, which is cool, but hadn't seen the Czech version. I have to say, after seeing it in person it's definitely on my wishlist. The scheme looks fantastic. It's also very easy to see. And the planes performance looks really fun, versatile and with power and speed. His shirt says it all, it's definitely influenced his flying style.

[Zman]

Thank you Warbirdfan29....I do appreciate it. I am looking so forward to the maiden flight. what a beautiful bird this is....I have heard nothing but good things about this jet. Thank you and great flying to you!

[Evan D]

This 100%...


"The L-39 Albatros has no bad tendencies and has honest flight behavior. Have fun !!! :-)"

[Warbirdfan29]

Hello Zman,

my set up is as stated in the manual. Only the settings on my Spektrum iX14 radio are as follows: AIL Expo 30% / Dual Rates 80% // ELV Expo 30% / Dual Rates 70% // RUD Expo 30% / Dual Rates 100%. It works fine for me.
The L-39 Albatros has no bad tendencies and has honest flight behavior. Have fun !!! :-)
Here are a few more pictures:

[Zman]

Well, I pulled the trigger and picked up the L-39 Albatros.... any quirks or tricks I need to know about for the build or maiden flight?

Thanks,
Zman

[DCORSAIR]

Unfortunately, the L-39 Albatros has become a bit quiet. But who can blame it when there are such interesting novelties as the F9F-8 Cougar... 😉
In order to put the model back in the limelight, because she really deserves that, I would like to show you a few pictures of my repainted Albatros. Hope you like it. The original jet is the Aero L-39 C Albatros "NL-34", Algerian Air Force, 620th Advanced Training Sqn, Tafaroui AB, Algeria. The colors used are REVELL Aqua Color and many decals are from Callie Graphics. Thank you Callie!!! :-)

That looks great, much better than the stock paint job.

[Warbirdfan29]

Unfortunately, the L-39 Albatros has become a bit quiet. But who can blame it when there are such interesting novelties as the F9F-8 Cougar... 😉
In order to put the model back in the limelight, because she really deserves that, I would like to show you a few pictures of my repainted Albatros. Hope you like it. The original jet is the Aero L-39 C Albatros "NL-34", Algerian Air Force, 620th Advanced Training Sqn, Tafaroui AB, Algeria. The colors used are REVELL Aqua Color and many decals are from Callie Graphics. Thank you Callie!!! :-)