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

[Jetman64]

Did you mean this by "magic"? But the picture doesn't show the "super-duper" magic box inside ...

WOW!
I have worked commercial aviation for 20+ years and I have yet to meet/see this “Magic’ thing. But the concept is kewl, but I’m sticking with good old non-magic flying.

[AZFlyer]

Hello guys. Offering my experience here with the F-18:

I bought the grey version. Painted it up in Jolly Rogers scheme (made sure to tape anything sensitive - servos, etc.).

After getting it together, one of the elevator servos wouldn't work (it's the reverse one). Fortunately, I had a spare, so swapped it out and the spare worked fine (strike 1).

Both of the red and green lights stopped working before I got the build done. The green light quit early and the red light quit toward the end of the build. I tried everything (different plugs, swapping, etc.) and nothing worked. (strike 2)

The maiden flight went great. But on about the 3rd flight, I almost lost control setting up to land. It started rolling almost uncontrollably. I got it down (after almost having a heart attack) and discovered one of the flap servos had retracted. They both went down on command (I observed them on my gear pass) and it flew good for most of the landing pattern, but when I was on the downwind leg is when it started going crazy. It happened again a couple of flights later, so I quickly retracted and landed without flaps (strike 3).

I reduced my full flap setting, and it hasn't happened since. Not sure if it didn't like the degree of flap I had set it, but it seems okay now (fingers crossed).

Regarding power, it's okay for me. It's about like the 9-blade F-4. It takes a little while to get up to max speed after take-off and turning away from the runway, but after that, it's pretty quick. Climbs pretty good. Had to turn up the aileron to get more snap, but not unexpected.

The thing looks fantastic on the ground and in the air. Flying characteristics are pretty good and it sounds great.

So, only issues are the faulty elevator servo, strange flap retraction and the 2 lights that quit. That's a lot to have go wrong with a brand new plane (just saying).

I have almost all of the Freewing jets, and I've only had quality problems with one other plane (a bad servo). I really think there's something going on here. It's just so unusual to have this much go wrong with a Freewing jet right out of the box. Never seen that before.

Just passing this along.

Thanks!

[RCjetdude]

I have had zero issues with the BB on multiple planes. Nothing that I could blame it for anyway.

[AZFlyer]

Oh, and one other thing (just have to mention).

I know that the grey version was put out very quick....and I REALLY appreciate that. It shows your guys listen to your customers. Not sure any other hobby firm would respond that quickly to customer input. Says a lot about you. Thanks!

That said, I was bummed that the inside of the cockpit had no instrument panel and was the same grey as the outside of the plane. Would really prefer to not have to take the canopy off to paint the inside of the cockpit. That seems like an unnecessary modification.

Would be great if you came out with a spare part cockpit that was painted inside. I'd buy one and swap it out, rather than cutting off the canopy and re-gluing it.

One other thing I really like about this plane.....I've never seen a jet track down the runway at full speed as steady as this one does. I do have a a gyro in it, but still, it tracks just rock solid at full power all the way down the runway. I have some planes that get a little squirrelly at that kind of ground speed, but this plane is rock solid.

Thanks for listening.

[AZFlyer]

Oh, and one other thing (just have to mention).

I know that the grey version was put out very quick....and I REALLY appreciate that. It shows your guys listen to your customers. Not sure any other hobby firm would respond that quickly to customer input. Says a lot about you. Thanks!

That said, I was bummed that the inside of the cockpit had no instrument panel and was the same grey as the outside of the plane. Would really prefer to not have to take the canopy off to paint the inside of the cockpit. That seems like an unnecessary modification.

Would be great if you came out with a spare part cockpit that was painted inside. I'd buy one and swap it out, rather than cutting off the canopy and re-gluing it.

One other thing I really like about this plane.....I've never seen a jet track down the runway at full speed as steady as this one does. I do have a a gyro in it, but still, it tracks just rock solid at full power all the way down the runway. I have some planes that get a little squirrelly at that kind of ground speed, but this plane is rock solid.

Thanks for listening.

Talking about painting the inside of the cockpit, I'm really talking about the instrument panel and dashboard.

Thanks!

[TPS]

Hi TPS, now that one raises an eyebrow...Please be sure to include your Jeti datalog in your Support Ticket to the CS team. Unfortunately they're off for the weekend, but I'll email the CS manager to look out for your ticket. I wish you had contacted them before ordering a new fuse/etc. I'll let their investigation run it's course but with a data log in my opinion this case would likely trigger a full warranty replacement.

I got back from a flying afternoon with the Hornet and a couple.. other... models. Three Hornets up at the same time, and we're not gentle on any control surface. We had a similar momentary issue spike with the Avanti, as I recall. It too used two servos for two control surfaces, on an similarly loaded aircraft at similar speeds. We lost a couple planes to it, then tested every servo again and reopened 20% of our inventory at the factory at the time to fly. For better or worse, we couldn't replicate the issues, and the Avanti went on to be our highest seller that year. It's frustrating not being able to replicate a clear pattern or result. The flip side of that is we just need to address each of these individually as they arise, which is what the CS team is good at and what they're there for. As I mentioned before, please contact tech support, continue to share experiences/input/feedback/tips here on the forums (both positive and negative), and we'll all keep the community informed together.

Also, for those asking about the minimum voltage on the unstabilized non-satellite receivers from Admiral and Lemon, it is "officially" 3.45v. There is a slightly lower "absolute" operational threshold that isn't publicized, but for all intents and purposes, 3.45V is the bottom. I'd reiterate again that I don't fly non-satellite receivers, in fact none of the test team here does, but we recognize we're a statistically insignificant sample size compared to the six figure quantities of receivers in circulation, so officially, I recommend flying with a satellite on a fast 90mm jet like this. It just makes sense to be a bit safer. ESC ratings have headroom, radios have low battery alarms, receivers have satellites, users do ground testing and range testing... everything adds one extra layer of protection to stave off the invisible expiration date inside our models.

Hello Alpha,
I submitted the information to CS and my case number is Case #T209416. Thank you!

[TPS]

Okay for the advancement of science and entertainment I decided to jimmy-rig my nose gear enough to keep it straight for a takeoff. It's really been eating at me since the mysterious crash on the maiden last week and I have tired of moving the sticks around a million times with everything looking in perfect order. So off to the school I went. Took off straight and climbed out nice and scale and flew her in the pattern (gear down) for a couple of minutes. Flew fine, no problems to be found. However - and I noticed this on the maiden - it lacks serious power. Full power felt like 25-30% power tops. I have seen the videos and I KNOW she is supposed to be much faster. I am flying a RT 5500 70C battery and I did calibrate the ESC. I think I heard someone else mention a lack of power. I don't understand what it could be? I did put a ticket into our CS team just for due diligence alone, to document the issues I have had with mine.

So the good news, is she flew without any sign of problems, but the lack of power is disturbing. :Thinking:

Aros, read my #1291 post for some power upgrade suggestions. A little pricey, but well worth it in the long run.

[Aros]

Thanks TPS I will check out your post but to be honest I feel like I shouldn't need an upgrade on a new model like this that is touted as being fast due to it's AUW. What am I missing folks?

xviper and others, thanks for the replies. I will have to dig deeper (than I normally would do) to see what I can find as to the cause of such a sluggish performance out of the power system. When my next PNP arrives, it will be very interesting to see if it's the same issues or not at all.

[Sky Wolf]

I've been away from the Squawk for a while, that is until I recently began following the F-18 posts. I've just read the last 32 pages trying to catch up on the hype and all the lessons learned.

My, my, my how some pilots have become a bit aggressive in their opinions regarding personal R/C input. Choice of words and worldly descriptions of others lifestyles and pay-grades seems a bit whacked out and unnecessary in the Squawk brotherhood. And others backgrounds being challenged is totally uncalled for, in my opinion. What happened to the friendly atmosphere that I left a few months ago?

This hasn't been the norm lately, has it? Was thinking about catching up on the other 17 threads I follow. Should I be nervous? :)

[Rcfiddy1]

Wow, what a sweet flyer. Got to maiden the hornet this weekend. All setup as per manual. Short video of maiden. F18 starts at 3:00

[Jetman64]

Hello guys. Offering my experience here with the F-18:

I bought the grey version. Painted it up in Jolly Rogers scheme (made sure to tape anything sensitive - servos, etc.).

After getting it together, one of the elevator servos wouldn't work (it's the reverse one). Fortunately, I had a spare, so swapped it out and the spare worked fine (strike 1).

Both of the red and green lights stopped working before I got the build done. The green light quit early and the red light quit toward the end of the build. I tried everything (different plugs, swapping, etc.) and nothing worked. (strike 2)

The maiden flight went great. But on about the 3rd flight, I almost lost control setting up to land. It started rolling almost uncontrollably. I got it down (after almost having a heart attack) and discovered one of the flap servos had retracted. They both went down on command (I observed them on my gear pass) and it flew good for most of the landing pattern, but when I was on the downwind leg is when it started going crazy. It happened again a couple of flights later, so I quickly retracted and landed without flaps (strike 3).

I reduced my full flap setting, and it hasn't happened since. Not sure if it didn't like the degree of flap I had set it, but it seems okay now (fingers crossed).

Regarding power, it's okay for me. It's about like the 9-blade F-4. It takes a little while to get up to max speed after take-off and turning away from the runway, but after that, it's pretty quick. Climbs pretty good. Had to turn up the aileron to get more snap, but not unexpected.

The thing looks fantastic on the ground and in the air. Flying characteristics are pretty good and it sounds great.

So, only issues are the faulty elevator servo, strange flap retraction and the 2 lights that quit. That's a lot to have go wrong with a brand new plane (just saying).

I have almost all of the Freewing jets, and I've only had quality problems with one other plane (a bad servo). I really think there's something going on here. It's just so unusual to have this much go wrong with a Freewing jet right out of the box. Never seen that before.

Just passing this along.

Thanks!

I could not put it any better myself, I to have many FW jets (28 at last count(a few doubles)). I’ve had a few issues out of the bunch, but nothing like this jet. Like I said before, they should have never shipped this batch out. Without these issues, we would never learn and learning is how we get better.

I have every confidence in MRC/Freewing in fixing thirst problems and bringing us more incredible jets in the future, like a 80/90mm F-102/105 or A-7ll. Everyone that’s interested in these jets, please let them know and maybe they’ll make them.

[Aros]

I've been away from the Squawk for a while, that is until I recently began following the F-18 posts. I've just read the last 32 pages trying to catch up on the hype and all the lessons learned.

My, my, my how some pilots have become a bit aggressive in their opinions regarding personal R/C input. Choice of words and worldly descriptions of others lifestyles and pay-grades seems a bit whacked out and unnecessary in the Squawk brotherhood. And others backgrounds being challenged is totally uncalled for, in my opinion. What happened to the friendly atmosphere that I left a few months ago?

This hasn't been the norm lately, has it? Was thinking about catching up on the other 17 threads I follow. Should I be nervous? :)

Hey good friend, no don't be alarmed, it's just your typical airing out frustrations from some. Even with my maiden crash I am confident it was an aberration and not any trend. In fact, many have posted their successful maidens without issue. So if 4 of us have an issue to 100 that don't, that tells me it's just bad luck and not a trend. I flew mine again and it flew fine this time, granted with a power issue I need to figure out but the point is it flew without any issue.

No need to be nervous, just do what you always do. Pre filght due diligence...CG, throws/rates/expo/range check...And go!

[Sky Wolf]

Hey good friend, no don't be alarmed, it's just your typical airing out frustrations from some. Even with my maiden crash I am confident it was an aberration and not any trend. In fact, many have posted their successful maidens without issue. So if 4 of us have an issue to 100 that don't, that tells me it's just bad luck and not a trend. I flew mine again and it flew fine this time, granted with a power issue I need to figure out but the point is it flew without any issue.

No need to be nervous, just do what you always do. Pre filght due diligence...CG, throws/rates/expo/range check...And go!

Howdy Todd, wasn't nervous about flying. Was jokingly referring to reading other threads.

[Carlbrainiac]

Well this week is end of June so really hoping to get shipping notification any day now. Either that or a notice saying delayed while issues are put right. As long as it all works when it finally gets to me and I dont have to pay out more money on new servos and Y leads I dont mind.

[janmb]

Taileron/Stabilators have almost zero load as they are pivoted at the MAC (well, very close to it). They have less load than a normal tailplane/elevator setup.

On a lot of models, yes.

On the F-18, not quite. The point of rotation is very far forward, and the vast majority of the surface is well behind that point. I would definitely expect it to impose far more load than most of the other FFS models.

I do agree on regular elevator surface setups typically having higher loads than FFS though, but that's not really relevant here.

[Wolfgang Wagner]

Well this week is end of June so really hoping to get shipping notification any day now. Either that or a notice saying delayed while issues are put right. As long as it all works when it finally gets to me and I dont have to pay out more money on new servos and Y leads I dont mind.

Well, unfortunately not. A bit more waiting.

[Carlbrainiac]

Well, unfortunately not. A bit more waiting.

Well if they're gonna take that long to come then they better be perfect when they arrive

[Evan D]

You know that one has nothing to do with the other right? Maybe a technician was shipped with them and is opening each box, assembling each one, verifying each works perfect with your specific radio equipment and then repairing and repackaging...

You did tell them what radio equipment you use right? :Not-Talking:

Well if they're gonna take that long to come then they better be perfect when they arrive

[Carlbrainiac]

You know that one has nothing to do with the other right? Maybe a technician was shipped with them and is opening each box, assembling each one, verifying each works perfect with your specific radio equipment and then repairing and repackaging...

You did tell them what radio equipment you use right? :Not-Talking:

Shouldn't need to. It doesnt say PNP only the following receivers will work.

[Pete Lane]

The second round is the same as the first. How could the factory change anything without feedback from the initial round, these are already on the water.