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

[gooniac33]

Unknown.... I like lines of the tandem F-18.... the gear for Eflite aint cheep! :-) Yes full repaint and 3D part upgrade going in to the Eflite. Doing Agressor from VMFAT101

And thanks for the very kind words on the FW Bug :-)

Now that is one really dirty D Model!! Love it though and a customer of mine made his look just like that one! Good stuff!!

I have had mine for a while now and am really loving the way that it flies! I have a 3 year old custom inrunner set up in mine that is much more at home in this bird than it was in the 90mm F-15. It has true afterburner performance as it is now! Full throttle climbs are up and out of sight before you know it... I mainly cruise at half but those bursts of speed on passes can be really intoxicating!! Its going to be hard to take this set up out for the new one I am putting together but it is going to have to be done... Here are a couple videos that I haven't posted here yet...

[gooniac33]

Also since I have both the 80mm and 90mm Hornets I wanted to chime in on the differences.

The 90mm is for sure a faster bird and also has a much lower landing speed than the Efltie 80mm. I am able to take off/land mine without flaps and actually prefer it with no flaps. The high alpha landings are my fave style for this plane. My only gripe is the narrow landing gear that tend to tip with a slight cross wind even when cross controlling. Its very fast, clean and once you get things worked out its a dream to fly! I have also flown a stock bird and was really impressed with the performance on the stock fan! The plane is very fast stock and Freewing did a good job getting the speed up there even on this 6s version. 8s is ballistic and even faster!

The 80mm has been a pain with ground handling but for the most part I have figured it out. The gear is much more scale than the Freewing but it also does not work nearly as well. The springs do not do anything other than fling the gear forward when off the ground. When it is planted they are just that. Planted and with no suspension effect at all. Now that being said the plane does fly really well! No it isn't a speed demon like the Freewing is but it does move really nice! It flies much more realistic than the Freewing which means that it doesn't look cartoonish going by so fast that it must be doing 1700mph scale speed. Speed is very scale from what I can see and it slides its tail more realistically than the Freewing does. Also with my 6s 50c 6000 pack I am able to get flight times that are in the 4-5 min range. Even with the same battery the Freewing would not be able to do that even in stock form. I am planning to upgrade the fan to the new FMS 2100kv set up to see if I can get just a little more out of it. But all in all its a fun to fly bird! And no I don't have to choose a favorite... I have all 3 sizes now! 70mm, 80mm and 90mm... I can fit all in my car too!! I may be a lil addicted to this hobby....

[Aros]

Thanks for the detailed report! Since the F-18 is my favorite "F" jet to-date, I plan on getting the E-flite as well and enjoy that for what it is. I am having a ball with my Freewing 90mm Blue Angel at the moment. I will eventually get a gray version to paint it up in a chosen livery as well. Can never have too many F-18s!

[e4dragongunner]

Also since I have both the 80mm and 90mm Hornets I wanted to chime in on the differences.

The 90mm is for sure a faster bird and also has a much lower landing speed than the Efltie 80mm. I am able to take off/land mine without flaps and actually prefer it with no flaps. The high alpha landings are my fave style for this plane. My only gripe is the narrow landing gear that tend to tip with a slight cross wind even when cross controlling. Its very fast, clean and once you get things worked out its a dream to fly! I have also flown a stock bird and was really impressed with the performance on the stock fan! The plane is very fast stock and Freewing did a good job getting the speed up there even on this 6s version. 8s is ballistic and even faster!

The 80mm has been a pain with ground handling but for the most part I have figured it out. The gear is much more scale than the Freewing but it also does not work nearly as well. The springs do not do anything other than fling the gear forward when off the ground. When it is planted they are just that. Planted and with no suspension effect at all. Now that being said the plane does fly really well! No it isn't a speed demon like the Freewing is but it does move really nice! It flies much more realistic than the Freewing which means that it doesn't look cartoonish going by so fast that it must be doing 1700mph scale speed. Speed is very scale from what I can see and it slides its tail more realistically than the Freewing does. Also with my 6s 50c 6000 pack I am able to get flight times that are in the 4-5 min range. Even with the same battery the Freewing would not be able to do that even in stock form. I am planning to upgrade the fan to the new FMS 2100kv set up to see if I can get just a little more out of it. But all in all its a fun to fly bird! And no I don't have to choose a favorite... I have all 3 sizes now! 70mm, 80mm and 90mm... I can fit all in my car too!! I may be a lil addicted to this hobby....

Great report sir! Winter swooped in before either of mine could rotate for the 1st time.... :-)

[Radar-Guy]

My version of the cockpit, files available in the 3DP thread

Frank

[Elbee]

Radar-Guy, WOW, Bravo Zulu, Frank. Merry Christmas! Best, Steve

[Aros]

Fantastic!!

[T-CAT]

These printed and painted cockpits look awesome.

[Aros]

[killickb]

Very well done on making what is normally a very boring few minutes into something watchable, enjoyed it muchly.

[Aros]

Thank you very much! That is quite a compliment as I am fully aware watching RC videos can be monotonous for some.

[Dustman]

LB looking at your cockpit shroud is it glue to the OEM one and painted? Your IP does not work with RG's shroud because of the shape around the top. His has angles and yours is rounded. I am waiting for the parts I need to come back from RC Geek to complete my cockpit. I just hope I can produce a look as good as Yours and RG's. Because I'm, anal I made up some wing pylons from balsa that are more scale like. They are the same scale as the Banana Hobbies F-18f model but thinner. I'll start back up my cockpit when My parts come in.

[Elbee]

DM, I designed the Fwd IP to match the OEM shape without cutting away any foam in the forward cockpit. I laid my version of the Fwd Shroud over the OEM part and cut it back. When looking at photos of the 'actual' it appeared to me that there are at least 2 parts so I designed the part to closely match the natural seam and dressed up the Fwd part to look more realistic. Radar-Guy designed his version in one piece where you would cut away all of the OEM foam and replace it with his 'full shroud'. Builders' choice here. Hope this helps. Best, LB

[Stevonoles]

Getting ready to maiden. Is anyone mixing any elevator in with flaps? I can’t seem to find an answer to this. If so, what % up are you using? Any help is much appreciated.

[Phantom]

I thought the instructions had this mix written in them....

[Phantom]

Just checked I'm incorrect, no mix mentioned. I'm not sure exactly where but I've read many suggested mixes on this thread depending on whether or not using normal or full span flaps. Just have to peruse this thread, unless one of the experts want to chime in, I know Gooniac flies the crap out of his...

[xviper]

I don't believe the manual mentions anything about elevator compensation for flaps. I don't generally like to comment on this because each person has their own preference for doing this or not doing this. If flaps are deployed at the proper time and in the proper manner, elevator compensation is not needed on most planes. Personally, I didn't bother with it as this plane doesn't react in a surprising or unmanageable way when flaps are deployed.

[Evan D]

With regular flaps I have 7% up elevator mixed for half and 12% for full flaps. Using full span flaps needs quite a bit more. Over a hundred flights on mine now.

[Elbee]

Hey Y'all, Been Christmas-ing too much, but got back to dry-fitting and some 'pilot' work. Lookin' mo' betterer, but a few things yet to do. Callie Graphics in another week to 10 days, as she be bein' a busy woman. Hope to button the cockpit up over the weekend and will post a couple more pics then. Best always, LB

[Aros]

Just fantastic my friend!