Official Freewing Twin 80mm F-14D Tomcat Thread

[Look ma, no trim]

Hey guys! Not sure if anyone is interested, but i have found a sweet little cache of Spektrum AR9350 ASMX rx's Canada.

they can be found here, if interested https://amr-rc.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=ar9350

they wont last , good luck!

[Turbinefancy]

Sharing another F-14 in-trail formation video. My flying bud Alex is getting good at staying on station

[mshagg]

Don't overthink the gyros on this plane. Run it on the tailerons (and rudder) and don't worry about the wing ailerons. The horizontal stabs have more than enough authority to stabilise the plane.

Radio setups on this plane are half of the fun.

I settled on an S8R and X8R to give 16 channels, 15 of which are in use i think and with gyro stabilsiation on the primary control surfaces.

[xviper]

Check your personal l email.. They're a little more expensive, but the simplicity and reliability are just convenient.. Ive never used a stand alone gyro, lol, do i need higher education to incorporate it into my line up? Lol

Thanks for the message. I appreciate it. I'll let you "let the cat out of the bag" when and if you want to. I find these AS3X RXs a bit new (for me anyway) and hard for me to understand how to efficiently program them. Others find them "child's play". On the other hand, I find stand alone gyros to be very simple to set up, although the current versions of the Lemon stabilized RXs PLUS are very simple to get going. I must admit, however, that the SAFE system on Spektrum RXs are far more reliable than the equivalent "auto recovery" system of other gyros.
As for your other question about the fans, The stock EDFs are "outrunners". You can't install an inrunner motor into an outrunner fan. It won't fit due to the way the motor is mounted and secured. You need a fan that's built to take an inrunner motor.

[Look ma, no trim]

when upgrading the motor for the f-14, do you have to buy the whole new meatl fan and all, or can you just swap the motors out of the fans?


thanks in advance !!

[Look ma, no trim]

I have a video of Tony flying this past Saturday. Working on that one tonight to post here. Both of these guys really know how to wring out their F-14s! Although, Tony is really just borrowing his F-14 from Evelyn, since Hannibal is hers. He's still working on his.

I was there when Evelyn flew her first circuit with Hannibal. Only matter of time before we get to see a father/daughter F-14 formation flight. Where's the popcorn!

Off topic question Alpha, but when upgrading the motor for the f-14, do you have to buy the whole new meatl fan and all, or can you just swap the motors out of the fans?


Thank you in advance!

[Look ma, no trim]

Those look like to be the inrunner

I did a test a while back on the stock 12 blade fans vs the inrunners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss6qE371seM&t=4s

Thanks for all the support regarding the main landing gear plates guys! Have some parts in the works for the F-18 too

Quick question, do you have to buy the metal fan power system for the upgrade, or can you just swap the motor out of the original housing? Thank you sir!

[Look ma, no trim]

Yes, you could. That would be the simplest and most versatile way. However, at this present time, Spektrum does not sell a 9-ch AS3X RX. It is rumored that they are going to offer one at some future date (unknown). The best they can offer now is an 8-ch AS3X RX. When/if it comes out, it'll likely cost ~$150.00 or more. For that price, I can buy a 10-ch RX AND 5 to 6 HobbyEagle gyros.

Check your personal l email.. They're a little more expensive, but the simplicity and reliability are just convenient.. Ive never used a stand alone gyro, lol, do i need higher education to incorporate it into my line up? Lol

[xviper]

Couldnt you just use the spektrum 9ch rx w/ASMX and avoid the dbl gyro? Asking for a friend😏

Yes, you could. That would be the simplest and most versatile way. However, at this present time, Spektrum does not sell a 9-ch AS3X RX. It is rumored that they are going to offer one at some future date (unknown). The best they can offer now is an 8-ch AS3X RX. When/if it comes out, it'll likely cost ~$150.00 or more. For that price, I can buy a 10-ch RX AND 5 to 6 HobbyEagle gyros.

[Look ma, no trim]

I'm NOT an F-14 pilot but ........................... You will likely have to do what SebArt does with their now discontinued Mig29. You use 2 gyros and some precise application of a "Y" or two. The Mig29 uses one gyro set to "normal" wing to stabilize the standard control surfaces and the second set to "delta" to stabilize and control the vector nozzles. You could do something similar. **However, you MUST have some way to shut down the gyro for the main wings anytime they are NOT in the fully extended position. I don't think you can rely upon putting the gyro ON/OFF on the same switch as the wing sweep as it will activate the gyro while the wings are being extended since the gyro will see that switch position as soon as you throw it (the extension sweep is very slow). You don't want the ailerons moving while the wings are still paritally retracted. The second gyro would be for the tailerons. Rudder can go in either gyro but I'd put it on the delta gyro.
**You may have to assign the "ON/OFF" of one or both gyros (on a "Y" or leave the delta ON all the time) to an unused switch and make sure you remember to throw that switch at the proper time.
The "Y" would come in where you need to split off the main ailerons and one of the tailerons to different gyros. EG, the "Y" comes out of the RX's AIL port - one split goes to the gyro for normal wing, then goes to the main ailerons (they need to be "Y'd"; the other side would go to the "delta" gyro and into the AIL port then to one of the tailerons). The ELE port of the RX goes to the ELE input of the "delta" gyro, then to the other taileron. TX is set to "normal wing, normal tail". You'll have to go trial and error to figure out which taileron goes to which gyro port and whether or not a servo reverser may be required. You are best to NOT mess with servo reversing on the TX, however, if the lone taileron needs reversing, you "could" do it on the TX. If the one that's split off from the main ailerons needs to be reversed, best to leave the TX alone and apply the reverser on that side of the split. Of course, get everything working as they should BEFORE installing the gyros so the directions are correct. You'll have to set the delta on the TX for this initial test and calibration for the tailerons, then again in "normal wing/tail" when testing the standard surfaces and when hooking up the gyros.

Couldnt you just use the spektrum 9ch rx w/ASMX and avoid the dbl gyro? Asking for a friend😏

[Turbinefancy]

Thanks Aros! The T-33 is such an easy, worry free plane to fly. Yet with a wide speed envelop, it’s a perfect camera platform for filming other jets. The F-14 on the other hand, gets my adrenaline pumping! I had one flight on it FPV, first ever in the F-14. Barely got it back on the ground in one piece. My friend Alex was too trusting with his plane...

[Aros]

Great footage! Nailed the landing too...Well done!

[Turbinefancy]

And here’s the video:

[Turbinefancy]

Some more pics. Enjoy!

[Turbinefancy]

I tried to shoot my own TopGun-like video clips with my buddy flying a Tomcat in trail formation using FPV. Thought I’d share some of the shots here:

[evensen007]

Thanks. Will be using 5000/6000's. RCjetdude crafted me a nice battery tray for the rear. I carved out a bunch of foam back there and it's good. It's really just time to bite the bullet and fly this thing. The only thing to fear is fear itself: and crashing your favorite jet in the whole wide world. :)

[xviper]

Will be working on mine tonight. What has been the consensus on how to set up the battery bay/config? The model I bought had the battery trays removed so it's kind of a blank slate. I want to keep it simple: I've seen multi-level battery trays (why?), back to back, stacked. What's my most simple and tried/true way of setting up the batteries to CG?

What batteries are you using? If you use 5000's, it may be necessary to do what RC Informer did. Remove the foam at the back of the compartment so that battery can be shoved all the way back to the metal plate. The second one directly in front of it. Check out his build video. If you are using 4000's, just go with the way the plane came. Put the second battery in the upper tray.

[evensen007]

Will be working on mine tonight. What has been the consensus on how to set up the battery bay/config? The model I bought had the battery trays removed so it's kind of a blank slate. I want to keep it simple: I've seen multi-level battery trays (why?), back to back, stacked. What's my most simple and tried/true way of setting up the batteries to CG?

[vduniec]

Finally, after 4 years of talking about it, and crashing the first one before I could do it, it's finally done!

Maiden report of my Freewing F-14 repainted in VF-1 Wolfpack colors circa 1975. This is actually my second Freewing F-14, so I already knew how she handled. The only major difference between my first one and this one is I put a pair of the T-33 fans/inrunners in it after removing the stock system, and added Chris Wolfe's (Thercgeek.com) twin burners for 36mm inrunners.

On the first flight my landing gear somehow got reversed in the radio even after I had tested it out on the ground the night before, so the first flight was with gear down the whole time. Was a little worried about it so I landed early without getting it properly trimmed. It also made me rush the landing and it bounced and scraped a wingtip up a little. No other damage though.

The second flight from which these pics came (thanks greenseaships!) I went up with wyldkrd flying his E-Flite F-4 and we did a little dogfighting. The gear went up properly and I managed to swing the wings for one pass. I was about to make another low pass for the camera with the wings back when my timer went off, so I threw the wings out and rushed the landing again. Only a small bounce that time.

Next time I fly I'll put the ordnance and tanks on. The inrunners work really well on this bird. She gets off the ground much faster than the old stock power system, and definitely has more thrust and speed. I also added a few scale details that I 3D printed, namely some A-model nozzles and nose gear plate (thanks ChrisK!), pitot tube, NACA ducts for the ESCs and a fuel dump vent. I replaced the cheese grater venting on the belly with some thin styrene and added the NACA ducts for cooling.

Here's a bunch of pics, I should have some vid of the maiden later.

Looks great! Bravo Zulu.

That‘a one of the schemes I was considering. I did their sister squadron from the same era. Both squadrons tested an experimental scheme on their CAG aircraft designed by aviation artist Keith Ferris.

[RRHandy]

I do not believe there is or have been shared at least.