Official Freewing Twin 80mm F-14D Tomcat Thread

[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

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah this one is more for high speed stuff kinda like my Flex Pirana. I really want speed coupled with pan and tilt. Only problem will be flight time, it'll be similar to my racing quad in that respect. I like race quads, but I just enjoy fixed wing fpv so much more. BTW here is a look from my T28 setup from both cameras

[xviper]

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.

That's what I did regarding the power system. This is heavy plane and it can use as much grunt as you can justify buying. As for FPV, I don't do that but this is also a plane that does not fly in a stable manner if it goes too slow - tends to have poor roll authority as it approaches its stall speed. If you are used to flying FPV "fast", then you should not have a problem. I have yet to retract the wings as I'm very nervous about the controllability of it in that configuration. The big T28 can be a slow flying, very stable platform so (IMO from past FPV experience) it should be more FPV friendly.

[rifleman_btx]

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.

[RRHandy]

Here's a link to the files:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JlX1cWid7Hb1cn6Bi0QuRpgoIGckLScJ?usp=sharing

What Elbee said.

[Elbee]

Here's a link to the files:

KL, Got It and thank you for sharing your work. Very kind. Best, LB

[kallend]

Not now....

Here's a link to the files:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JlX1cWid7Hb1cn6Bi0QuRpgoIGckLScJ?usp=sharing

[RRHandy]

Thingi seems to have come back to life now.

Not now....

[kallend]

KL, great looking pylon design. I followed your URL, got to Thingiverse, but Thingiverse seems to be reconstructing, (404 Errors). Could you post your design and STL files here, as well? Best, LB

Thingi seems to have come back to life now.

[Elbee]

In case anyone is interested, I have posted STL files for a weapons pylon on Thingiverse.To make it easier to print, it is in two pieces which are pegged and glued together.

KL, great looking pylon design. I followed your URL, got to Thingiverse, but Thingiverse seems to be reconstructing, (404 Errors). Could you post your design and STL files here, as well? Best, LB

[kallend]

In case anyone is interested, I have posted STL files for a weapons pylon on Thingiverse.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5138357

To make it easier to print, it is in two pieces which are pegged and glued together.

[radfordc]

Just wrapped up our latest project on the Freewing twin 80mm edf F-14 Tomcat.

Love the plane! But, cringed a bit at your username....you're not Sydney are you?

[Elbee]

Just wrapped up our latest project on the Freewing twin 80mm edf F-14 Tomcat. This one was painted after the VF-1 "Wolfpack" F-14 A Tomcat featuring this unique Ferris paint scheme....

KR, Absolutely Outstanding. She's a beauty, Sir. Best, LB

[kallend]

MRC is replacing my wing sweep servo.

Good customer service brings back repeat customers.

[Aros]

Well done! Before I clicked on the thumbs, I assumed they were all 1:1!

[krakenreleaser]

Some still shots along with some of the full scale reference photos

[krakenreleaser]

Just wrapped up our latest project on the Freewing twin 80mm edf F-14 Tomcat. This one was painted after the VF-1 "Wolfpack" F-14 A Tomcat featuring this unique Ferris paint scheme. We haven't seen any model, remote control or static display, in this awesome livery. BuNo 161290, NE 104, circa March 1983. Big thanks to Keith Svensden for snapping the original photos so we could recreate this beauty. There are only a handful of pics of plane out there, so we are super excited to bring this one back to life. 3d printed nozzles, wheel hubs, and pilots were added to customize the look and keep it true with the F-14 A model. Big shout out to T-cat (wheel hubs), the RC Geek (missle plyons) and chrisk83 (nozzles) for the 3d stl files. We also upgraded the power system with the mig 29 fans and escs, so it should rip. Painted two cockpits: one for flying and one with the canopy up for static display. Led twin afterburner kit by Gooniac.

Maiden this weekend.

Paint tutorial video below:

https://youtu.be/K5BR8L6xtcs

[kallend]

Did you try changing the length of that side's wing sweep rod so that it makes the wing butt up against the stop? I had that and playing with the rod length resolved the "schlopp" and both wings are fairly even swept out and in. What I had a problem with was that when measuring the wing tip elevation, one side was slightly lower than the other (warpage, maybe?). However, the plane seems to fly fine once trimmed.

I have a warpage issue too, but having built a FlyFly foamie, the F-14 doesn't seem too bad - nothing I'm concerned about.

I did change the rods but the left wing has more travel than the right regardless. I hope MRC will send a replacement sweep servo but in the interim I have 3D printed a collar to go around the output shaft to prevent it from wobbling so much.

[xviper]

Slowly putting the F-14 together and ran into a problem when installing the wings. The starboard side sweep servo output shaft has quite a lot of "slop" resulting in the wingtip being able to move back and forth by some 1/2 inch, and the travel range is a bit smaller than the port wing (which is rock solid) so the wings would either be asymmetrical when forward or when swept.

I notified MRC customer service and hope for a replacement servo under the 30 day warranty.

Did you try changing the length of that side's wing sweep rod so that it makes the wing butt up against the stop? I had that and playing with the rod length resolved the "schlopp" and both wings are fairly even swept out and in. What I had a problem with was that when measuring the wing tip elevation, one side was slightly lower than the other (warpage, maybe?). However, the plane seems to fly fine once trimmed.