Official Freewing Twin 70mm AL37 Airliner Thread

[GliderGuy]

Arrived today! Slowly getting started on the assembly. I took some suggestions to add in additional carbon re-enforce the fuselage where the two sections join together. Seems pretty solid. Now i'm just trying to decide if i'll bypass the blue box or not.. What an impressive model when it's out of the box an actually on the table.

Good deal...that will prevent splitting.

-GG

[406PIlot]

Arrived today! Slowly getting started on the assembly. I took some suggestions to add in additional carbon re-enforce the fuselage where the two sections join together. Seems pretty solid. Now i'm just trying to decide if i'll bypass the blue box or not.. What an impressive model when it's out of the box an actually on the table.

[406PIlot]

Fedex tracking still says scheduled delivery today. I'm just chomping at the bit for this thing to get here. I can't wait to get it together and in the air for the first time. I feel like a little kid waiting for christmas morning.

[GliderGuy]

Must be a great bird if your getting #3. I think i made the right choice picking up this one. Mine will hopefully be here tomorrow or monday. Can't wait to get this together and in the air.

Hi 406P - I would rather still be flying #2! But, lamp posts are unforgiving. Darn it!

But yes...she’s a beauty in the air, fast when driven hard, and a crowd pleaser!

I suggest you take the time to read ALL the posts in this AL37 forum and learn from others before you maiden it. Tons of knowledge here.

Take off with 1/2 flap, land with full flap. I cruise at 1/2 throttle to get reasonable flight times. Reduce to about 1/4 power on base and keep that on final...gradually reducing to cut-off once down low. She does better with a touch of power into ground effect.

Start with about 1 to 2 mm of up elevator trim as viewed at the tip. No flap/elevator mix. A bit of expo on the ailerons is suggested. She can be twitchy on the ailerons until you get used to it or without expo. Expect to add up elevator in turns.

If you ever get a main gear failure, land all wheels up. Otherwise, like I had happen, the low nacelle can dig in and rip off and flip her over. Keep her level at touch down, and find a hard surface, if possible. Turf can grab a nacelle.

Read about the RF chokes (search ferrite or choke). My experience with high current ESC birds is: fly without them and risk a lost bird. Once I started using them on high current ESC birds, no lost birds due to RF noise in the system. I lost a few birds before I began to use RF chokes.

She handles wind pretty well, but cross winds are a trick. If you ever snap off a winglet (very rare), do not fly with just one. She will try to roll hard over if you do fly with only one.

Finally, add the internal wing bracing I discuss above to avoid foam-cell boundary cracking, if you plan to do aerobatics.

She does a nice snap roll and spin recovery perfect. Loops, rolls...

Keep us posted....have fun.

-GG
Amazon link to some RF chokes...the variety is nice and useful.

https://www.amazon.com/Yarachel-50PC...4434775&sr=8-4

[406PIlot]

Must be a great bird if your getting #3. I think i made the right choice picking up this one. Mine will hopefully be here tomorrow or monday. Can't wait to get this together and in the air.

[GliderGuy]

Thanks Hugh...I'm betting Bird #3's build will be EASY and even a better bird will result. Might even try it blind folded.....NOT.

-GG

[Hugh Wiedman]

Sadly Bird#2 is in the spare parts pile. Great day for flying....calm and upper 50s.

I got distracted and hit a light pole. I hate that when it happens. Total loss but lots of spare parts.

AL37 #3 on order. I did get about 300 flights on #2, so a reasonable cost per flight was achieved.

A wise person once told me, “Don’t fly RC if crashing upsets you. YOU WILL CRASH!”

-GG

Love your attitude, we should all take that page from your book. We've all been there and WILL return again, so in the meantime, my condolences on the loss of a friend, AL37 #2. The good news is AL37 #3 will have a well stocked inventory of parts.

[GliderGuy]

Sadly Bird#2 is in the spare parts pile. Great day for flying....calm and upper 50s.

I got distracted and hit a light pole. I hate that when it happens. Total loss but lots of spare parts.

AL37 #3 on order. I did get about 300 flights on #2, so a reasonable cost per flight was achieved.

A wise person once told me, “Don’t fly RC if crashing upsets you. YOU WILL CRASH!”

-GG

[GliderGuy]

Especially for those of you getting new birds (or anyone), if you will insert a small carbon rod or square or tube in the wiring channel that extends from the root of the wing and make it long enough to extend past the motor mount...and epoxy glue it to the top of the wiring channel, it will prevent this from happening...see photo. I retired this bird and got another one.

After several hundred flights on the new one...not a single ripple or crease in the top skin. The addition of the internal carbon reinforcement REALLY works. If you do this reinforcement, your top wing skin will stay in like new condition.



This bird was retired after about 2,000 flights even though the cracks aren't of structural concern, since the main loads are handled by the main wing spar. But, they sure don't look pretty.

-GG

P.S. Yes...I did aerobatics with the bird. But I also do them with the new bird. The wing skin on the new bird is staying perfect...due to the carbon glued inside the wiring channel to the foam that forms the top wing skin.

I did attempt to fix the cracks, but failed. They came back and just kept getting bigger. Paint didn’t match....LOL

[406PIlot]

I got my shipping confirmation just a short while ago. Looks like it will be here early next week!!

I am going with the NASA scheme.



Super excited!!!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Absolutely one of the most stress free flying model.
one of my favorite jet was the f-15 for landing, just incredible, but this one is outstanding for it .
if you don’t have it get one , if you hot one then get another one .
all stock , nothing add beside white and few decals .
infact I’m planning to sell this one and get another one and do better scheme .. gonna be around for a wile so no rush on that for me .

Beautiful livery, the pilots look so content, almost like they just had a slice of some awesome pizza (private joke so don't anyone waste time decoding it)

[Griffon Wings]

Absolutely one of the most stress free flying model.
one of my favorite jet was the f-15 for landing, just incredible, but this one is outstanding for it .
if you don’t have it get one , if you hot one then get another one .
all stock , nothing add beside white and few decals .
infact I’m planning to sell this one and get another one and do better scheme .. gonna be around for a wile so no rush on that for me .

[Aros]

Nice! From what I hear you won't be disappointed! Good luck with your scheme...I plan on grabbing one by this Summer and doing the Alaska Airlines livery...

[406PIlot]

Ordered my AL37 last night! Just waiting for the shipping confirmation email now =) I ordered the plain white version & have graphics on the way from Callie.

Can't wait to get this bird!

[xviper]

Model complete everything works but the retracts. All 3 do not retract . If I install the retracts to the receiver they work but not when connected to the internal box

1. There is a delay of 2 to 4 seconds after you flip the switch. Did you wait?
2. How did you connect up the main retracts to the RX? They run through those wing cables directly to the control box. Did you take apart the wing board and hook up servo extensions to the RX? Is the polarity correct at the wing boards?
3. There is only one servo connection to the control box and that's the nose retract. Is the polarity correct into the control box? Using the provided wiring diagram for the box, did you plug the nose retract into the correct pins?

[GliderGuy]

Model complete everything works but the retracts. All 3 do not retract . If I install the retracts to the receiver they work but not when connected to the internal box

Beyond the obvious “recheck your wiring - diagrams” to ensure proper set-up, contact MRC support and walk thru with them on the phone. They will make the determination of a bad blue box or otherwise.

-GG

[Dcarpenter]

Model complete everything works but the retracts. All 3 do not retract . If I install the retracts to the receiver they work but not when connected to the internal box

[Aros]

Boy we all could use a Chris Lundie when we fly! Beautiful shots!

[Darrell King]

Darrell King , those are some of the best photos I've ever seen, congrats to you, Dirk and Chris. What a couple of gorgeous birds.

thanks alot Our club photographer Chris Lundie is just amazing with a camera in this you can see a dragon fly Bug stike lol

[Hugh Wiedman]

Some MORE AL-37 and a checky Hawk Flying with Dirk Streefkerk Photos Taken From Penrith Electric Model Aero Club. Photographer/Pilot Chris Lundie

Darrell King , those are some of the best photos I've ever seen, congrats to you, Dirk and Chris. What a couple of gorgeous birds.