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

[Aros]

It's so true and to be perfectly honest Airguardian I completely forgot just how sensitive she is with stall speeds. I mean, flying jets for as many years as I have I certainly know you don't want to fly them close to stall speed in general but I have found F-18's to be relatively floaty overall (think dead stick) and that kind of lulls you into a false narrative of expectations sometimes. When I was that high and hot over the tree line, I thought I had plenty of leeway with the throttle. Nope.

I still am thrilled that after my cosmetic fixes how good she still looks. Dodged a major bullet yesterday. Looks like you are headed down the same path!

[Hugh Wiedman]

It's so true and to be perfectly honest Airguardian I completely forgot just how sensitive she is with stall speeds. I mean, flying jets for as many years as I have I certainly know you don't want to fly them close to stall speed in general but I have found F-18's to be relatively floaty overall (think dead stick) and that kind of lulls you into a false narrative of expectations sometimes. When I was that high and hot over the tree line, I thought I had plenty of leeway with the throttle. Nope.

I still am thrilled that after my cosmetic fixes how good she still looks. Dodged a major bullet yesterday. Looks like you are headed down the same path!

Looks no worse for the wear, Thank the RC Gods , you must be livin' right! Another Aros feel good moment!

[T-CAT]

Aros Airguardian Great job on the repairs guys. Glad to hear they’re flying again.

[Aros]

Thanks gents, I really do feel blessed. If you had seen the crash from my POV you too would have assumed you would be needing a bag to pick up the pieces. Still not sure how in the world she survived that impact mostly intact. Flight Angels indeed!

Bummer I lost the RunCam2, it would have made for good video, lol.

[Airguardian]

Dad managed to get my crash and reaction on video and it was quite hilarious to be honest... will be uploading it sometime soon.

Dodged a major bullet yesterday. Looks like you are headed down the same path!

Aye to that!

[Mizer67]

I've technically not stalled mine to the point of needing repairs yet, but did manage to break some things landing a few feet short of the runway into a strong headwind.

Once this plane hits a certain speed, its glide ratio quickly becomes that of a brick if you have full flaps in. You can arrest the sink with a lot of throttle but you need to be quick and not bashful.

[Aros]

Very true. My usual spot I fly EDFs that I feel very comfortable with has been taken away. It was the track at the school. They have decided to lock the gates so you can't have (easy) access. So the high approach in the parking lot is setting me up to fail every time. I am in discussions with a local club to add that geotex surface so EDFs can be flown there. I need low approaches with no obstructions to fly these birds with any semblance of confidence.

[Mizer67]

I don't mind a high approach, but do like having at least ~350 ft. of "runway" to feel comfortable getting stopped in time in that case.

Not that it can't be done, but you definitely need to nail the approach to get the F-18 down and stopped in less than 275 ft. - 300 ft. of pavement. Or at least I do. I usually fly my approaches a bit too fast to counter the "brick" effect and am trying to hit the first ~third of the "runway".

If I move my touchdown point back some, to the runway threshold, maybe 200 ft. of ground run is what's needed but you really need a clear approach end to pull that off.

The F-18 doesn't high alpha well so I tend to land it a bit more like a warbird than a jet and only get into alpha once I'm closer to the runway. I'll kill the throttle on a high approach and feed in a little slip as needed, as well as full flaps. Then once I've got the speed and altitude right and obstacle cleared, transition back to a power on, slightly nose high approach.

Takeoffs and landings with this plane are what I find most fun.

[Aros]

That's the problem. High approach is not the issue, it's the lack of runway. The parking lot is pretty small and surrounded by cement curbs and light poles and other obstructions. Absolutely not ideal for flying jets but beggars can't be choosers. Sadly I have a lack of RC clubs around me that are EDF-friendly.

[Mizer67]

That's the problem. High approach is not the issue, it's the lack of runway. The parking lot is pretty small and surrounded by cement curbs and light poles and other obstructions. Absolutely not ideal for flying jets but beggars can't be choosers. Sadly I have a lack of RC clubs around me that are EDF-friendly.

I hear you. I might consider JP brakes if I had a short runway, in order to get stopped.

You can't really drag this one in with power in high alpha and get away with it if things go bad in my experience, although the HP inrunner can power through most of the time, even with full flaps, if you can get relatively nose level. Mirage, Gripen, Mig, F-22 - all those are easy to land very short that way but not the F-18.

I fly most often from a dead-end road as the closest club with an acceptable runway is a 45 min. drive. My typical flying site has high curbs and trees lining one side as well as a high approach on one end, but it is mercifully long until they develop it further.

[Aros]

Yeah brakes is not a bad consideration at all...Might have to explore that option. Some jets, like the F-22, are easy peasy, no issues to land at all. This one though can and will bite.

[Airguardian]

I need low approaches with no obstructions to fly these birds with any semblance of confidence.

Precisely... Having to clear the trees at the runway header was half the reason I crashed mine to begin with.

[flyinhigh042]

Question.
Has anyone here experimented with Tailerons on their F-18? They work very well on my F-100, and the full scale F-18 utilizes Tailerons... so I was thinking they might be a nice addition to the Freewing F-18? Anyone have any input here? Thanks.

[Dougcarr73]

Question.
Has anyone here experimented with Tailerons on their F-18? They work very well on my F-100, and the full scale F-18 utilizes Tailerons... so I was thinking they might be a nice addition to the Freewing F-18? Anyone have any input here? Thanks.

This vid shows the setup you’re looking for, but not how to do it: https://youtu.be/UR23pgabl3I

However, the setup is not necessary unless you just want to do it for the fun of increasing the scale operation of your F18. As you likely already know, this jet is the best flying F18 on the market. Has great speed, maneuverability, and slow flight characteristics. Nevertheless, if you want tailerons, you’ll need a 7 channel minimum receiver. If you want the setup in the vid you’ll need a minimum of 9 channels on your receiver. You’ll also need some serious transmitter mixing/programming skills, or time to learn how to do it.

[Airguardian]

Always tailerons!
Flying without offends the Gods.

As for 'good slow flight characteristics'... not so much on the Freewing Hornet.
It's certainly not the best jet to slow around, EVEN with tailerons on.

[Evan D]

You just need to put the elevators in different slots on the TX. If you have a Spek do two elevators in model set up then mix aileron to your left elevator and your done. Full span flaps is very similar.

[flyinhigh042]

Cool, thanks everyone for the input. I appreciate it.

[Aros]

Spent a rainy weekend painting up the gear, wells and intakes. Closer to scale. Not Elbee scale of course, but passable for this dingbat, lol.

[T-CAT]

Spent a rainy weekend painting up the gear, wells and intakes. Closer to scale. Not Elbee scale of course, but passable for this dingbat, lol.

That looks great! I'm glad you didn't paint the inside/interior of the gear doors. On the full-scale Blue Angels F/A-18C, the wheel wells are white, but not the inside portion of the doors.

[Aros]

Thanks T-CAT ! Funny you should say that because I could have sworn the interior gear doors were white as well but I wanted to make sure. Took me much longer than I thought to find an image of a full scale that clearly showed the wells were white only, not the interior gear doors. Good! Saved me extra work. (And yes, for the record, I have painted the interior gear doors white in the past, lol).