Official Freewing 80mm EDF L-39 Albatros Thread

[Petronio]

Awesome looking jet!

[PhantomNut]

Very cool!

[jay bennett]

i have just finished putting my l39 together but I have a problem with the landing lights and nose wheel steering, I know all of the parts work but when I put the gear down the landing lights don't come on and the nose wheel steering does not work I can only get it to all work by wiggling the sticks for a while then all of a sudden it all comes to life and works as it should, any ideas? I have tried wiggling the multi connectors while waiting for the lights to come on but it does not seem to be a loose connectiion

[Ron1950]

id Y harness the rudder and nose wheel steering and go to rx by passing the wonderfull blue box I have y ed all my surfaces past the blue box just use box for lights

[crxmanpat]

i have just finished putting my l39 together but I have a problem with the landing lights and nose wheel steering, I know all of the parts work but when I put the gear down the landing lights don't come on and the nose wheel steering does not work I can only get it to all work by wiggling the sticks for a while then all of a sudden it all comes to life and works as it should, any ideas? I have tried wiggling the multi connectors while waiting for the lights to come on but it does not seem to be a loose connection

This seems to be a common problem a lot of us are having with certain receivers. The only solution for this particular issue is to remove rudder and nose steering from the box, then put them on a Y direct to your RX.

[Hardway]

i have just finished putting my l39 together but I have a problem with the landing lights and nose wheel steering, I know all of the parts work but when I put the gear down the landing lights don't come on and the nose wheel steering does not work I can only get it to all work by wiggling the sticks for a while then all of a sudden it all comes to life and works as it should, any ideas? I have tried wiggling the multi connectors while waiting for the lights to come on but it does not seem to be a loose connectiion

https://www.motionrc.com/blogs/motion-rc-blog/l-39-board-mcb-e-issues

[crxmanpat]

https://www.motionrc.com/blogs/motion-rc-blog/l-39-board-mcb-e-issues

I tried that several times, but it did nothing to fix this specific problem where rudder and nose steering works when the gear is up, but not when it's down. I still haven't figured out why this happens.

[adb2@suddenlink.net]

I tried that several times, but it did nothing to fix this specific problem where rudder and nose steering works when the gear is up, but not when it's down. I still haven't figured out why this happens.

Almost sounds like you have some setting off in your tramsmitter.

[xviper]

I believe it's been determined that it's the control box. Too many owners of this plane having this exact problem to have a wrong setting in the TX. If the steering is wired directly to the RX and it works, this points to the box. Unless an owner actually uses a separate channel for the steering and mix it in to be activated by a switch (usually gear switch), the TX doesn't care if the gear is up or down. The steering servo is not related to the gear channel in the TX without that mix. I've had these control boxes in planes from the very beginning when they were first introduced. It's to do with the circuitry and grounding in those boxes. Some just have glitches due to soldering or some manufacturing oddity. Until they make these boxes bulletproof, if you have a problem, the smart money is with the fellow who by-passed the box entirely except for the lights.

[Hardway]

The box is out of sequence with the electronic retracts... It should stop steering when up and steer when down, but the rudder should work all the time. The HSD Skyraider tailwheel works the same way... The F-22 did this at first. I bypassed the box and ran each retract on a servo tester several times. Then I attached them (all three) to the box and used the gear lead off the box to the servo tester. Did 4 or 5 cycles there. Then I retracted the gear and powered the servo tester down and unplugged it. Then I plugged the gear lead from the box into the receiver. I made SURE the TX switch for the gear was in the UP position. Turned on the TX, and then powered the plane with the flight battery. All worked in sequence after that... Hope that many help...

[Dp123]

I found the problem of the rudder/nose wheel steering can be fixed by dropping the receiver voltage to 5v. I bypassed the BEC in the ESC, and fitted a separate 5v BEC, and then everything works as it should.

[Hardway]

If it doesn't, then it is magic!! I don't use the older blue boxes in birds like the Bearcat, Tigercat, P-38. Even the with the newer style in the Spitfire. I just used a Freewing light controller in her... So bypassing is certainly a safe option!!! :Cool:;)

[jay bennett]

fixed by going to down to 5v all good now

[xviper]

I wonder if too high a voltage could be causing leaching between two close solder points on the board?

[Race 22 Crew]

Crazy how fast the assembly of the L-39 goes. Going to be awhile until the weather warms up enough for the maiden. Could hear the nose wheel steering servo moving upon power up with the gear up. Reversed servo direction, hit the switch, gear came down and operates correctly.

[Ron1950]

I got discusted and just Y harnessed all the control surfaces to the rx..only the lights are in the blue box and then its probably taxed out lol

[PhantomNut]

I banged up my L-39 a little today. Is it ok to use regular CA on this type of foam? Just want to be sure before the fixing begins!

[adb2@suddenlink.net]

I banged up my L-39 a little today. Is it ok to use regular CA on this type of foam? Just want to be sure before the fixing begins!

I don't believe so. Not sure. Get some Foam Tac.

[OV10]

I banged up my L-39 a little today. Is it ok to use regular CA on this type of foam? Just want to be sure before the fixing begins!

It's ok to use but you won't like the results :Scared: Any of the FW/FL birds are NOT regular CA friendly.(like most foam ARF's)
Use foam safe CA, Foam-Tac or Gorilla glue(not the Gorilla CA though) ;)

[crxmanpat]

It's ok to use but you won't like the results :Scared: Any of the FW/FL birds are NOT regular CA friendly.(like most foam ARF's)
Use foam safe CA, Foam-Tac or Gorilla glue(not the Gorilla CA though) ;)

I've used Medium (regular) CA on almost all of my FW/FLRC birds without issue. However, for repairs I vote Foam Tac, or even the tube of glue that came with the kit.