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

[xviper]

The B-1 pilot’s combination of over controlling and being way too fast nearly cost him a plane. Gyro or not…that is a prime example of “how not to do it and expect to survive”. Not being critical here, but you can learn a lot about what not to do from this video.

-GG

The pilot was the Banana Hobby rep. His B1 is a pre-production, free "test sample". I believe he's a "so-so" pilot. I think the "testing" is about finished now, so the 3 test samples are purely for demos now and they are flown with less concern for smashing the crap out of them. Xfly's own pilots back near Hong Kong have their own planes to test and the video released so far of their flights are much better done and with little wind.

[GliderGuy]

While there are videos of B-2s “getting away with” flying in winds over 5 mph,….

There are those that have and those that haven’t gotten away with it. There’s that one gust out there just waiting to cause a B-2 landing to go bad. I’ve learned that relaxing B-2 flying demands light wind flying. I’ve repaired the nose gear enough times because of a wayward wind gust. I can do without repairing it again.

The B-1 pilot’s combination of over controlling and being way too fast nearly cost him a plane. Gyro or not…that is a prime example of “how not to do it and expect to survive”. Not being critical here, but you can learn a lot about what not to do from this video.

-GG

[xviper]

A recent video of the B-2 and new (not yet released) B-1B flown together. By the looks of the windsock and the microphone noise, wind could have been up around 20 mph. The Freewing B2 actually did pretty good, although the landing wasn't caught on the video. The Xfly B-1 looked like a wild ride and lucky to get down (2nd try) without pieces flying off.

[rifleman_btx]

Wonder if it has anything to do with the same reason flex inovations cut their pricing, pretty sure it is.

[Gravythe clown]

Damn, not even a year and I can’t remember. Also shows you the signs of the time. I didn’t even think twice when I slapped down $700 for this when it came out and now I look at the B-1 and tell myself “I’ll never spend that much on a foam plane”. 😳
$700 is more of a hit today then it was 10 months ago.

I might just buy some of that $300 foam as back up to have, and give her a go without the gyro. I bet she flys a lot smoother at speed when properly setup too.

Gravy

[Evan D]

It was originally $699 and then Motion reduced their prices. You can get all the foam and decals for $330. Yes, but I tell my wife they are all $50!

[Gravythe clown]

Isn’t that what it cost when it came out? Am I mistaken?
I could be, it’s been like one house and 5 or 6 new jets ago. Lol
Also I don’t care what they say the eyes aren’t the first to go. 🤪

Gravy

just went and looked, $600, maybe it was $500 when I told my wife. 🤣

[Evan D]

I've flown mine with the gyro off. It flew.

$500?

[Gravythe clown]

There is a part of me that wants to bypass the board and go straight to the servos like in my old LX B-2 and old foam board B-2.
neither of which had gyros and flew great.
I had independent control of both DR’s. And thanks to OPTX I had drag breaks and speed rudders programmed in.
Speed rudders would pinch down the DR to 5mm open at 100% throttle and back to what ever the normal open was at 60%. It was proportionally to the throttle stick.
it worked great and I didn’t notice any oscillation changes.
break rudders worked great too, they would both full open at -90% throttle and gear down.

I just feel this one really don’t need to gyro either, only thing holding me back is am I willing to bet $500 on it.

Gravy

[Quax]

I think a lot depends on your set up. I don't see anyway to use the stock gyro and mixing board and do it. If you bypass them and use a receiver with a gyro and mixing you can do it.

Exactly. I actually have a receiver with integrated gyro and enough ports (9) here that I could use. That way, it would be very easy as each rudder would have a separate port. But, I am not sure if I can take the gains 1:1 into the new gyro or not (probably not) and given that she isn't a easy plane without a good gyro setup, I am kind of worried.

[xviper]

I think a lot depends on your set up. I don't see anyway to use the stock gyro and mixing board and do it. If you bypass them and use a receiver with a gyro and mixing you can do it.

You may be right about this. At the time, I thought about it a lot and the only solution was that buddy box, which splits the signal path for the drag rudders - one going through the board and gyro and one that bypasses them completely.

[Evan D]

I think a lot depends on your set up. I don't see anyway to use the stock gyro and mixing board and do it. If you bypass them and use a receiver with a gyro and mixing you can do it.

[xviper]

Thanks for posting! Now I understand how you did it - I didn't have that additional box in my mind and so was wondering how two servos on the same receiver port (in this model gyro port) could move in opposite directions (in case of the B-2).

I didn't view the video of the other fellow who did brakes, so I don't know how he did it. I think there's more than one way to skin this cat.

[Quax]

OK, I found it. It was in the same post as the video:

https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-airplanes/rc-jets/341524-official-freewing-b-2-spirit-bomber-86-twin-70mm-edf-jet?p=344673#post344673

I spoke a little about using a couple of mixes and a "buddy box" to implement drag brakes but it can be done in other ways. I just happened to have an old "buddy box" laying around from an old dead plane.

Thanks for posting! Now I understand how you did it - I didn't have that additional box in my mind and so was wondering how two servos on the same receiver port (in this model gyro port) could move in opposite directions (in case of the B-2).

[xviper]

OK, I found it. It was in the same post as the video:

https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-airplanes/rc-jets/341524-official-freewing-b-2-spirit-bomber-86-twin-70mm-edf-jet?p=344673#post344673

I spoke a little about using a couple of mixes and a "buddy box" to implement drag brakes but it can be done in other ways. I just happened to have an old "buddy box" laying around from an old dead plane.

[xviper]

xviper
GliderGuy
When I have the time, I am going to have a closer look on the gyro manual to see how I can configure the drag rudders to work as spoilers like you did, xviper (btw, the video is shown to be private - would you mind to share it maybe?).

Very sorry. I just re-classified it. Try it now.
Caution: The gyro is not involved with configuring the drag rudders. They only act upon them via gain and on this plane gyro gain on the rudder must be kept at "max". Drag brakes are more complicated. I'll try to find the post I did in this thread outlining how I did it. I also believe someone else has a YouTube video doing the same.

[Aros]

Happy Birthday GliderGuy! You've been a great member to this community. Enjoy the day young man!

[Quax]

xviper
GliderGuy
Thanks for your Info! It helped a lot and I got three more flights with her today (some more wind, about those 5mph). She flew fine and when holding her off in ground effect she settled just nicely (jumped once very little but wasn't a problem).

I set my drag rudders using the method shown in the video. That way, I have them at 45mm open in neutral but they won't open the 102mm in full open position any more (about 80mm in total). However, that didn't seem to be a problem on my flights yet.

When I have the time, I am going to have a closer look on the gyro manual to see how I can configure the drag rudders to work as spoilers like you did, xviper (btw, the video is shown to be private - would you mind to share it maybe?).

GliderGuy, as it past midnight here - have a Happy Birthday and enjoy the day.

[xviper]

I don't think you would see much difference in how they act in the airflow between 40mm and 45mm. However when I open them wide for drag brakes, it does display a dramatic slow down.
Happy Birthday, young lad. I'll catch up to you in 2 months but then, you'll be 2 months ahead of me again.

[GliderGuy]

Oooooo man! I messed up badly. I re-read the manual (not by my B-2 at the moment to measure).

The manual states 22.5 mm up and 22.5 mm down at neutral stick. I (from memory again) could only get 20 mm each. So I am at 40 mm top to bottom vs the manual 45 mm.

I should have measured vs misleading by trusting my memory. Interestingly, they do blow down some in flight. At least they don’t appear to be as wide open when flying by as when sitting on the ground.

Apologies all around for providing misleading info.

-GG

I blame it on turning 73 tomorrow!