Official Freewing 90mm F-15C Eagle Thread

[desertdrifter7]

Hey guys, I am awaiting the delivery of my B-25 and have been looking ahead at jets. I have a Bae Hawk and I like flying the plane. But am wanting an American jet so I have been looking at the F-15 and the A-10. My only concern is I would rank myself as an intermediate skilled pilot and the A-10 lists advanced skills. Would the F-15 prove to be too much of a challenge if I am able to handle the Bae Hawk? How about the A-10?

[Elbee]

Hey guys, I am awaiting the delivery of my B-25 and have been looking ahead at jets. I have a Bae Hawk and I like flying the plane. But am wanting an American jet so I have been looking at the F-15 and the A-10. My only concern is I would rank myself as an intermediate skilled pilot and the A-10 lists advanced skills. Would the F-15 prove to be too much of a challenge if I am able to handle the Bae Hawk? How about the A-10?

DD, the A-10 is a kitten in the air. Short takeoff roll on pavement, however, the challenge is keeping her flying through touchdown.

My first check flight, she was a buckin' and flyin' and buckin' and stallin' and buckin' ad nauseam.

Results: Badly scraped wing tip, nose gear retract, axle pin, and front wheel replacement.

All since repaired, but lesson learned.

Point is power on landing which is actually easier anyway for me.

The A-10 was my first aircraft after returning to RC after a 25+ years away.

IMHO, Go for it.

Best, LB

[desertdrifter7]

LB. Thank you so much for your input.

[MikeT]

Hey guys, I am awaiting the delivery of my B-25 and have been looking ahead at jets. I have a Bae Hawk and I like flying the plane. But am wanting an American jet so I have been looking at the F-15 and the A-10. My only concern is I would rank myself as an intermediate skilled pilot and the A-10 lists advanced skills. Would the F-15 prove to be too much of a challenge if I am able to handle the Bae Hawk? How about the A-10?

I own both the F-15 is a dog and underpowered. The A-10 is awesome from a to Z.

Mike

[DCORSAIR]

Hey guys, I am awaiting the delivery of my B-25 and have been looking ahead at jets. I have a Bae Hawk and I like flying the plane. But am wanting an American jet so I have been looking at the F-15 and the A-10. My only concern is I would rank myself as an intermediate skilled pilot and the A-10 lists advanced skills. Would the F-15 prove to be too much of a challenge if I am able to handle the Bae Hawk? How about the A-10?

Go for the A-10, it is the best EDF you will fly in my opinion, flies slow, fast and very well inverted, sounds awesome and looks great in the air, just pay attention when you land it, nice flare on the mains at just the right speed will make you smile, mess that up and you won't be smiling, the F-15 is a great flyer too, lands heavy but very easy to land, nice approach with full flaps and speed brake out looks great, not the fastest jet by no means but looks great in the air and will do wheelies on take off and landing if you get the CG and speed just right, but it is kind of small compared to the A-10 and other jets....

[SanExup]

Like others are saying, if you can get smooth landings with the BAE Hawk by using power/throttle to manage the glide slope, you'll be doing the same with the A10. Change to either the trailing link on the nose gear or change the mains to match the factory nose gear. You want the same gear type on all 3.

That being said, and I haven't flown the Freewing F15 but have other F15s, they are pretty straightforward to land as well.

[desertdrifter7]

Thank you, excellent input to consider. The one thing I have seen on the A-10 is the nose gear needs to be changed to avoid "bronco" landings. They don't sound pleasant.

[rlcamden]

Thank you, excellent input to consider. The one thing I have seen on the A-10 is the nose gear needs to be changed to avoid "bronco" landings. They don't sound pleasant.

If you can avoid landing the nose first and settle it down on the mains, no need to change the nose gear out. Move your CG aft a little to help with the flare and you will be good to go. A tip I'll share I use when landing EDFs. If your controller has a timer start beep when you advance beyond 25%, use that as your landing throttle setting. On final, cut throttle than advance it until you hear the beep. Hold there until you settle it on the ground.

[spcboarder]

Go for the A-10 it is such a good flyer! Handling and reloading 2 Batteries can be a bit challenging, but it fully pays off. The A-10 is by far the plane I fly the most because it is that good and it looks so good in the air.
Br, spcboarder

[Aros]

I really loved my F-15 years back. Like many of those first gen 90mm's, they are overall good flyers but they need to go on a diet. I only wish the A-10 took just one 6S. Outside of that, it's the best EDF jet I've ever flown.

[Gravythe clown]

I did some testing today with my F-15. I switch between the 9bl 1900kv and the 12bl 1960kv both using 6000 HRB and 130A esc.
both test were done the same. Take off climb to about 50’, do one full circuit at 60% throttle, after finishing base the second time I punch it flat level. I hold that old til I make my turn to down wind. Then back off to 60%.
that recorded top level speed.
next pass as I’m half way down the strait still 50’ I again punch it and this time after about 100’ flat level I pull ba k and go vertical until she drops off.
After this I flew a cool down lap of 50% and land.

GPS reading:
9bl 1900kv, 88 mph recorded high speed and hit 322’

12bl 1960kv, 92 mph recorded high speed and hit 428’.

Next time out I’ll do same test using 5000 HRB,

Gravy

[The43rdHammer]

Evening gentlemen (and ladies if there are any),

Just a quick post to report back that my maiden flight with the F-15C went very, very well.

I got it ARF+ and put the F-4 Phantom 8S power plant in it, which for reference is a 12 Blade EDF with a 4075-1390Kv Inrunner Motor and 150A ESC. Flown on 2x HRB 4S 4200.

I thought it might be a bit of a handful, but she flew perfectly, absolutely viceless and looked great in the air.

As reported, she lands quicker than other models, but that being said I didn't especially struggle with it and the landing gear is great.

If, like me you're looking for something a little different to try, I can thoroughly recommend her

I was on my own at the time, so here are a few ground shots of her:

[Aros]

The F-15 is probably my favorite old gen Freewing 90mm. Just a delight to fly, even though heavier than some of the newer gen models. Great looks, great flight characteristics, easy to land. A jewel.

[Gravythe clown]

I’m currently in the middle of a nozzle mod. I’m combining the stock nozzle base with the last part of the F-18 nozzle.
the foam opening on the Fuse is 60mm the opening at the end of the stock nozzles are 65mm. The opening on the F-18 nozzles are 55mm.
I’ll test unit again with GPS with both EDF units again after I get the nozzles done.
interesting note, the new F-15EX have similar nozzles to what I’m making.

Gravy

[Radar-Guy]

Here’s my simple 3d printed solution plus another mod to the intake you might consider.

[Gravythe clown]

After doing that did you keep the cheater grate or close it off?

Gravy

[Radar-Guy]

After doing that did you keep the cheater grate or close it off?

Gravy

Mostly closed, just two or three slots left open for ESC cooling. Intake area to feed the fan is sufficient.

Frank

[Gravythe clown]

Nozzles all done. Now just need to test them out.

Gravy

[Gravythe clown]

Well didn’t get to do any gos testing today, but I did take it up one time with the 6000 HRB. Not going to add any more than I noted two notable improvements, no data to back it up just how it felt and looked.
take off felt much more alive, like it had authority and the vertical impresses myself and my buddy watching it.

I was hoping to get 4 flights today but the wind had other plans. I almost didn’t even take it up the one time I did, but I just couldn’t resist.

Now I’m really looking to get some test results.

Gravy

[wvrailfan]

A flying buddy at my club recently picked up the F-15. It is a beautiful looking model and seems to fly great. I managed to take some photos for him this evening and thought the model could pass for an Air Force recruiting tool ;-)

Well done Freewing!

JB