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

[Waconut]

Hugh Wiedman
Without doing major surgery up front and moving the board to the front and moving the battery back you may have to add weight. If you go to rotometals.com they sell lead wire in about any diameter you want ie: 1/8 or 1/4. They sell it by the foot with no minimum. You could add this at the very end of the exhaust tube and never see it and get the biggest bang for your buck. Sucks having to add weight but you have to do what you have to do sometimes.
Good Luck!!
Anthony

[Hugh Wiedman]

Waconut Thanks Anthony for the advice. Still interested in what CG most are using, but spoke with Brinka and since he will end up doing the maiden, he flies his by the book at 88 mm. We racked our brains trying to figure out why mine came in so nose heavy, even with the repaint/graphics/AB and couldn't come up with a logical answer since most of that actually should make it more tail heavy. Then he suggested I weigh the 3D cockpit and voila, that's the culprit. Turns out my rebuilt cockpit with "Arnold" at the sticks weighed in at 190 grams. I still had the original cockpit that the jet came with (bought a spare so I could work on the cockpit at my own speed before I spent the money on the jet), and found it weighed in at 57 grams. WOW, what a difference, 133 grams. Now I know why it will only balance with the battery all the way back (hitting the blue circuit board) and another 3 ounces (85 grams) of lead in the back. I'm going to inlay the lead in the space where the elevator servos are so they will be covered by the plastic plate and out of site. Guess this baby is going to be quite the fat arse, but that's going to be Brinka's problem on the maiden. May have to eventually switch out the fan with the same 12 blade inrunner (which is now out of stock) that I have in my F-16, but we'll see.

[Dustman]

Waconut how did you do your rivets?

[Waconut]

Waconut how did you do your rivets?

I cut low tack vinyl stencils. The rivets are .050 in dia. The strips are 1/2” wide. I get 24 strips out of a 12”x12” sheet. I then airbrush the rivets. I get about 4 uses out of each strip. I used about 65 strips doing my F-4.

[Evan D]

I found the book 88 too nose heavy for my liking and have about 130 flights on mine at 93mm.

I tried to balanced it at the book 88 mm from the leading edge wing root and with the battery as far back as possible, it's at 83 mm. To get it to 88 mm...

Any thoughts out there on the correct CG and/or how she might fly being that nose heavy if I don't add weight?

[Elbee]

Just finishing up the F-18 Canadian Demo version and need some advice from all the super brains out there. I was concerned that I might be tail heavy after installing a twin afterburner, adding several coats of paint and urethane, adding the heavier 3D cockpit (although that's nose weight) and installing 10 pounds of graphics, but it seems that it is just the reverse. I put a Roaring Top 6250 ( which is actually 24g lighter than the Admiral 6000) and even with the battery all the way back hitting the circuit boards, it's still nose heavy! Makes no sense to me but it is. I tried to balanced it at the book 88 mm from the leading edge wing root and with the battery as far back as possible, it's at 83 mm. To get it to 88 mm, I'll need to add 3 ounces of lead to the tail, that's 12 1/4 ounce squares of lead, which is something I definitely do not want to do. I hate to add more weight to any plane as I think it's heavy enough with all the paint/graphics/AB/etc. And adding that much weight to the tail seems sacrilegious.

Any thoughts out there on the correct CG and/or how she might fly being that nose heavy if I don't add weight? I fly off grass so have to balance between too much weight in the nose and not getting off the deck, or too little and having it bounce and lift off early and stall (as some have had happen).

I'll probably post some pictures in the next couple of days but somewhat confounded by the CG issue. I'm using the Great Planes CG Balancing machine so fairly certain I have it measured correctly.

Hugh-b-doo-b-doo, I would look at adding balance weight as far aft as possible to counter-balance using the least amount of extra dead weight. So that written, I would look at using weights similar to those in the Corsair and placing those in the Elevator Servo Bays facing aft toward the nozzles. That location is as far aft as any and there is enough foam thickness to accommodate a variety of shapes. Use a round brass tube to cut the holes and epoxy which will also add some weight. Best, LB

[Alpha10]

Man, I really want to jump on this one again... I got the first pre-order batch when it was released ans had the infamous elevator failure death : /

Any news if/when Freewing will be addressing those issues from the factory and do a V2?

[James]

Man, I really want to jump on this one again... I got the first pre-order batch when it was released ans had the infamous elevator failure death : /

Any news if/when Freewing will be addressing those issues from the factory and do a V2?

All the issues that Freewing found from that first batch have been addressed. Freewing went with the all-metal servo for the elevator vs the hybrid and shored up the elevator mount. And as always, we are here to support you if something goes awry, but thousands of these are flying and flying great. The 2 I have here are from the first batch and I still have the hybrid servo and just manually glued in the elevator mount and never had the issue.

If you want an F-18, get you an F-18!

[Alpha10]

All the issues that Freewing found from that first batch have been addressed. Freewing went with the all-metal servo for the elevator vs the hybrid and shored up the elevator mount. And as always, we are here to support you if something goes awry, but thousands of these are flying and flying great. The 2 I have here are from the first batch and I still have the hybrid servo and just manually glued in the elevator mount and never had the issue.

If you want an F-18, get you an F-18!

Oh sweeet! I'm gettin it... 12s here we come! 😁

Thanks buddy! 👍

[Waconut]

After taking the better half grocery shopping this morning I finish up the rivets on the wings and I did 1/2 the fuselage. I took a break from the rivets to mask and spray the flat black on the nose and around the canopy. I am doing the Silver Eagles livery. I also received my graphics today and the dual lightburner.
Will finish up the rivets tomorrow.

[Waconut]

Hi guys,
I need some advice on applying the fin/rudder graphics from Callie. The Silver Eagles graphic is one large vinyl decal that covers the entire fin/rudder. I am assuming apply with the wet method to get the position correct then apply light heat from a hair dryer and work it down with a sponge to get it to conform?
I will be ready to start applying the graphics tomorrow.
Thanks!!
Anthony

[Evan D]

Applying wet is okay but I would just blot it dry and ensure it stays down in nooks and corners. Applying heat may cause shrinkage.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Agree with Evan D , I wouldn't apply any heat. Just finished applying Callie's graphics for the Canadian Demo version (pictures to follow) and the large maple leafs could only be applied via the wet method. I applied all graphics (except the smaller ones) with the wet method as described on her website so each could be aligned properly. Just takes a little longer and use a credit card to swipe the water off. The only one I had to do slightly different, was the big maple leaf solid graphics, as they covered several uneven areas. Still did the wet method, but I removed both the top and bottom papers before installing as leaving the top piece on did not facilitate applying it over curves and other areas cleanly. If you are on a flat area, then leaving the top cover on until it dries works great and you can align it properly when you first put it down.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Finally almost finished with the F-18 Corona Hornet Canadian Demo livery. This is one of the few schemes that fit my outrageous personality so I didn't have to add any additional paint schemes or mix and add graphics from different schemes to get where I wanted to be. I must say that this definitely was the most time consuming build/repaint I have ever done, took 3 weeks to do the cockpit and another 3 weeks to finish the plane. If I wasn't in lock-down, I'm not sure I would have had the patience to do it, but now that's it's done, I'm very happy with it. I calculated that in order to get as much flight time on it as I have in build time, I will need to accomplish 3,250 three minute flights. Definitely something to be said for unbox, assemble and immediately go fly. Thankfully I didn't live in Michigan or I would not been allowed to go to Home Depot and get the paint, Rustoleum Gloss Spray Strawberry Fields, almost a perfect match for Callie's graphics. Added a twin LED afterburner as well and a few other minor modifications. The last thing left is setting up the D/R and final balancing, which is usually no problem, but the cockpit ended up weighing 190 grams (vs the 53 grams of the plain stock cockpit) making it very nose heavy. I moved the "blue box" back as far as possible (so I could move the battery further back) and will be adding about 3 ounces of lead to the tail in the elevator servo bays (I'll post some photos when that's completed).



Yes, I know a demonstration team doesn't carry ordinance, but the missals are just too cool to leave off, so no snide remarks.

Since I can't go to the field and fly yet, did a video on this F-18 static on the ground:

[uscanuck1xa]

Finally almost finished with the F-18 Corona Hornet Canadian Demo livery. This is one of the few schemes that fit my outrageous personality so I didn't have to add any additional paint schemes or mix and add graphics from different schemes to get where I wanted to be. I must say that this definitely was the most time consuming build/repaint I have ever done, took 3 weeks to do the cockpit and another 3 weeks to finish the plane. If I wasn't in lock-down, I'm not sure I would have had the patience to do it, but now that's it's done, I'm very happy with it. I calculated that in order to get as much flight time on it as I have in build time, I will need to accomplish 3,250 three minute flights. Definitely something to be said for unbox, assemble and immediately go fly. Thankfully I didn't live in Michigan or I would not been allowed to go to Home Depot and get the paint, Rustoleum Gloss Spray Strawberry Fields, almost a perfect match for Callie's graphics. Added a twin LED afterburner as well and a few other minor modifications. The last thing left is setting up the D/R and final balancing, which is usually no problem, but the cockpit ended up weighing 190 grams (vs the 53 grams of the plain stock cockpit) making it very nose heavy. I moved the "blue box" back as far as possible (so I could move the battery further back) and will be adding about 3 ounces of lead to the tail in the elevator servo bays (I'll post some photos when that's completed).



Yes, I know a demonstration team doesn't carry ordinance, but the missals are just too cool to leave off, so no snide remarks.

Since I can't go to the field and fly yet, did a video on this F-18 static on the ground:

Beautiful looking model there! Excellent work!! This is my favorite F-18 scheme I I have mentioned this before in this thread to those who have done versions of this jet: the maple leaf roundels in the graphics is incorrect as it is the pre-1965 style roundel. See attached photo for the correct version.

[T-CAT]

That looks awesome, Hugh!

[Aros]

Hugh, that is FANTASTIC! Great job man!

[xviper]

The difference between the two roundels is so subtle as to be un-noticeable for 99% of people looking. I can't tell and I'm looking. Maybe to the "scale police" but I don't care much for those types anyway. Hugh, don't worry about it. "She's a wrap"!
If this were mine, I would not risk flying it and chance putting a scrape in it.

[Waconut]

Hugh Wiedman
She looks awesome. My hats off to you for picking such a difficult paint scheme and you nailed it. Anyone would be proud to have that in their fleet.

[Hugh Wiedman]

The difference between the two roundels is so subtle as to be un-noticeable for 99% of people looking. I can't tell and I'm looking. Maybe to the "scale police" but I don't care much for those types anyway. Hugh, don't worry about it. "She's a wrap"!
If this were mine, I would not risk flying it and chance putting a scrape in it.

That's interesting though about the roundels, just used what Callie sent me. Printed tons of photos of the jet off the internet to help me set it up and I never noticed the difference on those. Amazing that uscanuck1xa picked that up. You Canucks are sharp eyed dudes, EH? I actually feel better knowing I'm not exactly scale, I like being different and it would give the true scale modelers a black eye having me in their group. And I have to fly this thing after all that work, besides, I originally ordered 2 sets of graphics from Callie "just in case".