Eflite F16 Thunderbird battery suggestions

[SilentPilot]

Hello!


I got myself this F16 a while back but I think I’ve slipped up with the batteries I got for it.

How big, or should that be how heavy, a battery can it take?

Initially I flew it with a 6S 4000 and it seemed great. I only have one 4000 though and a couple of 5000s.
Can it take the 5000s?

I think I've read that people move the receiver to the nose to get the battery further back.
Does that affect SAFE operation? I don’t rely on SAFE but it is nice to know it is there, either as a Panic Recovery or I sometimes use it for Failsafe.


Flight time was 4 minutes (ish) with the 4000. Not bad but a little more wouldn’t go amiss!
I’m not too heavy with the throttle and enjoy practicing throttle and energy management.


Tony

[Mizer67]

I thought it performed best with 3300's.

I wouldn't fly it on 5000's and I don't think unless it's a long and thin battery you could get the canopy to close.

4000's are a compromise. In order for mine to CG well, I had to shift the receiver to the front, but don't use SAFE. I believe the feedback is that SAFE needs to be near the CG to operate effectively.

[SilentPilot]

Thank-you 🙂

[xviper]

I thought it performed best with 3300's.

I wouldn't fly it on 5000's and I don't think unless it's a long and thin battery you could get the canopy to close.

4000's are a compromise. In order for mine to CG well, I had to shift the receiver to the front, but don't use SAFE. I believe the feedback is that SAFE needs to be near the CG to operate effectively.

Don't be misled by what you get from "feedback" for where to place a gyro on a plane. Although it's "ideal" to place it at the CG, a gyro still works very well when placed even at the furthest distance from the CG. EG, SebArt MiG 29s (hovering jet) comes out of the box with 2 gyros and both are mounted in the nose of the plane, just behind the nose cone. Also, take a look at many of the Eflite BNF planes with the AS3X and SAFE. A lot of them have their RXs nowhere near the CG.

[SilentPilot]

I understand!

As a slight side note my dad made an Artificial Horizon for our glider. We tried several gyros for actuation, none of which were satisfactory, we put it down to the sensors being about 4' ahead of the CG

Still work in progress but shelved for now...

[xviper]

I understand!

As a slight side note my dad maddad Artificial Horizon for our glider. We tried several gyros for actuation, none of which were satisfactory, we put it down to the sensors being about 4' ahead of the CG

Still work in progress but shelved for now...

What does the stuff in red mean? What kind of glider? 4' ahead of the CG means you've got a really big plane. That's likely too far to put a gyro sensor for it to work correctly.

[SilentPilot]

Typo error!

It's a 15m span full size glider

[xviper]

OK, don't know anything about those.

[SilentPilot]

So back to the F16

What's the heaviest battery it can handle?
I’ve got a few 6S 5000s on the way now but if they’re too big then I might need an Avanti to put them in...

[Mizer67]

So back to the F16

What's the heaviest battery it can handle?
I’ve got a few 6S 5000s on the way now but if they’re too big then I might need an Avanti to put them in...

It will fly with anything that you can get the canopy closed on, badly, but it will fly. That is, of course, assuming you're flying from pavement.

My personal weight limit for the jet is <700 grams of battery. That is if you can get a good CG with that much weight. It will fly heavy though with that much weight...to me at least.

For space, you might have 47 - 48mm if I remember correctly in height, before you can't get the canopy to close.

[Raptor3596]

I have tried both, HRB 4k and HRB 5k. The 5k are too heavy and even with the best of landing, you risk damaging the weak nose gear with the weight. It throws the CG way off and becomes very nose heavy. My son first ran Spektrum 3200s in it, but got exactly 3 minutes with it, with throttle control. It was the best performance though with the 3200. 4k were the perfect balance of weight and throttle. Be sure to push it up against the receiver. You might also hve to trim the bottom of the canopy too.

Great jet and fun to fly. Only mod done to my sons, was we drilled out the gear servos and gear to add a thicker pin. Haven't had any bending issues since.

[SilentPilot]

Thank-you

I am quite lucky to have such a large tarmac runway available to me. Landings don't need to be like I'm aiming for a carrier!

The front gear has been swapped to a trailing link type though...

[xviper]

Looking at the specs, it recommends their 4000mah, 6s “smart” battery as the bigger one to use, which weighs 580g. These “smart” batteries are some the lightest in the industry. I’m thinking that your target weight limit is in the 600g range. Any bigger than that will require some foam removal to get that battery further back. I don’t have this plane so can’t say if that’s even possible.
The lightest 5000’s I’ve seen are in the 700g+ range.

[Quickstop]

Looking at the specs, it recommends their 4000mah, 6s “smart” battery as the bigger one to use, which weighs 580g. These “smart” batteries are some the lightest in the industry. I’m thinking that your target weight limit is in the 600g range. Any bigger than that will require some foam removal to get that battery further back. I don’t have this plane so can’t say if that’s even possible.
The lightest 5000’s I’ve seen are in the 700g+ range.

What a surprise, horizon hobby recommends using a horizon hobby battery🙄

[SilentPilot]

No need for a smart battery, it hasn’t got a smart ESC.

580g is pretty impressive though. I’d try one if they weren’t so expensive!

[xviper]

What a surprise, horizon hobby recommends using a horizon hobby battery🙄

That was NOT my point. The point was the weight of the battery that they are recommending. It is based on that weight that the CG is easily achieved. Above that weight would require some creativity.

[xviper]

No need for a smart battery, it hasn’t got a smart ESC.

580g is pretty impressive though. I’d try one if they weren’t so expensive!

If you go by the weight ball park, find another battery that is the approximate weigh, give or take 50 to 100g, regardless of mah. Put in a couple of batteries that you have that adds up to the target weight and see how much effort it would take to balance the plane. If you select a different brand of battery, they will most likely weigh more for the same mah, so find one that is less mah to get you into the weight category. The last option is to use whatever battery you've got (likely heavier) and shove lead into the tail end to balance. But then, you'll have a plane that's going to be much heavier and land like a rocket.

[hirth90]

Anyone know how to take out the pivot pin from the tailplane? I damaged mine and have replacements ordered but not sure how to extract the old one. Thanks H

[jasmith41]

I maidened mine over the weekend and used a 3400 liperior pushed up against the receiver and it flew like a dream...

[jasmith41]

Not a fan of Spektrum batteries anymore... but i don't know that much about this stuff yet, so don't let me sway you. I have a bunch of diff ones of varying manufs and the Admiral (and admiral pros) and the RoaringTop seem to be the best choice from a value vs. $$ standpoint. I've bought a bunch of ZEEEs and HRBs on Amazon, but haven't had a chance to fly much in NE Ohio yet. Going to be a great year though - I'm going to take up my brand new FW Mig29 as high as i can and run it straight into the ground and send the video to Putin...🤣 (not really)...