Official Freewing F/A-18C Hornet 90mm EDF Thread

[xviper]

Hugh Wiedman Your suspicions and fears from several months ago appears to have come true for some planes. So far, I've been very fortunate in that any of the planes I put the HV batteries into have responded correctly. As far as my newest F/A-18 is concerned, it's built for 8s and I'm not going to use any of the HV batteries in it.
Have you tried charging the HV to "not quite" 4.35V/cell? Say, maybe 4.3 just for those obstinate planes?

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just a heads up on the new SMC HiV batteries. At 4.35 volts per cell, most of my Freewing ESC's read them as 6 cells, so no issues. However, of the 2 identical 90mm set-ups in my F-18 Canadian/F-18 Tiger Meet and my F-4 Phantom and F-4 Blue Angel, one of the F-18's and one of the F-4's ESC's read it wrong, only giving 2 beeps instead of the normal 6. Seems it is reading it as a 7 S, which means the normal cut-off voltage at 3.15 volts then comes to play at 22.05 volts thinking it's 7S instead of the 18.9 Volts of a normal 6S. Did some simulated bench test flights and after about 3 minutes of various throttle levels, at full throttle the motor/ESC begins erratically behaving. Thankfully I didn't test them out in actual flight! Oddly enough, this only happened with 2 FW 130 amp ESC's, while 3 other identical ones read it as 6S. Guess I need to somehow reprogram those 2 ESC's if I want to use a HiV battery in them. Could drop the cutoff to low at 2.85 Volts for 7S, which would come out to 19.95 volts (fine for 6S), but the initial beeps would still be off! The Castle ESC I have in my F-16 actually reads it as a 7S with 7 beeps and cuts off early as well, but I expected that one.

So just a word of caution with HiV, check it out first before flying! Worked fine on my Avanti, Stinger 90, A-10, one of the F-4's & F-18's, the Mig 29 and the E-Flight SU-30. Haven't tried them in the 90mm Corsair, Spitfire or other prop planes as I'm only planning on using HiV bats in some of the EDF's.

[Airguardian]

I often flew mine with the R-73s from the FW MiG-29.
Not scale, I know,, but they fit ;)

[xviper]

I'm using some from my 90mm F-16.

I see. Thanks, Hugh. I've never had a Freewing F-16 and I've used up all the missiles from my MiG29. I've mounted most of the MiG's missiles on the MiG and used some for wingtip missiles on my Gripen. I did manage to find some missiles about the right size. I can't remember which plane they came off of but the notches don't match, so I cut them off. I'll tack glue them onto the F-18 rails, just enough to hold them on during flight but not so much that I can't easily slice them off if I ever want to remove them. I'll do a little paint work to make them stand out like you did to yours. I think they will help with visibility on an all grey airplane.
I saw on the news today when the CF-18's did a fly over for remembrance day in Ottawa, that they had these under wing tanks. They looked kinda neat. I might see what I've got in the parts bin and consider doing up a set for my model.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Almost done assembling my "Gray" version of this plane and I've noticed the wingtip missile rails look somewhat "naked" without any rockets on them. Are there missiles that will fit onto those rails? I have all kinds of left over missiles from other planes but none look right and none have the proper spacing for the attachment points.

I'm using some from my 90mm F-16.

[jetpltrich]

Almost done assembling my "Gray" version of this plane and I've noticed the wingtip missile rails look somewhat "naked" without any rockets on them. Are there missiles that will fit onto those rails? I have all kinds of left over missiles from other planes but none look right and none have the proper spacing for the attachment points.

We loaded them with AIM9’s Sidewinders back in the day but they may take AMRAMS now. My F-4 had 4 Sidewinders I grabbed two and put them on, fills the plane out and makes it look like something.

[xviper]

Almost done assembling my "Gray" version of this plane and I've noticed the wingtip missile rails look somewhat "naked" without any rockets on them. Are there missiles that will fit onto those rails? I have all kinds of left over missiles from other planes but none look right and none have the proper spacing for the attachment points.

[Dave Matrix]

Thank you guys!

[Airguardian]

Real beauty! ^^

[Elbee]

Dave Matrix , Bravo Zulu, Sir. She is gorgeous! Best, LB

[Dave Matrix]

A few months ago I bought the Gray Diamonds version but decided to repaint it in the VFC -12 agressor no.7. I also used the 3d printed cockpit and ejectionseat parts from the Mirage and replaced the pilot. The pilot was from E-Fl... which I modified to a more scale looking. Decals are from Callie-graphics.

[InTheTubeDeep]

F18 pilots I will be selling all the spare parts from my crashed F18s, I'll post link to the Classifieds when its live, wings vert stabs ELEs retracts ESC to name a few parts!

[Evan D]

Right

[Jetbird]

LEDs can be found in packs and individually on Amazon and EBAY. I have packs of red, green and white. Maybe ask others at your field if they have one from a crashed plane?

Example- 10-100pcs 1W 3W High Power LED Chip Warm White Red Green Blue Yellow F Lamp Bulb | eBay

In the US- High Power 1W 3W 5W White Blue Red Green UV Violet RGB LED SMD Chip COB Lights | eBay

wrong

[Evan D]

LEDs can be found in packs and individually on Amazon and EBAY. I have packs of red, green and white. Maybe ask others at your field if they have one from a crashed plane?

Example- 10-100pcs 1W 3W High Power LED Chip Warm White Red Green Blue Yellow F Lamp Bulb | eBay

In the US- High Power 1W 3W 5W White Blue Red Green UV Violet RGB LED SMD Chip COB Lights | eBay

[Iamrcpilot]

My red LED burned out. I can't seem to find an replacement under the replacement part on the MotionRC site. Any recommendations for a replacement? Has anyone replaced either nav lights? It doesn't look very easy.

I have used the “GT Power” led light set in many of my airplanes, they are bright and have not burnt any out.

[Airguardian]

I just got this jet and so far imho its the worst jet ive flown. Slow and lethargic. THe books cg at 88mm is nott right, ive gone back as far as 110mm but still the same behavior. Ive tried gyro on and off but behavior stays the same. IM using a new 6s 5000mah top tier battery along with the freewing 130 amp esc and 90mm 12 blade 190kv freewing inrunner motor. Im at the my end of patience with this jet. I thought it would be much faster and lively with the reviews but mot impressed. Only thing good about it is it lands super easy cause its such a slow cadillac. I would like to know where people are centering their flaps for normal flight.

That doesn't sound right.

Of course a jet like this is not meant to be a speed demon, but the F-18 is pretty fast, and it doesn't like to land slow, so your review has me confused.

So, you are running the stock "high performance" 6S 1900kv EDF, correct?
It should be running a 9 blade EDF, not a 12 blade one so check that out, did you make a mistake or are you running the wrong rotor?

What timing have you set up on the ESC?

Define 'top tier battery' (brand and model, number of cycles and battery age).

Also, what altitude are you flying at?

What sort of runway do you operate from?
By any chance, has your rotor been damaged by from ingesting gravel or grass?

Are you sure you are talking about the Freewing F-18?
If so, I don't see what do you mean by 'flaps centering' since the flaps can only deflect down, so there is not much tuning to be done with them.

And unrelated, but I think speed is the least interesting parameter by which to judge a foam EDF.
Personally, I think hunting for speed is kinda pointless and boring, but to each their own... if that's what you enjoy, then, nothing to say!

( :

[xviper]

How badly do you want to replace just the one red light? You can get this kit for about 20 bucks ......................

https://www.motionrc.com/products/gt-power-aircraft-navigation-lighting-system-gtpnavairled

It contains 1 red solid LED, amongst all the others. Taking the cover is easy like LB said and even changing the bulb is not too bad. No need to yank out all the wiring. You pull out the dead bulb with whatever wiring will come with it. Cut the wiring near the buld (mark which is + and -). Take the new bulb and cut it with some wire hanging from the bulb and it's a simple job of a light solder onto the old wire ends. Stuff it all back in and secure the bulb the way the old one was (hot glue works). Put the cover back on AFTER you test it.
The other possibility is to find someone who crashed his F-18 and is willing to extract the bulb and mail it to you. Shouldn't cost that much to mail it.

[Elbee]

salali < to remove the LED, simply lift up a corner of the clear plastic cover and peel it off. You can easily reglue it with "kit glue". Finding a replacement Red LED might be more difficult. Motion RC doesn't really carry direct replacement bulbs, though you could use any of the red LEDs from any other replacement set available from motion I would think. I believe the RED LED's are 4 volt, but you can measure that from the "Blue Box" out put for the NAV lights. I bought Clear LED bulbs on eBay some time ago, but not certain about red. Best, LB

[salali]

My red LED burned out. I can't seem to find an replacement under the replacement part on the MotionRC site. Any recommendations for a replacement? Has anyone replaced either nav lights? It doesn't look very easy.