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

[davegee]

I messed up placement of a couple of Callie's vinyl graphics on my F-18C.I've ordered replacements from her, but was wondering if anyone out there has a technique to safely remove old graphics on painted foam without lifting the paint on the surfaces, too? Thanks for any ideas or techniques on this!

Cheers

davegee

[e4dragongunner]

Just checking... as I have not bypassed a BB before. Servo extensions for flaps and ailerons. X4
Rudders already bypass the board.

Freewing Sequencer for lights and gear...

I have a Castel Creations 20 AMP BEC COMING.

SOUND GOOD?

[thisguy65]

Just checking... as I have not bypassed a BB before. Servo extensions for flaps and ailerons. X4
Rudders already bypass the board.

Freewing Sequencer for lights and gear...

I have a Castel Creations 20 AMP BEC COMING.

SOUND GOOD?

You’ll need 4 extensions, 2 y’s For the wings. The landing gear can go to the rx. However I have mine in the blue box so the leds work

[e4dragongunner]

OK Woody, I will step off into this fray with you!!! The blue box in discussion is this one: https://www.motionrc.com/products/freewing-multi-function-control-box-e-mcb-e. Not good reports from the Hornets that have flown, but... Unless Freewing has changed something in the mfg. processes, this is the same box used before... I verified this before typing this post. I have the L-39, the F-22, the Flightline F4-U Birdcage Corsair, and the F-18C BA. All use the same blue distribution box. The one thing I have changed on all of these is the BEC and the power distribution used. Using a CC 20 amp Pro, https://www.motionrc.com/collections/battery-eliminator-circuits/products/castle-creations-20a-bec-pro This has two power output leads. One plugs into the receiver, (I use all Spektrum) and one plugs into the blue box in an auxiliary port. That way, the power is distributed to both the blue box and the receiver... Also, cycling the gear after power up seems to be key to steering function. Make sure if you transport the bird with gear up, that the gear switch is in the up position before powering up the plane. Transmitter ALWAYS on first. Low throttle, and set the gear switch to match the planes gear position, up or down. This keeps the box from becoming "confused"... Hope this helps some folks out there, but the servo issue is another can of worms... Same servos in the other birds, but this does seem unusual with all the bad servo reports.... Good luck all!!

Hey Hardway... So you just added the CC BEC, and running everything stock through the BB.... ? Success?? is this working for you ?
Thanks man!

[e4dragongunner]

You’ll need 4 extensions, 2 y’s For the wings. The landing gear can go to the rx. However I have mine in the blue box so the leds work

Thanks Brother!!

[thisguy65]

Thanks Brother!!

I forgot to add. If you plug the landing gear in to the RX, the landing light will not turned on. Another reason why I have my landing gear plugged in to the blue box. Blue box is under the battery floor. I used 12" extention and put my RX where the blue box is.

[Hardway]

Hey Hardway... So you just added the CC BEC, and running everything stock through the BB.... ? Success?? is this working for you ?
Thanks man!

So far! I have not unboxed the 18 BA, but the other birds are fine. I isolate the throttle lead and remove the factory BEC if it has one, and then do a little cut in for the new BEC, the battery telemetry, and the ESC power lead. I put EC-5 connectors on both ends so I can remove the unit if necessary and not cut wires... I have a pic or two. Let me dry off from the pool and find them. They are on the A-4 thread somewhere!

[fredmdbud]

I forgot to add. If you plug the landing gear in to the RX, the landing light will not turned on. Another reason why I have my landing gear plugged in to the blue box. Blue box is under the battery floor. I used 12" extention and put my RX where the blue box is.

If you have a 3-way connector,

• connect 1 to the nose retract
• connect another to the main retracts (I believe they come already Y'ed)
• connect the third to the BB gear input using the "patch" cable that normally connects to the RX.

This preserves the landing light on/off, as well as gets rid of the useless door sequencing delay

[thisguy65]

If you have a 3-way connector,

• connect 1 to the nose retract
• connect another to the main retracts (I believe they come already Y'ed)
• connect the third to the BB gear input using the "patch" cable that normally connects to the RX.

This preserves the landing light on/off, as well as gets rid of the useless door sequencing delay

The doors a mechanically open and closed. I believe you need a y harness for the landing gear, 90% sure. It's been a few weeks since I did mine.

[fredmdbud]

The doors a mechanically open and closed. I believe you need a y harness for the landing gear, 90% sure. It's been a few weeks since I did mine.

Yes, the doors are mechanically operated, but the BB still introduces a delay before lowering the gears. And I am fairly certain that the cables for the mains are a Y-cable when I broke down a fuselage to salvage parts. You probably needed an additional Y to activate the mains and the nose retract on the same channel.

Besides, what would be the point of having separate cables for them?

[tengarang]

So far! I have not unboxed the 18 BA, but the other birds are fine. I isolate the throttle lead and remove the factory BEC if it has one, and then do a little cut in for the new BEC, the battery telemetry, and the ESC power lead. I put EC-5 connectors on both ends so I can remove the unit if necessary and not cut wires... I have a pic or two. Let me dry off from the pool and find them. They are on the A-4 thread somewhere!

personally, i would leave the stock BEC in there and introduce a separate BEC so you have two working in parallel double insurance. Add a bypass cap 3000uF cap to the RX to protect the output voltages of both.

That way if one fails the other one is working

[janmb]

So far! I have not unboxed the 18 BA, but the other birds are fine. I isolate the throttle lead and remove the factory BEC if it has one, and then do a little cut in for the new BEC, the battery telemetry, and the ESC power lead. I put EC-5 connectors on both ends so I can remove the unit if necessary and not cut wires... I have a pic or two. Let me dry off from the pool and find them. They are on the A-4 thread somewhere!

No problem at all running double BECs for different purposes. But for this to be safe and serve its purpose, it is important that all lines that bridge the two systems do not convey power (e.g if running a cable from rx gear channel to the BB to drive landing lights, make sure to remove the red wire so it has only ground and signal)

[janmb]

Besides, what would be the point of having separate cables for them?

Better load distribution. Absolutely not a big deal in this particularly case, but certainly best practice.

[Imladris18]

It's a thing of beauty that's for sure! I have been craving a true "C" variant Blue Angel 90mm for a loooong time. I had 6 of the V1/V2s and painted each of them (tails 1 through 6) Blue Angels even though it was the wrong variant. Can't wait to get her all dialed with no gremlins so she can become my go-to jet!

PEDANTRY WARNING

You still don't technically have a true C variant, as this is actually modeled after the A variant :P Of course, I understand almost no one can tell the difference anyways. I'm just OCD about Hornets To put my mind at ease, I simply cut and re-arranged my BuNo decals on mine to create a new one that's actually one of the last A models the Blues used (162437). Easy fix.

In the end, couldn't be happier to have a scale Blue Angel Legacy Hornet as well

Hey, in a couple years, those V1/V2s will start to be the correct variant too!

[Aros]

Yeah I am not that OCD about the Hornet...If it LOOKS like a C versus Freewing's old E version for my BA livery I am good!

[tengarang]

No problem at all running double BECs for different purposes. But for this to be safe and serve its purpose, it is important that all lines that bridge the two systems do not convey power (e.g if running a cable from rx gear channel to the BB to drive landing lights, make sure to remove the red wire so it has only ground and signal)

no need to remove the red wire if you run a bypass voltage saver capacitor ~3000uF or more should do the trick and provide a sufficient RC time constant for discharge. Thats the beauty of having both BEC's operable at any given time.

[HellHathNoFury]

Yeah I am not that OCD about the Hornet...If it LOOKS like a C versus Freewing's old E version for my BA livery I am good!

If it looks like the Hornet.. Flies like a Hornet.. Then in my books it definitely is a Hornet..

[EA-6B Geek]

Glad you guys aren't being OCD about Hornets, and with that here's my first attempt at weathering a foam jet. Tried to keep it subtle. I need to get some better sidewinders, stole these from the F-4. Gotta get out and fly it again soon!

[janmb]

no need to remove the red wire if you run a bypass voltage saver capacitor ~3000uF or more should do the trick and provide a sufficient RC time constant for discharge. Thats the beauty of having both BEC's operable at any given time.

I agree that this would be an ideal setup, but it does require both BECs to deliver more or less the exact same voltage. Otherwise, once the capacitor is filled (which under normal circumstances it will be), you will be back to square one in terms of current creeping from one BEC to the other (which needless to say is bad)

[Aros]

Glad you guys aren't being OCD about Hornets, and with that here's my first attempt at weathering a foam jet. Tried to keep it subtle. I need to get some better sidewinders, stole these from the F-4. Gotta get out and fly it again soon!

Looks great! Nice job for your first weathering job on a foam jet! Love the subtle approach...Always, always better than overdoing. Well done!