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

[Dustman]

Beautiful job on your plane LB!!

[Elbee]

Thank you, Sir.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hello Hornet Howners, got my VFA-41 Black Aces F-18C on her feet for the first time. I could not resist dry fitting everything just to have a look, and I like it. Now it's on to fill-in/touch up paint, placing the remaining nomenclature and markings, attaching final 3DP bits, clear coats and 'weathering'. Best, LB

OMG, that is THE SINGLE most outstanding re-do I've ever seen. All your mods are incredible, including the operating arresting hook, LED lighting, cockpit, and on and on. Even the details on the INSIDE of the gear doors. Can't wait for your flight report with that 12 blade 1835 Kv inrunner, I think you'll love it. Were you able to get the CG where you want it without adding any lead? You keep setting the bar so high that the rest of us need binoculars just to see it!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Thanks!

Whoa, that's fantastic!
Where did you get that cockpit from, or did you make it yourself?

The 3DP files would come in super-handy! :D

I got lucky and got the 30 some printed parts from a guy in our club who did have the 3DP files and printed it for me, but unfortunately he moved away recently and I have no idea where he is. Somewhere in this thread way back when the F-18 first came out several guys were talking about the files but I don't have the patience to wade through all the posts to find them. And I may be mistaken, but if you look on the Motion website under each of the F-18's under "Support" I think they still have the files available for download.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Elbee what I really wanted to say about the final birth of your F-18 is that it had an even longer gestation period than the elephant has (that being some 660 days), but I have way too much respect for your modeling capabilities then to make lite of how long it took you to get it on the tarmac so I would never say anything like that (maybe behind your back, but not in public anyway). Thankfully this F-18 is a Motion RC product and not a HH product that would have most likely been discontinued before it even got a chance to fly. Although that would have made it even more valuable as an antique! Your F-18 is like a fine wine........

[nuts-n-volts]

Yeahhh!! Rockin'!!

[Griffon Wings]

Hello Hornet Howners, got my VFA-41 Black Aces F-18C on her feet for the first time. I could not resist dry fitting everything just to have a look, and I like it. Now it's on to fill-in/touch up paint, placing the remaining nomenclature and markings, attaching final 3DP bits, clear coats and 'weathering'. Best, LB

Bravo ZULU , Sir
fantastic job. Cockpit look beautiful.
i can’t believe i forgot the runcam at home yesterday.
Just the day i want to start on the tube... oh well, next one i’ll glued with CA to my hands so I don’t forget it.
Great job ELBEE

[Airguardian]

And I may be mistaken, but if you look on the Motion website under each of the F-18's under "Support" I think they still have the files available for download.

Hell, yeah!
There it is, thank you!

[Elbee]

Airguardian, I have submitted the entire F-18C Cockpit set to Aros by request. There are 20+ STL files. As I understand it, these will be posted soon on each of the Freewing F-18C 90mm "Support" pages just as Hugh Wiedman wrote.

I would like to thank all of you here at "The Squawk" for your encouragement and support during this marathon build. It is not quite over, but it is a hobby after all. There was life to be led as well throughout this build and I think we can all agree 2020 has certainly been interesting thus far. I will post more when there's more. Best as always, LB

[Elbee]

OMG, that is THE SINGLE most outstanding re-do I've ever seen. All your mods are incredible, including the operating arresting hook, LED lighting, cockpit, and on and on. Even the details on the INSIDE of the gear doors. Can't wait for your flight report with that 12 blade 1835 Kv inrunner, I think you'll love it. Were you able to get the CG where you want it without adding any lead? You keep setting the bar so high that the rest of us need binoculars just to see it!

Hugh, I don't have any clue on CG yet. I had to throw a couple TX packs into the battery bay to keep her from sitting on her nozzles for the pictures. So that's encouraging, I think. The 12 blade Inrunner is heavier than the OEM EDF by 5 ounces if memory serves. I want to try and route most of the wiring beneath the battery tray and hope that might give me better options on battery placement without adding the dreaded lead. We will see. First check flight will be interesting. Hugh, thank you for the compliment, means a lot. Best to you and yours, Steve

[Mizer67]

I like the performance I get from the 1835kv inrunner, but it is very heavy.

My F-22 I added this motor and it's a big added weight at the rear of the plane. I have to move my battery all the way forward in order to get it to balance neutrally (meaning no down stick required inverted).

[Aros]

Hugh Wiedman that is incredible, I assume every detail of that cockpit was hand painted? I imagine a sober hand was paramount!

I am going to use that image as reference when it comes time for me to do all the painting. Any 3" tall paint expert elves I can call? lol

Elbee my friend, just wow. Truly outstanding work sir. Can't wait for the sortie video.

Also, does anyone use the Admiral RX600SP 6-Channel DSMX Compatible Receiver with Stability Plus Gyro in this bird? That's what I am using, I have it set up for On/Off mode and still have the gains where I had them in my 70mm F-16 but I realize they may not apply for this model. Can anyone using this rx let me know where there gains are? Description is nice, photo even better if possible. Much thanks!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh Wiedman that is incredible, I assume every detail of that cockpit was hand painted? I imagine a sober hand was paramount!

Yes hand painted with the help of a toothpick and not exactly with a sober hand, a fifth of Jack Daniels helped steady the hands and made it look awesome with over a thousand knobs!

[Aros]

That's my boy!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh Wiedman that is incredible, I assume every detail of that cockpit was hand painted? I imagine a sober hand was paramount!

I am going to use that image as reference when it comes time for me to do all the painting. Any 3" tall paint expert elves I can call? lol

Elbee my friend, just wow. Truly outstanding work sir. Can't wait for the sortie video.

If you want to use something as a reference, use Elbee cockpit work from his posts #3416 and #3444. That's what I did. Best to use the original "Master" as a guide and not my "sloppy seconds". And yes, it's odd that I know the post to go to of his which clearly shows that I am one of his many "Elbee Groupies". I have catalogs and photos of all of his work plastered to my "reference guide" wall in the workshop. Gee, if the FBI ever sees that I'm in trouble.

[Aros]

Ah, good advice! I must have forgotten about his shots...I'll go look...Not to worry I'm not an informant.

[Elbee]

Hey Guys, These are the references I used for designing and painting the Freewing F/a 18C Cockpit and Ejection Seat. There are also some shots of my finished cockpit. My presumbtion is all the STL Files will be available on the Motion RC website on the Support page of any of their Freewing 90mm Hornets soon. Best, LB

[Gvasiloff]

Does anyone have some of the 3D printed wing tip rails for sale already made? I don’t have a 3D printer and I’d like to have a couple spares.

[Aros]

Hey Guys, These are the references I used for designing and painting the Freewing F/a 18C Cockpit and Ejection Seat. There are also some shots of my finished cockpit. My presumbtion is all the STL Files will be available on the Motion RC website on the Support page of any of their Freewing 90mm Hornets soon. Best, LB

Excellent, thank you Elbee ! I confess my attention to tiny detail is not my strong suit but I am going to give it my best. AFTER she flies successfully a few sorties though.

[Evan D]

I'm not sure how many of you also had the earlier F/A-18E with thrust vectoring, either the V1 or 2 (the second had upgraded landing gear, flaps and bolt on wings).

I got a lead on an older V1 nib and this is it ready to maiden. The old 6b outrunner that made 1580W was pulled out and the 9B, ESC and BEC out of the current F-18C put in (2500W) put in. I also swapped in the V2's better gear, stabs and stab mounting also with the more current FW ball links and swapped the old 9g servos with newer FW digital mg's. And Suko’s sidewinders.

End product is 920g lighter than the F-18C, two POUNDs.

And TV's!

[Elbee]

I'm not sure how many of you also had the earlier F/A-18E...]

ED, Very Cool Indeed. Best, LB