Official Freewing Twin 70mm AL37 Airliner Thread

[4923crew]

Well my customizing mind just can’t rest. I had the idea to make a tanker out of an AL37 and ended up with my KC-37 (not a real bird). Well like I said above I cant rest. Well without further delay. Introducing the AL37 in an attempt to make a KC-135 Tanker. I added two more 70mm motors and nacelles making a QUAD 70mm edf jet.


Well what do you think??? The first flight after this mod will hopefully be accomplished tomorrow (weather permitting)

[Nebraska Trevor]

The quad kc37 looks amazing!

[Tooeleflyboy]

Hello AL37 fans just a quick mention on mine now that I finished my build.

This is really a wonderful plane with very few if any issues so far since it's release. Let me say a few things I learned along the way. If you add two short servo extensions to the nose gear steering and retract you can move the blue box under the battery tray and get more ribbon cable running out to the wings for easier access to installing and removing it. When installing the main wings take caution with the pre-installed small rear wing spar as I poked the fuselage a few times with it while trying to slide in the wing. Also when applying the decals, watch the posted video and be careful and I had almost no trouble at all with paint lifting.

With that said I would personally not attempt to use any masking tape on this beauty for painting lines. Freehand is the best (what I did) but there are other techniques that could be used. I even heard cheap (brown) wet paper towels was one of them but have never tried it. On the wing tip winglets some small file work on them goes a long way to help making them slide on and off better. The rear horizontal stabilizers need to be installed at a slightly upward angle. I struggled at first trying to put them in even wondered if they fit correctly and then when I changed the angle slid in without a problem. In closing this was a fun build and have yet to fly it but feel very confident she is more then air worthy based on the hundreds of other flights other pilots have performed on it with no trouble or CG issues. I have also posted a build on here as well.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

[AL37Pilot]

Any help?

[Dkurtzid]

Well my customizing mind just can’t rest. I had the idea to make a tanker out of an AL37 and ended up with my KC-37 (not a real bird). Well like I said above I cant rest. Well without further delay. Introducing the AL37 in an attempt to make a KC-135 Tanker. I added two more 70mm motors and nacelles making a QUAD 70mm edf jet.


Well what do you think??? The first flight after this mod will hopefully be accomplished tomorrow (weather permitting)

Looks great! Where did you position the two additional ESC‘s? Are you running the additional motors on a second battery? More details please.

Don

[Dkurtzid]

Hello AL37 fans just a quick mention on mine now that I finished my build.

Beautiful Job! I really like the uplighting on the tail logo. And the weathering on the wings looks amazing! Care to share your techniques....?

Don

[Slowflight]

Looks great! Where did you position the two additional ESC‘s? Are you running the additional motors on a second battery? More details please.

Don

Seems by the pictures the 2 outboard engines are just the shells no fans, I’ve seen other large quads with turbines do the same, 2 turbines and 2 dummies.

[killickb]

4923, fantastic job of creating that 4 motor version, looks very realistic. Has to be the most comprehensive mod to date. Sure hope that the maiden goes perfectly. Are you running two independent power systems ? How much did the wing loading increase by ? I notice my wings flexing in fight so be gentle !
I made my old E-Flite airliner into a four motor job but used very low power outboards. Still fly her now and again but she is getting pretty beat up. Again, very nice project.

[Slowflight]

Hello AL37 fans just a quick mention on mine now that I finished my build.

This is really a wonderful plane with very few if any issues so far since it's release. Let me say a few things I learned along the way. If you add two short servo extensions to the nose gear steering and retract you can move the blue box under the battery tray and get more ribbon cable running out to the wings for easier access to installing and removing it. When installing the main wings take caution with the pre-installed small rear wing spar as I poked the fuselage a few times with it while trying to slide in the wing. Also when applying the decals, watch the posted video and be careful and I had almost no trouble at all with paint lifting.

With that said I would personally not attempt to use any masking tape on this beauty for painting lines. Freehand is the best (what I did) but there are other techniques that could be used. I even heard cheap (brown) wet paper towels was one of them but have never tried it. On the wing tip winglets some small file work on them goes a long way to help making them slide on and off better. The rear horizontal stabilizers need to be installed at a slightly upward angle. I struggled at first trying to put them in even wondered if they fit correctly and then when I changed the angle slid in without a problem. In closing this was a fun build and have yet to fly it but feel very confident she is more then air worthy based on the hundreds of other flights other pilots have performed on it with no trouble or CG issues. I have also posted a build on here as well.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

I just picked up this tape from HD I’m going to try it and report to the group, when I joined the fuse I used blue tape from Scotch for many years with great success and as you said I did had a small area that lifted, I sanded it smooth and will paint over it. Your 37 came out nice, I like the lighting.

[boomer108]

Well my customizing mind just can’t rest. I had the idea to make a tanker out of an AL37 and ended up with my KC-37 (not a real bird). Well like I said above I cant rest. Well without further delay. Introducing the AL37 in an attempt to make a KC-135 Tanker. I added two more 70mm motors and nacelles making a QUAD 70mm edf jet.


Well what do you think??? The first flight after this mod will hopefully be accomplished tomorrow (weather permitting)

Looks great 4923, but the KC-135 did not have a in-flight refueling receptacle but it looks cool.

[MANFRED]

I used that new tape and it does tend to be a bit weak in holding power. Good for small areas

[Elbee]

So I discovered I do not need a gyro because my reciever has one built in...
anyway, I cant get the landing gear to go down, flaps, my elevators arent working right... any help?

AL37Pilot, Welcome to "Hobby Squawk", Sir. There is great help here, can you give us your specs on TX/RX brand, type of battery for EDF power, etc. Throttle needs to be zero when first plugging in your battery power is a common mistake. As for no control surface movement, check all connections to the Blue Box and RX. Want to assist, just might need more information. Best, LB

[Woodcock]

Well my customizing mind just can’t rest. I had the idea to make a tanker out of an AL37 and ended up with my KC-37 (not a real bird). Well like I said above I cant rest. Well without further delay. Introducing the AL37 in an attempt to make a KC-135 Tanker. I added two more 70mm motors and nacelles making a QUAD 70mm edf jet.


Well what do you think??? The first flight after this mod will hopefully be accomplished tomorrow (weather permitting)

Break a leg mate. Looking forward to see how it flies. Love the look though.

W

[xviper]

So I discovered I do not need a gyro because my reciever has one built in...
anyway, I cant get the landing gear to go down, flaps, my elevators arent working right... any help?

If you are using the RX that you posted pictures of in your post #965, the AR6600T does NOT have a gyro built in. It has telemetry but no gyro. Can you confirm that this is the receiver you are using?

[AL37Pilot]

Thank u so much for this info! I will install the gyro now!

[xviper]

Thank u so much for this info! I will install the gyro now!

Additionally, most Spektrum TXs are preset with a frame rate of 22ms. The AR6600T requires a frame rate of 11ms. Confirm that your TX is set at 11ms for this RX. Before you add the gyro, you should make sure everything works without it. The fact that nothing seems to work right means something is amiss. Get it to work properly without the gyro, THEN put the gyro in and do ALL the bench tests BEFORE the plane leaves the ground. If even one axis on the gyro is reversed, the plane will head for dirt within seconds after taking off.
You should also ensure you do the throttle calibration with the throttle trim to minimum. Sometimes, the RX won't bind properly if the trim is too high.

[S.W.Warbirds]

[QUOTE=Tooeleflyboy;n227103]Hello AL37 fans just a quick mention on mine now that I finished my build.

Really nice job all around very clean & them Tail lights

[S.W.Warbirds]

Well my customizing mind just can’t rest. I had the idea to make a tanker out of an AL37 and ended up with my KC-37 (not a real bird). Well like I said above I cant rest. Well without further delay. Introducing the AL37 in an attempt to make a KC-135 Tanker. I added two more 70mm motors and nacelles making a QUAD 70mm edf jet.


Well what do you think??? The first flight after this mod will hopefully be accomplished tomorrow (weather permitting)

Oh man .... It's always better on all 4's Will be looking forward to seeing fly !

[4923crew]

First Flight video footage of my custom AL37 made into a close but not exact Kc-135. It flew really well and other than the extra battery weight, there was minimal change to flight characteristics from stock.

video link below:

https://youtu.be/Z7AxmLq6O-Y

[Heli143]

WOW!! Absolutely beautiful job on that flying gas tank!
one of the real ones just happened to be flying over my house while doing touch and goes at the next door Army airfield.

Also love that Delta rendition! Great detail work and lighting!