Official Freewing B-2 Spirit Bomber 86" Twin 70mm EDF Jet

[Lcacing]

A must have tool for removing/installing ball links. No reason to use needle nose or flat head screwdrivers and risk breaking the ball link or servo arm.

https://www.motionrc.com/products/be...31475141148785

[GliderGuy]

Deleted post
-GG

[Aros]

So I had the happy circumstance of needing to order parts. I was simply trying to take the starboard pushrods off to twist them to their proper spacing so the clam shells close where they should. Using needle nose pliers I tried popping the pushrod clevis back on to the ball joint. It was not going in to save my life. At some point the entire ball joint arm snapped clean off.

Then the servo arm snapped off when I was trying to get the other pushrod back on it when it popped off. Why is it so difficult to simply put the clevis back on the ball joints? Somewhere there's a factory worker laughing at me I just know it.

[Amahoser]

Have you guys seen the Utube video of Tom Hunt's Opterra with wing tip drag rudders?

It's worth the time. He flies it fpv too, which is kind of visual proof of the flight characteristics of the wing and drag rudders that he also discusses.

The link:
https://youtu.be/kJvBq7cQczw

I had ground steering issues that I mentioned before. Lined up to take off and the plane was all over the place. Still not sure what the issue is. But I did separate the rudders from the nose gear so the gyro had no effect on the steering. Solved it by using an assan steering gyro. I did have successful take offs before the assan gyro by elevator down on roll out.

[SanExup]

Have you guys seen the Utube video of Tom Hunt's Opterra with wing tip drag rudders?

It's worth the time. He flies it fpv too, which is kind of visual proof of the flight characteristics of the wing and drag rudders that he also discusses.

The link:

https://youtu.be/kJvBq7cQczw

[TH95147]

I hooked up the gyro gain to my receiver to try and eliminate the shake at high speeds. Worked well. I run it at about 50% and it flies just as good! The test flight went well. I'll keep this setting but I'll experiment with less or even 0 gain and see how she does. Here's the vid:

https://youtu.be/WjPxXRd5P2U

Jose

When did you loose the left main gear door? on a previous flight? circumstances? thanks

[GliderGuy]

I hooked up the gyro gain to my receiver to try and eliminate the shake at high speeds. Worked well. I run it at about 50% and it flies just as good! The test flight went well. I'll keep this setting but I'll experiment with less or even 0 gain and see how she does. Here's the vid:

https://youtu.be/WjPxXRd5P2U

Jose

Well done!

Excellent demonstration of 2 things related to landing and previously discussed:
1) Don’t force a bad landing…power up and try again, if there is time to react.
2) No need for high speed on final / set low power and then float her in.

Nice acro, too!

-GG

[Amahoser]

I hooked up the gyro gain to my receiver to try and eliminate the shake at high speeds. Worked well. I run it at about 50% and it flies just as good! The test flight went well. I'll keep this setting but I'll experiment with less or even 0 gain and see how she does. Here's the vid:

https://youtu.be/WjPxXRd5P2U

Jose

[Hugh Wiedman]

The winds died down this past Monday so I was finally able to get out with Hugh to maiden my B-2. Wind was dead calm for most of the day. I had some issues getting off the grass using my SMC 6200 and I originally thought I may have been too heavy as I was able to get in the air with the SMC 5300, but post crash landing inspection revealed that I also had an issue with the spring on the back side of one of my landing gears preventing the wheel truck from rotating or absorbing any of the landing forces.

Flight was awesome, got a solid 5 minutes, and I'm very happy with the performance. I did not use the clear vertical stab and didn't notice any wobble in the air, but I did notice a little rudder was needed to keep the nose down in the turns. Unfortunately as I mentioned, the flight did not end well. The B2 definitely floats a while and when I landed, it seems like one of the struts did not compress at all and lead to the nose slamming down, and then springing back up into the air where the crosswind caught it and cartwheeled it. Damage wasn't terrible, luckily just the plastic wing mount, the carbon spar, one gear door, a bent lead screw in the retract, and the nosegear mount. A little hot water, epoxy, foam-tac, straightening of the lead screw, and a carbon tube from an avanti later and she's almost as good as new.

I corrected the spring issue by rotating the bottom half of the spring so the screw entered the ring from the other side therefore allowing it to have a very small curve so it bends out of the way instead of locking up.


Cant wait to get her out again, and hopefully no more cartwheels

I have to say this is an outstanding FW creation, I'm very impressed. Rudy did a nice job on the maiden but damn, it was difficult to track being so stealthy. As I was videoing the landing, it looked to me that it was going to end up just fine but when the mains touched and it cartwheeled, I had no thought of that happening and was a bit stunned. First thought was a rouge crosswind, but once Rudy found the one main gear spring not working, all of a sudden it made sense. It was a bit too fast on the landing (but not by much for a maiden) and we're both surprised how slow it can go and how easily it floats.

I'm definitely looking forward to it's next flight and hopefully I'll be better at "finding" it in the video monitor, but it is a sneaky little bast...rd. How awesome it's profile is with a bit cloudy background. Talk about a FW "Grand Slam", all in one bird (Quality, Finish, Performance & Iconic to boot)!

[xviper]

Thanks, Rudy, for pointing this out. Not many of us would have thought to check the wheel trucks ability to do its full swing. One more thing to check before flying it.

[RudyD54]

The winds died down this past Monday so I was finally able to get out with Hugh to maiden my B-2. Wind was dead calm for most of the day. I had some issues getting off the grass using my SMC 6200 and I originally thought I may have been too heavy as I was able to get in the air with the SMC 5300, but post crash landing inspection revealed that I also had an issue with the spring on the back side of one of my landing gears preventing the wheel truck from rotating or absorbing any of the landing forces.

Flight was awesome, got a solid 5 minutes, and I'm very happy with the performance. I did not use the clear vertical stab and didn't notice any wobble in the air, but I did notice a little rudder was needed to keep the nose down in the turns. Unfortunately as I mentioned, the flight did not end well. The B2 definitely floats a while and when I landed, it seems like one of the struts did not compress at all and lead to the nose slamming down, and then springing back up into the air where the crosswind caught it and cartwheeled it. Damage wasn't terrible, luckily just the plastic wing mount, the carbon spar, one gear door, a bent lead screw in the retract, and the nosegear mount. A little hot water, epoxy, foam-tac, straightening of the lead screw, and a carbon tube from an avanti later and she's almost as good as new.

I corrected the spring issue by rotating the bottom half of the spring so the screw entered the ring from the other side therefore allowing it to have a very small curve so it bends out of the way instead of locking up.

Both videos of the maiden and the issue I found are attached:

https://youtu.be/CRSV-Rdbvuk

https://youtube.com/shorts/wuu0Pu23Iz4?feature=share

Cant wait to get her out again, and hopefully no more cartwheels

[kallend]

My bad! Sorry for the confusion, xviper. You're correct, Evan. Somehow I got Reflex stuck in my head. 🤦♂️🤷♂️

I've been doing the same and leaving it in the regular gyro mode. It works superbly. Now that I've mastered my landings after a couple flights with bouncy endings, it's now a dream to fly. The key for me was to not hold the flare. Once it's near touchdown and the rear wheels touch, I gently dump the nose.

Back to the original topic, there are times when I'm a distance out and I second guess my orientation. I like to briefly bump on the trainer to confirm wings level. I've done that before with SAFE mode in some of my other aircraft. I'll do a bit more digging to see if there's a way to adjust the nose attitude up a few degrees via the programmer.

I'm **guessing** that item 8 on the programming card ("Horizontal compensation") will be to adjust the attitude in trainer mode for level flight. The manual isn't very specific on that (see p10) and no-one has a programming card yet..

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1052/4162/files/E52_Instruction_Manual.pdf

[ridgerunner]

Here's an interesting vid on the B-2 Spirit of Freedom located in Dayton...

[Dougcarr73]

I think he’s just calling the E-52 a reflex.

I tried the modes ONCE and just leave it on regular mode gyro, solid red.

Mine didn’t do that. I think it remembers level from its attitude when you plug it in…

My bad! Sorry for the confusion, xviper. You're correct, Evan. Somehow I got Reflex stuck in my head. 🤦♂️🤷♂️

I've been doing the same and leaving it in the regular gyro mode. It works superbly. Now that I've mastered my landings after a couple flights with bouncy endings, it's now a dream to fly. The key for me was to not hold the flare. Once it's near touchdown and the rear wheels touch, I gently dump the nose.

Back to the original topic, there are times when I'm a distance out and I second guess my orientation. I like to briefly bump on the trainer to confirm wings level. I've done that before with SAFE mode in some of my other aircraft. I'll do a bit more digging to see if there's a way to adjust the nose attitude up a few degrees via the programmer.

[Evan D]

I think he’s just calling the E-52 a reflex.

I tried the modes ONCE and just leave it on regular mode gyro, solid red.

Mine didn’t do that. I think it remembers level from its attitude when you plug it in…

[xviper]

I have the reflex gyro on a 3 position switch (gyro on, attitude hold, and trainer). Anytime I place the aircraft in trainer mode it does an immediate 45 degree nose dive. I tested it on the ground and noticed that the elevators and ailerons level out when putting it into trainer mode. Has anyone else experienced this, or know what it could be? I used a combination of sub trim and linkage adjustment to adjust the control surfaces to the recommended settings.

You're using the Reflex gyro in this B-2? You'd be the first, so I doubt anyone can help you. Those Reflex gyros are designed to work only in FMS planes that are on the Reflex list. They are pre-programmed and can't be changed. Using one in a different plane is just asking for trouble. Even using one in a plane that it was meant for, can still be unpredictable.

Oh, if you're just asking about the Reflex, you should start a new thread and give more details as to what plane it's in, etc. The Reflex gyro and the E-52 that's in the B-2 may have very little in common.

[Dougcarr73]

I have the reflex gyro on a 3 position switch (gyro on, attitude hold, and trainer). Anytime I place the aircraft in trainer mode it does an immediate 45 degree nose dive. I tested it on the ground and noticed that the elevators and ailerons level out when putting it into trainer mode. Has anyone else experienced this, or know what it could be? I used a combination of sub trim and linkage adjustment to adjust the control surfaces to the recommended settings.

[tab28682]

For comic relief, here is an article I wrote that was published in the March 1994 issue of RCM. This model is strongly believed to be the first RC model of the B-2 ever built and flown, taking to the air in 1989. Apologies for the photocopy. I have been looking for a better pic, but no luck so far.

Also, more apologies are in order for the writing.

A rather simpler model than the Freewing offering…:)

We flew the heck out of that model in the 1990s. Flew much like a Zagi, only better. It attended many fly ins. Ed went to other hobbies and left the B-2 with me.

I lost count of the people that told me the following:

1. That will never fly.
2. That model will never fly with a Cox Black Widow .049.

The best response was to fly it for them. Typical reaction was "Huh."

I still have the model stashed in a corner of my garage…:)

Ed’s B-2 model design became a HobbyLab project for a while. After HobbyLab went Tango Uniform, the early tooling ended up with Megatech, which is where their old geared brushed motor prop powered B-2 ARF came from.

Kudos to Freewing for releasing an amazing version of the B-2!

[Evan D]

I do more than one every flight. Pretty darn slow too. Just don’t try a flat spin, haven’t been able to get it to even come close yet. Ends up in a dive to the deck every time.

[tab28682]

Stall turn...

Wingover, yes. Stall turn, not a good idea....:)