Official Freewing T-33 Shooting Star 80mm EDF Thread

[Wild Man]

thanks for the info T-cat. The first flight I made with mine was per MRC video I believe was 75mm forward of the rear of plywood plate with there 5000 mah pack when I went inverted at 1 45 degree climb it nosed toward mother earth not real bad but. took some down elevator to keep it in the 45 degree climb after trimming it for straight and level flight

[T-CAT]

Quickstop on your CG is that Inverted with gear down or some other configuration?

Hi Wild Man. The CG was measured with the jet inverted and gear retracted.

[Quickstop]

Quickstop on your CG is that Inverted with gear down or some other configuration?

That was T-cat

[Wild Man]

Quickstop on your CG is that Inverted with gear down or some other configuration?

[Wild Man]

One thing I did to stop the squeaking was to remove the wheels and apply 3M dry graphite to the axles, problem solved. I do this on all my planes.

[Beeg]

.................................................. here is an easy way to disconnect EC3's and EC5's

Good idea! Why didn't I think of snap ring pliers. Always afraid of damaging something trying to pull them apart.

[flazz]

Thanks:

Newpilot
and
Smoothy .........

[Wild Man]

steering wheel 1"7/8 and the mains are 2"3/4 here is an easy way to disconnect EC3's and EC5's

[T-CAT]

I have the usa scheme, and after watching t-cats flights yesterday I actually think it's easier to see the cammo than the silver and red

I didn't expect the camouflage to show up as well as it did in the sky, but was glad it did.

[Quickstop]

I finally had the chance to get some flights on the T-33 (the German Camo.), and all were off a paved runway using a 6S 5000mah LiPo weighing 870g. What a winner of a jet. I'm very impressed with the flight character, performance, and presence.

I tried multiple flights without a gyro, followed by multiple flights with a gyro. Either way the T-33 tracked very well, was predictable, and smooth, but as expected it is even more smooth with a gyro active and using the proper settings. The new power system pulls this jet along nicely, sounds good, and my fan unit was balanced spot-on from the factory. The jet slows down great with or without flaps, remains stable, and I did not add any Flap to Elevator mix as I didn't feel it was necessary. It lands easily, does glide well as expected (and as others reported), but if enough speed was bled off to anticipate it then it's not an issue on landing approach. The strut springs are a bit stiff for the aircrafts weight, but that tends to be relatively common for many of Freewing's jets. The Camo. paint scheme looks absolutely amazing in the air, especially with the orange portions of the wing tanks. Overall, I can't ask of much more from a jet of this size and price range. I enjoy flying the T-33 more than the Freewing 80mm L-39, and certainly more than a majority of the Freewing 90mm jets. If I were to ask for some aspects to have been different, it would be to include a lighting system that comes standard on this jet (I find it odd that it was decided upon not to include it), to design struts springs of less aggresive spring rate, and to provide some quieter wheels.

After several flights, my throws and CG ended up at the following below. Keep in mind I prefer more scale rolling of the aircraft, and with a Gyro active the throws below were less sensitive than with it deactivated. I preferred flying most of my flights with the Low Aileron, Mid Elevator, and Low Rudder shown below, and for now my nose steering and Rudder are sharing the same channel, but I'll likely separate it.

Aileron: Low 13mm (10% Expo), Mid 15mm (15% Expo), High 18mm (20% Expo)

Elevator: Low 18mm (10% Expo), Mid 20mm (15% Expo), High 22mm (20% Expo)

Rudder: Low 17mm (10% Expo), Mid 22mm (15% Expo), High 26mm (20% Expo)

Flaps: The Manual's Throws

CG: 100mm from where the leading edge of the wing meets the fuse.

I have the usa scheme, and after watching t-cats flights yesterday I actually think it's easier to see the cammo than the silver and red

[killickb]

You curious ? Yes. Bored ? Never

[MrSmoothie]

Guy's, does anyone have the actual dimensions of mains and nose wheel for the t-33 or a sight where I can find that info. Also, thinking down the road towards an F-80, the dimensions of the drop tanks, length and diameter.
thanks for any info ..........

I was curious (and apparently bored) and thought I'd see see what scale wheel diameters would be, based on the actual wheel diameters in that posted three view.

Main wheels: 26" = 660mm. Scale dia. 72mm. Flightline dia. 68mm (fairly close)
Nose wheel: 22" = 560mm. Scale dia. 61mm. MRC does not indicate the nose wheel diameter, and mine is retracted.

[T-CAT]

I finally had the chance to get some flights on the T-33 (the German Camo.), and all were off a paved runway using a 6S 5000mah LiPo weighing 870g. What a winner of a jet. I'm very impressed with the flight character, performance, and presence.

I tried multiple flights without a gyro, followed by multiple flights with a gyro. Either way the T-33 tracked very well, was predictable, and smooth, but as expected it is even more smooth with a gyro active and using the proper settings. The new power system pulls this jet along nicely, sounds good, and my fan unit was balanced spot-on from the factory. The jet slows down great with or without flaps, remains stable, and I did not add any Flap to Elevator mix as I didn't feel it was necessary. It lands easily, does glide well as expected (and as others reported), but if enough speed was bled off to anticipate it then it's not an issue on landing approach. The strut springs are a bit stiff for the aircrafts weight, but that tends to be relatively common for many of Freewing's jets. The Camo. paint scheme looks absolutely amazing in the air, especially with the orange portions of the wing tanks. Overall, I can't ask of much more from a jet of this size and price range. I enjoy flying the T-33 more than the Freewing 80mm L-39, and certainly more than a majority of the Freewing 90mm jets. If I were to ask for some aspects to have been different, it would be to include a lighting system that comes standard on this jet (I find it odd that it was decided upon not to include it), to design struts springs of less aggresive spring rate, and to provide some quieter wheels.

After several flights, my throws and CG ended up at the following below. Keep in mind I prefer more scale rolling of the aircraft, and with a Gyro active the throws below were less sensitive than with it deactivated. I preferred flying most of my flights with the Low Aileron, Mid Elevator, and Low Rudder shown below, and for now my nose steering and Rudder are sharing the same channel, but I'll likely separate it.

Aileron: Low 13mm (10% Expo), Mid 15mm (15% Expo), High 18mm (20% Expo)

Elevator: Low 18mm (10% Expo), Mid 20mm (15% Expo), High 22mm (20% Expo)

Rudder: Low 17mm (10% Expo), Mid 22mm (15% Expo), High 26mm (20% Expo)

Flaps: The Manual's Throws

CG: 100mm from where the leading edge of the wing meets the fuse.

[Newpil0t]

Electronics not being my strong suit, I’ll ask those that might know:
Using the stock 100 amp ESC and the 1920 kv inrunner, would there be a difference in performance, if a 130 amp ESC were used instead of the 100 amp? Would that combo damage something or would nothing change?

The short answer is no and no. The performance you seek is usually defined in watts which is generated by the battery, motor and fan. 130 or 150a esc will work but only add weight without performance gain. Hope that helps.

[GBLynden]

This is me ripping with it on my second flight

[Ron1950]

guys if you want to stick your retracts use clear gorilla glue it works great

[flazz]

Thanks Beeg, that's really important to know ...........👍

[MrSmoothie]

Evan makes a great point as the chemical reaction of the glue he speaks of does soften the surrounding EPO foam. You can see the same issue on the already assembled parts at the factory such as where some of the plastic mounts are in various area, or where the plastic leading edge of the intakes meet the foam.

This is absolutely true, and my T-33 shows evidence of this in the foam next to one of the forward wing mounts. I've run into this before when gluing in retracts or servos using Foam-Tac, which is otherwise a good product. The "softness" is only as long as the solvents remain in the foam, but the distress to the foam surface is permanent.

[Beeg]

Electronics not being my strong suit, I’ll ask those that might know:
Using the stock 100 amp ESC and the 1920 kv inrunner, would there be a difference in performance, if a 130 amp ESC were used instead of the 100 amp? Would that combo damage something or would nothing change?

Wouldn't do any damage other than to your wallet.

[flazz]

Electronics not being my strong suit, I’ll ask those that might know:
Using the stock 100 amp ESC and the 1920 kv inrunner, would there be a difference in performance, if a 130 amp ESC were used instead of the 100 amp? Would that combo damage something or would nothing change?