Official Freewing 80mm Avanti S Sport Jet Thread

[Bgelok]

Allow me to post the response here



Before any of us speak of preferred CG and other aspects, can you provide more details? For example:

- What were your throws and expo set at?
- Do you have a gyro active?
- Are all your control surfaces perfectly aligned, and do all center well and provide deflection equally?
- Are you absolutely sure your CG is currently is at 105mm, and how are you measuring it? Don't judge your CG by mimicking placement of the battery upon pictures found online. It sounds obvious, but many people unfortunately do that.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Ok need some help, i recently brought the new avanti s red high performance 9 blade inrunner along with the recommend 6000mAh admiral pro battery. My CG is 105mm from leading edge as stated in manual so battery is in line with the back of the wooden tray! On the maiden flight yesterday the plane was ridiculously twitchy and needed a lot if up trim, once i had it trimmed out the plane is wobbling about a lot and very difficult to fly so i landed asap!! Is it wrong CG causing this? Ive never maiden'd a jet and had issues like this im nervous about putting it in the air again. Anyone using the 6000mAh admiral pro and can help me out with battery placement?

I fly my red Avanti with either a RT 6250 or the Admiral 6000, both about the same weight although the RT is about 25 g lighter. I put the battery all the way back to about 5mm behind where the foam starts (cut a little out for it to fit) so that's quite a bit behind where you have it. Not sure why it's wobbling though, have you put in some expo? These jets are very responsive to the slightest stick movement so it could be that some expo would smooth it out. Not sure why it's wobbling though, this is a very stable air frame. What receiver are you using? Any gyro? I'm using an AR 636 with gains in the 40% range, so that could be why mine is so stable.

[Trooper]

Hi thanks for the reply i fly all my other edf 80mm jets with no gyro including the avanti and there fine, sounds like i need the battery a bit further back which would explain the up trim i needed although it balances nice on my fingers with 105mm CG as stated! Also i have allirons 80%, elevator 100% so might need to bring them down more so its not so twitchy, 30 expo all round! It was horrendous to fly something wasn't right can't see how a nose heavy plane would wobble about like that though? I might try it with a 4000mAh see if thats any better. I centred all servos before putting control rods on i didn't need any role trim just up which i think was due to being nose heavy.

[T-CAT]

Hi thanks for the reply i fly all my other edf 80mm jets with no gyro including the avanti and there fine, sounds like i need the battery a bit further back which would explain the up trim i needed although it balances nice on my fingers with 105mm CG as stated! Also i have allirons 80%, elevator 100% so might need to bring them down more so its not so twitchy, 30 expo all round! It was horrendous to fly something wasn't right can't see how a nose heavy plane would wobble about like that though? I might try it with a 4000mAh see if thats any better. I centred all servos before putting control rods on i didn't need any role trim just up which i think was due to being nose heavy.

Chances are good that it is likely not your CG (I've flown it at 105mm at although it needed elevator up-trim, and was a bit on the nose heavy side for my likiny, it certainly wasn't twitchy) or your expo just by judging from your explanation.

It sounds like it could simply be that your throws are too aggressive, mostly on the ailerons. The Avanti is very responsive in roll, which could be causing the feeling that you describe as the twitchyness. It isn't all that pitch sensitive in my experience, although that is subjective. The rudder is also responsive, so make sure that is within reason as well. If you haven't already, you may want to set up dual or triple rates for all surfaces and lower the throws a bit. That way, if you find the low rates that you choose is not responsive enough, you can switch to higher throws quickly without worry.

[Trooper]

Hi and thanks for your reply much appreciated and your right i brought aliron throws down to 70% with 40-expo plus i reduced rudder which i can't remember to off the head and shifted CG slightly back which has sorted the problem it fly's lovely now! After the maiden and how it flew i was so nervous about putting it back in the air lol but after a few packs put on it today with adjustments ive got it dialed in! I fly my FMS Bae Hawk 100% throws all round 30% expo all round and never had any issues thats how i fly instead of having high and low rates but this avanti was almost uncontrollable like that **** me up it did!! Only thing now is my rear landing gear get stuck in the compressed position the spring isn't pulling the wheels back as pivot point is really stiff? It wasn't like that before i flew it so ive done it but all landings were pretty smooth and nothing looks bent or out of shape?

[T-CAT]

Hi and thanks for your reply much appreciated and your right i brought aliron throws down to 70% with 40-expo plus i reduced rudder which i can't remember to off the head and shifted CG slightly back which has sorted the problem it fly's lovely now! After the maiden and how it flew i was so nervous about putting it back in the air lol but after a few packs put on it today with adjustments ive got it dialed in! I fly my FMS Bae Hawk 100% throws all round 30% expo all round and never had any issues thats how i fly instead of having high and low rates but this avanti was almost uncontrollable like that **** me up it did!! Only thing now is my rear landing gear get stuck in the compressed position the spring isn't pulling the wheels back as pivot point is really stiff? It wasn't like that before i flew it so ive done it but all landings were pretty smooth and nothing looks bent or out of shape?

Check to make sure all the grub screws are tight enough on the struts. Make sure the main gear door has not shifted and therefore isn't hitting and sticking on something within the wheel well. Lastly, see if the trailing link joint where the main struts bend isn't rubbing against each other at that metal to metal joint. I have had to add some 3-in-1 lubricant to that joint and work the trailing link and spring to ensure it loosens up and is free to operate as normal.

[long-love-rc]

Can you experienced pilots please share how slow I can fly the Bae Hawk? I enjoy slow flying, like cruising... Will a 30% throttle plus half flaps be able to maintain level flight?

Maybe I shouldn't have had a Jet at the first place at all, haha

[TScott]

Maiden flight + 2 more! It’s been 13 years since I have flown anything other than a simulator. I had previous experience with a BVM ducted fan F-86 and a turbine Viper jet.

I chose the Red Avanti high performance for my reintroduction. Setup was straight forward with no issues. I’m using an older Frsky Taranis X9D w/RX8R Pro receiver....no gyro. My Horus X10S is in for repairs due to a mistake I made inserting a battery backwards. 😒

I used 2 Admiral 6s 5000 mah and 1 HRB 6s 5000. Used the same location for both brand batteries even with the HRB being slightly heavier. CG was set at 115 mm, Low rate ailerons were programmed for my medium rate, low rate was slightly less and 30% expo was used. All other settings were by the manual with 25% expo on elevator. Learning from my previous experiences, I used a super low rate rudder/nose wheel setting for take offs only. Try it! Take off was right down the center! It lifted off easily in 100’ without forcing it. 5 clicks of up and 4 clicks of left aileron had it flying straight at 50% throttle.

It flys really stable and 3:30 goes by quickly. Landing was no problem chopping power on the turn to final and slowly adding a few clicks back in. It floats! Finding the end of the runway will have to wait until another day and more flights.

Both of the next two flight I opened it up for low passes and vertical that didn’t stopped until I turned it around for a return power-off low pass. A couple touch-n-go’s were practiced with uneventful landings to follow.

The only issue I see is one retract that hung up 1/4” from being fully closed. I’ll investigate it later.

Be safe everyone and thanks for all of your tips and hints.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Maiden flight + 2 more! It’s been 13 years since I have flown anything other than a simulator. I had previous experience with a BVM ducted fan F-86 and a turbine Viper jet.

I chose the Red Avanti high performance for my reintroduction. Setup was straight forward with no issues. I’m using an older Frsky Taranis X9D w/RX8R Pro receiver....no gyro. My Horus X10S is in for repairs due to a mistake I made inserting a battery backwards. 😒

I used 2 Admiral 6s 5000 mah and 1 HRB 6s 5000. Used the same location for both brand batteries even with the HRB being slightly heavier. CG was set at 115 mm, Low rate ailerons were programmed for my medium rate, low rate was slightly less and 30% expo was used. All other settings were by the manual with 25% expo on elevator. Learning from my previous experiences, I used a super low rate rudder/nose wheel setting for take offs only. Try it! Take off was right down the center! It lifted off easily in 100’ without forcing it. 5 clicks of up and 4 clicks of left aileron had it flying straight at 50% throttle.

It flys really stable and 3:30 goes by quickly. Landing was no problem chopping power on the turn to final and slowly adding a few clicks back in. It floats! Finding the end of the runway will have to wait until another day and more flights.

Both of the next two flight I opened it up for low passes and vertical that didn’t stopped until I turned it around for a return power-off low pass. A couple touch-n-go’s were practiced with uneventful landings to follow.

The only issue I see is one retract that hung up 1/4” from being fully closed. I’ll investigate it later.

Be safe everyone and thanks for all of your tips and hints.

Welcome to the Squawk and congratulations on a very successful maiden. You'll find this EDF will do anything you ask it with ease, and a few things you can't even think of, yet anyway. And this forum is a great place to get helpful answers and tips for any situation, just an outstanding forum. Don't be afraid to ask "stupid" questions, all mine have be answered and no matter what you ask, you'll never pass me for "king of the stupid questions'!

[TScott]

Thanks HW!

[LuckyArmpit]

Currently at field...grass runway....used hrb 5200’s
for balance, battery all the way up front...cg almost to end of range. Maiden pretty hairy!!!! Had a little too much throw. Dropped ailerons down to 50% and increased expo to about 43. Dropped elevator a little too. 1st landing it bounced and flipped over... broke tip
of vert stab. Used pack tape and threw in another 5200 pack. 2nd flight much better!
batts are new...1st flight on them. Got roughly 3 minutes of flight. I aasume a few cycles will bring them up to their 5200 rating. Gonna 6000s for this jet. And flight time should be a bit longer. Other than that, still shaking from the first couple flights!!

Dave

[Chilly Bear]

The only issue I see is one retract that hung up 1/4” from being fully closed. I’ll investigate it later.

I had the left retract not extend after a few flights. Cycling it a time or two got it down for landing. It then worked flawlessly until I flew it again. Repeat of initial failure. Took the strut off etc. couldn't find anything wrong. Wouldn't fully retract and wouldn't extend. If you'll put it on its back and compress the strut by just pressing on the "tire" you may find the problem child is binding. After about 4-5 compressions the bind was gone and it appears to work without issue again. Unfortunately during looking at it, it fell out of the stand on the horizontal stab which I'm going to replace when stock arrives.

[Giovanni_L]

I have a 2-year old Avanti S (still flies very well and is in good shape) and would like to experiment with a simple performance upgrade. I am considering the 3658-1920kV inrunner motor with new 9-blade fan, which apparently is being sold with the current version of the Avanti.
Would the performance noticeably be improved with this new power system, compared with the old 12-blade fan and 3530-1850KV outrunner in my Avanti?
Is the new power system truly a drop-in replacement for the old one?
Can I still use the existing 100A ESC?
Any replies and comments would be greatly appreciated😀

[Ken LaPointe]

I designed a 3D printed tailcone for the Avanti S, kinda based on the F-35 tailcone. Free to download off Thingverse

[Mach9]

I designed a 3D printed tailcone for the Avanti S, kinda based on the F-35 tailcone. Free to download off Thingverse

Kewl! If you could make it variable with a servo you could open it up for take off and squeeze it down in flight for speed. Maybe add an afterburner in there.

[paulrkytek]

Short 2 minute clip of my Avanti and Rebel evening flight, with royalty free music on the following link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQF9BlEbAFQ

[Bgelok]

What we really need is aTV nozzle for the avanti. That would liven things up a bit.

[AceMigKiller]

If you could make it variable with a servo you could open it up for take off and squeeze it down in flight for speed.

You really won't see any advantage in flight by squeezing it down. Not on it's own anyway.

[T-CAT]

It was time to give the Freewing Avanti S a makeover. My favorite sport jet look is one that rocks a scale jet livery. The Diamondbacks VFA-102 50th Anniversary is one of my favorites, so I knew that was the livery I was going to paint. If your Avanti jet is getting old, consider freshening it up with a new look.

I also filled in the rudder hinge slots, concealed the forward screw holes of the vertical stabilizer and the four screw holes of the horizontal stabilizer, filled in some dents/dings, etc., and added a 3D printed tailcone that I painted (3D print was of Ken's great design as shown on this thread page above and offered on Thingiverse).

This is still my favorite foam EDF jet from Freewing and it never gets old to fly.

Alpha Since the Stinger 90 and Avanti S sold so well,, hopefully Freewing and Motion are considering another sport jet in the not too distant future to bring to market.

[Hugh Wiedman]

It was time to give the Freewing Avanti S a makeover. My favorite sport jet look is one that rocks a scale jet livery. The Diamondbacks VFA-102 50th Anniversary is one of my favorites, so I knew that was the livery I was going to paint. If your Avanti jet is getting old, consider freshening it up with a new look.

I also filled in the rudder hinge slots, concealed the forward screw holes of the vertical stabilizer and the four screw holes of the horizontal stabilizer, filled in some dents/dings, etc., and added a 3D printed tailcone that I painted (3D print was of Ken's great design as shown on this thread page above and offered on Thingiverse).

This is still my favorite foam EDF jet from Freewing and it never gets old to fly.

Alpha Since the Stinger 90 and Avanti S sold so well,, hopefully Freewing and Motion are considering another sport jet in the not too distant future to bring to market.

Really outstanding, and I love your exhaust nozzle. Where did you get it?

I agree with you completely, the Avanti S and the Stinger 90 are 2 of my favorite EDF's to fly, each with a couple hundred flights on them, and it never gets old. Actually it helps going back to them occasionally to get my confidence back after a slight mishap with any of my other EDF's. I already re-painted my Stinger 90 some 100 flights ago, but now you got me thinking of doing something with the Avanti. They both already have afterburners, but I would love to add that nozzle!