Official Freewing T-33 Shooting Star 80mm EDF Thread

[martinhally]

Hi, I realise this is a very old post and I am new to the forum so this might not be the place to put this post, but after a successful maiden off grass (albeit a very long rollout which surprised mean it was right to the edge) today I sent her up and it was out of control from just after takeoff, I had control then did not , initially I just thought it was a stall i needed to recover from - got to a height and realised I had again lost control and she spiralled into the ground. I fly frisky X20 and flight logs show no loss of signal. So I am going to assume I got hit by a horror in the wiring gremlins - though at crash site everything operated normally - except of course fuselage was broken in two.

So whilst I await my new fuselage I am going to
1) wire all controls directly to receiver and the little blue box and wing wire connectors will be gone.
2) I was going to add a longer front strut to try to get a little more angle of attack suggested in this thread from the L39
3) I am going to move back the CG from 95mm to 105mm which seemed to be the suggestion too if flying off grass.

I was also pondering whether to add a separate BEC rather than the one in the ESC - any thoughts as consensus seems to be that the built in BEC is reliable, but the nerves are rattled
I looked at shortening the rear shocks but there is no a lot of metal to cut so have not done that as yet.

Anything else anyone cares to suggest to help grass takeoffs and help prevent loss of controls?.

Receiver is a tandem Frisky, and battery is a 4500 65C

[Elbee]

martinhally, Welcome to Hobby Squawk.

Sorry to read about your incident.

I have not read anything in quite some time about the E1712 (Blue Box) causing difficulty.

Your stall debrief seems reasonable, though, gremlins be gremlins, electronic or otherwise.

I believe your decision to bypass the box for anything but lighting is sound.

I have done that to my last 3 builds and have encounter no issues I can relate to electronics, other than some twitching servos. (Replace before next flying day).

Glad to have you onboard, Sir and looking forward to further debrief after your next check flight.

Best, LB

[timmybeetle]

Martin

Sad to read you're mishap.
I flew with the blue box but after reading about issues with it I removed it.
I also fly Tandem X20 from Frsky with X8R receiver.
I had one time an issue with my XT90 connector from LIPO with a bad soldering, resulting in loss off control.
You bought a new fuse, I repaired mine, where to you live??? I would like to repair your fuse because mine is really damaged.....but I live in The Netherlands.
Mt cg is 15-20mm back from CG marking flying from grass this is a must, also I put a 3-4mm shim under my front retract unit, works great.
I find this one of the best EDF to fly for me a lot of fun.

Regards Hans

ps I use a gyro the NX3 and this really helps with an aft CG, also the T33 flies like a BIG one😉

[martinhally]

Hans,
Thanks for the response. That's really helpful information. I was going to move the CG back to 105mm but it sounds like I can go further back safely . I have a longer strut coming which will add 7mm to front height, but I can shim that if I need more!. When it was airborne on my first flight it was awesome, but I need to get it in the sir before end of runway so I think your angle of attack suggestion and CG will help massively. If I am honest I am not a big gyro user - just another thing to go wrong. I may have to change my mind. Better day today as I maddened my a6 Intruder and that was just awesome, off grass no problem - but you can see the angle of attack is up so I am not surprised. Fuselage is wholly intact from wing front back - up front is an absolute mess hence decided a new one was best. rest of plane is unmarked (miracle) I am in Scotland so not sure if it can be sensibly shipped but if so I can post photos of the poor thing. I also had some awesome flights today with my fms 1700mm mustang and my Dynam Gloster meteor (yup a Dynam!!) so a better day than yesterday!

[martinhally]

Apols I am going to have to turn off spell check.

[timmybeetle]

Yesterday I flew as a guest pilot, some nice pics from show.


Grts Hans

[DCORSAIR]

Yesterday I flew as a guest pilot, some nice pics from show.


Grts Hans

Nice pics and it looks great in the air, I haven't flown this one yet, going to have to give it a try one day, I had the HSD T-33 and flew it several flights, what a great flyer it is so I bet this one flies great as well.

[wvrailfan]

Is the plastic tube at the rear of the fuselage just for looks or does it help with thrust in some way?

I crashed mine and I am replacing the fuse, but the new fuse does not include the small black tube.

I can probably salvage the old one, just wondering if it serves a purpose beside appearance?

JB

[rjhuyck]

How easy is it to assemble the wing and fuse at the field? If I could separate them it would be easier for transportation to the field. Do most of you just leave it assembled?
I just purchased the T-33 last week and haven't put it together yet.

[F22trainer]

How easy is it to assemble the wing and fuse at the field? If I could separate them it would be easier for transportation to the field. Do most of you just leave it assembled?
I just purchased the T-33 last week and haven't put it together yet.

I used to do that all the time, before I picked up a larger vehicle, and the only inconvenience was the risk of dropping the screws. Be sure to have a good pocket magnet handy.

[ggetzoff]

Hi, I realise this is a very old post and I am new to the forum so this might not be the place to put this post, but after a successful maiden off grass (albeit a very long rollout which surprised mean it was right to the edge) today I sent her up and it was out of control from just after takeoff, I had control then did not , initially I just thought it was a stall i needed to recover from - got to a height and realised I had again lost control and she spiralled into the ground. I fly frisky X20 and flight logs show no loss of signal. So I am going to assume I got hit by a horror in the wiring gremlins - though at crash site everything operated normally - except of course fuselage was broken in two.

So whilst I await my new fuselage I am going to
1) wire all controls directly to receiver and the little blue box and wing wire connectors will be gone.
2) I was going to add a longer front strut to try to get a little more angle of attack suggested in this thread from the L39
3) I am going to move back the CG from 95mm to 105mm which seemed to be the suggestion too if flying off grass.

I was also pondering whether to add a separate BEC rather than the one in the ESC - any thoughts as consensus seems to be that the built in BEC is reliable, but the nerves are rattled
I looked at shortening the rear shocks but there is no a lot of metal to cut so have not done that as yet.

Anything else anyone cares to suggest to help grass takeoffs and help prevent loss of controls?.

Receiver is a tandem Frisky, and battery is a 4500 65C

That sounds like a stall, but of course it may not have been.

1. Was the C.G. the same as it was for the crash flight (could the battery have shifted on liftoff?) as for the maiden?

2. I bypass the bluebox by just pulling the signal wire from each harness, leaving the power running to the wings / tail section from the blue box.

3. Aftermarket BEC is always a good idea.

Over the many years of flying RC (and unfortunately full-scale) I have seen a lot of crashes that were simply aft C.G. In this case, the FRSKY didn't show any signal loss, but it could certainly have been a brown-out.

Cheers,

Greg

[rcaviator]

I am considering the T-33 ARF, and putting my FMS 80mm 12 blade 3280-KV2100 EDF and 100 AMP ESC in the plane. The motor came from the FMS BAE Hawk, same motor is used in the 80mm FMS Rafale. Has anyone used this as the replacement for the Freewing 80mm?? Also, can anyone tell me the diameter of the Freewing 80mm lip to lip? Mine is 96mm. It has the same 4 mounting holes as the freewing. If the answer is yes, how much foam needed to be modified to fit?? Thanks.
.

[rcaviator]

OK...........I bought the T-33 ARF and Installed my FMS 80 mm EDF. It fit almost perfectly. Some minor foam trimming on the bottom, because the FMS case is 3mm longer. Same for the top cover, it requires minor foam trimming for the EDF rim and the case length at the back. In the photos. red indicates where the trimming was required.

[Elbee]

rcaviator, Nice work, Sir. Best, LB

[tab28682]

After three years of action, my T-33 needed a refresh. It was looking rough.

To make carrying the model easier, I had been suspending it upside down by the main gear. Over time, heat and stress had warped the actual plastic gear mount boxes. Not doing that any more.

i dug out the old main gear mounts and installed new ones.

Went over the model and did a lot of touch up with spackle and paint. Completely repainted the tip tanks.

Looks great now, from about three feet away…..:)

Still flies as well today as it did three years and about 120 flights ago!

[Elbee]

tab28682 Good report.
Sometimes a little refreshing is all it takes. I know I feel better after a good refreshening.

Best, LB