Official Freewing 90mm F-104 Starfighter Thread

[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.

[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....

[gooniac33]

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.

Yes this is true as well! That is what had mine performing so well this weekend!! The rudder will over compensate and make it bounce in the air as well. I had it almost all gone... Before my runway issues..... I will get it all back going again soon...

[T-CAT]

Over the last few days, I had some free time to create some wheel covers for the Freewing F-104, F-16C, and F-4 90mm EDF jets . The STL’s files are available on Thingiverse.

If you download and print them, please let me know how they fit on the jet. I don’t currently own any of the three jets, so feedback on fitment once installed, wheel axle clearance, etc. is helpful.

P.S. Apologies for the redundancy if you’ve read this on the RCg forum already.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4780894

[flyinhigh042]

I decided to finally take the plunge. I ordered a F-104 ARF Plus today. I have a Freewing 90mm 12-Blade EDF 6S Power System w/ 4068-1835kV motor new in box I’m planning on using. I recently put the same power system in a Freewing 90mm F-18 Blue Angel and couldn’t be happier. Great power with 4+ minute flights when coupled with an SMC 6s 6200 40c pack.

I’m also considering swapping the stock gyro with a Flex Aura 8. I have a number of Aura 8’s in various EDF’s and have been very happy with them. Not to mention I’ve spent lots of time learning the Aura and it’s programming, so I’m relatively comfortable with it.

I'm going to dig into this thread and learn more about setting this one up.

Any suggestions or further information would be appreciated.
Thanks!

[gooniac33]

I decided to finally take the plunge. I ordered a F-104 ARF Plus today. I have a Freewing 90mm 12-Blade EDF 6S Power System w/ 4068-1835kV motor new in box I’m planning on using. I recently put the same power system in a Freewing 90mm F-18 Blue Angel and couldn’t be happier. Great power with 4+ minute flights when coupled with an SMC 6s 6200 40c pack.

I’m also considering swapping the stock gyro with a Flex Aura 8. I have a number of Aura 8’s in various EDF’s and have been very happy with them. Not to mention I’ve spent lots of time learning the Aura and it’s programming, so I’m relatively comfortable with it.

I'm going to dig into this thread and learn more about setting this one up.

Any suggestions or further information would be appreciated.
Thanks!

that motor will not work in this plane. It is far too heavy and you will not get the plane to CG without adding weight which this plane will not accept. I tried several different motor combos when I got mine and since the motor is so far back, you are limited with options. The only one that will be a drop in upgrade is the 1650kv outrunner or the new 9 blade inrunner which the plane is coming with now. Those will drop in with no mods needed. I used the FMS 1900kv 12 blade in mine which required a lil work to get in but was a perfect combo for this plane. It moved the CG forward and the plane was much lighter and easier to fly/land. The new 9 blade inrunner is your best bet since it is going to be a drop in fit and the motor will allow for 4+ min flight times as well.

[flyinhigh042]

that motor will not work in this plane. It is far too heavy and you will not get the plane to CG without adding weight which this plane will not accept. I tried several different motor combos when I got mine and since the motor is so far back, you are limited with options. The only one that will be a drop in upgrade is the 1650kv outrunner or the new 9 blade inrunner which the plane is coming with now. Those will drop in with no mods needed. I used the FMS 1900kv 12 blade in mine which required a lil work to get in but was a perfect combo for this plane. It moved the CG forward and the plane was much lighter and easier to fly/land. The new 9 blade inrunner is your best bet since it is going to be a drop in fit and the motor will allow for 4+ min flight times as well.

Hey, thanks for the input. I decided to not go with the Freewing 12-blade/aluminum housing. I instead ordered a JetFan JF-90 V3 fan and HET-709-68-2100 motor. I was hoping it would be a hot rod upgrade and not too heavy. Any thoughts? The Freewing 9-blade also sounds great. Thanks.

[Evan D]

Mine had the 1650 outrunner stock and it now had the 9b 1750 Goonie mentioned. Flies very well with it and is very efficient, link below. I see no reason your JF/ HET won't be really good too. That said my opinion is that the 12-Blade EDF 6S Power System w/ 4068-1835kV motor you already have can't be made to balance with the right battery. You already have it, why not put it in and see if you can get it to balance?

The 4068 motor is the same size and probably weight as the HET 700-68 which is what I assume you meant to say.

Freewing 90mm 9 Blade EDF 6S Power System w/ 3748-1750kV Outrunner Mot [E7228] Motion RC

[flyinhigh042]

Mine had the 1650 outrunner stock and it now had the 9b 1750 Goonie mentioned. Flies very well with it and is very efficient, link below. I see no reason your JF/ HET won't be really good too. That said my opinion is that the 12-Blade EDF 6S Power System w/ 4068-1835kV motor you already have can't be made to balance with the right battery. You already have it, why not put it in and see if you can get it to balance?

The 4068 motor is the same size and probably weight as the HET 700-68 which is what I assume you meant to say.

Freewing 90mm 9 Blade EDF 6S Power System w/ 3748-1750kV Outrunner Mot [E7228] Motion RC

Thanks Evan.
Correct, meant to say HET 700-68. I should receive shipment of the JetFan today. I'm hoping the carbon housing will be notably lighter than the aluminum housing on the 12-blade.

I've already installed the 12-blade unit in my Flex Innovations F-100. Haven't had a chance to test that combo out yet.

The new HP F-104 comes with this 9-blade. Freewing 90mm 9 Blade EDF 6S Power System w/ 3672-1900kV Inrunner Moto [E72213] Motion RC
Wish I knew the weight difference between that unit and the JetFan...

[gooniac33]

Hey, thanks for the input. I decided to not go with the Freewing 12-blade/aluminum housing. I instead ordered a JetFan JF-90 V3 fan and HET-709-68-2100 motor. I was hoping it would be a hot rod upgrade and not too heavy. Any thoughts? The Freewing 9-blade also sounds great. Thanks.

That may work out with my only concern being the planes all up weight after the additions. The Inrunners are quite a bit heavier than the original outrunners and any extra weight at the rear of this plane will make it hard to balance. However the composite housing will help that weight which is good and should be better than the freewing.Yes you probably can make it work but adding more weight was not a good thing for me. Even with the CG being with in range the elevator was much less effective with all the extra weight. Its got such small wings so once I was able to drop the weight mine got better. I am thinking of adding the new 9 blade inrunner to mine which is heavier than what I currently have but just as efficient with more thrust... but we shall see..

[flyinhigh042]

That may work out with my only concern being the planes all up weight after the additions. The Inrunners are quite a bit heavier than the original outrunners and any extra weight at the rear of this plane will make it hard to balance. However the composite housing will help that weight which is good and should be better than the freewing.Yes you probably can make it work but adding more weight was not a good thing for me. Even with the CG being with in range the elevator was much less effective with all the extra weight. Its got such small wings so once I was able to drop the weight mine got better. I am thinking of adding the new 9 blade inrunner to mine which is heavier than what I currently have but just as efficient with more thrust... but we shall see..

Thanks again. The new Freewing 9-blade is becoming more attractive all the time. I can easily see why the all up weight of this particular model is so critical. I’ll probably go ahead and install the jet fan. I’m really hoping it will balance well with the SMC 40c 6200. (814g) I’ve become very fond of that particular pack. Wonderful balance of capacity, weight and output power. I really enjoy experimenting and trying new things with these EDF’s. So I wouldn’t be opposed to also trying the Freewing 9 blade and different batteries as well.

Just thinking out out loud here. Our club is at about 4500’. So every little bit of weight savings I can employ on the 104 is critical. One small Item that saved a couple grams is I installed a Flex Aura 8 in place of the stock gyro. Then connected two DSMX remote receivers directly to the Aura eliminating the need for a receiver and gyro in the nose.

Do you have a go-to lipo for your 104?

[fdm225]

Hi all,
I am setting up a new F-104 and was wondering if the factory gyro has any special setup for this plane or can I swap it out for the one built in the S8R receiver that I am going to use?

thanks,
dave

[Evan D]

Go for it!

[flyinhigh042]

So upon further review, I will go with the Freewing 1900kv 9-blade fan. I received the JetFan from EffluxRC. It’s beautiful, but unfortunately a bit heavier than I had hoped. It comes in at 535g on my scale. The Freewing 1900kv fan is 452g. And for a third comparison, the Freewing 1830kv 12-blade fan with aluminum housing comes in at 510g.

I just took shipment of a Freewing High Performance 6s F-4 Phantom. I’m going to install the F-4’s 1900kv fan in the F-104 and the JetFan with HET-700-68-2100 motor in the F-4.

[gooniac33]

So upon further review, I will go with the Freewing 1900kv 9-blade fan. I received the JetFan from EffluxRC. It’s beautiful, but unfortunately a bit heavier than I had hoped. It comes in at 535g on my scale. The Freewing 1900kv fan is 452g. And for a third comparison, the Freewing 1830kv 12-blade fan with aluminum housing comes in at 510g.

I just took shipment of a Freewing High Performance 6s F-4 Phantom. I’m going to install the F-4’s 1900kv fan in the F-104 and the JetFan with HET-700-68-2100 motor in the F-4.

Sounds like a plan! The fan is so far back on the F-104 which makes it hard to just put any fan in there. The F-4 can take a lil extra weight since its in a better place.

Also note that there are some new FMS fans on the market now. I used the only one available at the time which was the older outrunner. It worked really well and was much lighter than stock. Looks like they have upgraded that to a new inrunner now! I will list them below.

only 5g heavier than before but using an inrunner now

https://www.rc-castle.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=256_630_633&product_id=9049

I have a couple of these showing to try in other planes. Too heavy for the F-104 but still worth looking at for other planes.

https://www.rc-castle.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=256_630_633&product_id=8970

[flyinhigh042]

Sounds like a plan! The fan is so far back on the F-104 which makes it hard to just put any fan in there. The F-4 can take a lil extra weight since its in a better place.

Also note that there are some new FMS fans on the market now. I used the only one available at the time which was the older outrunner. It worked really well and was much lighter than stock. Looks like they have upgraded that to a new inrunner now! I will list them below.

only 5g heavier than before but using an inrunner now

https://www.rc-castle.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=256_630_633&product_id=9049

I have a couple of these showing to try in other planes. Too heavy for the F-104 but still worth looking at for other planes.

https://www.rc-castle.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=256_630_633&product_id=8970

Hey, thanks again, I went ahead and ordered a 1950kv FMS Unit from your link. It looks like something I would like to have in my arsenal. Light!

Do the freewing jets require some modification when installing a FMS unit?

[rifleman_btx]

I'm looking to pull the trigger on the HP 104 soon. Looks like a very nice flyer

[rifleman_btx]

Ok, so this one is slated to be here tomorrow afternoon. Do these need nose strut bracing like the avanti and f22?

[DCORSAIR]

I never had any issues with the two I had, I do fly off asphalt but did have some hard landings on my first one trying to tame the beast, my second one I had it figured out and made some really good landings with it, had a couple of bad ones as well, gear was never an issue on mine, Good luck on your first flights......

[rifleman_btx]

Thanks brother, will go with it as is.