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

[Hugh Wiedman]

Finally got the decals installed on my Hornet... here's the last video of the jet before them (airbrushed but no decals).

Wheelies, Yahoooo, Ride 'em Cowboy! Sweet!

[Airguardian]

Finally got the decals installed on my Hornet... here's the last video of the jet before them (airbrushed but no decals).

[davegee]

Thanks, really appreciate it. All I know is I'm done for the year painting,/building. I don't want to see an MRC box at my door for awhile. We've had some of the worst flying weather these last 2 months in some time, so It was nice to keep connected to RC by working on the F18 and Mig, but I'm close to losing it without being able to relax and fly. Gotta get back to my simple routine of Fly a Little, Repair a lot, then Fly a Little again. Checked the weather, next 10 days still suck, and I just saw Noah float by and he waved at me!

Hang in there, Hugh! That weather has Got to break sooner or later! Awesome jobs on your aircraft, amazing work.

Cheers

davegee

[Cape Jets]

Unbelievable Hugh your planes are works of art. Don't honesty know if I would ever fly them, just show them and put back in the hanger. But as we all know they are meant to Fly and I am sure the weather will break soon so you can get her in the air. Happy Flying
Side Note: I finally got the nerve up to maiden one of my Blue Angels and she flew great. The weather here on Cape Cod had been raining all July so I feel your pain with the weather.....
Posted by one of our OMAC members:
At our field F-18's have historically been difficult to fly and often have had tragic endings. Well, that ended today! George had a very successful "Maiden" of his new F-18 today! A real nice flight with a very smooth landing! Congratulations George!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Wow Hugh Wiedman stellar job my friend!!! Looks factory! Do I sense a future March Madness entry??

Thanks, really appreciate it. All I know is I'm done for the year painting,/building. I don't want to see an MRC box at my door for awhile. We've had some of the worst flying weather these last 2 months in some time, so It was nice to keep connected to RC by working on the F18 and Mig, but I'm close to losing it without being able to relax and fly. Gotta get back to my simple routine of Fly a Little, Repair a lot, then Fly a Little again. Checked the weather, next 10 days still suck, and I just saw Noah float by and he waved at me!

[Aros]

Wow Hugh Wiedman stellar job my friend!!! Looks factory! Do I sense a future March Madness entry??

[Elbee]

Hugh, Simply stunning. Best, Steve

[Hugh Wiedman]

Finally got some photos of the F-18 Tiger Meet out in the sun. Still haven't been able to maiden her yet, the last month's weather has been wind/rain/hurricanes/. Hopefully soon, and I'll be able to maiden my repainted Mig as well.

Looks better in the sun compared to the artificial indoor light. The real odd thing was any sun/clouds/shading really affects the different shades of sunset yellow going to dark orange. Kinda cool and suspect the 4 coats of clear gloss spar urethane affects the colors with different sun light intensities.

Direct Sun:





Coming Out of the Jungle:

[fredmdbud]

Has anyone installed an 80mm fan using the included adapter? Can someone show/illustrate how it was used?

[fredmdbud]

I believe he's talking real-life scale, not Freewing-style (though probably preferably compatible with the tongues-and-slots).

[Elbee]

Hi all, anyone know where to find the most scale pylon STL file for this plane?

MF. Welcome to Hobby Squawk. If you have not already checked, try Thingiverse and type Freewing in the Search bar. Many STL files there. Not certain about a pylon, though there might be something you can scale up/down that would work for you. Best, LB

[metalfred]

Hi all, anyone know where to find the most scale pylon STL file for this plane?

[Gary S.]

You don't mean something like this by any chance.



And this ain't my kitchen disposal!



Love it, first time anyone's taken my suggestion. My kids stopped when they turned 5 and of course my Wife only took one of my suggestions, when I proposed, and even that she regrets.

[didier n]

Fly to the rainbow... @ Breesemodelvleugels VZW Belgium

Regards,

Didier

[Airguardian]

You don't mean something like this by any chance.

I've flown with worse, but yeah, that pretty much sums the issue up perfectly!

[Hugh Wiedman]

I typically epoxy the area in front of the fans so it will take better the damage from sucking debris up and I routinely replace EDF rotors when they get too badly chipped.

You don't mean something like this by any chance.



And this ain't my kitchen disposal!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Post Stall Svengali, now that put a smile on my face... from now on it will be right under my avatar, see what you did!
It's all your fault!

Love it, first time anyone's taken my suggestion. My kids stopped when they turned 5 and of course my Wife only took one of my suggestions, when I proposed, and even that she regrets.

[Airguardian]

I typically epoxy the area in front of the fans so it will take better the damage from sucking debris up and I routinely replace EDF rotors when they get too badly chipped.

My first Hornet now has a Canadian cousin and they both can speak Canuck-ese with each other, EH? Alpha, she's yours to fly anytime you want.

Now, that's an amazing paintjob you made right there, great stuff Hugh!

Next up is the maiden, but now I'm just my pants thinking of it flying off into the Everglades to join the Panthers out there! Maybe Brinka will do me the favor of his 5000+ F-18 flights and maiden this as well, why not, he maidened my other Canadian. Or I'll take a trip to Spain and get the Post Stall Svengali Airguardian to maiden it. But then the jet would refuse to fly for me, kind of like dating Victoria Secret Models all your life and then having to date one of the current crop of women (are they from the local women's prison or maybe they're actually men). Anyway, got my application in to VS to be one of their new thong models and I'm thinking I got a pretty good shot!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Post Stall Svengali, now that put a smile on my face... from now on it will be right under my avatar, see what you did!
It's all your fault!

[Gatorbait]

I fly off grass as well, but unfortunately there is nothing you can do to prevent grass/debris/moisture from getting sucked up in the vents. And yes, the vents are absolutely necessary assuming you want the best performance out of the EDF, which you need to get enough take-off speed on grass. I usually like to fly early in the morning and here in South Florida, that means moisture on the grass, and even worse if the grass was just cut recently. Just something you have to deal with. Took off one morning with my F-16 (also with vents) after a night time thunderstorm and my aircraft looked more like an unlimited hydro shooting up a rooster tail of water. Barely got off, but at the end of the flight, I had to wipe all the moisture off and clean out clumps of grass from the fan by removing the fan cover on the bottom of the fuselage to get at it better.

So now I generally try to fly my prop warplanes or 3D planes early if the grass is wet and wait for the runway to dry up before moving on to the EDF's. Unfortunately, I think it's just "the hand we're dealt". Wish there was a better solution, but if there is, I'd love to hear it.

When I took off the other day, it actually looked like you could see engine exhaust, which was the moisture from the dew. It looked awesome! Later in the day I checked in the engine vents and there was a lot of grass in the fan and intake. After pulling out a few bigger pieces, I ran up the motor and it shot out so much grass. I will try the mesh vent idea and see if that is a workable idea.

[Gatorbait]

Maybe if you can figure a way to mechanically link the gear with a sliding cover/shutter or louver over the cheater hole, similar to the MiG-29 auxiliary intakes.

This seems like a cool mod, but when I take off grass it already seems like it takes a lot of runway to get off the ground. Closing the vent would even take longer to get off the ground.

I think I might consider putting some sort of poly mesh w/ large holes on the inside the vent. Although, the grass might just build up on the vent and cause restriction. Would need to make sure it's really well secured so it doesn't come off mid flight and foul the engine 🙄

[fredmdbud]

Maybe if you can figure a way to mechanically link the gear with a sliding cover/shutter or louver over the cheater hole, similar to the MiG-29 auxiliary intakes.