Official Freewing JAS 39 Gripen 80mm EDF Jet

[Evan D]

I maidened a friends new Arrows F-15 the weekend before last getting it dialed in. Saturday he flew it for his first flights. Later he was on RCG saying how well his maiden went, not even needing any trim... No mention that it had already flown and been trimmed.

[kallend]

Lots of "re-maidening" going on. I know a "maiden" is considered to be a virgin. I guess "re-maiden" means she gets to be a virgin again!

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/oscar_levant_141876

[Pogo]

Lots of "re-maidening" going on. I know a "maiden" is considered to be a virgin. I guess "re-maiden" means she gets to be a virgin again!

...or just forgot about the first time!
Tom

[Pogo]

That cockpit and airbrakes look total badass Pogo, love it!

I remaidened my Gripen today with the Jetfan.
Cut my flights short to 2-2:30min for the time being to avoid more nasty surprises but she's back in the air. Repairs went well. :)

It was turbulent though, and the plane flew like crap, but that's nothing new with this jet, lol.

Thanks AG! I'm glad yours is in action again
Tom

[janmb]

Finally got the turbine converted gripen going. 6 flights yesterday, 7 more today.

Nothing huge yet, just trying to get it dialed in (which is giving me more headaches than any other delta I have owned), but slowly getting there.

Flying high alpha with a 3-4 second throttle response is a whole new world of angst lol (hence why you don't see a whole lot of it)

[radfordc]

Lots of "re-maidening" going on. I know a "maiden" is considered to be a virgin. I guess "re-maiden" means she gets to be a virgin again!

[Airguardian]

That cockpit and airbrakes look total badass Pogo, love it!

I remaidened my Gripen today with the Jetfan.
Cut my flights short to 2-2:30min for the time being to avoid more nasty surprises but she's back in the air. Repairs went well. :)

It was turbulent though, and the plane flew like crap, but that's nothing new with this jet, lol.

[Pogo]

Buttoned up the airbrakes this morning and I think this Gripen is done! With luck it'll be an early spring and the re-maiden can happen sooner than later. A short video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Sd3UuUUcA&feature=youtu.be

Tom

[JLambCWU]

Back down at Rabbit a little while ago with JLink125 and his JAS 39...what a sweet flying little jet 😎!

😁

Justin is a fantastic pilot 👊🏼

[Justwingit]

Back down at Rabbit a little while ago with JLink125 and his JAS 39...what a sweet flying little jet 😎!

😁

[Airguardian]

Nice!
I wouldn't have thought of that!
Thank you for the ideas Tango! :)

[Mtpisgah99]

YES, hack the foam!

My Gripen tail is getting there.

make sure you add sleeve between tail section and main body. i used a CLEAN 80mm edf fan, you don't need the whole barrel, may be 1/2 or 3/4 to add strength and transition of two parts. don't use too much glue or will adds weight to tail.

[TangoVector]

I use a 9mm cutting blade knife because the blade bends easily. It's the one that you can break off small sections from, but I don't do that. I extend the knife all the way and by pushing it, it bends and it is very easy to shave the foam. It is like using the cheap version of a wood carving knife. Then I use a Dremel for some of the precission-work, but the sharp knife is approx 95%. I can take a picture next week, am away at work at the moment.

Oh, and I cut the tail in half for easy access, it was easy with the sharp knife and it will not show once glued back.

[Airguardian]

Nice!
Could you ellaborate on your technique to shave the duct foam?

[TangoVector]

I'm considering hacking the foam to install the EDF much further aft to really get rid of the useless ballast while still being able to use bigger batts.

YES, hack the foam!

My Gripen tail is getting there.

[Airguardian]

You should be good then.

That said, if you have not installed the EDF yet, try to move it aft, or you will struggle to get decent CGs.

I moved mine as aft as I could without hacking foam open and despite the EDF and ESC being heavier, and me still having 130g of ballast in the tail it's really not enough.

I'm considering hacking the foam to install the EDF much further aft to really get rid of the useless ballast while still being able to use bigger batts.

[Skosh25]

Be careful with flight time with that EDF. Use 4Ah batts at the very least, the 3Ah ones bite me on the back.

Thanks for the heads up- I plan on using 4500s.

[Airguardian]

Be careful with flight time with that EDF. Use 4Ah batts at the very least, the 3Ah ones bite me on the back.

[Skosh25]

Just ordered the JF/ HET 700-60-1865 combo from Efflux. Can't wait to see how she performs on 8S. I fly at 5500' so looking forward to the extra thrust.

[Mizer67]

This is nothing new. I had hoped this wasn't the case for the Gripen but I guess I'll have to deal with it. My FMS F7F was so bad, I had to do an inverted pass just to get the nose gear door to close. I've changed retract motors and still the same. Now, I just don't bother and let the door/wheel hang done a bit during flight. The FMS 1700mm Corsair is the same. They need to make stronger retracts.

I have to do that with the Mirage from time to time to get the nose gear door to close.

Even my F-18 seems to have caught this bug on the nose gear door. I even swapped the retract with a new one to no effect.

Fortunately, except for the Mirage, pulling vertical seems to do the trick.