Official Freewing Twin 70mm AL37 Airliner Thread

[Slowflight]

Yeah im flying with an AR636. How familiar are you with setting up the receiver? Do you have a programming cable? It's really important to make sure the receiver is moving control surfaces in the correct direction - im sure you can find a guide on youtube on how to do that. Skip this step at your own peril - it will pretty much guarantee a crash if set incorrectly. The same goes for all gyros.

Other than that, you can run fairly high gains on this bird. Stick priority (which is the rate at which the gyro reduces its gain as you increase stick movements) around 160% is good for most planes, and how horizon ships most of its BNF models. What that means is the gyro reduces its gains gradually, and by 80% stick travel in either direction, is completely inactive.

Thanks for the info, I’ve been flying large scales all my life this is my first foam plane and I’ve never used gyros I’ve never had the need, actually I’ve always been against it as I think part of the magic of flying RC is lost with the aid of gyros, lots of the IMAC guys at my club as well as the jet guys ( I can understand the jets) use very sophisticated gyros, I can set up a receiver I just add some expo on the elevator and ail for smooth flying. Is the gyro even needed on the AL37? Thanks again.

[HaroldAnderson]

Thanks for the info, I’ve been flying large scales all my life this is my first foam plane and I’ve never used gyros I’ve never had the need, actually I’ve always been against it as I think part of the magic of flying RC is lost with the aid of gyros, lots of the IMAC guys at my club as well as the jet guys ( I can understand the jets) use very sophisticated gyros, I can set up a receiver I just add some expo on the elevator and ail for smooth flying. Is the gyro even needed on the AL37? Thanks again.

I fly mine with a FrSky receiver with built in gyro. Only had one good day of weather and that was 6 - 10 mph winds. I had some tail wiggle with and without the gyro enabled. Hopefully we will have some warmer weather soon and I can try to get it smoothed out. I really couldn't tell the difference when the gyro was on with this aircraft. This is normally the case on calm days. Windy days are when the gyro really helps and I doubt I will be flying this plane on windy days much.

The gyro is nice when exiting from flat spins and other maneuvers. I push the nose down and release the rudder and let the gyro handle stopping the spin with the exact amount of opposite rudder needed. I can let that flat spin come down a lot lower than I would trust myself recovering from a flat spin. Adds some excitement at the flying field. Of course you will not be doing flat spins in the airliner. The airliner inverted pass will suffice though. ;-)

[Model Sounds Inc.]

Isn't that speaker very large and to put two in....

The sound system I am offering for this model comes with two 2inch exciters, so they are small and very light weight.

[4923crew]

More Mods on my AL37! I’ll be adding my double bogie struts to my KC-135 mod as soon as I get them from china. Also ill be modifying the Vertical to look like it should with pitot and all

[avanti127]

Oh ok, that's better! :-).

Are these in stock?

The sound system I am offering for this model comes with two 2inch exciters, so they are small and very light weight.

[TimHendrix]

Well, couldn’t find search for this forum, so what kind of paint is being used to paint these. Particularly those that have done the newer Southwest heart scheme, what dark blue is being used?
Thanks,
TH

[Ricky crack]

AL 37 light mods

[Ricky crack]

AL 37 Callie Graphics

[LowandSlow]

Almost done!
wondering if anyone has tried more flap than what is recommended in the instructions. The 3/4" or 19mm just doesnt seem like much for full flap.

[avanti127]

Almost done!
wondering if anyone has tried more flap than what is recommended in the instructions. The 3/4" or 19mm just doesnt seem like much for full flap.

I have mine setup according to the manual and it works great. It is a light airframe and I am sure Alpha tried different settings and found this to work the best.

I use servo slow function on both the flap and elevator and you can't even tell when they're engaged except it slows it down slightly. If course when I land I have reversing ESC's that stops it instantly but not needed. I use it for the cool factor.😁

[Slowflight]

Well, couldn’t find search for this forum, so what kind of paint is being used to paint these. Particularly those that have done the newer Southwest heart scheme, what dark blue is being used?
Thanks,
TH

While I haven't painted mine yet all posts I've seen here use some type of water base paint, some club member at my club also use latex, I plan to use exterior latex house paint from Behr, I've been using it on my las several large builds for some time and is a great paint. One advantage is that it adheres great with no need to prime. I did some testing on the lower winglet I removed to be sure is ok, all seems fine so far.

[Fredardi]

Does anyone know when the AL 37 will be back in stock in EU ? Thanks

[Alpha]

Well, couldn’t find search for this forum, so what kind of paint is being used to paint these. Particularly those that have done the newer Southwest heart scheme, what dark blue is being used?
Thanks,
TH

TimHendrix welcome home to Hobby Squawk! We have quite a few methods to refinish models like the AL37. Most of us are using paint from rattlecans or airbrushes, but I have also seen vinyl wraps. I'm unsure what the Southwest refinisher used. If you type "@" before his username, it will notify him that someone is talking to him. Hopefully that gets his attention and he can answer your question directly.

I'd guess it was a rattlecan, simply due to the large size of the fuselage on this big bird.

Does anyone know when the AL 37 will be back in stock in EU ? Thanks

We have more AL37 on the way to Europe now, but I strongly recommend putting your email into the Notify Me field on the product page. This will ensure the system emails you automatically as soon as the AL37's are restocked and ready to be ordered and shipped. There are many people on that email list already, and I hope everyone who wants one is able to get one.

[Fredardi]

TimHendrix welcome home to Hobby Squawk! We have quite a few methods to refinish models like the AL37. Most of us are using paint from rattlecans or airbrushes, but I have also seen vinyl wraps. I'm unsure what the Southwest refinisher used. If you type "@" before his username, it will notify him that someone is talking to him. Hopefully that gets his attention and he can answer your question directly.

I'd guess it was a rattlecan, simply due to the large size of the fuselage on this big bird.



We have more AL37 on the way to Europe now, but I strongly recommend putting your email into the Notify Me field on the product page. This will ensure the system emails you automatically as soon as the AL37's are restocked and ready to be ordered and shipped. There are many people on that email list already, and I hope everyone who wants one is able to get one.

Ok i'll do thanks !

[T-CAT]

Well, couldn’t find search for this forum, so what kind of paint is being used to paint these. Particularly those that have done the newer Southwest heart scheme, what dark blue is being used?
Thanks,
TH

One of my friends made a video regarding the Southwest livery painting process. Here is the link to his YouTube video on his channel. I hope this helps.

https://youtu.be/f_sRVK0z1RI

[TimHendrix]

Thanks l’ll check it out.

[HaroldAnderson]

While I haven't painted mine yet all posts I've seen here use some type of water base paint, some club member at my club also use latex, I plan to use exterior latex house paint from Behr, I've been using it on my las several large builds for some time and is a great paint. One advantage is that it adheres great with no need to prime. I did some testing on the lower winglet I removed to be sure is ok, all seems fine so far.

I used Behr interior/exterior high gloss latex and it worked great. I was able to wet sand with 400 grit after 12 hours or so. Brushed it on being careful not to rebrush and create a lot of brush strokes. I used the latex paint as a primer to get rid of the paint texture of the factory paint. It worked well. Most of it is 3 coats wet sanded between each coat. It has two thin coats of water based Varathane gloss over the top. I still need to wet sand the Varathan and recoat. I tried spraying on a coat of Varathane and it was too thick and went on dry. The final coat of Varathane will be brushed on to fix the dulling by the sprayed on coat. The spraying just did not work well for me.

Callie Graphics of course.

[Slowflight]

I used Behr interior/exterior high gloss latex and it worked great. I was able to wet sand with 400 grit after 12 hours or so. Brushed it on being careful not to rebrush and create a lot of brush strokes. I used the latex paint as a primer to get rid of the paint texture of the factory paint. It worked well. Most of it is 3 coats wet sanded between each coat. It has two thin coats of water based Varathane gloss over the top. I still need to wet sand the Varathan and recoat. I tried spraying on a coat of Varathane and it was too thick and went on dry. The final coat of Varathane will be brushed on to fix the dulling by the sprayed on coat. The spraying just did not work well for me.

Callie Graphics of course.

That's outstanding great job, do you happen to know the name of the gray you used?

[Aros]

The most diverse model canvas for liveries I have ever seen to date by FAR. I have yet to see a poor job or bad livery yet. Bravo Zulu to everyone!

[walkerm45]

4923crew, I sent you a private message about your excellent build of the Kc-135R. If interested in comparing info, as I am starting my KC-135R build, let me know...... walkerm45