All-New Freewing PJ50 Twin 70mm EDF Jet - Official Thread

[GliderGuy]

My plane is somehow twisted, on the first flight I have to klick the ailerons stick on the TX all way to the right which was something like 5-6 mm. on the ailerons! After that it still like to turn left/roll if I don’t compensate. That was really an experience when I landed it first time. Any idea where to straight the plane?

It is highly unlikely the plane is twisted. You most probably have a control or flap out of alignment. Check the following:
1) is the rudder centered when the rudder stick is centered?
2) Make sure both flaps move the same amount down as well as flaps up = flap up is the same amount/location on both sides?
3) Are your flap and aileron horns securely glued? Check both sides. Tug on them a little. A loose horn can make her fly wonky.
4) Get 2 straight sticks and place them one on each elevator so the far ends of the sticks are near each other. Get someone to help you hold the sticks to the elevator. Now, as you move the elevator up and down, the ends of the sticks should stay aligned with each other and if they don’t, adjust them so they do move the same amount and in synch with each other.
5) Did you calibrate your ESCs?

Again, you most likely have a control surface alignment problem / not twisted bird. Or…asymmetrical motor thrust.

-GG

[Tekniqueman]

It is highly unlikely the plane is twisted. You most probably have a control or flap out of alignment. Check the following:
1) is the rudder centered when the rudder stick is centered?
2) Make sure both flaps move the same amount down as well as flaps up = flap up is the same amount/location on both sides?
3) Are your flap and aileron horns securely glued? Check both sides. Tug on them a little. A loose horn can make her fly wonky.
4) Get 2 straight sticks and place them one on each elevator so the far ends of the sticks are near each other. Get someone to help you hold the sticks to the elevator. Now, as you move the elevator up and down, the ends of the sticks should stay aligned with each other and if they don’t, adjust them so they do move the same amount and in synch with each other.
5) Did you calibrate your ESCs?

Again, you most likely have a control surface alignment problem / not twisted bird. Or…asymmetrical motor thrust.

-GG

1, 2 and 3 is okay one of the elevators where bend a little and bend back but didn’t change anything. I’ll have a go on 4 & 5

[GliderGuy]

How to do this video…..

If you don’t have sub trims, twist the ball links for adjustments of the elevators like you would adjust any control surface.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5ioZTAJttGU

-GG

[killickb]

GliderGuy, 150 landings on the PJ ?; 40 flights per day ? One must presume that you really do Live, Eat and Sleep model airplanes ??

I am envious of course !

[GliderGuy]

Yep…always been fascinated with flight. Been flying in full scale planes since I was 6 years old. And flying RC airplanes and full scale sailplanes since I was 14….almost 60 years of RC flight.

BTW…completed flight #70 on the B-2 yesterday. It has been soooo windy. Very limited opportunity. Now that stealth bomber is a hoot to fly and watch.

LOL - When not flying RC, I am flying full scale birds. Keeps me young!

-GG

[xviper]

This morning's flight ............... WARNING: Hatcam.

AR637T Safe select RX with thrust reverse.

[James]

Took my beat up PJ that was in the mid-air crash and spruced it up a bit!

[avanti127]

Took my beat up PJ that was in the mid-air crash and spruced it up a bit!

That looks awesome James. I finally got to fly mine Saturday, what an awesome flying jet. Got my windows installed and it will be getting painted hopefully sometime this weekend.

[MeyerVW]

My plane is somehow twisted, on the first flight I have to klick the ailerons stick on the TX all way to the right which was something like 5-6 mm. on the ailerons! After that it still like to turn left/roll if I don’t compensate. That was really an experience when I landed it first time. Any idea where to straight the plane?

Double check your flap and elevators. Make sure they are equal.

[Robbie9859901]

Landing with thrust reverse at 1:31. Thanks Xviper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtlmjuSVczA

[xviper]

Landing with thrust reverse at 1:31. Thanks Xviper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtlmjuSVczA

[wstimax]

I've noticed a couple of potential issues in the videos. The first is that James seems to be carrying a ton of up trim on his elevators indicating that his CG and possibly the book CG is way too forward. The second issue is that in one of the slo-mo landings, it looks like there is some fuselage flex in the aft section.

Both are easy to solve. For the flexing issue, I'm going to add additional carbon fiber slats internally along the tail and up the fuselage to stiffen the area where the two pieces meet. As to the CG, Ill figure out if I need to do more than move the battery after I add the stiffeners.

March is soo far away....

[wstimax]

Was wondering if you made them corrections and if so did they help.. Im dealing with that same flex in the wings.. Thought i would ask before i made the corrections or Mods..Thanks.

[GliderGuy]

Was wondering if you made them corrections and if so did they help.. Im dealing with that same flex in the wings.. Thought i would ask before i made the corrections or Mods..Thanks.

Regarding wing flex….Side story first…The AL37 has a lot of flex which eventually leads to foam cell boundary separation and surface cracking. I bought another and added internal carbon bracing glued to the top wing skin inside the wiring channel….problem solved! I also added internal fuselage joint bracing on bird #2 because the joint separated on bird #1 after a hard landing….problem solved again!

Now to the PJ50…With a similar wing, I was concerned about the cracks showing up. But, I decided not to add extra carbon internal bracing. It turns out that no added bracing is needed (so far). I have logged over 200 flights with the PJ50 and done a lot of high speed and aerobatic flying. I am not seeing a single crack developing in the wing.

For the PJ50, it is safe to say….well designed wing. Don’t worry about the slight flexing.

As far as CG, mine is balanced close to the CG marks and this requires the slight up elevator trim per the manual recommendation. She flies fine for me. But experimenting with a more aft CG is possible, of course. Suit yourself.

I did not add any additional internal fuselage joint reinforcement either. I have had several VERY hard near crashes (more below), and have not seen any of these near crashes cause a fuselage separation. The fuselage joint design is robust…don’t worry about it. For this post, I am defining a “crash” as a pile of foam.

The best thing you can do is INSTALL A GYRO! She gets hard to land in over 5 mph. Gets to rocking wings and Dutch rolling and can be a real challenge to land. I installed a 3-axis Hobby Eagle, and it made all the difference. She’s now fun to land.

#1 Near disaster = test of strength / Wing rocking on approach before installing a gyro. Narrow runway. Got a wing down into grass and she headed off at 90 degrees right into an embankment. BAM! Nose straight into the dirt, bounced back onto the road. Severe stress to the airframe. Damage was a crushed nose and some fuselage paint wrinkles. I was able to reshape the nose and added carbon to the nose and got her going again. The fuselage joint is STRONG!

#2 Near disaster = Landed short of pavement on “grass” after a rain. Oops….not grass but MUD! Both main gear sheared off and she pancaked on the belly on the pavement. A few more fuselage paint wrinkles. The fuselage joint is STRONG!

#3 Near disaster = Landing towards me. Good landing. As she went by, being lazy rather than turn my body around 180 degrees to follow her, I just turned my head around. I got mixed up on the rudder direction and drove her into a pipe fence. The pipe hit right at the wing root. Result = A few more fuselage paint wrinkles to fix and a challenging wing repair. But, got her done and test flew her yesterday. All good again. No trim adjustments were needed either. Woo Hoo!

Don’t be concerned about her structure. SHE IS ONE TOUGH BIRD! I don’t recommend anyone test her strength like I have…UGH! Amazingly, she still looks good albeit not shiny and new. I ask that you don’t look too close at my cosmetic repairs. LOL

-GG

PS. INSTALL A GYRO!!!!!!! You will be glad you did.

[avanti127]

Finally got my Corporate scheme completed. Just need to fix the N# on the tail. I set it on before I reattached the tail to the plane and it was angled. Time to order a new set from Callie to do the fix but overall it cam out great. Real windows installed as well.

She also forgot to get me the two rear window window trims and the cabin door on the other side.

Photo of FS attached.

[Evan D]

That looks awesome!

[jasmith41]

Sweet! Want to do mine...?🤣🤣🤣

[avanti127]

That looks awesome!

Thanks Evan.

[GliderGuy]

With the huge Pacific low sucking in wind, the chance of a light wind weekend was zero. This gave me the opportunity to see just how well the PJ50 handles in windy conditions now with the added gyro.

Winds were lightest early morning Sunday the 8th but still 10 knots at sunrise….forecast to be 20 knots by 0900 CDT. After flight #2, the wind was a measured 12 knots steady. After a few more, the wind was measured 13 knts and gusting to 15 knts. During the last flight, I felt some even stronger gusts lifting the cap off my head!

Before the gyro was installed, flying the PJ50 successfully in these conditions would have been VERY challenging….if not almost impossible.

I did set to high rates to help ensure quick response, but in 10 flights….every landing was fine. Fairly certain this would not have been the case without the gyro.

Summarazing:
1) My personal max wind “fun” limit has increased at least 2X for the PJ50 with the gyro installed.
2) The landing characteristics in stronger wind conditions are vastly improved.
3) She’s fun to fly in wind, now.***

-GG

***Pilot experience depending.

[RRHandy]

Landing with thrust reverse at 1:31. Thanks Xviper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtlmjuSVczA

Only problem with the video is, it's looped.