Official Freewing 80mm EDF L-39 Albatros Thread

[Hardway]

So what arrived today was not the gun pod, but the replacement blue box. It did not solve the issue I'm having where rudder and nose steering only work when the gear is up. I'm now assuming it has something to do with my TX/RX somehow, but for the life of me I cannot figure out why. I have no mixes programmed in that would cause this. I will continue using a Y for those going directly to my RX.

My box does the same thing.... I pulled the nose gear steering and just plugged it into the other rudder servo output. Works fine so far.... Very puzzling... I have no answers at this point...

[crxmanpat]

I tried moving the plugs into every configuration I could think of. Everything works right when the gear is up, but once deployed rudder and nose steering both stop working. Very odd.

[Felixs10]

I tried moving the plugs into every configuration I could think of. Everything works right when the gear is up, but once deployed rudder and nose steering both stop working. Very odd.

It sounds like it’s simply out of sync. I saw a video that motion put out on how to deal with this. But for the life of me I can’t find it. Maybe someone else can chime in and post the link

[crxmanpat]

I tried that too, didn't work. My issue seems to be slightly different in that the rudder/steering works with gear up, but not down. Has to be in my TX/RX somewhere.

[dkalwishky]

Pat; which transmitter are you using? Something in the back of my head tells me you're not using Spektrum or Futaba.

[Felixs10]

I tried that too, didn't work. My issue seems to be slightly different in that the rudder/steering works with gear up, but not down. Has to be in my TX/RX somewhere.

Silly question , but did you try reversing the direction of the landing gear channel ?

[crxmanpat]

Dave, JR XP9303 with the XPS 2.4 module and XPS 6-ch Nano RX. So not Spekky or Futaba. It went into a totally wiped model memory, so I'm at a loss to explain why this was happening.

Felix, I tried everything I could think of, reversing switches, moving plugs, nothing worked. The only solution was to remove rudder/steering from the box and Y them directly to the RX.

[Quickstop]

It sounds like it’s simply out of sync. I saw a video that motion put out on how to deal with this. But for the life of me I can’t find it. Maybe someone else can chime in and post the link

Here are the syncing instructions:

L-39 BOARD MCB-E ISSUES?


Posted by Motion RC on November 06, 2018 |

• Category: Tips and Tricks

We have encountered some customers who have been having issues with their L-39 MCB-E control box. The customers who call with problems are connecting everything to the control box and putting the gear down and immediately noticing they can’t steer the front gear. It sounds like the rudder and steering servo are out of sync.

The procedure to put them in sync is the following. Do this with the radio on and battery connected to the ESC of the plane (do not power down plane or radio during tests). For safety, use throttle lock on your radio.

1. Remove steering servo wire from the steering servo port on the MCB-E and connect the steering servo wire to the 2nd rudder port on the MCB-E.
2. Test steering and rudder. Everything should work.
3. Cycle gear up and down 2 – 3 times.
4. Put gear up one last time.
5. Reconnect steering servo to the steering servo port on MCB-E.
6. Test steering with gear up – rudder servo should work, steering servo should not move with the gear up.
7. Put gear down, steering servo should work.

If you have any questions please contact our superb Customer Service team via chat or e-mail Monday through Fridays between 8am and 5pm CST.

[Monty500]

For those that have flown both the Stinger 90 and the L-39 how do they compare?

I'm taking from this thread that with the L-39 flight times are increased, something that definitely appeals to me, and also that the L-39 has a locked-in feel. The Stinger to my mind also has a very locked-in feel so would be interested in your thoughts as to the main flight experience differences between these two.

Thanks
Mike

[xviper]

For those that have flown both the Stinger 90 and the L-39 how do they compare?

I'm taking from this thread that with the L-39 flight times are increased, something that definitely appeals to me, and also that the L-39 has a locked-in feel. The Stinger to my mind also has a very locked-in feel so would be interested in your thoughts as to the main flight experience differences between these two.

Thanks
Mike

I've had the Stinger 90, still have the Avanti S and now also the L-39. The S 90 was a superb jet, then it got better with the Avanti S. Now the L-39 is the best one of them all. Flight times are how you make of them and a comparison has little validity from one person to another and from one plane to another and from one flight to another. I can burn through a battery in my Avanti S in less than 2.5 min OR I can make the same plane on the same battery fly for nearly 10 min.

[seaviper]

Finally had a chance to tear down the motor on the Albatros. It was the front radial bearing that was making noise. I ordered a fresh set of bearings from Boca Bearings.
We'll see if that fixes it. $18.52 shipped vs $55 + shipping for a new motor.

[Hardway]

Awesome. When I first read your msg, my brain said 55.00 shipping..... LOL Never mind!!! :Silly:

[seaviper]

What happened was the spinner got a little loose and rotated slightly. This caused vibration which killed the front bearing.

i put a little loctite in the screw hole, then rotated the spinner until i got smooth operation. I held the fan unit up against the plastic poles on the robart stand when testing for vibration. Its really very apparent when the fan is out of balance.

anyway, she is back in service.

[StormyDog1962]

Update on the L-39 Control Board testing. After getting back 15 Boards I have yet to have one that did not work for me. I thought I was onto something with DSM2 as it did not work with an older AR7000 but then I tried an AR6100E which is also DSM2 and it worked with that one. I wish I had what we could call a truly defective Board to send back to Freewing for testing but they all end up working. I have nothing to point a finger at yet but will keep looking. These boards also worked with our Admiral Receivers in case anyone was wondering.

[adb2@suddenlink.net]

I've had my Albatros for about a week now and maidened it yesterday and I must say I was thoroughly delighted. I have three Avantis which I am really fond of but I must say that the Albatros in my opinion is equal to or perhaps even better than the Avantis. I believe it might be a little faster and the handeling seems a little better and approaches and landings to me are just easier. I certainly consider it a real winner. Watching the build and electronic videos made it very easy to put it together.

[Hardway]

Welcome to the Squawk!! The L-39 is a nice flier for sure!!! :Cool:

[Dp123]

Update on the L-39 Control Board testing. After getting back 15 Boards I have yet to have one that did not work for me. I thought I was onto something with DSM2 as it did not work with an older AR7000 but then I tried an AR6100E which is also DSM2 and it worked with that one. I wish I had what we could call a truly defective Board to send back to Freewing for testing but they all end up working. I have nothing to point a finger at yet but will keep looking. These boards also worked with our Admiral Receivers in case anyone was wondering.

Gents,

I also have been having problems with the board. In my case, the rudder works fine with the gear up, but stops working when the gear goes down.
The excellent customer service guys at Motoin sent me a replacement box, which I tested on the bench, and it worked perfectly. But when I installed it into the model, the problem reappeared.
so, out it came, and back on the bench to test. After trying everything I could think of, I finally managed to replicate the fault on the bench.
I had been testing it using a 5 cell NiMh battery, and could not reproduce the fault. When I replaced the battery with a 4 cell NiMh, the problem instantly reappeared.
i changed the battery several times, to make sure the fault was reproducible, and it happened every time.
My conclusion is that it would seem that the box needs 6 volts to work, but the BEC is only giving 5 volts.

Hopefully Wayne or somebody can also try this to confirm if it works for them too?

I won’t make any changes to my model until I am sure that this really is the problem.

Regards,
Dave

[RMatteson]

Yesterday I switched a 6 ch. to 8ch. rx in my L-39 so I could separate nose wheel and rudder, to have a separate trim for both. I bound my rx with a NIMH that read 5 volts on volt meter and had no problems. I then disconnected battery and plugged in lipo to test fan, all was good. I always set up radio with throttle plug out and use a spare 4 or 5 cell battery to get every thing set, before I plug in lipo to set esc.
RICK

[seaviper]

We have three L-39's at our club. Two fly with everything run through the box. Mine has nose wheel steering on separate channel. All work fine. Never had a problem.

Maybe they had a bad run of boards. If the board has a problem, just use a y-connector or another channel.

[Ron1950]

I had a bad aileron servo so mrc sent me another. after installing it the other aileron went crazy chattering so I y harnessed the ailerons to the rx that makes rudder and nose gear steering y harnessed and the gear 3 y harnessed direct to the rx with only the flaps and lights in the blue box..btw they all ready sent me a new blue box but will not use it after all ivebeen through with the old box