Official Freewing 90mm F-104 Starfighter Thread

[Tom1980]

Setting up my new F-104, lowered the gear for the first time. Gear lowered like it should, no funny sounds or binding. Out came the magic smoke. Melted a small amount of foam inside the fuse, no big deal and didn’t impact the exterior foam. Only $15 bucks for the replacement.

Now if I could just figure out how to straighten out all of those wires in the fuse. 😀

There certainly are a lot of wires in this plane. That's unfortunate about the gear but at least it happened on the ground and didn't impact the exterior foam.

I flew mine again last week and it went fairly well. I have learned to not try to gain altitude quickly until the gear is up and the plane has had a few seconds to accelerate. I fly off grass and it typically bounces into the air at a speed that is barely above the stall speed. The roll rate is a blur and it does excellent high speed passes.

My buddy took a cell phone video of the takeoff. I barely got it off the ground in time but that was my fault for not keeping it pointed straight down the field. https://youtu.be/Qj9_dGWz7PM

[John Bergsmith]

There certainly are a lot of wires in this plane. That's unfortunate about the gear but at least it happened on the ground and didn't impact the exterior foam.

I flew mine again last week and it went fairly well. I have learned to not try to gain altitude quickly until the gear is up and the plane has had a few seconds to accelerate. I fly off grass and it typically bounces into the air at a speed that is barely above the stall speed. The roll rate is a blur and it does excellent high speed passes.

My buddy took a cell phone video of the takeoff. I barely got it off the ground in time but that was my fault for not keeping it pointed straight down the field. https://youtu.be/Qj9_dGWz7PM

No big deal about the gear, it was sort of funny. $15 bucks and it’s working fine now. I finally bundled the wires up, not completely happy with it but it will work.

interesting takeoff on grass no doubt!

[Tom1980]

No big deal about the gear, it was sort of funny. $15 bucks and it’s working fine now. I finally bundled the wires up, not completely happy with it but it will work.

interesting takeoff on grass no doubt!

That day was about 85 degrees with no wind. And with a typical for July bumpy, dry, and recently aerated grass surface. The grass was freshly mowed but other than that it was about as bad as it gets. If the plane can take off in those conditions I say it handles grass pretty well.

My Freewing Avanti and ME-262 don't have any issues at all with the grass but they have bigger wheels and much bigger wings. The 262 engine pods slide along the grass surface and seem to help it roll smoothly over the bumps. The disadvantage of the low mounted pods is I have to fish pieces of grass and weeds out of the fans after most flights. And I can't fly at all if the dandelions are bad because they are at a perfect height to go straight into the pods. The dandelions get so bad their stems will hit the wing leading edge and cause their flower heads to swing down and strike the top of the wing hard enough to punch big holes in the monokote on my low wing balsa models.

[John Bergsmith]

I put the first two flights on the F-104 yesterday, amazed it actually flies very well. With some continued trimming I can get it flying better. The biggest issue I had was run time because both landings were deadstick which is a blast with the F-104.

I'm running the 9blade 3748-1750kV, that Evan suggested, first flight was on the 6200mah Hobby Star pack. I set the timer for three minutes, at 2:30 I dropped the gear on the downwind and I heard the fan wind down. Turned sharp towards the runway and landed with no issue. The battery was only slightly warm, and the voltage on the cells was at 3.97. Flew it again on an Admiral 6000mah, flew it with even more throttle management, and the same thing at 2:38min I heard it wind down again. Again the battery was only slightly warm, and the voltage was at 3.94. I can't touch the ESC directly but I didn't feel any heat coming out of the vent on the bottom. The speed control is new and right out of a 6s F-4130A it does have the capacitors.

The good thing is landing with power will be no problem now! :) I maybe the only one that dead sticked the F-104 twice and lived! LOL

I haven't done any testing yet, any idea whats going on? The second flight I kept the throttle back so it should have been fine.

[Beeg]

I had that issue with my E-Flite Habu32. I could get it to start up again by closing the throttle all the way then advancing again. Still not sure why it happened. Probably an ESC setting but not sure..

[Evan D]

Congrats John. As Beeg says it's probably ESC cutoff settings, set it to soft..

[John Bergsmith]

Congrats John. As Beeg says it's probably ESC cutoff settings, set it to soft..

I'll check the ESC out and see what it's set at.

[gooniac33]

I put the first two flights on the F-104 yesterday, amazed it actually flies very well. With some continued trimming I can get it flying better. The biggest issue I had was run time because both landings were deadstick which is a blast with the F-104.

I'm running the 9blade 3748-1750kV, that Evan suggested, first flight was on the 6200mah Hobby Star pack. I set the timer for three minutes, at 2:30 I dropped the gear on the downwind and I heard the fan wind down. Turned sharp towards the runway and landed with no issue. The battery was only slightly warm, and the voltage on the cells was at 3.97. Flew it again on an Admiral 6000mah, flew it with even more throttle management, and the same thing at 2:38min I heard it wind down again. Again the battery was only slightly warm, and the voltage was at 3.94. I can't touch the ESC directly but I didn't feel any heat coming out of the vent on the bottom. The speed control is new and right out of a 6s F-4130A it does have the capacitors.

The good thing is landing with power will be no problem now! :) I maybe the only one that dead sticked the F-104 twice and lived! LOL

I haven't done any testing yet, any idea whats going on? The second flight I kept the throttle back so it should have been fine.

Have you calibrated your throttle? You may wanna do that as well... and congrats on the flights! I need to get mine out and will do that this weekend...

[John Bergsmith]

Have you calibrated your throttle? You may wanna do that as well... and congrats on the flights! I need to get mine out and will do that this weekend...

I did calibrate the throttle. Thanks the F-104 flies great, but I’m still not sure what’s going on with esc/short flight time. Another guy has one and his did the exact same thing last weekend. The throttle wound down at 2:30, I checked the voltage on the pack and it was 3.95. Can’t seem to find out the issue causing that yet.

[T-CAT]

I did calibrate the throttle. Thanks the F-104 flies great, but I’m still not sure what’s going on with esc/short flight time. Another guy has one and his did the exact same thing last weekend. The throttle wound down at 2:30, I checked the voltage on the pack and it was 3.95. Can seem to find out the issue causing that yet.

Hi John, that's usually one of two things (and others have touched on), either an ESC "Cutoff Voltage", or an ESC over-temperature protection cutoff.

If you have the ESC programming card (also sold under various brand names and some can look a little different) linked below, check your current ESC settings like Evan D said and let us know what each setting is currently at.

Try setting your ESC "Cutoff Voltage" threshold shown on the programming card on slot #4 to "Low". Maybe the ESC is detecting insufficient battery voltage (whether it is accurate or not) and therefore begins reducing available power. Since you have used various batteries and another person at your field also has that issue, chances are that it less likely either of your batteries aren't up to the task, but it's still a possibility. If the batteries are up to the task by handling the voltage under load well, the ESC voltage cutoff could be triggering prematurely, and the "Low" setting may cure that. As long as you stay vigilant with flight time and proper end of flight battery voltage, a lower Cutoff Voltage threshold may help in this instance. If anything, and worst came to worst, I'd personally rather destroy my battery than potentially my airplane.

If that doesn't fix it, check the ESC temperature via IR sensor post flight to see if it reads warmer than safe operation. Many ESC's have an over-temperature cutoff to spare the electronics until temps. become normal again to resume regular operation. I'm assuming the ESC hasn't been relocated, covered, etc., in any way, correct?

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...ogramming-card

[John Bergsmith]

Hi John, that's usually one of two things (and others have touched on), either an ESC "Cutoff Voltage", or an ESC over-temperature protection cutoff.

If you have the ESC programming card (also sold under various brand names and some can look a little different) linked below, check your current ESC settings like Evan D said and let us know what each setting is currently at.

Try setting your ESC "Cutoff Voltage" threshold shown on the programming card on slot #4 to "Low". Maybe the ESC is detecting insufficient battery voltage (whether it is accurate or not) and therefore begins reducing available power. Since you have used various batteries and another person at your field also has that issue, chances are that it less likely either of your batteries aren't up to the task, but it's still a possibility. If the batteries are up to the task by handling the voltage under load well, the ESC voltage cutoff could be triggering prematurely, and the "Low" setting may cure that. As long as you stay vigilant with flight time and proper end of flight battery voltage, a lower Cutoff Voltage threshold may help in this instance. If anything, and worst came to worst, I'd personally rather destroy my battery than potentially my airplane.

If that doesn't fix it, check the ESC temperature via IR sensor post flight to see if it reads warmer than safe operation. Many ESC's have an over-temperature cutoff to spare the electronics until temps. become normal again to resume regular operation. I'm assuming the ESC hasn't been relocated, covered, etc., in any way, correct?

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...ogramming-card

Great info T-CAT , thanks! I should be more specific when I say I can't find the issue yet. It really means I've been too lazy to dive into it yet. :) However, I appreciate the info you provided above and also info that Evan provided. Guess I should get to it!

[T-CAT]

Great info T-CAT , thanks! I should be more specific when I say I can't find the issue yet. It really means I've been too lazy to dive into it yet. :) However, I appreciate the info you provided above and also info that Evan provided. Guess I should get to it!

Awe, I gotcha . No problem. I hope you find the source of problem!

[gooniac33]

I did calibrate the throttle. Thanks the F-104 flies great, but I’m still not sure what’s going on with esc/short flight time. Another guy has one and his did the exact same thing last weekend. The throttle wound down at 2:30, I checked the voltage on the pack and it was 3.95. Can’t seem to find out the issue causing that yet.

sounds like you have cutoff voltage set to high. If you have the card set it to the lowest you can. Its better to mess up a battery instead of crashing a plane. Also make sure its soft cut and not hard...

[John Bergsmith]

sounds like you have cutoff voltage set to high. If you have the card set it to the lowest you can. Its better to mess up a battery instead of crashing a plane. Also make sure its soft cut and not hard...

Thanks Ray, I will check it out tomorrow. I have the esc card so I’ll let you know what I find. Appreciate it!

[John Bergsmith]

Awe, I gotcha . No problem. I hope you find the source of problem!

Between you, Ray, and Evan I have the info to find the problem I’m sure. Thank you!

[gooniac33]

Between you, Ray, and Evan I have the info to find the problem I’m sure. Thank you!

Glad to help man!

[DCORSAIR]

You guys are making me miss mine, sold it because I lost both of my runways close to home, I had a bunch of flights on mine, even had the landings down to where I didn't dread that part anymore, lol. So, looking for another runway hopefully, joined a club, but I really hate driving more than 30 minutes so looking for something closer, great flyer once you get the gyro settings right, can't wait to get another one.

[John Bergsmith]

Hi John, that's usually one of two things (and others have touched on), either an ESC "Cutoff Voltage", or an ESC over-temperature protection cutoff.

If you have the ESC programming card (also sold under various brand names and some can look a little different) linked below, check your current ESC settings like Evan D said and let us know what each setting is currently at.

Try setting your ESC "Cutoff Voltage" threshold shown on the programming card on slot #4 to "Low". Maybe the ESC is detecting insufficient battery voltage (whether it is accurate or not) and therefore begins reducing available power. Since you have used various batteries and another person at your field also has that issue, chances are that it less likely either of your batteries aren't up to the task, but it's still a possibility. If the batteries are up to the task by handling the voltage under load well, the ESC voltage cutoff could be triggering prematurely, and the "Low" setting may cure that. As long as you stay vigilant with flight time and proper end of flight battery voltage, a lower Cutoff Voltage threshold may help in this instance. If anything, and worst came to worst, I'd personally rather destroy my battery than potentially my airplane.

If that doesn't fix it, check the ESC temperature via IR sensor post flight to see if it reads warmer than safe operation. Many ESC's have an over-temperature cutoff to spare the electronics until temps. become normal again to resume regular operation. I'm assuming the ESC hasn't been relocated, covered, etc., in any way, correct?

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...ogramming-card

T-CAT gooniac33 Evan D So I went through the settings on the esc, cut-off was set to soft, cut off voltage was set to medium which I set to low.

Only other question is the timing, it's currently set to medium, is that correct? Again I'm running the 9blade 3748-1750kV, with the Hobby Star 6200 pack I believe Evan said he was getting close to 4 minutes.

Thanks in advance guys!

[T-CAT]

T-CAT gooniac33 Evan D So I went through the settings on the esc, cut-off was set to soft, cut off voltage was set to medium which I set to low.

Only other question is the timing, it's currently set to medium, is that correct? Again I'm running the 9blade 3748-1750kV, with the Hobby Star 6200 pack I believe Evan said he was getting close to 4 minutes.

Thanks in advance guys!

Excellent! Medium timing on the stock outrunner motors are usually what the factory has set as the default choice and has worked fine for me in the past using the stock 130A ESC, and has provided smooth operation without any "hiccups" during throttle advancement.

[Evan D]

Sounds like good settings...