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

[jetpltrich]

Gents,

Could use some help for a buddy of mine. His words…

“I need the elevator servos for a F-18 I'm working on but there are so many 9g servos on your site I don't know which ones to get. I'll need a standard and reverse servo. Can you ask folks which one of the new better 9g servos I need?”

Ideas? It’s true, we have so many to choose from. Appreciate the help!

I swapped ALL servos in my F-18's to Hitec. For the elevators I'm using Hitec HS-5065MG Ball Bearing Digital Metal Gear Sub-Micro Servo, all the rest are Hitec HS-5065MG Ball Bearing Digital Metal Gear Sub-Micro Servo. You will need the Hitec HFP-30 Digital Servo Programmer and Universal Servo Tester to reverse one of the elevator servos. Now, why did I do that? The flap servos failed on 6th flight and MotionRC basically said F-CAW-F when I requested service about the issue. They said the same thing when I purchased an ECM for the F-18 and the battery lead was WAY too short. They directed me to Amazon to purchase a battery lead extension. Anyway, I am very pleased with the servo upgrades. I have confidence now.

[Aros]

Thanks fellas, appreciate the feedback!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Aros you need to post the photo you sent me of your hitec servo after joining up with your "demon" F-18. I've never seen that, but maybe others here with more experience can shed some light on this "thorny" issue! I'm completely out of ideas on that bad boy of yours. I'd keep one eye open when sleeping at night unless you lock it in the garage!

[Aros]

Ha!

Elbee is going to come after me for not following his voodoo-freeing ceremony to a tee! So this is what I get…

So last weekend I went to remaiden. Plugged in the battery and started on all my preflight checks when suddenly I started to smell that dreaded electrical smell like something was burning. Suddenly I noticed one of the flap servos was smoking. EEEK!!

I immediately unplugged the battery and discovered the Hitec servo started to melt which in turn started to melt the plastic housing.

If any of you weren’t convinced this particular model of mine isn’t cursed, maybe this will persuade you.

[Elbee]

I kinda think Hugh has a point about locking this one in the closet and I'd toss in some Holy water before ya close the door. OTFL

[nuts-n-volts]

Aros, you know that might have been the issue all along. If the servo was acting up, the current draw could have been seriously drawing on the whole system giving you a brown out, fades, holds etc. Just something to look at.

[Aros]

Aros, you know that might have been the issue all along. If the servo was acting up, the current draw could have been seriously drawing on the whole system giving you a brown out, fades, holds etc. Just something to look at.

Well that could certainly explain why it was banking severely regardless of aileron input if the flap was down during flight which is how it was when I plugged in the battery!

[Hugh Wiedman]

The good thing about your Demon F18 is that it seems to be impossible to completely destroy. You seem to be able to resurrect it regardless of how poorly it flies and crashes. Unless you drive a steak through it's heart, you're stuck with it!

[Aros]

[Aros]

Alright, replaced the flap servo. Once again, going to remaiden for the umpteenth time on Sunday. The Flight Gods will do as they may.

Goodspeed to Thee!

[nuts-n-volts]

Remember, these big multi servo jets can lose it pretty easily if the current through all the servos overloads the Rx. Lights, flaps down, retracts, and flight controls all run close together when setting up for landing. This makes the biggest amp draw and that's typically where brown-outs occur. There are quite a few things one can do to mitigate this problem. One of the easiest is to simply use a flight pack to run the Rx instead of the BEC. Batteries give a constant power feed. BECs pulse power. The low points from a BEC is what'll get you if enough stuff is running.

You can also plug in a capacitor into one of the Rx slots. They make 'em. It helps keep extra energy when you need it most. Heavier servo leads/extensions make a difference too. The MiG-29 originally shipped with 3 feet 30ga stock ext going back to the tailerons! That's a huge no no in the electrical world. And, folks wondered why it was dropping out of the sky!

If you have one servo hanging up and drawing a bunch of current from an already over-loaded BEC, it could be enough to dip the voltage to the Rx too low even for a split second, which can stop current from getting to the rest of the system.

[Aros]

Finally a successful maiden!

Well, minus the nose gear that wouldn’t come down so I had to land in the grass next to the runway. No real damage. Ironically I flew with the gyro off. Even in pretty strong winds she flew fine. I’ll have to see what the problem is with the gear but at least she flew!

[f4u ausie]

Yeeee

[f4u ausie]

Yeeeeee

[f4u ausie]

Yeehaaaaa congratulations aros the harder ya work the luckier ya get....... Boy yav worked hard... Awesome. ... Now just the bugs

[Elbee]

Finally a successful maiden!

Well, minus the nose gear that wouldn’t come down so I had to land in the grass next to the runway. No real damage. Ironically I flew with the gyro off. Even in pretty strong winds she flew fine. I’ll have to see what the problem is with the gear but at least she flew!

My heartiest congratulations, Sir.

Purpose, patience & perseverance (P³) on full display, Brother.

Ya dun good.

Best, LB

[Aros]

As always kind Elbee a gentleman and a scholar. The Blue Angel head dress may have had something to do with it.

[Aros]

Yeehaaaaa congratulations aros the harder ya work the luckier ya get....... Boy yav worked hard... Awesome. ... Now just the bugs

Thanks Ausie!

[Aros]

Full disclosure, tonight I ripped out the LG. I could not find any reason why only one main was operable. I followed every lead (literally and figuratively) and could not source the issue. I finally decided to cut the cord (literally and figuratively) and make her a hand tosser.

At this stage I don’t really care to be perfectly honest. She’s been in two wrecks and it’s likely one or both caused the LG to say “the heck with you”.

Electronics are finicky, especially when suffering high impact crashes. Shrug. Who knows? I *think* she can be a hand tosser even with the large 6S 6000 mah as the lack of gear really does drop some weight. Time will tell. I will have to test the gyro portion of the rx to see if that works effectively.

The story continues………

[Aros]

PS Please Freewing come out with a New Gen V3 version of this model with all the latest amenities!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Aros would love a V3 also!!! Aros, not so sure this model is a candidate for a hand tosser, unless your the reincarnation of Nolan Ryan and can hurl it at 100mph! This one needs a fairly advanced speed before the wings can take over without a stall. I am fairly certain you'll toss it and it will immediately go into a wing stall and rotate left, ending your experiment in the first few seconds. I'm not sayin that's a bad idea, I'm sayin that's a TERRIBLE idea!! What may be better if you are having such a problem with the gear is just leave them down and take off of an asphalt runway and fly it dirty! Unless you're a real fireballer! You can always hook up the gear directly to the RX (since they do not go through the wing ribbon wire and go directly to the blue box). Bypass it with some y connectors. Or bite the bullet and after a few successful take of and landings with gear permanently down, install new retracts. I've installed new retracts on both several times as they seem to get weak after only a couple dozen flights.

Just a thought!