Official Freewing 90mm F-104 Starfighter Thread

[MartinField]

Thank you. I’ve gotten used to mixing gains with throttle / flaps / etc on Spektrum so prefer to stick with the method I know. I’m sure a lot is possible with the installed F104 gyro as well but I have a spare 8 channel Spektrum at home so it will save me learning curve to just go with that. But will need to order and assemble the plane first! So probably a month or so and I’ll report back.

[Evan D]

It is, as expected... Let us know how it works out for you.

[MartinField]

Is it easy enough to remove the gyro (I will be using a Spektrum receiver with a gyro)? I assume the answer is “yes,” but I’ve never purchased a plane with an installed gyro so just wanted to double check.

[rifleman_btx]

It's gonna be nice

[xviper]

Although it was the only livery in stock in the ARF Plus, I think I would have picked it anyway.

[rifleman_btx]

I gotta say I do like that yellow and black

[xviper]

My F-104 ARF Plus arrived a few days ago and I've just finished installing the EDF unit from the 90mm Eflite Viper. It's actually 100g lighter than the stock Freewing unit meant for the 104. It took some foam carving to make it fit and the 3 motor wires will need to be extended as I'm also using the Avian ESC from the Viper so I can get the thrust reverse. I'll be also using the Spektrum 737T from the Viper so the Freewing gyro will be removed in favor of the AS3X/SAFE in the Spektrum RX. Will also add an Assan steering gyro. To operate the speedbrakes, I'll bind, in tandem, a Lemon 10-ch RX and use Ch. 8 for that function and possibly piggyback them onto the same switch I use for thrust reverse - thrust reverse ON, speedbrakes deploy. As the build progresses, I'm sure that hurdles will be encountered so some of these plans may have to be modified.

[rms]

Had to paint it in high visibility to se it....When I finaly got the "stick shake" out of my body it did fly nicely. But it is probable the most difficult plana I have tryed..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JID7mMPQuPk

What do you think of the landing...Took some before i got it ;-)

[subhan.nasir]

Hi guys, anyone got a 3d file for front gear support/brace?

[rifleman_btx]

Well I got mine flying today, really looks good and I enjoy flying it.

[gooniac33]

Yes sir, I totally understand. Maybe just alittle at a time, there's just something special about the missle with a man in it!

I still have the little 70mm that I am going to get in the air now that I have my X-fly units...

[rifleman_btx]

Oh yeah, forgot you fly off grass, good to see you enjoying the F-104, it's not for everyone but those who do own it seem to like the challenge, great talking with you and go out and enjoy it some more.

Oh you know it, this baby is gonna get a significant amount of airtime

[rifleman_btx]

Congrats man!! I miss mine and may not be able to get this one back together. Will take about $180 in parts... we shall see!!

Yes sir, I totally understand. Maybe just alittle at a time, there's just something special about the missle with a man in it!

[gooniac33]

Finally took my 104 to the sky's, she's fast, but really fun to fly I butted the 5200 up to the connection board seem to be spot on with the cg. Really enjoy this plane.

Congrats man!! I miss mine and may not be able to get this one back together. Will take about $180 in parts... we shall see!!

[killickb]

Nice, I saw Blue and thought you were going with this version -- haven't flown her in months, sad to say. Callie's decals.

[DCORSAIR]

Yeah i hear ya, luckly I'm on a grass field so it doesn't scrape it too bad

Oh yeah, forgot you fly off grass, good to see you enjoying the F-104, it's not for everyone but those who do own it seem to like the challenge, great talking with you and go out and enjoy it some more.

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah i hear ya, luckly I'm on a grass field so it doesn't scrape it too bad

[DCORSAIR]

Yeah, I'm using a frsky receiver with a built in gyro. On landing I flew it flat to the ground and last second pulled the nose up enough I scrapped the tale just a bit. But it did come down with some speed to it. Took off with 15° of flaps, and also landed with 15°. There was a 90° cross wind so that made things interesting. I hope the way I landed this will translate to the f16. It definitely felt better to me.

Great, yep you got it, flat approach and a tiny flare at the end, if you get tired of scraping the tail piece, add some throttle as your flaring, it kind of flattens it out on the mains and you will not hit the tail, I could do it about 7 out of 10 landings without hitting the tail, other times I hit the tail every time.

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah, I'm using a frsky receiver with a built in gyro. On landing I flew it flat to the ground and last second pulled the nose up enough I scrapped the tale just a bit. But it did come down with some speed to it. Took off with 15° of flaps, and also landed with 15°. There was a 90° cross wind so that made things interesting. I hope the way I landed this will translate to the f16. It definitely felt better to me.

[DCORSAIR]

Finally took my 104 to the sky's, she's fast, but really fun to fly I butted the 5200 up to the connection board seem to be spot on with the cg. Really enjoy this plane.

Great, knew you would like it once you flew it, you must have figured out the landing really quick, I sure didn't on my first one, I beat the poor thing to death trying to figure out the landing, I was not using the gyro on it, but on my 2nd one, I hooked up the gyro and it made it so much better to fly and land.