Official Freewing 90mm F-104 Starfighter Thread

[gooniac33]

Yep, I posted that along time ago but no one seemed to care I moved mine in as far as the foam would let me and the funny part about it is, you then can crank up the gyro on the ailerons and waalaa, its so much better, it still won't cure it completely but at times it won't move at all and then a slight breeze will give you just a slight wiggle, I had my aileron setting with the little tab on the dial was at 6 o'clock, I even went to 7 and it worked great but kind of felt funny on movement.

Yeah I got it back in the air this weekend and made some gain adjustments. Best it has ever felt and sorry if I had missed you saying it before! That is for sure the right way to handle it! Now the only issues I have is that when coming in to land there was a major down draft and the motor didn't spool up fast enough. clipped the beginning of the runway and sheered off the gear and doors... It will take about $160 to get all new parts or just get a new Kit Plus.... now that I know what to do I could keep one looking perfect for a very long time... Also gotta check out some new fan options....

[themudduck]

I agree with the tips for the aileron from Gooniac and DCorsair, let me mention one more while we're on the subject of wiggling. The F104 is extremely sensitive to rudder. So, the amount of rudder the gyro is commanding will also have an effect on this problem.

In other words, it can be helpful to turn the gyro gain down for the rudder channel.
I turned down the rudder gain on both the 70mm and 90mm F104 and it seemed to help a lot with the wiggling problem.

And by the way, on both planes I find that using a tiny bit of rudder coordinated in turns really helps this plane fly better. Something to do with that loooong nose and some boring aerodynamic stuff.

[Waconut]

Good tips,
I will follow suit on the aileron’s.
Thanks!!
Anthony

[DCORSAIR]

I haven't flown my F-104 in quite some time... But was able to this past weekend!! I have been meaning to make some more changes to get the gyro less twitchy and finally did something about it. I moved the aileron linkage all the way in on the servo arm and that really did seem to help with the wiggle it has! It didn't totally take it away but about 95% of it is gone now! Hoping that some more gain adjustments will help get rid of it all together!

Yep, I posted that along time ago but no one seemed to care I moved mine in as far as the foam would let me and the funny part about it is, you then can crank up the gyro on the ailerons and waalaa, its so much better, it still won't cure it completely but at times it won't move at all and then a slight breeze will give you just a slight wiggle, I had my aileron setting with the little tab on the dial was at 6 o'clock, I even went to 7 and it worked great but kind of felt funny on movement.

[gooniac33]

I haven't flown my F-104 in quite some time... But was able to this past weekend!! I have been meaning to make some more changes to get the gyro less twitchy and finally did something about it. I moved the aileron linkage all the way in on the servo arm and that really did seem to help with the wiggle it has! It didn't totally take it away but about 95% of it is gone now! Hoping that some more gain adjustments will help get rid of it all together!

[Waconut]

Bring it to Terry's Ejets event (TORKS near Columbus/Dayton) in Sept and I'll fly mine in formation with yours!

If it survives that long I will

[themudduck]

Bring it to Terry's Ejets event (TORKS near Columbus/Dayton) in Sept and I'll fly mine in formation with yours!

[EA-6B Geek]

I may be there. I am located just east of Cincinnati so it’s not far.

I look forward to seeing it then! I live about an hour northeast of Cincinnati, and attended that event in 2018.

[Waconut]

I think it looks fantastic! Will I see it at Jet Jam in June?

I may be there. I am located just east of Cincinnati so it’s not far.

[EA-6B Geek]

I finished up the F-104. Overall I am happy with it. I can’t wait for a sunny day to get it outside for some pictures. Maiden won’t happen until spring.

I think it looks fantastic! Will I see it at Jet Jam in June?

[Waconut]

Looks very good. I'd be concerned about the extra half pound...


Well done!

We shall see how it goes one spring.

[Evan D]

Looks very good. I'd be concerned about the extra half pound...


Well done!

[DCORSAIR]

I finished up the F-104. Overall I am happy with it. I can’t wait for a sunny day to get it outside for some pictures. Maiden won’t happen until spring.

Wow is all I can say, looks amazing, its going to look awesome in the air, good luck on the maiden or should I say your first landing...........

[Waconut]

I finished up the F-104. Overall I am happy with it. I can’t wait for a sunny day to get it outside for some pictures. Maiden won’t happen until spring.

[Waconut]

The Polycrylic, primer and flite metal added 8.7 ounces.

[timmybeetle]

Hi looks very good, but did you weight yours part before and after putting this flite metal on.
I saw back that you would do this so maybe when you're done you could post all the data here.
That would be great to see how much weight you put on?

Grts Hans

[Waconut]

The aluminum is now polished. Ready to start masking for the trim colors.

[EA-6B Geek]

I finished adding the flite metal to the fuselage. It’s far from perfect but should look good after polishing. Once I get it polished I can add the rivet details and mask for the trim colors.

That’s going to look amazing on bright sunny day.

[Waconut]

I finished adding the flite metal to the fuselage. It’s far from perfect but should look good after polishing. Once I get it polished I can add the rivet details and mask for the trim colors.

[Waconut]

I finally received my order of Flite Metal. I am hoping to have the metal finished up this weekend.