Official Freewing Twin 70mm AL37 Airliner Thread

[Slowflight]

Now that I finally finished every page I can completely agree the nose strut brace isn't needed. Thank you both for your detailed insights.

My own personal thing that I will change is the wheels. I hate that grinding noise. Its like nails on a chalkboard. So aluminum ones it will be with the two main inners being JP Brakes. Either 65mm or 70mm depending on the clearance.

Seeing how this has plenty of power for short take offs, brakes add more places to safely fly at. If I could put brakes on my 40% I would.

My .02 cents. This is my first foamy because I wanted an airliner for many years, Im a scratch builder and used to much larger planes so I order it with some skepticism, I figure for the price of the plane and not being that small I couldn’t go wrong, seriously for $500 you cant go wrong. I fly out of grass, yes is a golf course type of strip but grass none the less and so far I haven’t had any nose gear issues, as for the noice and Ive heard it on many videos, I pulled the mains out and lubricated the axle with a bit of white grease, noise gone. As for the paint peeling, yes is very delicate but if you use 3M delicate surface tape (the purple one available at HD) you have a lot less chances of listing the base white. Brakes I dont think are needed but is a neat feature, but again I fly on grass. My only gripe is speed is fast so you have to constantly be monitoring speed, too slow is not good but just slow enough to make it realistic, and slowed down she is a beauty on fly by, very easy plane to take off and land just watch the air speed. Since I got this plane I have gotten two other foamies, a P40 and a P47 just last night, the 40 flies on rails for a plane that small, and the 47 I haven’t flown it but it belonged to a fellow member and I ve seen it fly. Warning the AL37 will make you buy more foamies 😂😂😂

[Straightshooter]

JP Hobby Brake modification.

1. order the 65mm with 4mm or 5mm shaft. ypu will be throwing away their shaft.

2. use 5mm brass tubing with wall thickness of 0.5mm

3. cut a start length around 50mm and light place in drill chuck. turn while applying abrasive to clear the JP Hobby bearing.

4. Cut final length of 20mm. Male two key slots for set screws.

5. Take the Freewing 4mm shaft and scar up about 20mm on the non-removal side. Also grind two flat spots for the set screw aligned to the brass key slots

6. Apply light touch of ndustrial epoxy and slip on the brass tubing. Verify the key slot and flat spot line up. Clean all excess epoxy particularly on the brass.

7. slide in the assembly into the JP brake and tighten the set screw.

8. The stock wheel will be bit too large. Assemble a pair on to the drill check and run them opposit a belt sander. Measure regularly not to overshoot the 65mm diameter target.

7. Mount the JP brake on the inboard wheel. Use the trimmed down stock wheel out the outboard

8. I'm using the variable controller box to help with fine tuning.

Helps those with short runways. Enjoy.

[CurtS]

Wow, now I know where all the good people are from the other places. Excellent amount of information thank you both. Sorry for what seems like lapping, I am stunned by level of nice people here. Im not used to it. I have 2 FT eBay stores and I run a Non Profit pet food bank, I am used to being the one helping others or being yelled at everyday.

I have been wanting an airliner for years. As much as I would love the new 747 from someone else I dont need two planes worth over 3500 dollars.

[TwistedGrin]

I am not big EDF fan....but this model has peaked my interest....so I'm in on this one....should do fine loitering around the A-10's and F-22's at our grass field.

TwistedGrin

[romair]

I am just close to final assembling of my Freewing B737
Inside there is a pcb having a cable with a 3 lines futava connector.
I could not find any instruction for the use in the manual.

Could this for addition small LIPO for the power support if the main battery will be on low power ??

Would appreciate your help.
regards Roger

[xviper]

I am just close to final assembling of my Freewing B737
Inside there is a pcb having a cable with a 3 lines futava connector.
I could not find any instruction for the use in the manual.

Could this for addition small LIPO for the power support if the main battery will be on low power ??

Would appreciate your help.
regards Roger

No, it's not. This plane doesn't need such a thing nor was it designed to have one. I can't understand what you mean by "3 lines futava connector". Got a picture?

[romair]

Thanks for fast replay.
This pcb have 2 wire +/- with JR connect on one side.
There is an other wires which to the blue 6mm connectors to the controller.
I have attached picture here.

[xviper]

Thanks for fast replay.
This pcb have 2 wire +/- with JR connect on one side.
There is an other wires which to the blue 6mm connectors to the controller.
I have attached picture here.

That 2-wire lead (wound around that green ferrite ring) is coming from the external BEC (not what I call "pcb"). It gets plugged into any empty port on your receiver or you can "Y" it to any port. It supplies power to your RX. The other lead that is connected to that big blue plug (EC5 connector) is how the BEC gets the power to give to the RX. The EC5 is the connection to your flight battery.

[romair]

Thanks a lot.
Now I have understand it.
For my servo connection tests and adjustments I used a5 cell Envelope battery. I didn't want to connect the 6s 5000 just for testing. Therefore i did forget that I need power to receiver if not using a seperate battery as we did sometimes on the beginning
of electro impeller models.
Now its clear the JR connector must be plugged into the receiver to get power from the 6s LIPO.
Thanks again Roger

[TwistedGrin]

Received mine on Friday afternoon, had it ready to go Saturday morning at the field where I set up my rates and expo on the transmitter. I found the low rates not quite enough for our grass field and my own personal taste. The maiden was uneventful with a smooth landing. Subsequent flights I discovered the white aircraft in the white clouds was easily dis-appearing.....it's amazing how small the profile is coming in for runway passes and final landings. Four flights in total today all very easy and big sky sorti's....the last flight was complete with several touch-n-go's on grass field.....no issues at all. Removing the wings for transit is a bit of a hassle fiddling with the landing gear.....simplify with just leaving the mains down. Motion RC 50c 6s 6000mAh Lipo right at 5minutes with taxi back leaves at or near .3.70v per cell and a very warm battery......I hope to get a little better at throttle management in calm winds and more stick time on this bird.

[walkerm45]

The BEC, use to be called a"Voltage Regulator" connect any battery, 5 cell nicad or greater, and it would regulate the voltage to either 5, or 6 volts. Hence battery eliminator circuit. I still use them in my electric planes, and power them with a 5 cell Nickel metal hydride battery. I never use the main motor power battery. Always seem to have bad luck with them off the 6 cell lipos....They also were used extensively for ignition motors, with the appropriate regulated voltage.....

[TwistedGrin]

AS a novelty R/C aircraft or "Vanity" aircraft - LOL.....this model is well worth the money in both fun factor and flight performance. I am noticing my Motion R/C 50c 6s 5000mAh LiPo and the EC5 connector and the UBEC power supply are hot to touch after a 4min30sec flight. I am flying off of grass field with touch-n-go's and trying to stay out of the throttle as much as I can.....not quite ready to see how it does at 50% throttle in the turns yet. Our club is having fun with me as other pilots are joining up for F-16 Thunderbird, A-10 Warthog escort flights for laughs......quite entertaining stress free fun. I am interested in what LiPo brands and sizes are being used and flight times for grass field flights.

Thanks in Advance,
TwistedGrin

[GliderGuy]

AS a novelty R/C aircraft or "Vanity" aircraft - LOL.....this model is well worth the money in both fun factor and flight performance. I am noticing my Motion R/C 50c 6s 5000mAh LiPo and the EC5 connector and the UBEC power supply are hot to touch after a 4min30sec flight. I am flying off of grass field with touch-n-go's and trying to stay out of the throttle as much as I can.....not quite ready to see how it does at 50% throttle in the turns yet. Our club is having fun with me as other pilots are joining up for F-16 Thunderbird, A-10 Warthog escort flights for laughs......quite entertaining stress free fun. I am interested in what LiPo brands and sizes are being used and flight times for grass field flights.

Thanks in Advance,
TwistedGrin

Flying in hot summer conditions, I became concerned about the heat being generated (flying Admiral Pro 6000 50 C). So, I made a cooling fan unit from a 24-volt, 80 mm, high-speed, 4,500 rpm, 60 cfm PC case fan which i mounted on the non-wired end of an old Admiral 6 s battery I am no longer flying in combination with a push-on/push-off SPST switch...taking care to only charge the cooling fan's battery to 4 volts per cell (6 x 4 = 24 volts). After I landing and removing the flight battery, I place this whole unit (battery with the fan at one end) in the fuselage with the fan placed over the rear opening in the plywood. This circulates air down into the ESC bay area and also blows air around the electronics at the front (BEC, EC5 connector, etc.). A 2-to 3 min exposure to the airflow cools everything down nicely. If you wish, you can also set the cooling fan unit under the fuselage for another 30 sec for blowing air directly on the ESCs. Using this blower/cooler removes the need for a longer cool-down period required otherwise.

I typically fly for 4 min with the 6000 mAh pack to ensure i have plenty of juice for a go-around should that be needed. This also shortens the charge time to about 45-50 min (4.5 amp charge rate). Remember that drawing less from a LiPo extends the life (number of charge/discharge cycles) of the battery before it dies. Draining a LiPo down a lot both increased your charge time and shortens the life of your LiPo batteries considerably. And...cooler electronics = happier electronics!

One last note: A 4 min flight at less than 1/2 throttle along with with some occasional acrobatics and speed dashes consumes about 3500 mAh to 4000 mAh...helping ensure a longer life for your LiPo.

-GG

[autotecart]

Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can get updated winglets for this model. The ones that curve upwards instead of having a step in them like they have now

[Slowflight]

Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can get updated winglets for this model. The ones that curve upwards instead of having a step in them like they have now

Take those and cut the down part, I did sanded it primed it and painted it. I dont think there is one available, or some one can print one for you.

[xviper]

Take those and cut the down part, I did sanded it primed it and painted it. I dont think there is one available, or some one can print one for you.

There isn't one "available". It all started when someone like yourself just cut the bottom winglet off and did the finishing work himself.

[Aros]

Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can get updated winglets for this model. The ones that curve upwards instead of having a step in them like they have now

autotecart someone in this thread a ways back pointed me to this link since I want the same winglets when I do finally get mine...

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4059280

[themudduck]

autotecart someone in this thread a ways back pointed me to this link since I want the same winglets when I do finally get mine...

[URL="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4059280"]https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4059280

Dear Aros, that is very cool! Let me ask, since I am sure you might know, do these winglets have any affect on the aerodynamics, do they affect the way this model performs?
There's certainly nothing wrong with them if they just look fantastic, but I was just wondering.

[mshagg]

I designed those NG winglets on thingiverse (the lawn is much healthier now lol) - they're reasonably true to scale based on some diagrams I found online and have the same aerofoil shape as the AL37 wing (literally took the existing aerofoil profile, extended, shaped and bent it). Flying without any winglet at all makes the AL37 marginally less wobby if there's a breeze about IMO. Havent noticed any difference in flight characteristics between the stock Max-8 winglets or the 3D printed NG style winglet, although the stock winglets that came with mine never really sat flush on the wing which had a minor impact on trim.

In full scale the winglets offer marginal efficiency improvements, which i guess is important if you're burning 800 gallons of avgas an hour. I'm not appropriately qualified to opine on their impact at our scale, alpha probably has some insights though.

Not the easiest part to print; so unless you absolutely must have the 'blended' look of the NG winglet I'd recommend just modifying the ones it comes with.

[Aros]

I concur, Alpha would be more qualified to answer your question themudduck concerning those winglets in regards to performance on the AL37. I just like the way they look better than the clam shell ones they come with. I will probably take mshagg's advice and modify the stock ones.