Official Freewing 64mm F9F Panther Blue EDF Jet PNP Thread

[mturner59]

Thank you xviper, coconut, I placed my receiver in the same spot. Upgraded AR630 to AS3X+ with Hand Launch Assist. Still working on getting gains to right value.

[Coconut]

I'm in the same situation right now trying to find a spot for the AR630. The last Panther I had, I put the ESC underneath the tray for the elevator servo. Then put the AR630 where the ESC was. I'm wondering if someone has a better placement.

[xviper]

Using Spektrum AR630 Receiver, has anyone else used this? If so, do you have a good placement.

Not in this plane but in many others. The same principle applies to any plane and there should be nothing special about this panther in terms of RX placement. For the AS3X to work well, put it near the CG but it's not necessary to put in right at the CG if it's not possible. Put it near the center line of the plane but not necessarily right on the center line if that's not possible. Try to keep it as far away from battery lines and ESC lines as possible. If that's not possible, use one or 2 RF chokes on those lines. Since the AR630 has no external antenna, you can't route the antenna away from power lines.

[mturner59]

Using Spektrum AR630 Receiver, has anyone else used this? If so, do you have a good placement.

[John W]

Has anyone used flaperons? If so how much?

[OldnBold]

In a good way ?

Yes, same performance as it had out-of-the-box.

[paulrkytek]

11/16/24
First flight with the screens in place -- no discernable difference in performance.

In a good way ?

[OldnBold]

11/16/24
First flight with the screens in place -- no discernable difference in performance.

[OldnBold]

I found a cheap spatter guard at TJ Max to provide a nice flat screen with a fine mesh. I cut out two of the cross members from each cheater inlet, and left the middle two as support (probably not needed) for the screen.

[paulrkytek]

I'll definitely be using your mesh idea. That should significantly increase the area of the cheater holes while adding some protection against grit being sucked into the fan.

Let me know how it works out. If you still need a bit more air then an hours work with a sharp hobby knife will cut out the holes in the canopy foam and front window. Cutting the acrylic requires a steady hand and finishing off with file. then black emulsion on the inside of the canopy to hide the foam cuts. Cutting the canopy allows direct frontal air which both cools the lipo and feeds the fan., just be sure to add magnet or pin to front of canopy to prevent it lifting as the air is forced in... Itis worth doing both, Starving the fan of air can overheat the motor and esc leading the fan to keep hesitating as the thermal cut out in the esc keeps cutting in and out.

[OldnBold]

I'll definitely be using your mesh idea. That should significantly increase the area of the cheater holes while adding some protection against grit being sucked into the fan.

[paulrkytek]

You were right about the cheater holes being needed. I taped over them and attempted a maiden voyage. It was just a fast taxi - unable to attain flying speed. Pulled the tape off and the little hot-rod flew as expected. I don't want to start cutting holes in the top side so I guess I'll just live with having to replace the fan occasionally. Maybe a fender over the front tire would help.

I'm running an 1800 mah 4s LiPo battery. I had to add about an ounce of weight in the nose to move the CG forward to 1/8 inch behind the recommended location. This seems to work.

I almost killed the little beast on the first flight forcing it into the air too soon. It nearly snap rolled into the ground. Second flight, I let it roll, and it lifted off very smoothly on its own with no elevator input.

I quickly found out that speed is essential to survival with this baby. A couple of times I inadvertently induced accelerated stalls in tight turns at partial throttle -- not a good thing. Fortunately, the high thrust to weight ratio allowed me to power out of those with no harm done. Keeping the mad little thing in sight (80-year old eyes) takes constant maneuvering and lots of concentration -- all good Fun!

I found landing to be a real challenge! The first flight, I slowed the kitty down too much and it stalled in from a couple of feet up bending the nose gear back. The next try i carried too much speed and one of the main gears was torn off by a pebble. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm -- perhaps I can hit a happy medium.

The glass of wine in the photo is required to calm the nerves after a close encounter with a wild flying panther.

This is how I got more air in for take off by removing foam and screen from canopy. Even this amount should help on take off if you are keeping wheels on. I also show my battery and gyro placement . In all fairness my model is modified a bit with rudder, increased wingspan ( 100mm overall) and inboard flaps but still has plenty of power on my fms 11 blade fan and 4s 70c lipo. Smooth turns are the way to go or as you found out you get an accelerated stall. Freewing Grumman F9F Panther . original 685mmm span, modified 800mm wingspan 870gms all up take off weight. Wing area of 12.86dm2 = 68 gms/dm2 . 1.15kg manufacturers quoted thrust = 1.3 to 1 FMS 64mm 11 blade edf unit, 2840 3150kv out-runner, 135gms, 60amp ztw esc2-6s, 70amp burst., 1150gms thrust static say 950gms actual, 1800mah 4s 70-140c (215 gms). If you pull off the cheater cover from the underside then stick on the frying pan mesh ( on the inside using foamtac or similar) then replace it you will have less traumatic take offs and more thrust available for those awkward moments when you need it. Taking the wheels off allowed me to remove nose steering unit and servo and push battery forward so you do not need extra nose weight.

[OldnBold]

You were right about the cheater holes being needed. I taped over them and attempted a maiden voyage. It was just a fast taxi - unable to attain flying speed. Pulled the tape off and the little hot-rod flew as expected. I don't want to start cutting holes in the top side so I guess I'll just live with having to replace the fan occasionally. Maybe a fender over the front tire would help.

I'm running an 1800 mah 4s LiPo battery. I had to add about an ounce of weight in the nose to move the CG forward to 1/8 inch behind the recommended location. This seems to work.

I almost killed the little beast on the first flight forcing it into the air too soon. It nearly snap rolled into the ground. Second flight, I let it roll, and it lifted off very smoothly on its own with no elevator input.

I quickly found out that speed is essential to survival with this baby. A couple of times I inadvertently induced accelerated stalls in tight turns at partial throttle -- not a good thing. Fortunately, the high thrust to weight ratio allowed me to power out of those with no harm done. Keeping the mad little thing in sight (80-year old eyes) takes constant maneuvering and lots of concentration -- all good Fun!

I found landing to be a real challenge! The first flight, I slowed the kitty down too much and it stalled in from a couple of feet up bending the nose gear back. The next try i carried too much speed and one of the main gears was torn off by a pebble. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm -- perhaps I can hit a happy medium.

The glass of wine in the photo is required to calm the nerves after a close encounter with a wild flying panther.

[paulrkytek]

Guys,
Does the 4s version of the Panther (I have one on the way) have cheater holes on the bottom of the fuselage? I'm hoping not, as I'll need to plug them to prevent sand and rocks from being sucked into the fan from our unpaved runway. It's not a big thing, just nice not to have to do it.

Thanks,
Waid
Green Valley AZ

Looks Like you will have to plug the cheaters with fly screen ( I used frying pan cover mesh). There is quite a large area of cheater holes.( approx 2400mm2) on my yellow version. I painted my canopy matt black and cut out the plastic from the front flat screen to allow more air in to the fuselage and fan to compensate for the mesh. ( you might want to cut a bit more than I have. ) The 2 air intakes at the front of the wings are not exactly generous ( about 1000mm2 per side on the yellow version) . It looks like if you block off the cheater holes underneath totally you will be reducing total fan air intake by over 50% so I think you may need some supplementary air intake from the screen and the top deck ( say by cutting out 2 of the top rectangular marked panels to the rear of the main canopy) to compensate. PS I took the mesh off mine when I took the wheels off , created hand launch holes and added the gyro. I run the FMS 11 blade 64mm 4s fan with 1800mah 70c lipo on the model in the photos. Good luck whatever you decide..

[OldnBold]

Looking at the video on Motions site it does.

Thanks, Evan.

[Evan D]

Looking at the video on Motions site it does.

[OldnBold]

Guys,
Does the 4s version of the Panther (I have one on the way) have cheater holes on the bottom of the fuselage? I'm hoping not, as I'll need to plug them to prevent sand and rocks from being sucked into the fan from our unpaved runway. It's not a big thing, just nice not to have to do it.

Thanks,
Waid
Green Valley AZ

[paulrkytek]

"I also get 3 beeps from the ESC" caught my eye. If he has a fully charged 4S and a 4S version it should beep the 4 times.

I see your point. Perhaps Ringrey will confirm that he has the latest Blue 4s version with 12 blade fan and not the Blue 3s version or the 3s 5blade with yellow wings !!!

Freewing F9F Panther 4S Blue 64mm EDF Jet - PNP

Regular price ^€107<sup>50 on the EU Website.

quote</sup> The new version of the 64mm F9F Panther has a faster motor, larger 40A ESC, 12B fan for great sound, and runs on a 4S LiPo instead of a 3S. In order to achieve these upgrades, the fuselage mold was updated to create extra room for a 4S LiPo battery and the wing mold was changed to add a tubular spar for extra strength. The canopy magnets were also changed to a latch system to keep the canopy from blowing off due to the extra speed. The changes were worth it! With the extra power and great 12 blade EDF sound, this already fantastic little plane is now even better.

[Evan D]

"I also get 3 beeps from the ESC" caught my eye. If he has a fully charged 4S and a 4S version it should beep the 4 times.

[paulrkytek]

Isn’t this a 3S max airplane and ESC?

The latest version is blue wings 4s and has reversing esc Evan, at least that is what it says on the website and this is a new thread for this model though you would have thought they would have used the Old thread or at least made reference to it?