I had a F-35 original version when they first came out, flew good but I never liked the servo controlled retracts or the bottom battery compartment, not to mention the relatively short flight times on 4s. I also had issues with the original elevator and aileron hinges coming lose. I decided to wait on the V2 for a while but i did get an F104 when they first came out. I liked the power system in the F104. Recently I've been reading about the 70mm Yak which uses the same power system. I got to thinking about the F-35 because I missed the vectored thrust, and it finally dawned on me that I could put the F-104/Yak130 power system in the F-35. In looking at the flying weight of the Yak at 60 oz I figured the F-35 would end up lighter with the same power.
I ordered a V2 F-35 from Motion along with a F104 motor, planning to use an old 80 amp speed control I had and just replace the 4 cell motor with the 6 cell setup. Planned to use 6 cell 2700 batteries I had. Of course to do this requires a much larger battery hatch too.
Put the motor in the 70mm setup and balanced the fan a bit. A simple bolt on install, easy mod. Had to get a new speed control as the old one was having problems, ended up with a YEP 100 simply because I like to use the "freewheeling" setup it has.
The hatch was a little bit more complicated. Basically I now use the original battery hatch as the radio gear area. I outlined and cut a new hatch in the top of the fuselage behind the canopy. I'll post pictures when I have time to get them in my computer. I did my hatch similar to another that was done on rcgroups using a ply tongue to fit under the back of the canopy. Instead of magnets I had a spring loaded latch that i used at the back of the hatch area. Once you get the top hatch cut and removed there's LOTS of space for batteries!
However, that large battery does affect the balance of the plane so you can't go more than about 3300 mah without being way nose heavy. I did remove the weight from the nose cone, added an oz to the leading edges of each elevator to counterbalance it and of course the F104 motot is a little heavier. Even with all the back end weight, the batteries have to go all the way at the aft end of the hatch area.
Final weight with battery is 55oz.
Next post will be flying it!
I ordered a V2 F-35 from Motion along with a F104 motor, planning to use an old 80 amp speed control I had and just replace the 4 cell motor with the 6 cell setup. Planned to use 6 cell 2700 batteries I had. Of course to do this requires a much larger battery hatch too.
Put the motor in the 70mm setup and balanced the fan a bit. A simple bolt on install, easy mod. Had to get a new speed control as the old one was having problems, ended up with a YEP 100 simply because I like to use the "freewheeling" setup it has.
The hatch was a little bit more complicated. Basically I now use the original battery hatch as the radio gear area. I outlined and cut a new hatch in the top of the fuselage behind the canopy. I'll post pictures when I have time to get them in my computer. I did my hatch similar to another that was done on rcgroups using a ply tongue to fit under the back of the canopy. Instead of magnets I had a spring loaded latch that i used at the back of the hatch area. Once you get the top hatch cut and removed there's LOTS of space for batteries!
However, that large battery does affect the balance of the plane so you can't go more than about 3300 mah without being way nose heavy. I did remove the weight from the nose cone, added an oz to the leading edges of each elevator to counterbalance it and of course the F104 motot is a little heavier. Even with all the back end weight, the batteries have to go all the way at the aft end of the hatch area.
Final weight with battery is 55oz.
Next post will be flying it!
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