Official Freewing Twin 80mm F-14D Tomcat Thread

[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.

[Msethhunter]

I don't know what you are looking for?

Sorry, it autocorrected to week. Wheel covers. I'm doing a George Miller copy, but with rotating retracts and main gear doors.

[RRHandy]

Need some help. I've been looking for the file for the week covers on my F-14 to 3d print and can't find it. Anyone? Thanks.

I don't know what you are looking for?

[Msethhunter]

Need some help. I've been looking for the file for the week covers on my F-14 to 3d print and can't find it. Anyone? Thanks.

[evensen007]

Thank you both! Me and RCjetdude are going to go over this thing and make sure it's sound and I'm going to maiden it here in the next month or so. Can't wait to fly this thing!

crxmanpat ; That is great info; appreciate it!

[crxmanpat]

One other thing to look out for when buying a replacement servo. Take a look at the servo arm mount. If it's a gold color, it's a 17g MG Hybrid. If silver, it's a 17g full MG. You want to make sure you get a matching servo if you're only replacing one of them so that you have the same torque and travel.

Also, look at the wire lead of the one you need to replace. If the wiring is Orange/Red/Black, it's a Standard servo. If it's White/Red/Black it's a Reverse servo.

[mshagg]

Can someone tell me which servo on the spare parts page would replace the left wing flap servo?

https://www.motionrc.com/products/freewing-f-14-tomcat-twin-80mm-edf-jet-pnp#spare-parts-tab

Thanks!

Hi mate they list them all in the manual. Left wing flap servo is a positive (normal direction) 17g servo with a 500mm lead. I don't see that specific length, 550mm is probably fine.

[evensen007]

Can someone tell me which servo on the spare parts page would replace the left wing flap servo?

https://www.motionrc.com/products/freewing-f-14-tomcat-twin-80mm-edf-jet-pnp#spare-parts-tab

Thanks!

[xviper]

The Tomcat is super easy to fly! Compared to the SU-30, it is much easier and has a better feel! Fly the tomcat for the first few flights with the wings extended. Just don't sweep the wings until you have them set up right:)

Rich

This post is very encouraging to me. I have the SU-30 and the first and second flight, my butt was so clenched, you couldn't pull out a toothpick with pliers. However, each flight ended with greased landings and a huge sigh of relief. Every flight since has been the same, except with more comfort and relaxed feel. I look forward to the F-14. Just waiting for my new DX9 to arrived so I can finish programming.

[RCINFORMER]

I now see why this thing is considered so intimidating. I picked this up from Lance who got it from George (TiredIron), but never flew it! There is A LOT going on inside of this thing. I won't be flying this for quite a while as I advance my skills on the f4 and su30, but holy smokes it's amazing. For anyone around my age that used to have a GI Joe f-14 tomcat back in the mid 80's this thing is a dream come true. Lance gave me George's programming on an SD card and I really like the way he programmed it. He went 8 channel (so no full span flaps), but he mixed out all of the Aileron in wing swept mode. George also put in the A-10 power system. There's a hobby eagle gyro in there, but not connected so I don't know how I feel about that. When you pull the sweep mechanism cover off and see the absolute nightmare of wires under there it's pretty overwhelming. The left flap doesn't work, so I'm thinking it's possibly a burned out servo - no biggie. Oh, that slop in the elevators? Everything else is intact - she's got some rash and isn't perfect but jesus.... Pretty stunning.

The Tomcat is super easy to fly! Compared to the SU-30, it is much easier and has a better feel! Fly the tomcat for the first few flights with the wings extended. Just don't sweep the wings until you have them set up right:)

Rich

[Colorc]

Oops wasnt paying attention to the instructions for the new wing platters and glued the wood braces dead center with the platter hole when it was supposed to be off center so i could send the long bolt to a blind nut on the bottom of the wood brace. 😡 i was pretty mad at first when i discovered what i had done, but then i think if i just drill a hole into the top of the wood brace, i can send a screw down the center of it and should have enough strength for grass ops and hard landings.

[crxmanpat]

Yes.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4570836

And if you go to thingiverse and type "Freewing F-14" in the search box, you'll see nozzles for an A model, fuel tanks for underneath the intakes, replacement pitot tube for the nose and other printable goodies for the Tomcat.

[flyAA]

Recommended high rates on elevator, low rates on aileron, book rates on flaps. Yes, had I realized the gear was just reversed, I would have flipped the switch the other way, but I was flipping the switch too fast to see they were just reversed. The only reinforcement I did was the 3D printed landing gear plate as seen in this pic. I think that saved my nose gear on the first landing.

Nice work!! Is that nose brace available on Thingiverse?

[crxmanpat]

Yeah, those digital elevon servos "hunt" a little on the ground. No problems in the air though.

[mshagg]

Yeah the elevator servos are a bit sloppy but it doesnt seem to result in any bad tendencies in the air. But a lot of guys replace them, you just need a 'matching pair' as one of them is reversed. The hitec programmable servos are popular for that reason.

[crxmanpat]

Easy way to check the left flap servo (if you have a servo tester). Pull the wing cover off, unplug the flap servo from the junction board and hook it up to a servo tester (make sure the wings are out first). Sometimes the connector to the junction board just needs a tap.

You will like it with the A-10 power system. I put that in my first one after flying it stock for a while. Definitely could tell an improvement in thrust. Took less time to get off the ground and had better vertical. No much of an increase in speed, but having the added thrust is great.

For the "spaghetti mess" under the wing cover, zip ties and tape come in real handy here. Just make sure there are no wires over the screw holes.

[evensen007]

I now see why this thing is considered so intimidating. I picked this up from Lance who got it from George (TiredIron), but never flew it! There is A LOT going on inside of this thing. I won't be flying this for quite a while as I advance my skills on the f4 and su30, but holy smokes it's amazing. For anyone around my age that used to have a GI Joe f-14 tomcat back in the mid 80's this thing is a dream come true. Lance gave me George's programming on an SD card and I really like the way he programmed it. He went 8 channel (so no full span flaps), but he mixed out all of the Aileron in wing swept mode. George also put in the A-10 power system. There's a hobby eagle gyro in there, but not connected so I don't know how I feel about that. When you pull the sweep mechanism cover off and see the absolute nightmare of wires under there it's pretty overwhelming. The left flap doesn't work, so I'm thinking it's possibly a burned out servo - no biggie. Oh, that slop in the elevators? Everything else is intact - she's got some rash and isn't perfect but jesus.... Pretty stunning.

[crxmanpat]

Man, sorry to hear that Johnny. It sucks when "the Defense Department regrets to inform you that your sons are dead because they were stupid."

I almost did that on my second flight last weekend. Was dogfighting with my friend's F-4. When he put his gear down I decided to sweep the wings for a few passes before landing. As I was setting up for my second pass my timer went off unexpectedly as I was not paying enough attention during the dogfighting. My landing took longer than normal, and when I checked the packs I had 9% left. That was a close call.

[Johnnyrabuse]

These two go together like cornflakes and milk