BAC Lightning F6 64MM

[Wrongun]

Great subject, never produced in foam by anyone as far as I can see. Its a shame it didnt also launch in the UK for obvious reasons. Good to see the 3D print guys are all over it already, I think someone is offering clear canopies already. Certain a twin 80mm will appear at some point.

In previous models Lippisch etc i used a cheese wire to remove the edf unit slices through glue easily but wear gloves

[kallend]

Great subject, never produced in foam by anyone as far as I can see. Its a shame it didnt also launch in the UK for obvious reasons. Good to see the 3D print guys are all over it already, I think someone is offering clear canopies already. Certain a twin 80mm will appear at some point.

In previous models Lippisch etc i used a cheese wire to remove the edf unit slices through glue easily but wear gloves

I tried to get a wire around the EDF unit but couldn't get it around the lip at the front, and the back end is inaccessible.

I heard someone was planning a clear canopy but have not seen any evidence of one yet.

I put all my 3D print stuff up on Thingiverse (search under my name).

[Cantab]

Any of you guys have one of these little marvels yet?
I've waited forever for someone to produce one.

I remember seeing these at an airshow in the '60s, but I can't recall if it was at Biggin Hill or Waterbeach. Very impressive.

[Husafreak]

Thanks for some nice informative posts here! kallend nice job on the afterburner, this jet really cries out for one to show off its unique engine arrangement. Does the afterburner assembly noticeably affect performance due to loss of thrust or weight?

I flew mine 4x on day one with no gyro. It flew well and is very stable. Amazing power with this fan. Long flight times, like 6 minutes easy or 5 pushing it. I think this is a clear step up from the older 5 blade fans and the Toss and Boss jets like the cheaper F-105 or F-8. After that I decided I wanted a gyro for this one not because it is unstable but to help maintain orientation, like anytime you are off the sticks it holds its attitude a little better. It's hard to describe but it works for me. I bought the Lemon 7 channel stabilization one from MRC and had another day out, calm winds, 6 flights. I could not be happier with the way this little jet flies. Dialing in the rates took a while, gyro ended up at 30% all axes. It will do a credible high alpha, you almost can't stall it, mine yaws right and slowly rolls away if I get too slow at high angles. Knife edge passes and point rolls with the best of them. Great climb and power. Sounds great. Looks killer. Just wow :) Hand launch is a breeze and the tendency to roll then being held in check by the gyro is nice. Gentle elevator pulls are clean but hard pulls cause roll, As mentioned earlier the mechanics of the stab are too aggressive, with the low rates and slop we are getting some unwanted "taileron" effect.
I used "chassis protector tape" for RC cars instead of the supplied plastic pieces for belly protection, but it is great that they provide those. Landing on a real concrete runway surface is terribly abrasive. The protection did its job except for the very tail so I added a small piece at the very aft burner section. One of the fuselage strakes tore out intact but glued right back in, maybe give yours a pull. I found I could hold it off the runway almost to stopping and release back pressure to settle level onto the ground. Sllde to a stop in 6 feet so great for short fields.

I know I bashed MRC but I received both packages quickly. It's just that not having tracking and not knowing if packages have shipped is not good. They should fix that!

[Husafreak]

The afterburners were a lot of work. First, the EDF unit is glued in place and it took a lot of pulling and tilting and twisting to get it out without damaging the fuselage.

Then the outrunner makes it almost impossible to use a "normal" lamp mount to the back of the motor, and running the mount around the outside to fix it to the fan case would make it excessively obstructive to the airflow, so I decided not to do that.

So I made a lamp mount that goes right behind the motor, streamlined with it as best I could, and located in the exhaust duct itself rather than attached to the motor like a normal installation. Because of space constraints on the 64mm I went with a single lamp (I normally use two on a twin).


.

Limited access to the space made it a challenge to measure the dimensions needed, and to get everything aligned and glued in place. It took four attempts until I got one that fit properly and aligned exactly. After that, running the wires to the controller in the battery compartment was a piece of cake.

Please let us know when this is up on Thingiverse.

[kallend]

Please let us know when this is up on Thingiverse.

Should be up now. It was a LOT of effort and fiddling around to get it in there and correctly aligned - be warned!

The weight is negligible and if aligned properly it just fairs in the rear of the motor and I could detect no change in performance.

[Wrongun]

Ok, who's shoved a 6s in already.

[Wrongun]

Re EDF replacement, The Freewing Lippish and probably many others have the motor glued in with what looked like sanitary silicon, I used a cheese wire to cut it out. Hobby King like hot glue or silicon as well

[kallend]

I removed my EDF unit to install an afterburner. I was unable to get a wire in place to cut the adhesive due to the geometry of the installation so I just rocked and twisted until it came out.

As for 6S, not sure I'd do that, it gets real small real fast already. I have a 4S inrunner I might try, though.

[HarryC]

I made the first 4 flights of mine on Monday against a very dark, grey British winter sky, awful for seeing a small, fast, silvery model! Anyway what a sweet plane. It looks good, handles well, and has lots of power. I used GNB 2200 mAh lipo, Jeti Assist Rx (built in gyros) and SM Modellbau Unisens-e telemetry sensor. I always fly to mAh consumed rather than a timer, aiming to land with 30% remaining. This gave 4.5 to 5.5 minutes in the air for my style of flying (i.e. throttled well back much of the time).

As with my other freewing edfs I felt the instructions for aileron travel are ridiculous and settled on 7mm with 30% expo. I reduced the Up elevator maximum to be with the leading edge just clear of the ground with 20% expo and this has no problem getting the nose high for landing. Inverted flight needs a lot of down elevator which is to be expected given the amount of longitudinal dihedral and wing section.

Big loops from level are no problem, and even at my reduced roll rate I can just about squeeze 2 vertical rolls from it. It doesn't need a gyro, but as with any little foamy it looks so much better with a gyro removing the wiggling.

Very happy with it, well done Freewing. It's a lot less stressful than flying the Mick Reeves turbine Lightning I used to have!

[HarryC]

I have to correct a typo in my post above #30. I edit it and save it but the post never changes.
The lipos I used are 2200mAh, not 3300 as shown in my original post.

[kallend]

I have to correct a typo in my post above #30. I edit it and save it but the post never changes.

I've had that happen too.

[Husafreak]

Good to hear more people are liking this jet. I'm hoping sales are good and MRC makes more like it (Voodoo!) It flies great. I have lowered my gyro gain on ailerons but otherwise it's become something I love to fly and it's so easy to transport I've been flying mine a lot.
A very talented young club member flew it and also praised it. But another club member has already crashed his a couple times in just a few flights and ordered parts. I guess if you are not good at keeping oriented with these small fast swept wing jets it can get away from you. All of them are though, not just this Lightning. Plus I've been flying on a lot of cloudy grey days and it is well camouflaged! You can slow it down and keep it tight though, which is nice.

Also the crashed plane has its wheels installed, we fly off pavement. I've flown that one and taxi takeoff and landing are a pleasure with the gear. It does slow it down and add a lot of drag inflight though. But with all that power it is still a good performer. I'll bet it would be fine on grass.

[Husafreak]

Also the crashed plane has its wheels installed, we fly off pavement. I've flown that one and taxi takeoff and landing are a pleasure with the gear. It does slow it down and add a lot of drag inflight though. But with all that power it is still a good performer. I'll bet it would be fine on grass.

[Wrongun]

REMOVEABLE GEAR IS AN OPTION

Finally have mine. I have adapted the landing gear to have the option of gear or no gear, it just requires a minor bit of "modelling". Slide a knife blade into the pocket where the gear is glued into the mounts, both sides of the fitting, you can now wriggle the gear from the mount, clear out the rest of the glue, the fitting is still pretty tight I doubt it will ever just fall out, you could if concerned stick in a 5mm self tapping screw but im not going to.

Clean off the paint from the back of the mount and glue it in place. I left it overnight to dry. Take a very sharp knife and just trim a little slope from about 15mm from the outside edge of the mount down to its glue level, took all of a minute. Clean the area up ready for finishing.

Remember the silver cover you picked off the mount hole to start with, measure the area you cut and trim the silver plastic cover to fit, glue it down to cover the surgery, job done in 10minutes.!

I've added a little Tamiya ceramic grease to the mount to make it slide in and out a little easier.

Nose gear, just follow Wesley's (Motion RC guy) idea. I'm just going to add something fore and aft of the pin to protect/beautify it alittle

[kallend]

I don't think fighter jets look right flying around with fixed gear. This one is really easy to hand launch anyway.

[Wrongun]

True, but its a compromise on this size EDF, I have Rare Bears, Durafly MFX, Lippisch etc. I'll hand launch but it was obvious that it could be modded for both by a kid. I watched a video saying you could have gear or no gear and once the choice was made that was it but with a little modelling and 10 minutes created the option. I grew up with plan builds and occasional pre cut wood models so 10 mins with a knife and glue having been informed that it wasnt possible by foamy experts who claim a dab of glue or putting in a couple of screws constitutes a "Build" is misleading..

I've had a quick look over the kit and I think retracts are a option, weight would be the issue. Plenty of space under the ply battery tray, I also have a pair of main retracts that look a possibility.

[Husafreak]

I flew my friends with gear again yesterday. For a lot of people the option would be nice. Nice mod!

[Wrongun]

REMOVEABLE GEAR IS AN OPTION

Finally have mine. I have adapted the landing gear to have the option of gear or no gear, it just requires a minor bit of "modelling". Slide a knife blade into the pocket where the gear is glued into the mounts, both sides of the fitting, you can now wriggle the gear from the mount, clear out the rest of the glue, the fitting is still pretty tight I doubt it will ever just fall out, you could if concerned stick in a 5mm self tapping screw but im not going to.

Clean off the paint from the back of the mount and glue it in place. I left it overnight to dry. Take a very sharp knife and just trim a little slope from about 15mm from the outside edge of the mount down to its glue level, took all of a minute. Clean the area up ready for finishing.

Remember the silver cover you picked off the mount hole to start with, measure the area you cut and trim the silver plastic cover to fit, glue it down to cover the surgery, job done in 10minutes.!

I've added a little Tamiya ceramic grease to the mount to make it slide in and out a little easier.

Nose gear, just follow Wesley's (Motion RC guy) idea. I'm just going to add something fore and aft of the pin to protect/beautify it alittle

[kallend]

I installed the FW 3100kV 4S inrunner with "afterburner" attached. I had to trim the bell mouth at the front of the case so it would fit, but other than that no problems. I also put in a 45A ESC.