Official Freewing Twin 80mm F-14D Tomcat Thread

[rifleman_btx]

Thanks you all, I made the cut, now downloaded the file. I really appreciate the help and heck yea on the wires, uuugh

[T-CAT]

Good point on the wires, I made tunnels through the foam to keep mine out of the battery area.

The wires on the F-14 are probably the largest pain of the assembly process. Ha-ha

[Evan D]

Good point on the wires, I made tunnels through the foam to keep mine out of the battery area.

[T-CAT]

If you decide to cut foam out from the rear of the battery compartment to the point where you see the wing box framing, I made a 3D printed rear battery tray that glues into place on the rear battery floor (there will be no need for the stock rear upper battery tray). It makes the transition completely inline and flat with the front battery floor. Glue on some anti-slip padding (don’t use velcro on the battery tray floor since you’ll likely never get the battery out due to it being partly in the tunnel) to the printed battery floor and add a battery strap, and you’re good to go.

On the same page file page as the battery tray I made, I have another file to print a simple wire channel to reroute wiring a bit better and be more organized so the rear battery has less chance of squishing the wires. It may or may not be as useful as it was for me depending on where you place your receiver, if you’re using more or less wires than I did, etc., but worth checking out nonetheless. I hope that helps .

On Thingiverse, I have some additional mods for the F-14 if you’re looking for more (i.e. ventral fins, wing box screw holes plugs, main wheel hubs/covers, fuel dump port, etc.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4864707

As a side note, if I remember correctly, the weight difference between the stock and printed parts are negligible (although depends on the print material and settings used) because it’s almost entirely offset by the removal of the stock wooden rear upper battery tray, the plastic rear upper tray mounts, and rear compartment foam. So, that’s also nice.

[Evan D]

This is what I did on mine too.

Look at RC Informer's build guide. He's cut out foam so the back battery can slide all the way back to the metal bulkhead. Both batteries then lay at the same level and in line with each other.

[xviper]

Ok got her buttoned up, got to set the elevator mechanical trim, and then figure out what battery I wanna use. The 5200s fit, but the cg is about 3/4" too far forward, I remember hearing about some modifications to fit them so I'll look for that. I was thinking about raising the top tray just enough to fit the lower one underneath as a possibility. Any thoughts?

Look at RC Informer's build guide. He's cut out foam so the back battery can slide all the way back to the metal bulkhead. Both batteries then lay at the same level and in line with each other.

[rifleman_btx]

Ok got her buttoned up, got to set the elevator mechanical trim, and then figure out what battery I wanna use. The 5200s fit, but the cg is about 3/4" too far forward, I remember hearing about some modifications to fit them so I'll look for that. I was thinking about raising the top tray just enough to fit the lower one underneath as a possibility. Any thoughts?

[rifleman_btx]

Yes sir, I am so looking forward to flying it. I plan on trying a couple different motor options from freewing 9 blade inrunner, to the fms, and might look into some others just to get a sense of what performs better. She's definitely a big jet!

[Elbee]

WOOHOO ! Looking forward to reading about what you think. Best, Steve

[rifleman_btx]

Project danger zone waiting for the motors to arrive.

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah I'm thinking the 5200s i have will work, looking forward to this one

[xviper]

Very cool, just for reference I have 4500mah packs and 5200 will the 5200 packs fit fine in the 14 or should I just run the 4500 packs? I just like the idea of the larger packs for my edfs whenever possible.

It depends on the brand you have. For example, the big 5000mah, 6s ChinaHobbyLine 70C is a very tight fit and may require foam trimming. However, the 5000mah, 6s ChinaHobbyLine 55C will fit and the Gens Ace 5000's, 45C are no problem. I also have some HRB 6000s, 50C that will fit OK. And different brands weigh different and balance can be challenging.
4500's won't fly this jet for very long.

[Warthog]

Just realized your talking about the F-14, and I’m talking about my A-10! Lol

[Warthog]

My 8000 packs are side by side. Not one in front of the other. They fit great with no play. Thanks for the “like” Rifleman.

[rifleman_btx]

Very cool, just for reference I have 4500mah packs and 5200 will the 5200 packs fit fine in the 14 or should I just run the 4500 packs? I just like the idea of the larger packs for my edfs whenever possible.

[Warthog]

I just did a test this morning on my Freewing twin 80mm, now 90mm A-10. I had 12 blade fans in it. I put it on a table, on the wheels, and tied it to a hook in the wall with a fish scale in the line. Ran it up full throttle, and it pulled at 11 lbs. 12 oz.. I swapped out the fans for 9 blade. Went full throttle again. Pulled 12 lbs. 14 oz.!! Everything was the same except the fans. I'm keeping the 9 blades in it. The inrunner motors are Freewing 3672-1900KV. Batteries are 8000mah 100Cs. 130 amp ESCs. I hope someone can use this info. Thanks for reading. John

[Dougcarr73]

Would you believe? Before I even got my hands on the 1857kv motors I came across and just ordered the unicorns, which produce nearly 8 lbs,. a piece... they are the FMS 80MM 3665 2100kv motors (https://www.horizonhobby.com/product...FMMDF0092.html) I've seen 3280 variants, but never a 3665. I think I ordered the only 2 motors they had in stock, because it says backorder again.

The reason for using the 1857s, or the 1920s is that they are literal drop in replacements, because they have the exact dimensions of the 1680kv stock outrunner. However, the FMS motors will require some foam shaving to get a proper fit due to a 3mm increase in both the length of the unit and diameter of its intake flange. How did you all cut, burn, or shave foam to get the MFS motors to fit?

Here's a quick vid of the latest FMS 2000kv option... https://youtu.be/TMTYajb2BQE

[GarrisonR]

Congrats on the build and maiden.
I have the 1920kv in my F14 (& Mig29) but not the 1857kv. My experience with experimenting between 9 and 12 blades in the same model is that the 12 blades provides more bite, better acceleration, part throttle performance.. and sound. The 9 blades offer lower amp draw all around and more "top speed".
Flight times depend on throttle usage, you can get similar flight times out of both setups depending on how the model is flown. If you're buzzing around full throttle a lot, 9 blades will yield slightly better flight times and can be really efficient flying scale too. Obviously a lot depends on the drag of the air frame (I feel like you already know this), a 9 blade fan in a draggy air frame will require more throttle so benefits are not quite there anyways. My T33 with the 1920kv flying around ,scale or touch and goes with a 6000 can stretch to like 6+ mins.
I'm happy with my setup up in the F14 but so are people with the FMS 12 blades that I've read about (I know not the 12b you asked about). I think unit price and sound are the two highest driving factors.

Edit* maybe weight too? I think the 1857kv 12b is a metal housing?

[Dougcarr73]

The third time's the charm! I used RC Geek's setup as the foundation for my approach to programming the F14. After a mixup with the aileron to elevon deflection in the first attempt and the left motor literally coming apart on the second, I finally had a beautiful flight, with a subsequent 3 more that were glorious.

One critical revelation that led to a successful 3rd maiden was that the trim while the wings are extended does not translate to the swept wing configuration, and vice versa; hence, every time I switched flight modes the plane would immediately jump to the previous configuration's trim setting causing the plane to snap quickly to that untrimmed configuration. To mitigate that from happening I used the LT/RT trim switches to adjust the ailerons while wings were extended and thankfully needed no trim while wings retracted, which resulted in completely seamless transitions between wing configurations.

I'm now going to upgrade the ESCs to the MIG-29 100s and the motors to the 1857kv inrunners. I deliberated extensively over whether to choose the 1920kv 9 blades over the 1857s, but I value more the sound of the 12 blade over the alleged speed of the 9 blade.

Does anyone have any experience with both the 1920kv and 1857kv motors in the F14 to be able to provide comparative comments (speed, power, sound, flight time, etc.)?

[Elbee]

I'm thinking about getting the arf+ and setting up my own power system as well as a dual independent fpv system like I made in the czT28.

RM, I also bought the ARF+. It is in the queue following the Corsair (which is coming along nicely). I can't imagine you'd be disappointed. Best, LB