Official Freewing F9F-8 Cougar 80mm EDF Jet Thread

[Ron1950]

Wooops Arf+ shipping notice today

[Wild Man]

You can see it now I need to get a new Go Pro, it did not freeze the battery Died

Sorry about the Video I am still having problems with it. I believe this one works https://youtu.be/ym2ykebmUgM

[wvrcdude]

Just got the shipping notification! Yay!!

[Cape Jets]

Same here with my ARF-Plus Cougar. shipping says delivery Sat. Already notified Callie Graphics on a new livery for this bird. Going with a Marines livery in blue. By the time I get the livery package she will be all painted and ready for the graphics.

[Coconut]

If it came in that color, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. That yellow on the grey have me trying to figure out the shape of the plane. To me, its too much going on with that yellow.

[Tom]

We debated between the Navy blue scheme and the current gray scheme forever! We went back and forth numerous times. The decision was painful because we really liked both. Normally it is pretty easy for us to pick a good livery but this one was SUPER tough.

[big red mig]

I think it looks great! Most Cougars you see are Blue so something fresh. 4 STARS

[big red mig]

Another thought. The darker colors like the dark blue on the cougar will alligator much more easily. Another plus for the light gray

[Cape Jets]

Another thought. The darker colors like the dark blue on the cougar will alligator much more easily. Another plus for the light gray

I've got gray jets, white painted jets, Blue Angels F-18, Black Bunny F-4 and they all gator after time no matter how much you keep them out of the sun. The heat of the day also helps with the gator effect. Nature of foam planes I guess. But you can't tell when they rip through the skies....

[StevenR]

So got my cougar today! Put it together in about 20min, I’m using a new Lemon 10ch receiver with telemetry, had no problem binding it up and got everything working and moving the right way except for the edf is running in reverse, now I know I can switch two wires on the edf to fix that but is there a way to go into esc programming to fix this?

[Evan D]

This is a reversing ESC. Plug the yellow wire into a spare channel and assign a switch. If it only arms in the reverse direction (just beeps in the normal direction) you will need to swap two motor wires.

[themudduck]

Hey everyone, I maidened mine today with good results - I thought I would give you my review with a couple of observations that might be helpful.

I am using 6250 Roaring Top batteries and the plane balanced with the battery right in the center of the tray (the strap was over the center of the battery). It seemed just a bit nose-heavy (it didn't want to flare) so I moved the battery back maybe 1/4 inch or so and the next couple of flights were non-eventful (but I still think the factory recommended CG is nose-heavy) . The plane handled really well like everyone is saying. Its not a large jet so it gets small pretty fast. It flies fast like it should and looks really cool in the air. My club's field has a Geotex runway. The Cougar takes off very quickly with flaps set at a takeoff setting - literally within 2 seconds. Well that's great for grass fields but it broke ground before it was really flying so on the next flights, I didn't use any flaps for takeoff. It powers up and climbs out with authority! When you chop the power at full speed there is virtually no noise from the ducts other than the sound of the plane going through the air (some jets have a howl, this one does not).

I found that my model had a noticeable trim problem (ailerons) and upon close examination after the first flight I found that one flap was up about 2mm. A half-turn on the clevis fixed that. So just so everyone knows, this plane must be set up with nothing even slightly out of whack. Once i made that little adjustment the plane flew with both ailerons neutral, no additional trim needed.

The gyro works well and it isn't very noticeable - with some jets you can feel the gyro locking the plane in, this one just stays in the background and does it job without being very obvious. I was flying in mostly calm conditions today. It does nice aileron rolls, I did some 4-point rolls (extra down elevator was needed) and titanic loops. It screams past at full speed like a champ.

Regarding the elevator setting: the manual was quite confusing to me, It says that the elevator needs to be offset by 3mm at the outside tip but it doesn't say whether it should be 3mm up or 3mm down. Well, the elevator needs to be trimmed so that the outside edges are down (meaning elevators up). 3mm is too much - just line up the elevators so that they are straight-level at the root.

I flew several times with the timer set at 4 minutes and flew at mid-to high throttle, and had about 30% left afterwards so I will increase the time to 4:30 next weekend and see how that goes. Landing the plane was fairly straightforward. It didn't seem to want to hold the nose up very far (using full flaps) and I came in at a fairly low throttle setting (perhaps 10-15%).... well the plane didn't slow down much but was easy to land. Once it was down I used the switch to reverse the ESC, then hit the throttle to brake and instead it immediately took off again! I hit the wrong switch!! So I came around and tried again....finger on the corect switch this time... then I landed, rolled out, hit the switch and hit full throttle and the plane made a giant noise.... and slowed down.... then stopped, and backed up! At full power it will back up slowly. I did NOT run off the runway and this was so much fun. Back up and turn, then go forward and taxi back to the pits with everyone wondering how I did that!

I flew it with all the stores loaded like you see here. I think with a smaller battery the plane may be a little easier to land nose-high without that extra weight. But it was quite happy with the 6250. This is a very enjoyable nice-flying jet but a bit smaller than my other planes. Smaller than the A4 Skyhawk. But its very cool and looks great, a real winner!

[themudduck]

Here's a picture showing the elevator in the neutral position. The root is dead straight. The tip is down at the left side of the photo.

[T- Elbert]

The rain broke this morning for a run to the field to maiden the cougar. This aircraft is rock solid , gyro works well and is smooth but the plane flys just fine without it. Running HRB 5000 for 4:30 minutes. First two flights I motored it about and landed with 55% still left . Next two flights I ran her hard and still had 30% left. Had a sticky left main but sorted it out before there was an issue. Looks impressive and fricken jumps in the air (lots of go). Great job Motion another fine aircraft 👍

[Mach351]

Would there be any issues running the 3658-1920Kv inrunner and 9-blade 80mm EDF "previous generation" Freewing power-plant in the ARF+ version of the F9F Cougar?

Thanks!

[Evan D]

No, same size and mounting but a little less power.

[Helmsman52]

Just a fyi…

I flew this bypassing the gyro for 5 flights… left elevator stab was being difficult to trim… would not stay in place. Right main gear didn’t retract down on 4th and 5th flight. Landed with two wheels and no damage.
Flew two flights with gyro… left stab would not center correctly but I was able to fly it no prob.

Issue solved. Left elevator servo was not centering itself. Replaced.
Main right gear servo hasn’t shown any more signs of not operating after 2nd and 3rd flights.

She’s definitely a keeper!

[Mach351]

No, same size and mounting but a little less power.

very cool.
i'm a little torn between just paying the $100 difference for the complete PNP version with upgraded power system versus using a power-plant & ESC sitting on the shelf.

[Evan D]

The PNP is such a good deal. I end up with quite a few fans and ESCs for sale…

[Ks.jetflyer]

In the process of getting mine set up. Having problems with the flaps, servos don't center in same location and one throws more than the other. I removed the gyro, don't think that should affect the servo. Tried moving the servo arm one tooth which is to far. Any thoughts on the problem or solutions?