Official Freewing 80mm EDF L-39 Albatros Thread

[Koko]

You may want to contact Motion's customer service about this. Do it through their web site.

The reason that gear don't extend 95% of the time is you have had a rough landing and bent the strut to retract unit pin slightly so the gear, when retracted, doesn't sense the retraction so it won't extend. After you get the gear to extend bend the strut forward slightly and it won't happen again until your next rough landing.

Interesting term "minor rough landing".

Thanks for the info, I’ll look into the retract issue, although I did cycle the gear several times before this flight and it worked fine on the ground.

As for “minor rough landing” yes a bit of a lol. I was sort of inferring that I wouldn’t have expected this much damage from the low speed/altitude vs soft grass. I’ve landed harder and faster and not encountered this much damage.

per your recommendation, I’ve also submitted a ticket to Motion.

Thanks!

[Spad Driver]

Hello fellow Motion RC fans,
The Wallsburg Warbird Works is proud to announce the acquisition of an L-39 in the Slovakian Air Force markings.

Haven't had a chance to read the full column yet, but have heard nothing but great things about this plane and am very excited about discovering the flight criteria necessary for successful operation.
Will be doing lots of late night reading of this column for your advice gentlemen.
thanks in advance,
Spad Driver

[DCORSAIR]

Hello fellow Motion RC fans,
The Wallsburg Warbird Works is proud to announce the acquisition of an L-39 in the Slovakian Air Force markings.

Haven't had a chance to read the full column yet, but have heard nothing but great things about this plane and am very excited about discovering the flight criteria necessary for successful operation.
Will be doing lots of late night reading of this column for your advice gentlemen.
thanks in advance,
Spad Driver

Not much to worry about with the L-39, I didn't use the book throws on the control surfaces, of course I never do anyway, cut them back a little and she flies great, I say it's one of the best flying EDF jets out there, you will enjoy it I'm sure, had both paint schemes and liked them both.

[haklis76]

Hi, I am looking for a way to increase the height of the nose strut in order to get a more nose up attitude for better grass takeoffs. Any good tips out there?

[xviper]

Hi, I am looking for a way to increase the height of the nose strut in order to get a more nose up attitude for better grass takeoffs. Any good tips out there?

You don't need to do anything with the nose gear. This plane will take off easily as is, 1/2 flaps off grass. Just balance it correctly and NOT nose heavy. Do a YouTube search and you'll see.

[haklis76]

You don't need to do anything with the nose gear. This plane will take off easily as is, 1/2 flaps off grass. Just balance it correctly and NOT nose heavy. Do a YouTube search and you'll see.

I would still like to test it. I have had around 20 flights with it and experimented with CG. Definitely helps with aft CG, but when the fan is not 100% clean the takeoff run is a bit longer than I like for our strip. It often pops up then and climb out fine.

Has anyone done a mod for this?

[paulrkytek]

I would still like to test it. I have had around 20 flights with it and experimented with CG. Definitely helps with aft CG, but when the fan is not 100% clean the takeoff run is a bit longer than I like for our strip. It often pops up then and climb out fine.

Has anyone done a mod for this?

Not done any nose mods for mine and I fly off grass, 1/2 flaps take off. Other than that, recalibrate esc and cut the grass or add stiffer and/or longer nose spring to resist nose wheel dipping on take off. You could add washers under the retract mount but then the nose door may foul.

[ianl1201]

First post on here but I've joined the L-39 club at last after lusting after one for a long time! 😁

Hit it with the airbrush straight out of the box with some light weathering and also have the 3D cockpit detailing parts and nose gear brace to be fitted. Only negative was I have a landing gear issue - Extension and retraction is intermittent or not at all. Sometimes the landing lights come on and no gear and few times it worked as it should. I checked all the connections and cables, changed channel and also tried a different receiver and still got the same problem so possibly a suspect blue box. Of course I can't fly as it is so I've a ticket in with Motion RC...let's see what happens. Worst case, I'll by pass the box for the gear. Everything else works just fine, but it's frustrating I'm grounded for now....although I can detail the cockpit while I wait

[Evan D]

Welcome!

[DCORSAIR]

First post on here but I've joined the L-39 club at last after lusting after one for a long time! 😁

Hit it with the airbrush straight out of the box with some light weathering and also have the 3D cockpit detailing parts and nose gear brace to be fitted. Only negative was I have a landing gear issue - Extension and retraction is intermittent or not at all. Sometimes the landing lights come on and no gear and few times it worked as it should. I checked all the connections and cables, changed channel and also tried a different receiver and still got the same problem so possibly a suspect blue box. Of course I can't fly as it is so I've a ticket in with Motion RC...let's see what happens. Worst case, I'll by pass the box for the gear. Everything else works just fine, but it's frustrating I'm grounded for now....although I can detail the cockpit while I wait

I would just bypass the gear, it has that stupid delay anyway that I hated when they switched over to the new style blue boxes, I love pulling gear up as soon as my jet leaves the ground like the real ones do, I bypassed every jet I've had except the nose gear on the 90mm F-22, I did the mains straight to the rx but left the nose gear on the blue box because it actually looked scale like the real one, mains go up before the nose gear does, landing gear is a big thing for me, I like it right...

[ianl1201]

Thanks DCorsair...I went ahead and did as you (and MotionRC Customer Services) suggested - when I by-pass the blue box and connect the gear straight into my receiver, it works perfectly!! I have asked Motion if they'll send me a replacement blue box as I'm not to happy flying my nice new jet with a known defective part! If they aren't up for that, I'll go ahead and by-pass it... Of course I only have one short y-lead pulled out of one of my other aeroplanes so I could test it, but need to order leads if this is my solution! 🤨

[jetpltrich]

[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!!! :-)

[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.

[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

[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:

[Evan D]

This 100%...


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

[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!

[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.

[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.