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

[Elbee]

I'm new to RCs. But I just bought the new this last week. Are the ailerons and elevator tails supposed to work together when turning? Having observes the an actually F-18 flying, I've noticed the read elevator tails go in opposite directions one up on down when turning. Is the something that can be programmed into the servos?

A149, Welcome to Hobby Squawk. Glad you are here and please post pics as your build progresses. Best, LB

[Archo149]

Jets and Wings and James . Thanks for the tip. I actually had a friend of mine with me. He has a little more experience than I do with simpler planes but wasn't sure about my question about the ailerons and elevators on the hornet. But he flew my plane first and then handed it off to me. I actually didn't do so bad. I guess I'm a natural. I picked up on it pretty quick.

Elbee I just posted a pic of my Hornet.

[James]

Jets and Wings and James . Thanks for the tip. I actually had a friend of mine with me. He has a little more experience than I do with simpler planes but wasn't sure about my question about the ailerons and elevators on the hornet. But he flew my plane first and then handed it off to me. I actually didn't do so bad. I guess I'm a natural. I picked up on it pretty quick.

Elbee I just posted a pic of my Hornet.

Fantastic! I'm sure it will be the first of many more in your future. They are just a tad bit addicting

[Elbee]

Jets and Wings and James . Thanks for the tip. I actually had a friend of mine with me. He has a little more experience than I do with simpler planes but wasn't sure about my question about the ailerons and elevators on the hornet. But he flew my plane first and then handed it off to me. I actually didn't do so bad. I guess I'm a natural. I picked up on it pretty quick.

Elbee I just posted a pic of my Hornet.

A1, Great looking Hornet. Bravo Zulu, Sir. Congrats on your successful first check flight. Best, LB

[Jets and Wings]

Jets and Wings and James . Thanks for the tip. I actually had a friend of mine with me. He has a little more experience than I do with simpler planes but wasn't sure about my question about the ailerons and elevators on the hornet. But he flew my plane first and then handed it off to me. I actually didn't do so bad. I guess I'm a natural. I picked up on it pretty quick.

Elbee I just posted a pic of my Hornet.

Great to hear about the successful flight. Have fun and many more Happy Landings!!!

[Bellke]

Putting together my F-18 and went to bind it to center the servos and I have an extra lead and can't see where it plugs in at. It's the 2 wire lead coming from the BEC and I'm assuming it goes into the blue box but don't see where on the blue box diagram(s). Kind of hard to see since the box is buried into the fuselage but I'm thinking it's MCB-E version. Or would the BEC lead go into the receiver (AUX2?). Where ever it goes, I'm guessing it's the reason I'm not getting power to the receiver. Any help would be appreciated.

[Aros]

Yep, that little lead needs to go in one of your open RX ports like AUX 2. That will fix it!

[Brinka]

This past week I installed a new centerburner for my F18, I'm using an older Freewing F16 130 amp ESC and 90mm Outrunner EDF set up. So after flying flawless for 3 flights all of a sudden midflight while going vertical I see smoke, and had no power, I saved the jet and did a deadstick landing.

Okay so intially I thought my EDF motor burned out because of the afterburner light, but after inspection I noticed the negative lead wire from the ESC was disconnected from the EC5 connector! So I immediately started to think since it's an older ESC power set up that perhaps the soldering became loose. So after further inspection I found the source of the smoke which was the negative wire from the ESC wire that connects to reciever.

I re-soldered and replaced the wire, with good clean connections, then tested my work and after running full throttle for 2 min, my EC5 connector became extremely hot, where it can melt my solder connection, which after all is the source of my issue, excessive heat during full throttle use.
Now also keep in mind I had disconnected Afterburner light during testing. And had same results.

I never had an issue with this power set up until now after the AB light, I'm thinking bc I wanted to see the light more during the flight, that I'm using too much throttle? Or is there an issue my EDF motor/ ESC?

Pardon the long post but I need help here.

[Evan D]

Sounds like a bad connection in your EC5. Bad connection means resistance, resistance causes heat. I would replace that connector.

[Archo149]

I have the IMAX SkyRC B6AC V2 Charger. What are your suggestions for the best way to charge your batteries when out in the field when you don't have access to a plug. Charge it from you car through the 12 volt power socket with a power inverter or directly from the battery. And has anyone kept track of how long say a 6000mah lipo battery takes to charge from almost empty to full?. Also seems balance charging is the safest way to charge but would the fast charge feature be just as safe? Which settings do you all charge you batteries balance/regular/fast?

[Elbee]

I have the IMAX SkyRC B6AC V2 Charger. What are your suggestions for the best way to charge your batteries when out in the field when you don't have access to a plug. Charge it from you car through the 12 volt power socket with a power inverter or directly from the battery. And has anyone kept track of how long say a 6000mah lipo battery takes to charge from almost empty to full?. Also seems balance charging is the safest way to charge but would the fast charge feature be just as safe? Which settings do you all charge you batteries balance/regular/fast?

AR, I have not charged through the A/C outlet as ours is limited to like 1400 watts. I just charge directly of a 12V Deep Cycle Interstate marine battery. No worries ever. As for settings, I use 'balance' every time, but I have several batteries and charge all before I head out to the field. Best, LB

[xviper]

A cigarette lighter outlet is not very many amps. I doubt it will handle having a charger plugged into it via an inverter and then a LiPo charger on top of that. Hooking up a LiPo charger directly the battery may get you one or two charges for a 6000mah battery before it's too dead to start the car. To do it without fear of blowing a fuse or draining the car battery, the better option is to buy yourself a generator large enough to handle batteries that size. A couple guys used to charge at the field from their cars. Nobody does anymore. They all have generators. Tough being the last one at the field and not being able to go home.

[Archo149]

A cigarette lighter outlet is not very many amps. I doubt it will handle having a charger plugged into it via an inverter and then a LiPo charger on top of that. Hooking up a LiPo charger directly the battery may get you one or two charges for a 6000mah battery before it's too dead to start the car. To do it without fear of blowing a fuse or draining the car battery, the better option is to buy yourself a generator large enough to handle batteries that size. A couple guys used to charge at the field from their cars. Nobody does anymore. They all have generators. Tough being the last one at the field and not being able to go home.

XViper That's a great idea! I've actually been thinking about purchasing a generator myself just to have for tailgating and for emergencies. Thanks!

[xviper]

XViper That's a great idea! I've actually been thinking about purchasing a generator myself just to have for tailgating and for emergencies. Thanks!

I've considered it myself, but I have so many batteries that I take enough for each plane to the field that when I'm done all the batteries, it's time to go home anyway. From watching other guys charge batteries at the field from their car battery, charging only 2200mah, 3s batteries in pairs, they can usually manage to charge about 3 sets. After the 4th set, the car won't start. On the other hand, if you don't mind running the car the whole time you're at the field, then you can do as many batteries (even big mah ones) as you like although that's sort of like having a generator running, isn't it? -- a very expensive generator.

[Archo149]

I've considered it myself, but I have so many batteries that I take enough for each plane to the field that when I'm done all the batteries, it's time to go home anyway. From watching other guys charge batteries at the field from their car battery, charging only 2200mah, 3s batteries in pairs, they can usually manage to charge about 3 sets. After the 4th set, the car won't start. On the other hand, if you don't mind running the car the whole time you're at the field, then you can do as many batteries (even big mah ones) as you like although that's sort of like having a generator running, isn't it? -- a very expensive generator.

xviper how many amps do you charge your batteries at? I've heard different answers. 2A seems to be the default setting. But I've also heard depending on battery capacity. Like a 2A for a 2000mah. 3A for 3000mah 4A for 4000mah 5A for 5000mah and 6A for 6000mah. I'm just trying to find out the quickest and also safest way to charge my batteries because right now I have 3 batteries. I have one 6000 that was with my purchase of the plane a 5200 and a 6500.

[xviper]

xviper how many amps do you charge your batteries at? I've heard different answers. 2A seems to be the default setting. But I've also heard depending on battery capacity. Like a 2A for a 2000mah. 3A for 3000mah 4A for 4000mah 5A for 5000mah and 6A for 6000mah. I'm just trying to find out the quickest and also safest way to charge my batteries because right now I have 3 batteries. I have one 6000 that was with my purchase of the plane a 5200 and a 6500.

The quickest way is to charge at how many "C" the battery will allow. Some batteries state on the label how much you can go. However, I always charge at "1C", which is how ever many amps the battery capacity is. IE, if 2200mah, I charge at 2.2A. If 5000mah, I charge at 5A, regardless of cell count. This will preserve your batteries for better longevity and optimize the number of duty cycles you can charge. I've seen battery state "5C", which means you can charge up to 5 times the mah that it is but this generally will reduce the useful lifespan of the battery. If taken care of, a LiPo can last 300 duty cycles or more. I've seen poorly handled batteries last no more than a couple dozen duty cycles before they no longer put out what they were meant to nor can they take a decent charge anymore.

[Brinka]

Sounds like a bad connection in your EC5. Bad connection means resistance, resistance causes heat. I would replace that connector.

You just might be on to something, I will replace the EC5 connector with new one.

[Archo149]

Legacy Hornet ready to take flight in front of the USS Hornet Carrier

[Elbee]

Hornet Howners Hassociation, et al, are there any/many reinforcement doodads inside the Verticals? You know, carbon rods, plywood plates, that kind-o-thing hidden exactly where the Nav Lights, Formation lights and beacons are? Our X-Ray machine is on the fritz and I'm wanting to do some out-patient surgery this afternoon. I just thought I'd ask before blindly cutting up a perfectly good Vert. Best, LB

[Icarus the 2nd]

Hornet Howners Hassociation, et al, are there any/many reinforcement doodads inside the Verticals? You know, carbon rods, plywood plates, that kind-o-thing hidden exactly where the Nav Lights, Formation lights and beacons are? Our X-Ray machine is on the fritz and I'm wanting to do some out-patient surgery this afternoon. I just thought I'd ask before blindly cutting up a perfectly good Vert. Best, LB

Maybe this can get you started. Here's a picture showing where I did cut a groove (grey line) to run the wiring in for the tail ligt and beacons on the rudder, I didn't run in any plastic or reinforcements, it was foam only. There's nothing to be seen of this mod on the front sides of the rudders as all the wiring runs on the back side of the rudders.

[Elbee]

I-2, Thank you. Best, LB