Official 64mm Freewing Banshee EDF Sport Jet Thread

[DougCLind]

Ok, got a Banshee as a Christmas present. Liked it so much I bought a 2nd one. I hand launch/belly land the first one but put the landing gear on the second for when I fly off of a runway. I have to say that this is far and away the best flying 64mm jet I've owned and actually, it's really my best flying EDF period. It's smooth and it's QUIET! And the stock version has very adequate power, even for jet aerobatics.

I have a comment though on it's use as a hand launcher. There is no good hand grip. I absolutely have to launch with 2 hands and that means I have my hands off the TX during launch and immediately after, while frantically searching with the hands while keeping my eye on the plane! So what have I done? I put a Flex Aura Lite stabilizer in it. The Aura has a launch assist mode where it keeps the wings level and keeps a 30 degree up angle until you move the sticks. Then you regain control. So I heartily recommend it for hand launchers like myself. It works well, very well.

I'm experimenting with Spektrum telemetry so I pulled the stock ESC out and put in an Avian 45 Amp ESC. I also put in an AR6610T telemetry receiver and I'm mostly flying with a 4S, 2700 30C SMART battery. The battery is virtually identical to the Roaring Top 2700's which I also use. (For those counting the $$, RX: $80, Aura: $60, Avian ESC: $60, SMART Battery: $55. More than the price of the plane and I now have 2 extra 45 Amp reversing ESC's that I took out. Anyone want one?) I had to cut some foam from the barrier which is aft of the nose gear servo in order to fit the battery in, but the snug fit helps to hold the battery in place. I move it as far forward as I can as you can see in the pics and this seems to give a good CG. I'm getting 5 minute flights and usually landing with more than 20% left on the battery.

Here are the calculated telemetry numbers from one of my flights:
Max power 949 Watts
Max current 62.9 Amps
Average power 446 Watts
Average current 30.3 Amps

I only use full throttle on takeoff and otherwise only in brief bursts depending on the maneuver. So even though I go way over the 45 Amp rating of the ESC I get away with it because I keep those high amp times short. I get temperature readings from the ESC telemetry but they don't mean much to me because I don't know where the danger points are. I think the main thing is those averages and they're well below the rated limits.

I practice jet aerobatic routines and I have no trouble with double loops, full cubans, half reverse cubans, shark fins, square loops on edge (so you're doing 45 degree angles each leg), humpty bumps, knife edge and a few others. It does lack the power to do a pretty "Z" maneuver. This is where you come into it straight and level and then pull back 135 degrees so you're going upwards, on your back at a 45 degree angle. Then you push over 135 degrees so you're level again. You lose too much airspeed to push over at the end. I set my elevators to 125% throw and keep the upslope very short so I don't lose too much airspeed and I can just barely do it with the Banshee. I suppose if I went EvanD's route and upgraded to the 6S system it would help but for the moment I'm happy with the way things are.

Anyway that's what I'm doing with my Banshee. I did notice that the one with the landing gear doesn't quite have the oooomph that the hand launched one does but that isn't surprising I guess. I have the same setup in both so the extra weight and drag of the landing gear does have an effect.

[Evan D]

Great report and congratulations! Seems you are getting a few more watts than I did on 4S, 868W but I used an inline wattmeter. I tried the hand launch route and agree that two handed is best but I added a hook and bungeed it one handed. I did not like landing without gear, I was worried about flaps hitting or breaking servo arms so I went back to wheels and have the upgraded spring gear on mine and really like them on my paved runway.

At some point 6S (same flying weight as it was 4S but a good bump in power) and maybe programing in a aileron to flap mix for full span flaps... Either way the Banshee is a great flying plane.

[DougCLind]

Welllllll, as a matter of fact ... on hand launching and belly landing I had the same concern about those servo arms being unprotected under the wings. If I had a 3d printer I would print up some kind of fairing to go over them. I'm having an issue with one of the flap servos chattering like crazy on full flaps. I have to limit it to a little less than 50%. I think something happened on a landing to cause that. The plane glides like crazy and the flaps do help.

Also, I bought 2 extra nose cones when I got the first Banshee. But turns out they're kind of useless because the ones on the plane are glued on over the foam. I think V2 should have detachable nose cones if our moderator Tom is paying attention. My grass landing strip is in my cow pasture next to my house (surrounded by an electric fence) and the terrain is not flat but rolling. Several times, even though the grass isn't high, the nose seems to catch on the grass, maybe on little upslopes, and break off. I'm getting tired of gluing it back together! :)

So for version 2 improvements, along with making a 6S upgrade available, I'd like to see a couple of hand launch-friendly mods: detachable nose cone and servo arm fairings for the wing. I don't know what could be done about the 2 handed launch. But if Motion wants my input, they should offer the Aura Lite. FliteTest.com does. As a matter of fact the generic version of the Aura Lite is called the FT Aura Lite. The Aura's have been pretty reliable for me and they're the only stabilizer I trust.

If Tom is following this I can say that the Banshee is a huge winner. IMHO. The price point is great and I wouldn't like to see any mods take it over the $200 point, even if the plane is worth every penny. It's kind of a junior Avanti S (which is one really, really good jet.) I can't say enough about it.

[Evan D]

I posted these before...


Freewing 64mm EDF Lippisch P.15 Pushrod [FJ1101111] Motion RC

[DougCLind]

Those ought to work for the Banshee. Just ordered them along with a fuse and wing for the Banshee

[DougCLind]

My Banshee got a little booboo today. Winds weren't bad at ground level but 100' up they kept flipping me around until it had it's way with me. Crashed hard into the snow. But later on the winds were a bit less and the Pirana did just fine with a pretty landing in the snow. Banshee fuse is a lost cause, take a better man than me to fix it so ordered a new one but the battery and rx are ok so, all things considered ... this isn't too bad.

[Evan D]

Double check but I think the parts don't come with decals.

[Jake Bullit]

Just added an led light ring:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZzw3Qw0sew

[Evan D]

The upgraded gear ($21.99) and 6S 2500kV ($35.99) in runner fan are now listed on Motion though showing out of stock since they are in transit.

[DougCLind]

Don't know if anyone else has had this problem but my nose steering arm just barely engages the servo arm slot and kept popping out when I was taxiing. But I took off the C clip on nose wheel shaft, put it in a vise, and carefully tapped it down, bending it a small amount. Worked pretty well. Here's a pic of the arm now.

[DougCLind]

I thought others might appreciate a picture of my cockpit layout. That's an AR6610T receiver and the FT Aura Lite gyro. I've been flying 4S with 2700 mAh batteries and I easily get 4+ minute flights when hand launching. One battery is an HH Smart battery and the others are Roaring Top. They both weigh close to the same and have the same exact form factor. I've found that hand launching with the landing gear and steering servo removed seems to make the plane fly with a lot less throttle. But it really needs the Aura gyro with its launch assist to do a hand launch well. And you either need a decent head wind or a strong throw. I know. I've pancaked on takeoff a couple of times when there wasn't a head wind.

As soon as the motors are back in stock I'm going to upgrade one or both of my Banshee's to 6S. I'll probably use a Smart 1800 6S 50C battery (for the telemetry benefit) but I'd like to hear what other people are using for 6S.

[Evan D]

Mine. The hot 2500kV FreeWing fan, Beatles 60A ESC, 9ch Orange receiver and Redcon satellite. Using HRB 1800 and 2200 6S batteries.

[DougCLind]

The upgraded 6S motor goes in the same fan, is that correct Evan? BTW, very nice clean layout. You must have the RX and servo wires tucked in in the back.

[Evan D]

I bought the fan/ motor combo from Castle. The wires run under the battery tray. Satellite in the nose, receiver under the turtle deck.

[DougCLind]

Since Motion doesn't even have an ETA on the motors I did what you did and ordered a motor/fan combo from rc-castle. I don't need the fan but this will make things easier on installation. It would have been about $13 cheaper from Motion with free shipping but ...

[Evan D]

I think it’s odd that FW has three other new fans and the upgraded gear and Motion still doesn’t have them months later.

[FlyingRex]

Then your reverse has been defaulted to the channel 5 gear switch. If you are also using that switch for throttle cut, then that is a conflict. Generally speaking, Throttle Cut is assigned to switch H on Spektrum. Put your TC on switch H and I'll bet your gear switch will be dedicated to only reverse and you will get normal thrust back in one of the positions. If you have only a 6-ch RX, then assigning reverse to another switch may not be possible because you've taken up all the channels. Switch H is usually for throttle cut and thus, does not use up another channel, leaving ch-5 free for only reverse. If you don't want to use reverse, then you'll have to play with the servo travel on that channel so both switch positions does the same thing - ie, forward thrust and NO reverse. You still can't use that same switch for both reverse and TC.

I had the same problem using DX6 and LemonRX stabilizer receiver. I ended up plugging the reverse lead into channel 5 (gear). So, both reverse thrust and stabilizer are on the same switch. By adjusting servo travel to prevent reverse thrust, I have forward thrust and stabilization on one switch position. The other position has stabilizer off and reverse thrust (w/ no servo travel and no reverse thrust.)
It’s a 3 position switch so theoretically I could use 3rd position for the reverse thrust. The stabilizer is basically on/off and not a SAFE (stab plus).
I hope I’m not missing anything. Please let me know if I have.
I haven’t maidened yet. Hope to after the rains stop.🌧

[xviper]

I had the same problem using DX6 and LemonRX stabilizer receiver. I ended up plugging the reverse lead into channel 5 (gear). So, both reverse thrust and stabilizer are on the same switch. By adjusting servo travel to prevent reverse thrust, I have forward thrust and stabilization on one switch position. The other position has stabilizer off and reverse thrust (w/ no servo travel and no reverse thrust.)
It’s a 3 position switch so theoretically I could use 3rd position for the reverse thrust. The stabilizer is basically on/off and not a SAFE (stab plus).
I hope I’m not missing anything. Please let me know if I have.
I haven’t maidened yet. Hope to after the rains stop.🌧

If it were me and I was limited to only 6 channels, I would decide which is more important - to have reverse or to have the ability to turn the gyro OFF. Not knowing exactly which Lemon Stab. RX you have, I can only guess that it's possible to simply have the gyro ON all the time. Once you've done enough flights with the stabilizer gains set to what is best for this plane, you can program it to just be ON all the time. Now, you can have that switch control only the reverse. Depending on which Lemon you've got, the middle position of a 3-position switch will just keep the gyro OFF, so you have 2 positions where the gyro is OFF. Essentially, giving you a 2-position switch for the gyro. Both the gyro ON/OFF and the reverse thrust function must see either -100 or +100. The middle position of "0" really doesn't do much.

[FlyingRex]

Thanks for the feedback, XVIPER. I’ll see how it goes. 😀

[Jpmcdo]

I just picked up a new banshee and am having issues with the ESC/motor. Plane is bound and all it will do is beep. It will correctly count the cells then it just beeps.

I've tried three different batteries, bound the plane using three different receivers and calibrated the ESC several times.

The motor continues to emit single beeps and the throttle will not work.

Troubleshooting says that it's one of the following:

The ESC didn't receive any throttle signal from the receiver. (Used more than one receiver)

The Throttle Stick has not been moved to the bottom position. (Trimmed to -100 on an iX14)

The Throttle Range you set was too narrow. (I didn't make any changes to the throttle range other than to calibrate. the ESC via the throttle stick.)

Any Ideas? I appreciate any help.

Thanks