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

[Elbee]

Dustman, Thanks for the 'heads up' on the STL File issue. I have "Removed" & "Inserted" the STL file again in the 3DP Forum. Not certain what happens to these STL files or why, but it was working when I posted it and is working now.

If you look at a Plan View or pictures of the bottom of F-18C, there are 4 sections to the Nose Gear (NG) Doors. 1) Drag Brace Door, 2) Strut Door, 3) LH Wheel Well, 4) RH Wheel Well. OEM is 2 Clam Shell NG doors and it is simple, works great, and gets the job done. I like the 'look' and 'stance' of the Hornet on the ground and all the Gear Doors are a part of that.

The Wheel Door size offset is actually .375" and puts the outer edge of the Strut Door inline with the separation of the Wheel Well Doors. The Servos to actuate the doors are mounted as far 'up' into the A/C as possible without interfering with the cockpit bottom. I had to cut out 2 servo sized sections of the partition between the upper and lower fuse to mount the servos to the fuselage sides.

The .063 wire you see is the connection to the servo through the 3DP 'linear-adapter'. I used 'ball link' connectors & 2-56 all thread to make my connections. It is possible to do this differently, I had those on hand and really wanted to move forward, so it got done!

There is a bulkhead between the strut door and the wheel well doors to strengthen the model and provide reinforcement for the strut door/fuselage sides 3DP piece. The cross brace you see was for printing stability and is removed after gluing the part in place. The 'tube' you see is a structural and lightening cut-out only. I do that anywhere I can and I think it looks good. It's a habit from my balsa and ply building days.

Best, LB

[Jets and Wings]

Elbee Your new wheel doors look great!

[Elbee]

Hey all, Now what do you think this is all about? Best, LB

[Aros]

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hey all, Now what do you think this is all about? Best, LB

I fully expect to see your maiden off the deck of a RC carrier. That certainly is a better way to solve the problem I had of being too nose heavy. The hell with the tail lead!! Next we'll see you loading live ordinance with laser guided or heat seeking missals.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Don't you love the way I spelled missile (thank you auto correct)? As long as you're back there, when are you going to develop variable exhaust nozzles and some real afterburners instead of these fake LED AB's we're stuck using. I, for one, would love to have flames shooting out of my rear, and not just from the spicy foods I love!

[Waconut]

Hi guys,
After finishing up my F/A-18 I decided I needed to build a rack to hold my jets. I made a free standing rack out of 3/4” PVC. It worked out pretty good. It holds 5 jets( have an Avanti on the way).
My hobby room used to be our home theatre. We have not used it for a couple of years. I decided to move my PC to the room and hook it up so I can fly Real Flight on the big screen. I have ordered some cables to make that happen as well as a new bulb for the projector.
The room is a work in progress but is starting to get there.

[Phantom]

Hi guys,
After finishing up my F/A-18 I decided I needed to build a rack to hold my jets. I made a free standing rack out of 3/4” PVC. It worked out pretty good. It holds 5 jets( have an Avanti on the way).
My hobby room used to be our home theatre. We have not used it for a couple of years. I decided to move my PC to the room and hook it up so I can fly Real Flight on the big screen. I have ordered some cables to make that happen as well as a new bulb for the projector.
The room is a work in progress but is starting to get there.

I'm with yah, and wholeheartedly endorsed PVC plane racks. My RC room is less than 5ft wide but at 25ft long. With PVC racks, it'll still hold almost 100 planes. Without PVC, I'd probably be divorced 😅

[AceMigKiller]

Went out to the field today with the intention of getting some power system testing and was greeted with perfect flying conditions

My local field is just under ~6000'MSL and you can really feel the difference EDF's. Thus, I opted for a power system with alot more power than stock, yet very efficient in itself.
I settled on a JetFan90 spun by a HET 700-68-1200kv motor. This is a very efficient setup on 10s --- around 75 Amps and 3000 Watts, and a powerhouse combo on 12s --- ~94 Amps and 4200watts.

My flying style in the Hornet is patterned to mimic full-scale. That is to say, I'm not just ripping around the field with the throttle in the "fun position" but executing large vertical manuevers, managing energy on the downlines and flying close the edge of the performance envelope i.e. high alpha/minimum radius turns, etc. Happy to report that the 12s setup running 3700mah 45c packs gives me everything I want and need with a timer set to a conservative 4:00 minutes!

10s 5000's:
My 10s setup is two Roaring Top 35c packs - One 6s 5000 and one 4s 5000; nets you about 3000watts.
The packs fit, but just barely, and they must slide pretty far back - the aft pack must go past the foam bulkhead in order to make CG.
Overall flying performance is good! Plenty of power, lots but not unlimited vertical, and feels like a stock 6s Hornet with just a little more *grunt* and slightly heavier. Plus side is that I set my timer for 6:00 minutes and had 30% remaining (via a Hyperion Cell Checker)

12s 3700's:
The 12s setup is two Roaring Top 45c packs - Two 3700's. Same packs I run in my E-flite F16... how convenient!
These packs fit very comfortably with alot more room to spare. Aft pack lines up right at the foam bulkhead and front pack goes right up against it - See attached pic.
On 12s, that motor/fan combination really sings a pleasant tune! Not to mention a dramatic increase in power over the 10s setup. I'm sure running smaller packs has a little to do with it as well, but we are talking a difference between 3kW vs. over 4kW.
Cruises along very spritely at 60-70% throttle and I can report that I *barely* don't have unlimited vertical at ~5900'MSL... that simply means any one else not flying at high elevation fields can expect this thing to climb until it's out of sight!


Timer is set (conservatively) to 4:00 minutes. Realistically, I could probably set it for another 30 seconds but I was so pleased with these results I failed to put them on to the cell checker... whoops!

Love the way this thing flies on the 12s 3700 packs, and really looks the part in the air.
Gonna have to order up some more packs!

Vic

[Dustman]

Hope I am not hogging up too much space. Anyway, I finally got my pilot from RCGEEK. It's great but I have one problem. His legs are too wide and needs to be cut but I not sure at what point. LB I think you have the same pilot. I'm looking at the point where the leg pockets begins above the boots. You can see how he is sitting in the seat he is the perfect size. On my cockpit I'm waiting to get some black paint to do the piece behind the seat. Painting it and doing the pilot will finally get me to the point where I can catch up with you LB on these mods My cockpit was done caveman style with some pieces cut out of 1/32 plywood and covered with a layer of epoxy and painted. Once I finish this I want to do a nose wheel mod, then the doors and wheelwell you have done LB.

[Aros]

Nice data there AceMigKiller ! Impressive numbers...12S 3700mAh for 4 minutes? Dang I am at 522ft MSL and I am lucky if I can get 3:45 on my 6S 5500s! Must look into alternate power system setups...

[AceMigKiller]

That JetFan is definitely sumthin'.
Pulls some amps at WOT, but I reserve that for vertical maneuvers. Most of my time is spent.... probably no more than 75% throttle and I'm completely off on the down line in many cases.

Will try to get some video soon!

Vic

[Elbee]

Hope I am not hogging up too much space..

Dm, There is no such thing as 'hogging too much space' when it comes to pictures of your work, unless you post 35 pix all at full size.... Outstanding job on your cockpit. It's tougher than people think and certainly takes time. As for 'chopping' your pilot, It's more about width than length. The seat was designed to be about an .125" narrower than the space between the consoles as I remember. So cutting your pilot's width in the legs should be the place to start. Best, LB

[Hugh Wiedman]

Nice data there AceMigKiller ! Impressive numbers...12S 3700mAh for 4 minutes? Dang I am at 522ft MSL and I am lucky if I can get 3:45 on my 6S 5500s! Must look into alternate power system setups...

Aros, have you tried the RT 6250 35C battery? I still haven't been able to maiden my F-18 but if you have the stock outrunner, the 70C RT is not giving you any more power/speed than the 35C does. I bench tested both and the 6250 35C drew 113.5 Ah and 2700 Watts. The 5500 70C drew 114.3 Ah and 2748 Watts, almost identical. The 6250 also weighs 28g LESS than the 5500 and should give you another 30 seconds or so.

Now if you have the upgraded inrunner, the 70C draws about 250 Watts more and 4Ah more and you can tell a difference. It seems the inrunners really benefit from the higher C battery so I only fly my F-16 with the upgraded inrunner and my SU-30 with twin inrunners on that battery. My 2 F-4's with stock outrunners (actually the same fan as the stock in the F-18) also show there is no benefit from the 70C versus the 35C, but there is in weight.

[Aros]

Good stuff Hugh...I wonder how that would translate to the HSD 105mm F-16? I have yet to maiden it and it has a new S-EDF power system from previous versions...I still plan on getting more 5500 70Cs but I want to try some of those other batteries like the 6250s you mention...

[Dustman]

LB it worked this time and I was able to down load the file. All the parts pictured in thread 3861 are on that file? In thread 3863 looks like you are making an operational tailhook. Is that the case? I want to do all you've done above plus the replace the nose strut. I got this one from HB. Their F-18F is the same scale as Motion's F-18 so I figured I'd try it out.

[Elbee]

Yes, operational tail hook. The only 3DP part is the Futaba Servo Adapter. Great call on the NG from HB. Might need to look at that. I was looking to modify the Freewing F-4 NG Strut. We'll see. Tamms says she wants to see some paint on 'that bird'. So gotta quit moddin' and get to colorin'. Best, LB

[Elbee]

DM, If you mean Post 3864, the only file I've posted is the one for the Linear Servo Adapter. The NG Interior Panels are not finished, i.e., correct fit. There's a quadzillion variables, well maybe not a quadzillion, but you get my drift. Honestly, if your cuts are .063" (2mm-) different than mine and your cutouts for the servos, etc, then most panels will be different than the interior panels I'd print for my airframe. These parts, unlike the cockpit, are unique in measurement to the spacing I ended up with when I made the cuts to separate and move the OEM hinge points. Note: If you do this, cut the outer foam fuselage with your cuts, it will look horrible until you begin to piece it back together, just so you know. I cut out the entire section first and then cut the parts into pieces. If you bought replacement parts from MotionRC, then you'll have more than enough parts to build all the doors, except the Drag Brace Door. I will post that STL File once I finalize the attach point and the tip shape. Best, LB

[Dustman]

Yes, post 3861 showing the parts you made.

[Elbee]

3861 is a post by Xviper

[Hugh Wiedman]

It was Miami's turn today for a visit from the Blue Angels flying over some of our hospitals. I didn't go to the hospital, instead I was outside trimming all the trees & bushes, but the squadron ended up flying right over my house. I live south of downtown & the Emergency Hospital and they were on their way south to Homestead Air Base, so luckily I was outside and they flew right over. WOW, how impressive. That's got to be the absolute best job in the world, the best of the best. I've seen them and the Thunderbirds before at air shows, it never gets old but having them fly low over my house was a special treat. At first I thought maybe they've been following this thread and knew I did my F-18 in the Canadian scheme and they intended on dropping a bomb on me or just blowing out my windows, but no such luck. Although I think I saw the lead pilot give me some sort of hand gesture. Now I'm thinking I may need to get the F-18 BA also, but I already have it in the F-4 and really like that scheme. What I'd give for just a ride, probably puke my guts out though.

[Elbee]

F-18 Squawkers, Tail Hook functioning, though I did end up printing some parts, go figure. I wanted to do this with 'off-the-shelf' parts, but it is easier sometimes to 'draw and print' compared to 'cut and fit'. Excuse all the tape, just not enough hands. It works with no buzzing, I like it, and it'll be fun even if I only deploy it once in awhile. I want to thank Alpha for making it much easier by providing the plastic parts already hinged and with plenty of room all around to fit parts. So Thank You, Alpha! WooHoo. Best, LB