Freewing 90mm F-22 Raptor - Official Thread

[hkduder]

I looked and there is no cutout on the battery tray that would match that piece. Also it came in the seal plastic bag along with the small parts. At this point i'm not too concerned that it actually goes anywhere but still the curiosity.

[crxmanpat]

Yeah, that's odd. It must have been thrown in there by mistake.

[C17loadmaster]

Finally flew mine on an 8s JetFan 9 blade with HET 1680kv. The sound and power is awesome! I hit 125mph without trying to push it. I got 4 minutes on 5000mah lipo with plenty to make a few go arounds if needed. I made some decals for covering the blank white slime lights as I was installing them. All I need to finish is the MLG doors and complete the Alaska livery. Been slowly upgrading and finishing mods as I continue flying it. This is one of the initial pre-orders...

couldn’t ask for a better plane.

Next maiden is the 80mm A-10. Can’t wait for that one too. Right now I actually feel content with my hangar selection, which is a first in a long time haha. Most of them in the que for overhauling and finishing the personalization.

[Aros]

Sweet! Love the LEDs. Been flying mine all weekend. Such a fun jet! Even on 6S stock she's a total blast.

[C17loadmaster]

I went a different route at first. I bought it as an 8s version, sold the ESC and Fan without using it. Then I used the money to buy a Castle Edge 130amp ESC and a JetFan 90 for around the same price used (barely). I bought the 9 blade 6s EDF unit around the same time I preordered the plane, and have been flying it on that 6s setup since January. The setup I have in it is super lightweight. The only weight gain was adding the 2s pack in series, but it isn’t noticeable at all.

The leds in the wingtips are Jeremy Soltz original version. I have two flashing white on the top and red on the bottom of both sides, and the standard green and red solid. The slime lights have additional green leds to prevent them from not lightning up solid all the way across. I still have to wire the strobes and Nose landing gear lights to a switch. I fly a lot at sunset and the nose gear light blinds me from seeing anything else

[Evan D]

I have the same setup except a Talon 120S ESC. I can verify the 125mph, attached is a pic after I flew mine with a pitot system.

[I-fly-rc-aircraft]

Build question: Where does the extra 2 inch piece of plywood belong? I also opened a ticket with MRC and will update here if I get an answer from them first.

It's the landing pad. With enough practice you should be able to land on it.
Seriously, mine didn't have such a thing.

Tom

[C17loadmaster]

I have the same setup except a Talon 120S ESC. I can verify the 125mph, attached is a pic after I flew mine with a pitot system.

Yeah I remember reading you had a 1680kv motor in yours too. It actually caused me to swap out the 1400kv that was initially going in. I have that motor now setup with a different 12 blade fan ready to try in the F-15.

I can’t wait to ring it out a bit. That flight was basically retrimming and getting the feel for it. Coming out of a turn I pushed it to WOT for about 150-200 yards. There were no dives except to land and I was already configured for landing at that point

[hkduder]

It's the landing pad. With enough practice you should be able to land on it.
Seriously, mine didn't have such a thing.

Tom

I don't even know how to fly. I build them for my son :-)

[Evan D]

It's okay, it was a joke anyway...

I don't even know how to fly. I build them for my son :-)

[thisguy65]

I haven't taken mine out in a few months. Took it out this past weekend and fell in love with it all over again. Just love it.

I do have a hard time setting up to do high alpha, slower. Just carrying to much speed. I'll loose speed but apply throttle in the turn...well because I'm scare of stalling in my turns with any plane. Guess I need to start practicing more flat turns and using more rudder.

[PaulZ]

Are any of you guys having issues with the nose retract seat coming loose in this model? It wiggles loose as there is not much foam around it. I already replaced it once and now the second one is wiggling loose making the whole nose gear shake and track badly. Any solutions?

[gooniac33]

Missed flying mine the last couple weekends... I plan to fly mine tomorrow... Will hopefully have someone to get some high quality video as well.

[C17loadmaster]

Are any of you guys having issues with the nose retract seat coming loose in this model? It wiggles loose as there is not much foam around it. I already replaced it once and now the second one is wiggling loose making the whole nose gear shake and track badly. Any solutions?

I have read of a few... I would remove the nose gear with the entire base still connected (and the gear extended). So it’s basically ripped from the model. Then put a bunch of glue (gorilla glue, contact cement, etc) in the entire area of where the base is supposed to be connected, and put the entire thing back in... use q-tips to remove excess...

the reason for leaving the gear installed and extended is you need to make sure it’s perfectly straight while the glue is curing. If not, you’ll be worse off than you are now.

That basically is required on the F-86 main gear straight out of the box

[hkduder]

Not sure if I should post this here or in the 64mm section, regardless ...

Would the Freewing 64mm F-22 be a good "trainer" for the 90mm one? Are the flight characteristics similar?

[gooniac33]

Not sure if I should post this here or in the 64mm section, regardless ...

Would the Freewing 64mm F-22 be a good "trainer" for the 90mm one? Are the flight characteristics similar?

Yes!!! The smaller one is easier to fly but they share the same characteristics!! I have owned both!!

[hkduder]

that is great. of course now i have to buy one :-)

[hkduder]

OK, 12S F-22 #2 is ready to maiden. I was hoping to get all of the formation lights done by this weekend, but I only got the verticals in so far. Waiting on MRC to get the P-38 plastic lens covers back in stock so I can do the navigation and strobes in the wing. I want to do all of the lighting wiring in the wing at the same time, so holding off on the formation lights there for now. Some scale detailing I've done to this one:

Painted the struts and interior gear bays white.
Put a 90mm F-16 nose wheel on in place of the stock one.
Printed and installed Radar-Guy's main wheel "hubcaps".
Printed and installed RCJetDude's twin nose landing light mod.
Printed and added pitot tubes.
Did the panel lines in charcoal and sealed with Testors Dullcote.
Painted the exposed servos. Covered and painted the wire run for the vertical formation lights.
Added all the extra decals provided in the kit based on my prior posts about those.
Painted the underside engine panels to match the top.
Filled in the slots on the wings and stabs where the support rods show through and painted.

Maiden on Thursday, then we have the Arizona Electric Festival Fri-Sun. Plan to get a bunch of flights in. Still running a JF90 with a HET 700-60-1120kv for 12S.

Can you post a pic from top showing the panel lines? How did you paint the panel lines?

[crxmanpat]

Here's pics of the top and bottom. The panel lines are not painted. What I did was take a charcoal pencil and draw them in with charcoal, then used a short hard-bristle brush to blend in the charcoal. I finished it off with a couple coats of Testors Dull Cote to seal in the charcoal and protect the decals. It was somewhat tedious because of the large amount of panel lines, but the overall result was worth it!

[hkduder]

Here's pics of the top and bottom. The panel lines are not painted. What I did was take a charcoal pencil and draw them in with charcoal, then used a short hard-bristle brush to blend in the charcoal. I finished it off with a couple coats of Testors Dull Cote to seal in the charcoal and protect the decals. It was somewhat tedious because of the large amount of panel lines, but the overall result was worth it!

thanks Pat. I agree the lines are worth it. I might try one of those super fine point sharpie.