Official Freewing Twin 80mm F-14D Tomcat Thread

[Alpha]

Hi, so far, the Freewing jets converted are the 70mm Sabre, SU35, Yak130 and F104 Starfighter. All flew extremely well, but some worse than the others! The F104 was probably too heavy and wasn't fun to fly, so converted back to EDF and sold it. The Yak was fantastic, but the undercarriage could not stand up to grass operations, so same fate as the 104. The Sabre and SU35 are fantastic flyers with the P20 turbine and generally, the converted turbine version works out lighter than it's EDF version with a 5000 6S LiPo in it. I find that 700 MLs of fuel is good for 6-7 minutes of flying, plus it's lighter by the end of the flight!.
Other small jets that I have are a Sebart mini Avanti with a K30 , a Taft Viper with a K45 and a HobbyKing Skysword with a P20 in it. Previous jets converted but also sold were a CMP Couger and Hawk. I have all electronics and the pump mounted in a small ply cradle, and this plus the engine can be swapped out into another air-frame in about 5 minutes. I have now sold all of my large turbine jets to fund my small ones and they are just so easy to transport and operate. Recently, I attended a jet day and had four fully assembled jets in the back of my Kia Sorrento wagon!! In the past, I had to use my model trailer, which has now also gone. The F14 will be a very interesting model because it will be minus two big batteries plus two EDF's and speed controllers. The K30 with about 600 mills of fuel weights approximately one kg, so I'm guessing a take off weight of 4 kgs is feasible. These pictures show just some of my conversions, and I try to keep it simple by making my own pipes and fuel tanks. Mounts for small turbines can be kept very light because there is no vibration and only 3 kgs of thrust is generated. I'm still reading through this excellent thread but will probably need help programming my DX18 to get the most out of this jet, and delivery is still at least three weeks away, so will certainly post progress once I start on it.

I flew a Sebart Avanti with a P20 and most agreed the K45 would be a better fit, although officially those in charge disclaimed its use. How do you like the K30? Speaking of fuel tanks, are you using water bottles? I ask because you mentioned "simple".

I look forward to seeing your F-14 when it's ready to fly!

[Aussie1]

I’ll post the file if no one else does. The IX-12 is the same file as the DX-18. I did the file swap the other way around when I got the new TX.

C17, thanks mate, will really appreciate that! Interestingly enough, I bought a IX12, but didn't like it so the shop let me swap it out with the DX18.

[Aussie1]

I flew a Sebart Avanti with a P20 and most agreed the K45 would be a better fit, although officially those in charge disclaimed its use. How do you like the K30? Speaking of fuel tanks, are you using water bottles? I ask because you mentioned "simple".

I look forward to seeing your F-14 when it's ready to fly!

Alpha, the K30 transformed my Avanti, as the weight stayed about the same, but thrust increased from 5 pounds to nearly eight. I have another K30 on order, which will go int the F14, so watching that Swiss guy in my link gives me confidence that I'm on the right track. I still have three EDF jets, put for me, big batteries are a pain in the ....! Regarding fuel tanks, the local drug store or supermarket are your friend, because of the variety of clear plastic containers available. I only use Sullivan and DuBro fuel fittings and Walbro felt clunks from a lawnmower shop.

[Evoman]

Hi, so far, the Freewing jets converted are the 70mm Sabre, SU35, Yak130 and F104 Starfighter. All flew extremely well, but some worse than the others! The F104 was probably too heavy and wasn't fun to fly, so converted back to EDF and sold it. The Yak was fantastic, but the undercarriage could not stand up to grass operations, so same fate as the 104. The Sabre and SU35 are fantastic flyers with the P20 turbine and generally, the converted turbine version works out lighter than it's EDF version with a 5000 6S LiPo in it. I find that 700 MLs of fuel is good for 6-7 minutes of flying, plus it's lighter by the end of the flight!.
Other small jets that I have are a Sebart mini Avanti with a K30 , a Taft Viper with a K45 and a HobbyKing Skysword with a P20 in it. Previous jets converted but also sold were a CMP Couger and Hawk. I have all electronics and the pump mounted in a small ply cradle, and this plus the engine can be swapped out into another air-frame in about 5 minutes. I have now sold all of my large turbine jets to fund my small ones and they are just so easy to transport and operate. Recently, I attended a jet day and had four fully assembled jets in the back of my Kia Sorrento wagon!! In the past, I had to use my model trailer, which has now also gone. The F14 will be a very interesting model because it will be minus two big batteries plus two EDF's and speed controllers. The K30 with about 600 mills of fuel weights approximately one kg, so I'm guessing a take off weight of 4 kgs is feasible. These pictures show just some of my conversions, and I try to keep it simple by making my own pipes and fuel tanks. Mounts for small turbines can be kept very light because there is no vibration and only 3 kgs of thrust is generated. I'm still reading through this excellent thread but will probably need help programming my DX18 to get the most out of this jet, and delivery is still at least three weeks away, so will certainly post progress once I start on it.

Your conversions are very intriguing! However if I were to do it and could only afford one turbine I would stick to single engine models to keep it simple and for a more scale clean look.
Now I just need a Viggen.

[Aussie1]

Your conversions are very intriguing! However if I were to do it and could only afford one turbine I would stick to single engine models to keep it simple and for a more scale clean look.
Now I just need a Viggen.

I found that you have to be very creative when converting EDF jets to turbine. Most of my jets are actually single engine aircraft anyway, but I have been told that around 350 K30’s have been sold, so if that’s the case, then there will be alot more foam jets out there, especially Freewing, because they are such a quality product. Underslung engines have many advantages, but someone on here has done a F22 with a offset thrust tube, and it seems to fly well.

[Alpha]

Evoman, have you seen www.aerotetris.com? Break out the puzzle pieces!

[Hardway]

Evoman, have you seen www.aerotetris.com? Break out the puzzle pieces!

Wow!! ;):Cool::Whew:

[dlink72]

So I was able to mount my AR12310T along with the AS3000 gyro. The AS3000 is small enough that it fits perfectly on the cg point. It's not the cleanest setup but everything fits fine. I know it seems overkill, but I am looking forward to trying the forward programing function of the ix-12 along with the AS3000. I was able to mount a satellite receiver in each esc bay and one in the nose. Instead of using a backup battery, I wired the BEC directly to the #1 battery connection. I have tested under load and the receiver holds 5 volts without any issue. Otherwise I did the modifications that RCGeek suggested on his blog as I plan to run two hobby star 6200mah batteries. I downloaded the spectrum file from his site and it works perfect with the ix-12. I just made a few changes to suit my setup. Just curious if anyone else has tried the setup mokwichi posted in his video seen here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8wwTyCvpeU I am interested in the idea of running the batteries and esc's in parallel, but I'd like to know the pros vs. the cons of this setup. Maiden coming soon!

[Evoman]

Evoman, have you seen www.aerotetris.com? Break out the puzzle pieces!

I really found Aero tetris models fascinating! The building concept is far more achievable by the average person than balsa and minus the weight. My only gripe about them is that if you want to put in landing gear the mounts will have to be designed and fabricated.
Other than that the Viggen model was available in three sizes, I say was because the smallest 1100mm model that I realistically would have space for seems to no longer be in stock or production.

[dkalwishky]

Rich at RC Informer has a new build video with a new battery tray mod for this plane.

https://youtu.be/77Ue4We-B5s

[TiredIronGRB]

Got tired of the stock nozzles and scaled these to fit it ;)

Credit to Rcfiddy1 on Thingiverse for the file.

[e4dragongunner]

OH HELL YES!!!

[Rcfiddy1]

Looks Awesome.....Glad you like them.

[TiredIronGRB]

Looks Awesome.....Glad you like them.

These are awesome, can you make a version where the end tips are thicker.

[Rcfiddy1]

Sure, Ill sit with it tonite when I get home. Your talking about the small tid bits at the end that stick out past the edge?

[TiredIronGRB]

Sure, Ill sit with it tonite when I get home. Your talking about the small tid bits at the end that stick out past the edge?

Yes, they are half the thickness of the cone for about the last 1.5mm.

[Rcfiddy1]

Ok done. I bumped them out 1.5mm more. Would you happen to know the diameters of the nozzles both inside and out and airframe side and outlet side? I will try and model a new nozzle based on the size you give me. Or I can rip mine off my tomcat and measure them if you don't know the measurements.

[fhhuber]

Pay attention to final outlet diameter. Its important to how the EDF functions

[Evoman]

The new F-14B module was just released yesterday for the DCS World simulator and it has been chore just learning all of the landing procedures.
I am still learning to land on a runway following the landing pattern you need to know to land on an aircraft carrier. Do any of you follow a similar pattern when landing?

[seaviper]

I just downloaded my F-14 yesterday. I ALWAYS fly the CASE 1 when flying the hornet, whether at a land base or the boat. Another good video is Lex Talonis's case1 tutorial. He is a former hornet driver and flies DCS.

Anyway, I need to go through the manual, get some checklists printed, and train up on the Tomcat.