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

[Aros]

Definitely a stark contrast from EDF jets of old when 3 minutes was your absolute "Holy Crap You Better Land NOW" max limit. :Scared:

[Bobaroo]

Definitely a stark contrast from EDF jets of old when 3 minutes was your absolute "Holy Crap You Better Land NOW" max limit. :Scared:

You're looking at 12mins of Pure Adrenaline Rush right here !!! ... that is a Combined Total. Some Restrictions Apply

[fhhuber]

Part of it is the LiPos are lighter for the same capacity. I've sill got an old 3S 8C 1800 mah (that actually still works...) which is about 10 year old now. It is DOUBLE the size and weight of a new 3S 35C 2200 mah.

[Jhnybgd]

Hey Alpha for us grass flyers would it be feasible to open up the bypass area for more intake area and close up some or all of the lower cheater?

to me the lack of a lower cheater was the Icing on the cake for the F4 which is a great grass jet.

I would rather have a cheater on the top of the aircraft than bottom but thats just me.

[James]

Here are the battery compartment dimensions for anyone interested. It's a little over 80mm at the back of the compartment, 70mm at the front of the battery tray, 62ish mm deep and our widest pack the Admiral 5100 Carbon shown inside. Hope that helps!

[Bobaroo]

That second picture sure helps illustrate why we like to do our own Decals !!!

[racerx600rr]

Hey guys, I thought I’d share a couple of screenshots from the video of the freewing compared to the real thing to show how the model settles into the landing just like the full scale! Love this model and I can’t wait to get my very own!

[Alpha]

Hey Alpha for us grass flyers would it be feasible to open up the bypass area for more intake area and close up some or all of the lower cheater?

That would be quite an undertaking, and I couldn't vouch for its effectiveness. Mathematically, removing the bypass+splitter and instead fairing the intake directly to the fuselage would only add ~10%-15% more area. Meanwhile, your F-18C wouldn't look like an F-18C anymore.

I'd recommend flying the model as is first, then incrementally blocking the aux inlet if/as needed for your specific grass conditions. We test on road, dirt, grass, and gravel here, but the latter three are subjectively specific to our conditions. Almost none of our models require aux inlets to fly, but most do benefit from having additional air during acceleration. It's just a matter of degree. Static thrust versus dynamic thrust will always be a balancing act especially in a system with fixed inlet area and fixed outlet area.

On the ground, rolling resistance and fod are the variables unique to every runway that affect acceleration and takeoff roll. Our development team tests for degree of suction, and in some cases have even raised the gear height to reduce that number to beneath our target threshold.

In the air, acceleration is still potentially affected by the model's position and momentum. Accelerating while banking into a climb after a dirty roll will undoubtedly take longer if the fan is starving compared to if it was fully aspirated. On my F-5 with a fully covered aux inlet, I'd remember to keep more energy heading into turns to counteract the reduced static thrust. I ended up exposing one of the original slits, and that turned out to be the best balance of speed, acceleration, and fod protection for my runway. It needn't always be all or nothing.

[Visva11]

That would be quite an undertaking, and I couldn't vouch for its effectiveness. Mathematically, removing the bypass+splitter and instead fairing the intake directly to the fuselage would only add ~10%-15% more area. Meanwhile, your F-18C wouldn't look like an F-18C anymore.

I'd recommend flying the model as is first, then incrementally blocking the aux inlet if/as needed for your specific grass conditions. We test on road, dirt, grass, and gravel here, but the latter three are subjectively specific to our conditions. Almost none of our models require aux inlets to fly, but most do benefit from having additional air during acceleration. It's just a matter of degree. Static thrust versus dynamic thrust will always be a balancing act especially in a system with fixed inlet area and fixed outlet area.

On the ground, rolling resistance and fod are the variables unique to every runway that affect acceleration and takeoff roll. Our development team tests for degree of suction, and in some cases have even raised the gear height to reduce that number to beneath our target threshold.

In the air, acceleration is still potentially affected by the model's position and momentum. Accelerating while banking into a climb after a dirty roll will undoubtedly take longer if the fan is starving compared to if it was fully aspirated. On my F-5 with a fully covered aux inlet, I'd remember to keep more energy heading into turns to counteract the reduced static thrust. I ended up exposing one of the original slits, and that turned out to be the best balance of speed, acceleration, and fod protection for my runway. It needn't always be all or nothing.

Hey alpha, first of all congratulations to you and everyone at motionrc and freewing for this beautiful jet. No complaints and a definite buy.

Would like to know what kind of 3dpup might be released for this?

Thanks in advance

[Visva11]

Will the t45's main gear fit in this f18? I feel the "squat" angle of t45 main gear looks better then stock f18's.

Just my thoughts. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks

[Pilot.Vrf201]

Hey Alpha, does the front landing gear lock into place like the real one? :)

[James]

Reminder that today at 12pm est (3 hours) we will be live on YouTube with a walk-around and Q&A on the coming soon 90mm F/A-18C Hornet. Hope to see you there!

[thisguy65]

James, Let me get the F4 and F15....pleassee :)

[vdanger]

James,

There is a possibility I might not be able to make the live feed, I'll try but may not make it.

I'll definately catch it on the replay though.

Could you please make sure you answer these questions?

1. Will there be ordinance package included?

2. What is the size of the nosewheels?

Thanks,
Vance

[gooniac33]

I spent about 3 hours watching the Blue Angels videos on youtube on my big screen in the living room... I am just getting more and more pumped about this bird!! Glad that you guys went conservative with the 9 blade fan and it performs so well with just that! That gives a really good baseline for some upgrades! Not gonna go super crazy but still the wheels are turning on a really hot 6s set up for this bird.... I have been using 6200s and 6500s with really good results! They have been light and powerful! If they make the F-15 a rocket then I am sure this will be even better considering how light it is!

[racerx600rr]

Will the t45's main gear fit in this f18? I feel the "squat" angle of t45 main gear looks better then stock f18's.

Just my thoughts. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Thanks

Thats an interesting thought! Looks good, just need to see if it would fit.

[Imladris18]

This is super knit-picky, and the differences are subtle, but I'm mildly peeved they bill this as an F/A-18C when it's really an F/A-18A.

Other than that though, super excited for this!

[Dirty Dee]

This is super knit-picky, and the differences are subtle, but I'm mildly peeved they bill this as an F/A-18C when it's really an F/A-18A.

Other than that though, super excited for this!

Isn't the only difference upgraded avionics? What are the external differences between the A and C?

[James]

Here is the link to the livefeed. Will start at 12pm EST

[Imladris18]

Isn't the only difference upgraded avionics? What are the external differences between the A and C?

No, there are some minor visual differences:




I tried to make it clear what I look for...it's essentially just where some of the antenna 'bumps' are lol, but you can see they even modeled the bumps under the intakes that are present on the A but not the C, so it's not just a matter of not including some of the little details of the C model on a consumer RC model.