FW F86

[gooniac33]

The F-86 is a great entry into the bigger edfs. It is actually the size of a 90mm jet if you think about it. The F-5 is a fraction of the size but still uses the same power system and has much higher performance as a result. The only issue with the F-86 and cross winds is the taxi. It tips pretty easily.

Now another thing to think about here... the Mig-21 is a great plane too! Wider stance and really wide speed range. The wings are stubby but the airfoil is really thick! I would say that it is a good one to start with too....

[AZFlyer]

I love my F-86. It's the best EDF to fly in windy conditions, I think. I've flown it fine with 10mph wind 90 degree across the runway, and it handles fine.

I don't think it's that fast, but it sounds great. It sounds a lot better than any other EDF I own, including the T-45. The way the fuse is tuned for the 80mm fan is great. Sounds like a jet screaming by, especially in a hard bank turn away from the pilot.

I fly an Admiral 5000. I removed the ESC bracket and push the battery all the way back against the fuse. Didn't have to carve out anything (I don't think). I get 4 minutes out of it, no problem.

Definitely recommended as the first big EDF for someone new at these.

Enjoy!

[bluewaterjoe]

Great wealth of information from you guys and, again, it's much appreciated!

I think it makes perfect sense to get the Marie in the air and get comfortable with it, especially with the field size. After all, that's why I bought her and look forward to flying it as well :). The 80mm Sabre is still in my sights and It's great to know it's
within close reach. Man, I have to figure out how to carve out more flying time. This work stuff gets in the way :).

I may also pilfer a receiver from another plane and for $89 bucks get the 64mm Sabre as a stepping stone to get my jet fix while flying the Marie.
I watched some videos of the 64mm and I can see Chopper's point as how it can belly land in a short distance.

I like that there are multiple levels to this hobby as it never gets dull.

You guys have given me a lot of great options to consider. Thanks Again!
Joe

[AkumaZeto]

I would wait. You need to be more than profeciant with high powered warbirds. When I started this thread last year I was ready to make the jump but I would not advise this if you have not flown larger high powered low wing birds. It does need one hell of a roll out on landing too

[gooniac33]

Chopper and gooniac33.. Thanks for the great input and sharing your perspectives!

The price on the 64mm is definitely easy on the wallet and certainly is an option to consider. Chopper, it does sound like you and I are in similar spots and its helpful to hear your experiences on the progression. I'll have to watch some YouTube videos on that size and thanks for the tip on the underhand launch (never tried that). I'm guessing jumping to jets in either the 64mm or 80mm will be a fun rush. However, I gotta say after watching some of the videos on the 80mm I'm drawn to the substantial size and the awesome sound it produces.

All you guys have commented on the size of the runway and that's probably my biggest concern at this point. Our field is grass and just doesn't feel that big compared to most of the videos I've seen. I'm thinkng take offs would be fine but the landings may be a different story! I'd probably have to hit the very beginning of the field right after the tall grass ends. I guessed our field is about 200 feet but I may have to do a bit of measuring. I'm kinda judging how far it is from Home to first base on a baseball diamond and thinking it's about twice that distance. maybe...

I'm in a suburb of Chicago so our weather is still a bit chilly (although this weekend is supposed to hit the upper 50's) so I have a few weeks before pulling the trigger on this. I'm also sitting on a new FMS P51-D V8 Marie that
I need to get together.

Anyway... I'm thinking this jet thing is gonna be a blast!! Then there's that red Yak-130 that looks so cool :) ...

Thanks again Guys!
Joe

The Yak is a great plane too! It is a little smaller and faster than the F-86 but they handle the same. The F-86 is a really sweet flying plane though. it is perfect for a first bigger EDF. It is forgiving in the air and just enough of a challenge on the ground to get you ready for the others in the series.

[F106DeltaDart]

I agree with OV10, best to get used to the Mustang first and feel out how much space you need for landings. The thing that concerns me is a 200 ft grass takeoff. I didn't fly mine on grass much, but when I did it took a long time to get airborne ~400ft ish with half flaps. Granted, mine wasn't the best cut or smoothest grass, but its still cause for concern..100 ft takeoffs is no problem on pavement or geotex though.

[OV10]

Hello BWJoe and welcome to the Squawk,
Based upon your description of where you are flying from and the smaller size of the warbirds your presently flying I would give a little pause to the acquisition on the 80mm Sabre for just a little.
As lead flight instructor at our club I would truly recommend that you get some flight time under your belt with that Marie.
The reason I say this is because it is twice the flight weight of anything your presently flying which brings with it another venue of characteristics that you need to become familiar with when flying these larger weight birds that have more torque & faster landing speeds just to name a few. Once your comfortable managing this bird versus it managing you on TO's and landings then the jump to that Sabre becomes a lot easier.
I've seen to many wide eyed pilots that run before they walk and more often than not get a surprise they weren't ready for which usually cost them money sooner than expected.
Just another perspective. ;)
With best regards,

[bluewaterjoe]

Chopper and gooniac33.. Thanks for the great input and sharing your perspectives!

The price on the 64mm is definitely easy on the wallet and certainly is an option to consider. Chopper, it does sound like you and I are in similar spots and its helpful to hear your experiences on the progression. I'll have to watch some YouTube videos on that size and thanks for the tip on the underhand launch (never tried that). I'm guessing jumping to jets in either the 64mm or 80mm will be a fun rush. However, I gotta say after watching some of the videos on the 80mm I'm drawn to the substantial size and the awesome sound it produces.

All you guys have commented on the size of the runway and that's probably my biggest concern at this point. Our field is grass and just doesn't feel that big compared to most of the videos I've seen. I'm thinkng take offs would be fine but the landings may be a different story! I'd probably have to hit the very beginning of the field right after the tall grass ends. I guessed our field is about 200 feet but I may have to do a bit of measuring. I'm kinda judging how far it is from Home to first base on a baseball diamond and thinking it's about twice that distance. maybe...

I'm in a suburb of Chicago so our weather is still a bit chilly (although this weekend is supposed to hit the upper 50's) so I have a few weeks before pulling the trigger on this. I'm also sitting on a new FMS P51-D V8 Marie that
I need to get together.

Anyway... I'm thinking this jet thing is gonna be a blast!! Then there's that red Yak-130 that looks so cool :) ...

Thanks again Guys!
Joe

[gooniac33]

Hey guys... need your opinions..

I'm jonesin for this F-86 but am wondering if it's out of my league. I've been flying warbirds for about a year and a half. specifically:
Parkzone Corsair
Eflight P-47 Thunderbolt
ares P-51 (around 800mm)
FMS 800mm BF109
Also a bunch of UMX planes (Eflite corsair, mig 15, eflite P-47, eflite PT-17)

I am comfortable flying the Parkzone corsair and P-47 thunderbolt inverted, do barrel rolls, etc..

The only plane I fly that has been flagged as "advanced" by motion RC is the BF109. I can fly that okay if I don't try anything fancy like inverted or barrel rolls. This one
taught me about wing tip stalls :( and I crashed it several times in the beginning.

Do you think the F-86 is within reach for my progression? It looks awesome and I wanna hear that woooshhh!! I'm leaning towards rolling the dice and trying :)

Thanks! Joe

it is a perfect jet for you just going by what you have listed! Really easy to fly but it has the jet sound and speed. The only issue is the runway you will fly from. You need a decent size runway.

[chopper]

bluewaterjoe, you remind me of myself - about the same length of time flying and many of the same planes. If you must have an F-86, I've recently had a lot of luck with the 64 mm version. This was my first 'real' EDF (other than the UMX a-10 and Habu). I got it about 3 weeks ago and have been flying it about every 2nd or 3rd day since then. My first two launches were overhand and resulted in the plane inverting and nose diving into the ground (twisting my wrist on release?). I had reinforced the fuselage by gluing a sheet of thin balsa into the front intake so the only damage was some minor crumpling of the foam at the very front. 3rd launch was an underhand toss and I haven't looked back since. It was an adjustment from my warbirds, much more twitchy than I was used to, so I turned the rates way down. Also, if you need to scrub a landing you need to be a little ahead of the ball to give it time to spool back up to gain speed for a go-around. There also isn't a rudder, but I haven't missed it too much. Which brings me to the other benefit of the 64 mm version - it's a belly lander. I also have a relatively short blacktop to work from. Landing some of my other planes is like hitting a carrier deck sometimes. A carrier deck lined with concrete parking blocks and backed by a ditch. The 64 mm can land about anywhere with minimal fuss and is extremely forgiving of cartwheels, endos, high grass, mud, and nose first landings. Just mount some carbon fiber dowels it the fuel tanks it uses as landing pods, and make matching holes in the wings to epoxy them into. You can cut the throttle and glide it in just as easily as a trainer. last weekend I put a Hobby Eagle Gyro in it and wondered why I never used one before. I get about 4.5 minutes of spirited (usually around 2/3 throttle) flying on the 3s 1800 batteries I use. I'll probably upgrade to the 12 blade fan since I'm comfortable with it now and it was pretty easy on my budget due to the price. From the air you'd probably be hard-pressed to tell mine from the real one, but I don't get nervous when my timer goes off and tells me it's time to land. Just sayin.

[bluewaterjoe]

Hey Guys.. Thanks a lot for your perspectives and the warm welcome - I really appreciate it!

Our field is grass and I'm guessing we have about 200 feet. The field is a big square surrounded by about three foot tall weeds/shrubs. So, the lowest you can get before hitting the beginning of
the field is about 3-4 feet. Hitting the field as early as possible is definitely something I'll have to practice with my current warbirds. Good call on that Lon!
Also, in regards to the difference in speed being an exciting change is a change I'm really looking forward to. I've stopped shaking
with my current warbirds lol. Maybe that's a good indication to take the next step :).

It's really helpful to hear your three perspectives and opinions regarding the flight characteristics, CG and battery options. You guys have given me the confidence to get one of these birds
and experience another facet to this fun hobby. Man, it really has grabbed me... so much fun!

Thanks guys for taking the time to help me out!
Joe

[RCjetdude]

It is one of my personal favorite EDF's. I think you would be fine based on what you are saying because the plane flies really well fast or slow and is easy to land. I fly mine with a variety of batteries. A Roaringtop 5800 35C which is the lightest and what I balanced it with. I followed the CG recommendations I found on RCG which places the CG somewhat aft of the manual placement. The heaviest battery I fly it with is a Turnigy HeavyDuty 5000 60C and I can almost grease every landing with it. With the lightest pack there seems to be a little greater tendency for it to want to bounce on landing so I plan to try moving it a little forward and see how it behaves. So far I have been extremely impressed with the landing gear and even with a few bouncy landings or touching down in the grass just short of our runway they have not even bent. I don't consider myself to be an exceptional pilot but the F-86 makes me look good. I set it up just like the manual said for throws and installed an A3L gyro set to just past 12 o'clock on the gain pot and it is rock solid and smooth. Some have thought it lacked power but I think it flies fine on the stock setup. I am going to try the 1800 kV Mig-21 fan in it though just for kicks and giggles.

[Beeg]

First of all Welcome to the forum bluewaterjoe!

I'm not really good at evaluating what some folks are capable of handling but my opinion of the Freewing 80mm F-86 is that it is very well mannered and easy to land. It's not particularly fast for an EDF but if you have experience with moderately fast RC aircraft you should have no trouble with this model. My FW F-86 is the most tame EDF I own so I can't compare it to others that may be a better choice. But, if you want an F-86 for the cool factor this one would be a good choice as a starter.

[Lon]

Hi Joe,
I'm thinking that my first question/concern would be what is your flying field runway like? Reason is, to have early success with the F-86 80mm. A LONG runway is so much better to get the feel for landing,. Taking off, you only need a 100' of hard surface with flaps. Grass, i have not attempted to take off on it. Landing, you have to really do everything just right to only use up 100', and most the time you would roll off the end of a 100' hard surface runwaye (unless you have a nice 5-10mph head wind to land with flaps). No problem if there is nice grass at the end :) Once in the air, the plane really handles solid and predictable, even in windy conditions. But from what you have been flying, there will be a cruising rate of speed you will have to adjust to. The F-86 80mm is not a speed demon for sure, but will be an exciting change I believe, from what you are use to. The landings could be the biggest adjustment for you at first. When you have the CG correct, your first landings/approaches, this plane will seem to go, and go, not wanting to touchdown, that's why I think it's important to have lots of runway at first.

[bluewaterjoe]

Hey guys... need your opinions..

I'm jonesin for this F-86 but am wondering if it's out of my league. I've been flying warbirds for about a year and a half. specifically:
Parkzone Corsair
Eflight P-47 Thunderbolt
ares P-51 (around 800mm)
FMS 800mm BF109
Also a bunch of UMX planes (Eflite corsair, mig 15, eflite P-47, eflite PT-17)

I am comfortable flying the Parkzone corsair and P-47 thunderbolt inverted, do barrel rolls, etc..

The only plane I fly that has been flagged as "advanced" by motion RC is the BF109. I can fly that okay if I don't try anything fancy like inverted or barrel rolls. This one
taught me about wing tip stalls :( and I crashed it several times in the beginning.

Do you think the F-86 is within reach for my progression? It looks awesome and I wanna hear that woooshhh!! I'm leaning towards rolling the dice and trying :)

Thanks! Joe

[T-CAT]

Not a problem at all! It's a strange fitment initially when testing. Ha-ha

[Lon]

T-CAT, thanks. What you stated is what i was planning on doing. But I had to ask, scratching my head that i may have been missing something.

[T-CAT]

It's the same size EDF as the stock EDF, but the motor length doesn't make it any easier fitting the whole unit in the jet to seat well in the slot where the inlet lit lays flush in the provided slot. I just gradually pressed mine back and down rotating it slightly while doing that. It may disfigure some of the foam on the wall as you lead the EDF into the slot, but that's okay. That can always been fixed by slicing a tad out with a hobby knife and filling in with light weight speckle, or just leave it as is. Chances are you won't notice it a bit ;).

[Lon]

Shout out to anyone who has upgraded to the EDF inrunner unit. Did you find you had to do some trimming of foam to get the fan in?? I can't see how this can be avoided on mine to get it set in. Check out the picture and you can see i'm about a half inch short of the slotted area for the fan to fit in.

[AkumaZeto]

Yeah the CG is a crucial factor. Bing able to hold it on its mains is fairly easy when the CG is right