Official Freewing JAS 39 Gripen 80mm EDF Jet

[kallend]

Nose LG moved to the aft of the battery compartment, CG now 40mm behind factory molded underwing-marks... plane has never flown better!

Feels like even wind turbulence tolerance has somewhat improved a bit!

Interesting to watch your flat spin exits. My Su35 will fly right out of a flat spin like that but my Gripen always drops its nose and exits nose down. I wonder if the CG is the reason - my Gripen CG is only about 25mm behind the marks.

[Airguardian]

Nose LG moved to the aft of the battery compartment, CG now 40mm behind factory molded underwing-marks... plane has never flown better!

Feels like even wind turbulence tolerance has somewhat improved a bit!

[Airguardian]

Oh hell...
That's pingu nightmare stuff!

If such a nozzle shows up during my sleep it may legit give me PTSD, I swear...

[TangoVector]

My 90mm Gripen with Thrustvectoring looks like Pingu! Still some finishing touches, so it will be better, but not by much.


NOOT NOOT!

[kallend]

My forward pitot tube kept breaking off at the point of the nose cone so I rebuilt it with a few bits of triangle shaped plywood and a control rod pushed into the a hole drilled in the stump of the factory tube. Then I put a piece of 2mm shrink tubing filled with MinWax polyurethane on the rod to form a rubber ducky pitot that bends instead of breaking.

I just 3D printed a bunch:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4654706

[flightaddict]

My forward pitot tube kept breaking off at the point of the nose cone so I rebuilt it with a few bits of triangle shaped plywood and a control rod pushed into the a hole drilled in the stump of the factory tube. Then I put a piece of 2mm shrink tubing filled with MinWax polyurethane on the rod to form a rubber ducky pitot that bends instead of breaking.

[Airguardian]

Thanks for the feedback guys!

Can make the nozzle look better by adding the plastic cover back in it as I did! ;)
(It's available as a spare part!)

[TangoVector]

Its the 80mm jetfan 1758 HET 8s SMC 4500 packs. I am considering 90mm and have done some prototyping on an old fuse, but it just flys so good right now its hard for me to justify doing it.

I have flown my 90mm a few times and didn't get the thrust-line just right when I carved it out and glued the liner in. I was ready for that, so the plan was to fix it with some shims between the tail section and the fuselage, and maybe put a 90mm TV-unit that I have during winter. If I was to do it again, I would use a hole-saw to get the thrust-tube enlarged accurately. The performance is definitely there and the low-speed acceleration is vey nice. For me it was fun but I think I would probably just go with an XFLY 80mm and get the TV-tail from MRC if I would buy a Gripen today. So with your setup, the performance-gain might not be that big going 90mm, but it's always fun to try.

Airguardian told me to put the TV in straight away, so that's what I'm doing. It won't be pretty, but I hope there will be beauty in the performance.

[Gary S.]

Great flight!
Is that the 90mm EDF conversion?

Its the 80mm jetfan 1758 HET 8s SMC 4500 packs. I am considering 90mm and have done some prototyping on an old fuse, but it just flys so good right now its hard for me to justify doing it.

[Airguardian]

Some more Gripen fun:

[radfordc]

Here works for me

[falkon]

Additional datum:

My Gripen would rock its wings in even a gentle breeze - our field is surrounded by trees that cause some turbulence.

AS3X partially cured it.

HobbyEagle A3 Pro cured it completely (normal mode). Now it's rock solid.

Hi guys, do you have any recommendations or photos for the location of the gyro?

[Airguardian]

Some fun Gripen Rippin vid

Great flight!
Is that the 90mm EDF conversion?

[Airguardian]

Additional datum:

My Gripen would rock its wings in even a gentle breeze - our field is surrounded by trees that cause some turbulence.

The exact same is true for mine, and got an A3 Pro to replace the S8R, but haven't installed it yet!

[kallend]

This has already been debated ad nauseam, thought the conclusions were already widely understood.
The Gripen doesn't like TURBULENT air, so it's not a matter of wind vs no-wind, but rather a case of whether the field you operate at is prone to generate rotors and turbulence or has clean laminar flow.

Additional datum:

My Gripen would rock its wings in even a gentle breeze - our field is surrounded by trees that cause some turbulence.

AS3X partially cured it.

HobbyEagle A3 Pro cured it completely (normal mode). Now it's rock solid.

[Gary S.]

Some fun Gripen Rippin vid

[xviper]

I'm just glad it's now as fun to fly as everyone said it was. I was beginning to think I got a .

I think each person has a different view of any given plane. My friend was just about to put his Gripen up for sale because he hated the wing rock and the overly reactive flight controls. Then he put a cheap gyro in it and suddenly, it has become one of his favorite jets. It's like night and day for him. For me, it's neither here nor there. It's a nice plane. I'm not overly fond of it yet it's enough fun to keep it hanging around.

[Airguardian]

Will do!

I’m looking forward to flying it again on a day with better conditions though just to see and feel the difference.

It's pretty massive you'll see.
This jet flies amazing on calm days!

You want "ad nauseam"? They are discussing alpha lock AGAIN on some other thread.

But I think you know that!

I know, right?

[HockeyMac!]

Awesome stuff T-CAT! :)

Flew my Gripen today, the first flight was short of savage.

The rest, we filmed some air to air scenes and had to batteries die on me. The first one I managed to land but the second one ended up as an off-field. No great damage but will have to replace the pitch nozzle arm, and the front gear tore off... so I will take the chance to install it in reverse to help CG go a bit more aft. :)

Keep us posted on the surgery for the nose gear! I think it's a great way to fix CG and add more scale looks.

[T-CAT]

Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to fly this jet on anything but gusty winds, LOL. It flew better than I thought it would, although it definitely exhibited wing rock as expected. I’m looking forward to flying it again on a day with better conditions though just to see and feel the difference.