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?
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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
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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.
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.Comment
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Good point on the wires, I made tunnels through the foam to keep mine out of the battery area.Comment
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Thanks you all, I made the cut, now downloaded the file. I really appreciate the help and heck yea on the wires, uuugh
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Mine was a very early one and took a lot of massaging to get the batteries where I wanted them, wires hidden and the cowl over the wing fold to fit acceptably. Some pics. Batteries were 705g 5000mAh Zippy Compacts.
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Probably down to the upside down RESCUE sticker...
But my pictures are the "after" pictures.Comment
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I forgot about that decal. Both of my F-14’s purchased about 5 years apart had the upside down Rescue decal. I wish that had been fixed after all this time. Most people don’t paint their jets, so it’s distracting and doesn’t look good. I knew I was painting mine, so it wasn’t an issue.
On the bright side, my first F-14 came with upside down Stars and Stripes on the nose section, but thankfully my second F-14 was correct. So, they did fix one of the upside down decals
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Well I got the tunnel and tray printed and installed, reciever is programmed so it's on to the maiden Wednesday. Upside down decals? Man you would think these were made in China or something lol my old eflite P40 flying tiger had the panda upside down too. I think I bought that 13-14 years ago. But hey it still flys like a world champ.
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Where you have the batteries in pic, where abouts does your cg ride in relation to the factory spec?Comment
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Sorry but that was long ago. By memory it was close to book balance.Comment
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I really enjoy reading all of the posts you guys make on the F-14. It’s one I aspire to having at some point, along with the F-104. Keep up the good work out there!Comment
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I haven't been following the F-14 thread these days, I had no idea so many people have done so many mods to it, I've had three so far and they all flew great stock in my opinion, I never tried full span flaps or anything but I did remove the upper batt. tray and slid it to the back and inline with the lower batt. tray, worked great after removing some foam in that area, used the velcro strap and all, real easy to do, mine flew great in stock form even in wing swept mode, I ended up liking at little aileron movement in swept mode myself, you don't need all these fancy mixes or anything to fly the F-14, anyone even fly it in stock form anymore??
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Excellent! Enjoy! Show us some pictures of the installs when you’re done. That usually helps people out and may help spark others ideas.Well I got the tunnel and tray printed and installed, reciever is programmed so it's on to the maiden Wednesday. Upside down decals? Man you would think these were made in China or something lol my old eflite P40 flying tiger had the panda upside down too. I think I bought that 13-14 years ago. But hey it still flys like a world champ.Comment
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