You must Sign-in or Register to post messages in the Hobby Squawk community
Registration is FREE and only takes a few moments

Register now

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

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

Collapse
X
Collapse
First Prev Next Last
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Damn, I saw that and thought you crashed another one!

    Comment


    • LOL!!! Oh dang you I set myself up for that!

      Thankfully not the case. In fact my latest one is getting an upgrade in elevator servos... D85MG Hitecs...So if this one meets the business end of terra firma I get to blame one guy...Mr. Dumb Thumbs!

      Spring is coming...Stay tuned!
      My YouTube RC videos:
      https://www.youtube.com/@toddbreda

      Comment


      • Originally posted by Aros View Post
        LOL!!! Oh dang you I set myself up for that!

        Thankfully not the case. In fact my latest one is getting an upgrade in elevator servos... D85MG Hitecs...So if this one meets the business end of terra firma I get to blame one guy...Mr. Dumb Thumbs!

        Spring is coming...Stay tuned!
        I already beat you on the dumb thumbs, I lost my HSD T-33 last weekend from that same problem, these ,its been several years since I've crashed anything but those thumbs just didn't work right for me that day....

        Glad you guys enjoy the F-18, that is one jet I did not like, flew weird to me but it sure looks great in the air, had both and that Blue Angels is a beauty, I will give it that much, looking forward to some spring weather myself.

        Comment


        • Ah, sorry for the loss! Dumb Thumbs have gotten me many times over the years. I too think this model flies "weird" but then again I see plenty of folks who have no problem with it, and fly it great! I just can't be without a Blue Angel F/A-18 in my hangar, that's all there is to it, so I keep coming back.
          My YouTube RC videos:
          https://www.youtube.com/@toddbreda

          Comment


          • Badass.

            Comment


            • Has anyone ever replaced the nose gear blue bracket? Mine snapped and came out of the foam cleanly. I got a new one but I see no realistic way of getting it in there. Trying to get 4 angles at once is pretty much impossible. I would like to not cut away any foam making it weaker than it already is if possible. Been angling this thing for 2 hours trying to find a way to get it in there. Half tempted to cut off the left side of the bracket and use some wood to make it fit tight again.

              Comment


              • Are you talking about the nose gear "mount"? This thing? I'm surprised it came out cleanly. It's got so many "catch" points where pieces of the broken part would be sandwiched between foam.

                Click image for larger version  Name:	Screenshot 2023-03-04 164604.png Views:	0 Size:	449.5 KB ID:	372593
                Remove as much stuff out of the nose gear bay first - doors, retract, rods, etc.
                You will not get this piece back in without removing some foam. You may need to cut out small blocks of foam (slice with Xacto knife) where necessary so you can work it into place. Once you get it in place as a test fit, remove it and put epoxy where all the flat surfaces mate and shove the piece back in. Hold it in place till the epoxy cures (5 min. epoxy so you can hold it for that long). Once cured, epoxy all the little blocks of foam you cut out. This will wedge the piece in place be quite solid. However, this will make the next repair extremely difficult.

                Comment


                • Hawk4me, Copy xviper's advise.. If you use the "Kit Glue" (little white tube of clear adhesive) strength will not be a factor. It is the OEM and the foam will break before the glue joint. Cut away what you need to make a clean removal and re-install, but save as much of the EPO foam to replace and fill back in. If you can't find any of the OEM Glue, use Beacon Foam Tac adhesive available at Hobby Lobby and amizonian, obviously. Best, LB
                  I solemnly swear to "over-celebrate" the smallest of victories.
                  ~Lucky B*st*rd~

                  You'll never be good at something unless you're willing to suck at it first.
                  ~Anonymous~

                  AMA#116446

                  Comment


                  • As Elbee just said, FoamTac repairs of this nature can be amazinly strong, particularly when used in a "sandwich" type of situation. In fact, the glue seam is generally stronger than the surrounding solid foam and any new cracks and tears will happen there rather than in the glue seam. I only use epoxy as my example because you only need to hold it for a few minutes. FoamTac will require you to hold it for much longer but this can be done by using a jig or stuffing wads of cloth or paper towels to hold it all in place while things cure.

                    Comment


                    • I finally got it in there by cutting the back left vertical piece on the image shown above. After cutting that off i was able to wedge it in there enough with some effort to get it in. Used epoxy on the horizontal tab in the back. Then used CA along all the seam's to make sure it's in there good. I was surprised it popped out like it did very little damage to any foam in the gear bay. My guess is it was not glued in very well from the factory. Most of the damage from the "crash" was from the gear breaking off from the bracket and hitting the bottom of the fuse. Going to finish up the assembly tomorrow and see if I can reinforce anywhere as it seems to be a weak area due to how thin the foam is up front. Already see a spot on the lower edge left side of the bracket that could be beefed up a bit with some wood and I already have a wood bracket cut to go in some spots to. Thanks for the tips though guys I got it pretty much factory with no foam cutting so go me on that one lol.

                      Comment


                      • Finally "bit the bullet" and did what I should have when I had issues with the flaps deploying and pulled out the Freewing 9gr servos and put in the Hitec HS-5065's. I've got 2 Hornets and must have been one of the unlucky ones as about 50% of the time, one flap (not always the same one) refused to either go to take-off flaps or landing flaps, but only in flight and it does it on each one . On the ground, they worked perfectly. First I bypassed the circuit board and went directly to the receiver. Then I reduced the delay to 0 or 1 second (which worked on my B-24 and Avanti that had the same problem). I also put new Freewing servos in and adjusted the horns to get better leverage. That worked for about 4 flights and then started again. And with a 0 second delay, it got squirrely REAL fast. So this is the las straw, if the Hitec servos don't cure the problem, I'm going to have to put a trained mouse in the cockpit and electrically shock him so he manually drops the flap. He's in training now, but hopefully I won't have to resort to animal cruelty!

                        All I can think is that somehow aerodynamically, there is a lot of stress on the flaps in the air. The flaps are almost twice the surface area of the ailerons and I noticed if I severely slow down after dropping the gear, it happens less often, but still occasionally happens. Any one else have this issue?

                        Click image for larger version

Name:	20210701_175333.jpg
Views:	405
Size:	148.1 KB
ID:	373718
                        Hugh "Wildman" Wiedman
                        Hangar: FL/FW: Mig 29 "Cobra", A-10 Arctic, F18 Canadian & Tiger Meet, F16 Wild Weasel, F4 Phantom & Blue Angel, 1600 Corsair & Spitfire, Olive B-24, Stinger 90, Red Avanti. Extreme Flight-FW-190 Red Tulip, Slick 60, 60" Extra 300 V2, 62" MXS Heavy Metal, MXS Green, & Demonstrator. FMS-1700mm P-51, Red Bull Corsair. E-Flite-70mm twin SU-30, Beast Bi-Plane 60", P2 Bi-Plane, P-51.

                        Comment


                        • Originally posted by Hugh Wiedman View Post
                          Finally "bit the bullet" and did what I should have when I had issues with the flaps deploying and pulled out the Freewing 9gr servos and put in the Hitec HS-5065's. I've got 2 Hornets and must have been one of the unlucky ones as about 50% of the time, one flap (not always the same one) refused to either go to take-off flaps or landing flaps, but only in flight and it does it on each one . On the ground, they worked perfectly. First I bypassed the circuit board and went directly to the receiver. Then I reduced the delay to 0 or 1 second (which worked on my B-24 and Avanti that had the same problem). I also put new Freewing servos in and adjusted the horns to get better leverage. That worked for about 4 flights and then started again. And with a 0 second delay, it got squirrely REAL fast. So this is the las straw, if the Hitec servos don't cure the problem, I'm going to have to put a trained mouse in the cockpit and electrically shock him so he manually drops the flap. He's in training now, but hopefully I won't have to resort to animal cruelty!

                          All I can think is that somehow aerodynamically, there is a lot of stress on the flaps in the air. The flaps are almost twice the surface area of the ailerons and I noticed if I severely slow down after dropping the gear, it happens less often, but still occasionally happens. Any one else have this issue?

                          Click image for larger version

Name:	20210701_175333.jpg
Views:	405
Size:	148.1 KB
ID:	373718
                          Hugh,

                          I’ve had the same issue with my F-18. I installed ProMolder servos that are “high torque.” I flew it shortly after the install and no issues but haven’t flown it since then. It has sat for months without being flown, my preference has been to fly the F-4, F-16, have put a ton of flights on the A-10 as of late.

                          Rich

                          Comment


                          • Originally posted by jetpltrich View Post

                            Hugh,

                            I’ve had the same issue with my F-18. I installed ProMolder servos that are “high torque.” I flew it shortly after the install and no issues but haven’t flown it since then. It has sat for months without being flown, my preference has been to fly the F-4, F-16, have put a ton of flights on the A-10 as of late.

                            Rich
                            Same here, with the flap issues of the F18, been mostly flying F4/16/A-10/SU-30 & Mig 29 (which does have the ProModelers in it-outstanding servos). Thought I'd try the Hitecs this time around (which I use in all my Extreme Flight planes). Decided the F18's weren't getting enough airtime love so I gotta cure this or die trying. If the Hitecs don't cut it, I'll have to dip into petty cash (guarded by my CO and her 44 mag) and go to the Pro M's.
                            Hugh "Wildman" Wiedman
                            Hangar: FL/FW: Mig 29 "Cobra", A-10 Arctic, F18 Canadian & Tiger Meet, F16 Wild Weasel, F4 Phantom & Blue Angel, 1600 Corsair & Spitfire, Olive B-24, Stinger 90, Red Avanti. Extreme Flight-FW-190 Red Tulip, Slick 60, 60" Extra 300 V2, 62" MXS Heavy Metal, MXS Green, & Demonstrator. FMS-1700mm P-51, Red Bull Corsair. E-Flite-70mm twin SU-30, Beast Bi-Plane 60", P2 Bi-Plane, P-51.

                            Comment


                            • Always love looking at your gorgeous birds Hugh Wiedman!

                              On my latest Blue, the starboard elevator servo crapped out...Glad it happened before the maiden! I replaced both stock servos with Hitec D85MG. I feel MUCH more confident with these, and with the weather improving I hope to have the maiden in a couple weeks.
                              My YouTube RC videos:
                              https://www.youtube.com/@toddbreda

                              Comment


                              • [QUOTEOn my latest Blue, the starboard elevator servo crapped out...Glad it happened before the maiden! I replaced both stock servos with Hitec D85MG. I feel MUCH more confident with these, and with the weather improving I hope to have the maiden in a couple weeks.[/QUOTE]

                                One of the first things I did with my plane before I ever flew it was replace those servos with Hitec servos. I would suggest all new buyers of this plane to do so.

                                Another thing I do with these Freewing planes is replace the set screws in the landing gear. Freewing set screws always get stripped with the Allen wrench and you can’t tighten them or loosen them. Just by chance I was at the hardware store and looking at their selection of screws when I stumbled upon metric set screws. I purchased a few and the Allen wrench as well and was extremely impressed with how tight I could get them versus the freewing version.

                                speaking of servos failing my L-39 steering servo is about to give up. 😡

                                Rich

                                Comment


                                • Originally posted by Aros View Post
                                  Always love looking at your gorgeous birds Hugh Wiedman!

                                  On my latest Blue, the starboard elevator servo crapped out...Glad it happened before the maiden! I replaced both stock servos with Hitec D85MG. I feel MUCH more confident with these, and with the weather improving I hope to have the maiden in a couple weeks.
                                  Aros, I was fortunate enough to swap out the original elevator servos for the newer 29 Gram servos b/c my servo leads were cut on installation. I have not yet flown my Hornet, is there a need to swap elevator servos out again to something other than the newer 29 gram OEM servo? Best, LB
                                  I solemnly swear to "over-celebrate" the smallest of victories.
                                  ~Lucky B*st*rd~

                                  You'll never be good at something unless you're willing to suck at it first.
                                  ~Anonymous~

                                  AMA#116446

                                  Comment


                                  • Originally posted by Elbee View Post

                                    Aros, I was fortunate enough to swap out the original elevator servos for the newer 29 Gram servos b/c my servo leads were cut on installation. I have not yet flown my Hornet, is there a need to swap elevator servos out again to something other than the newer 29 gram OEM servo? Best, LB
                                    Well my friend I can't really say because I bought this one from a buddy of mine who had it for about a year or so and he had it completely dialed. It wasn't until I bought it from him and was putting in a new receiver (thanks to Hugh Wiedman's help) that it started acting up. So I am unclear of what "batch" this model came from. We all know the first batch's horror stories, but I believe this one was bought in the last 1.5 years which should of been fixed. Personally I just trust Hitec over any stock servo but that's just me. Just the added feeling of insurance is worth the cost.
                                    My YouTube RC videos:
                                    https://www.youtube.com/@toddbreda

                                    Comment


                                    • Elbee
                                      Elbee commented
                                      Editing a comment
                                      Copy.

                                  • Better late than never they say...



                                    Comment


                                    • Originally posted by Airguardian View Post
                                      Better late than never they say...



                                      Can’t top that! Awesome!!!

                                      Comment


                                      • Thanks!

                                        Comment

                                        Working...
                                        X