Freewing "Tail Flame"afterburner

[kallend]

I just ordered two of these to see how they are.

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...-edf-jets-e631

At $15 they are going to give the $80 - $100 brands a hard time, even if it doesn't have all the bells and whistles..

[xviper]

I am very interested to see your review of this product. I got one as a free gift and it's installed on my Typhoon already. We can't fly for some time, so can't say what I think of how it looks.

[kallend]

I am very interested to see your review of this product. I got one as a free gift and it's installed on my Typhoon already. We can't fly for some time, so can't say what I think of how it looks.

Typhoon has 2 nozzles, but the "Tail Flame" only lists a single lamp system. One lamp illuminating two nozzles seems a bit low class. I'll use my own 2 lamp system in my Typhoon and put the Tail Flame in a single, probably my Avanti S.

That said, it's hard to justify spending $80 - $100 on a fancy system with all bells and whistles from a well known name, if the $15 system works acceptably well.

Here's my 2 lamp system in my V2 Typhoon:

https://youtu.be/KeCm6EaU7mI?t=11

[xviper]

Low class but it was free for me and I've never been into these afterburner things anyway. The ones I got for my MiG29, I removed them as they didn't really make an impression on me when flying the plane.

[Aros]

I like the added cool factor if they are nice and bright. Based on our video they look pretty comparable to the mainstream versions I've seen for sale, but much cheaper price which people will enjoy. I would like to see them release a twin version for dual exhaust jets. Definitely not a "must have" feature for me but the times I've had them in my jets it is pretty cool on those takeoffs and flybys.

[kallend]

I like the added cool factor if they are nice and bright. Based on our video they look pretty comparable to the mainstream versions I've seen for sale, but much cheaper price which people will enjoy. I would like to see them release a twin version for dual exhaust jets. Definitely not a "must have" feature for me but the times I've had them in my jets it is pretty cool on those takeoffs and flybys.

I look forward to getting mine. The effect is improved by either painting the inside of the duct with bright white paint, or putting shiny aluminim tape there (or a combination of both). It then makes the entire exhaust glow, instead of just a bright spot in the center.

[xviper]

I look forward to getting mine. The effect is improved by either painting the inside of the duct with bright white paint, or putting shiny aluminim tape there (or a combination of both). It then makes the entire exhaust glow, instead of just a bright spot in the center.

I may do that. It may help me appreciate them more.

[Aros]

Yes, I totally agree adding aluminum or reflective tape is a big help, especially for daylight effect. I have done that before with great success.

[putput]

I just bought one to put into my new 8s Raptor.. I had purchased the one specifically for $80 and 90 mm free wings.. unfortunately there's no holes in the back of the Raptor motor for it to bolt to. I put in a support ticket to motion 4 days ago no response yet. I'm hoping they can just send me the adapters instead of having to buy a second unit listed as universal

[TonyTaff]

That’s why Wes on his video said to get the non freewing version with the adapters. It’s out of stock.

[putput]

Yeah well.. didn't watch the video. I just ordered one lol

[kallend]

Mine arrived this morning. I ran it through some tests and here are my preliminary observations and thoughts:



1. It's plenty bright and appears to use an auto LED bulb without the base. It runs off the 3S tap on a 6s balance connector.

2. The brightness increases fairly linearly with throttle position. There is no flickering effect.

3. It gets hot (the instructions warn about this). No doubt due to the clear enclosure around the bulb preventing effective cooling.

4. Installation is trivially easy for a single lamp system. I suspect the controller could drive 2 lamps, but extra lamps are not available. I spoke to a rep at MRC, who thought the whole idea of selling extra lamps was crazy. I guess he'd never heard of multi-engine jets. If you want to run two LED lamps in a bifurcated exhaust twin, you'll have to work the mounting out for yourself.

5. It expects the throttle pulse width to increase as the throttle is advanced. Most radios work this way. If you have a radio where this is not the default, you'll have to reverse the throttle channel.

6. It turns on when the pulse length reaches 1200 microseconds (uS). This seems pretty short to me, representing 20% throttle on a nominal 1000 - 2000uS PWM pulse, and only 12.5% throttle on Spektrum's default range of 1100 - 1900uS. This means most of the time you'll be flying around with afterburners on, even when just cruising or in the landing pattern. Real jet fighters aren't like this.

7. The quality appears good. At $15 it will be a serious challenge to some well known brands.

[Gottafly]

Received mine today, ordered one of each. However, I’m having trouble with the install on my Eflite Viper 90mm. Connections are straight forward and correct but no joy. Afterburner lights when plugged in to battery balance plug, but not when ESC is armed. ESC arms when battery is connected to ESC/receiver etc. but when the afterburner controller is plugged into the battery balance plug, nothing works. No afterburner, and no throttle response….just single beeps. Anyone have a work around?

[xviper]

Received mine today, ordered one of each. However, I’m having trouble with the install on my Eflite Viper 90mm. Connections are straight forward and correct but no joy. Afterburner lights when plugged in to battery balance plug, but not when ESC is armed. ESC arms when battery is connected to ESC/receiver etc. but when the afterburner controller is plugged into the battery balance plug, nothing works. No afterburner, and no throttle response….just single beeps. Anyone have a work around?

Would you be using a Spektrum "smart" battery? Is so, then I think it's too smart for its own good and that's is perhaps why nothing works. The Viper's "smart" ESC may also be the culprit. You should try to power the lights via a separate, small battery. Hopefully the throttle lead from the lights isn't going to give the "smart" receiver a brain fart. That's the problem with all this Spektrum smart stuff. They don't always play well with "dumb" stuff.

PS. Even the Eflite F-16's optional tail light ring causes problems and a workaround had to be applied.

[Gottafly]

No smart battery, but I agree it’s likely the Avian Smart ESC. It may not like the noise introduced by the battery lead and gets confused…err, dumb.

[kallend]

Received mine today, ordered one of each. However, I’m having trouble with the install on my Eflite Viper 90mm. Connections are straight forward and correct but no joy. Afterburner lights when plugged in to battery balance plug, but not when ESC is armed. ESC arms when battery is connected to ESC/receiver etc. but when the afterburner controller is plugged into the battery balance plug, nothing works. No afterburner, and no throttle response….just single beeps. Anyone have a work around?

As XV wrote, if it's a SMART receiver and an Avian ESC, you will have problems because when the RX detects the Avian it goes into SRXL2 mode instead of PWM mode. Having a PWM controller Y'd to channel 1 messes the whole thing up.

Here's something I wrote about this problem:

[xviper]

If you are running the stock Viper 90 RX, you have only 6-channels and all are used. There is another work around for your situation. Bind a second RX ( a cheap, 4-ch one will do). Plug the light module into the throttle port of the 2nd RX. Power that RX with an external BEC that is powered by a small 3 cell LiPo (1000mah should do it). Plug the light power lead into the balance lead of the small battery.
Personally (and I have the Viper 90 also), before I got to this stage, I'd have said, "Fugetaboutit"!

[kallend]

If you are running the stock Viper 90 RX, you have only 6-channels and all are used. There is another work around for your situation. Bind a second RX ( a cheap, 4-ch one will do). Plug the light module into the throttle port of the 2nd RX. Power that RX with an external BEC that is powered by a small 3 cell LiPo (1000mah should do it). Plug the light power lead into the balance lead of the small battery.
Personally (and I have the Viper 90 also), before I got to this stage, I'd have said, "Fugetaboutit"!

My solution works in most cases and doesn't require any additional hardware.

[xviper]

Your "best" solution: The Viper 90 uses all ports. There is no unused port.
Your "also best": What do you mean by port 0? Is that the bind/prog port? That's a possibility since I doubt he's using a remote.
Your "less good": He may not wish to loose telemetry.
Your last 3 options may be undesireable to him.

[kallend]

Your "best" solution: The Viper 90 uses all ports. There is no unused port.
Your "also best": What do you mean by port 0? Is that the bind/prog port? That's a possibility since I doubt he's using a remote.
Your "less good": He may not wish to loose telemetry.
Your last 3 options may be undesireable to him.

Yes, port 0 is labeled bind/prog/srxl2