Official Freewing 80mm Avanti S Sport Jet Thread

[Ks.jetflyer]

I have the original release avanti. Must say best flying jet on the market. One of our club members just ordered a red one. Confused, the listing in one place says 90mm 9blade, another place 80mm 9 blade and also says 80mm12 blade. He called MRC, rep said it's 90mm 9 blade. I find that hard to believe. Anyone know if they upped to a 90mm.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Our field is in Frankenmuth, Michigan, about 80 miles north of Detroit, a sleepy little tourist destination much like Traverse City. We just celebrated our 30th year as a club last weekend.

Yes, know it well, the heartland of the Midwest. My grandparents farm was not too far from there and my father as a teenager worked at the Bomber plant outside of Detroit at the start of WWII before joining the Navy. Spent many hours there stuffing myself like a pig at the several "family style" German restaurants. Seems like bus loads of tourists would flock there everyday from all over the Midwest just to sight-see and pig out. Definitely not the right place to be if your looking for the proper weight to wing load ratio in humans. Hope they didn't suffer too much with the lock down.

[LuckyArmpit]

Thanx for the info guys! Will try both the 5000 and 6000 packs. I usually fly mixed bag, full throttle and slow....
next EDF gonna be 90 mm F-22 Raptor. I wish
freewing would make a 80 or 90 size Mig 15...got the little 64mm version but it has more glue on it than foam!

[mirion]

BTW, nice looking field. Where in Michigan is that. Lived in Traverse City many years and still have family on the farms in Manchester and Clinton. Seeing that location brings back fond memories of summers in Michigan!

Our field is in Frankenmuth, Michigan, about 80 miles north of Detroit, a sleepy little tourist destination much like Traverse City. We just celebrated our 30th year as a club last weekend. We had a balloon club request permission to launch from our field last Saturday, below are some pictures that gives you a look at our 700' long field and the Frankenmuth country side.

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

[Hugh Wiedman]

I always thought that an EDF was not in the cards for me, they were too fast for my 66 year old eyes and reflexes and we have a grass field. All I can say is I am having a ball this summer with my Avanti. I have attached a video of the slow flying capabilities and grass field operations of this plane for anyone else who may be debating it.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw46...ature=youtu.be

Very nice video mirion and slow flying, isn't it amazing how well this slows down and still remains stable? Welcome to the "old 66 year eye club", I'll be there soon as well but yours still seem to be plenty observant. For the first 70 flights or so I spent my time with the Avanti just doing acrobatic maneuvers and was never one for trying slow high alpha flights (except with my F-16 and my 3D planes) but about a month ago starting doing a lot more knife edge and slow high alpha (which always gives me just a bit more "pucker factor" on jets) and was amazed at how stable and easy it was with the Avanti. I have the wing fences on mine, which does help keep aileron control in slow high alpha, but have quickly gotten incredibly comfortable with it on the Avanti. Try it more often yourself with gear up, highest rates you have on elevator and with or without flaps (and a little more altitude at first) and with this bird, you'll master it quickly. Much easier with this jet than my F-16, SU-30 or F-18 and just in case it recovers much quicker in a pinch.

BTW, nice looking field. Where in Michigan is that. Lived in Traverse City many years and still have family on the farms in Manchester and Clinton. Seeing that location brings back fond memories of summers in Michigan!

[mirion]

I always thought that an EDF was not in the cards for me, they were too fast for my 66 year old eyes and reflexes and we have a grass field. All I can say is I am having a ball this summer with my Avanti. I have attached a video of the slow flying capabilities and grass field operations of this plane for anyone else who may be debating it.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw46...ature=youtu.be

[Hemidoo]

Just bought one, red color. Says to use between 5000 and 6000 packs. Is there enough room under canopy to move batt pack forward and back? I am finding all my EDF’s like the rear CG. I fly off grass runway.
Most of you guys using the 6000 packs?

Dave

I fly mine with 4000"s about all the way forward ... the most fun for me . have 6000's also and run them all the way back

fly off grass as well

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just bought one, red color. Says to use between 5000 and 6000 packs. Is there enough room under canopy to move batt pack forward and back? I am finding all my EDF’s like the rear CG. I fly off grass runway.
Most of you guys using the 6000 packs?

Dave

I'm using a RT 6250 all the way aft, get about 5 minutes of aggressive flying

[LuckyArmpit]

Just bought one, red color. Says to use between 5000 and 6000 packs. Is there enough room under canopy to move batt pack forward and back? I am finding all my EDF’s like the rear CG. I fly off grass runway.
Most of you guys using the 6000 packs?

Dave

[Bgelok]

Has anyone found a source for a tv nozzle for this jet? Saw 1 but no info on it, where it was bought, what size etc.

[mr.frankenjet]

Thank you! How does the 9-blade sound compared to the 12-blade fan?

The 12 blade metal housing outrunner is one the sweetest sounding edf's I have heard (performs great as well)

[Bgelok]

Cg is manual is a recommendation / starting point. For me it was a tad bit nose heavy. I just kept moving my pack back until i found my sweet spot

[Speedrick]

Ok, thus the mentioned CG in the manual is incorrect then?



Regards,

Eric

[Bgelok]

I fly mine on 5000’s and 5500’s and i stuff the battery as far back as it will go. I may have 2/3 clicks up trim, but thats about it

[Speedrick]

CG....

I started flying this jet with the recommended CG @ 105mm from the LE of the wing, and found my elevator trim all the way up.
Moved the battery backwards about 20mm, nearly one inch, and found that still some up trim was required.
At which CG are you flying the Avanti?



Regards,

Eric

[Chilly Bear]

I went ahead and installed the wing fences. They are much less fugly installed. Hopefully I can maiden tomorrow.

[Gringotuerto]

[QUOTE=Chilly Bear;n270232]I'm looking for some clarity on the wing fences. Do they or don't they improve flight characteristics? They are fugly ... [\QUOTE]

I have flown both with and without them. To me they seemed to improve flight noticeably. The main difference is that it can really slow down to a crawl on landing and stay perfectly stable. They also improve knife-edge a little. But the main difference is slow flight. I was also ambivalent about adding them, but now I really like them, and in fact hunted down wing fences mail-order from China for my 105mm HSD Super Viper.

You mentioned you don't like the material - I suppose they could be sanded and painted, covered with epoxy paint, etc. I agree they are funny looking, but I got used to it. Another thing I like is that I can throw it in the truck with the gear up and the weight isn't resting on the aileron linkages (and sliding around, banging back and forth with every turn, etc.)

Also I noticed you cited the manual above - I have owned an early yellow one, and it did not have slots for the wing fences pre-cut, so I had to cut them as shown there. However, I got a later red one and it did have the slots pre-cut. So there are two wing types in circulation. I don't know if all new ones have the slots pre-cut. It is not easy to get them perfectly lined up without the slots - measure carefully if yours doesn't have the slots.

[Chilly Bear]

A wing fence prevents the air from flowing sideways and keeps it flowing across a wing (in stall conditions). The location of the wing fence on the Avanti will keep the air flow going across the outside of the wing (and directly over the ailerons) in a stall condition helping maintain aileron control in a stall. Does it help in this model? I believe it does as it is almost impossible to stall the Avanti, in my experience, but when it does (flying at a snails pace), I noticed it still maintains aileron authority. Try flying extremely slow in a high alpha position with this Avanti, the first time I did, I was amazed at how slow it could go while still allowing you to keep the wings level with the ailerons all the while the nose is up at a 35 degree angle. I think without them, it would be almost impossible to keep the wing tips level, but that's just my thoughts. If you just fly around normally, then the wing fences won't do anything for you. And if you decide to install them, I don't seem to remember having to cut any grooves into the wings, they were already there on the red Avanti I got when the red one first came out.

It appears to me that you just cut through the decals on the top on the top of the wing and cut around the wires running to the lights on the wingtips on the bottom. Then you are free to glue them on. Here's an excerpt from the manual which appears to be wrong.

[Hugh Wiedman]

I'm looking for some clarity on the wing fences. Do they or don't they improve flight characteristics? They are fugly so if they don't I'd just as soon leave them off. If I install them there is a wide variety of opinion on to cut or not to cut. Some say the new models have a wing fence groove which they do, and so there's no need to cut, but the manual shows this and says cut. A depth of 3mm and a thickness of 2mm. I will look on Amazon for laparoscopic hobby knives.

So to recap, the wing fences are fugly. Do they provide a benefit that outweighs the fugliness? If so, to cut or not to cut with an aircraft that has wing fence grooves?

Disclaimer: I don't think they would be fugly if they were made out of a nice material instead of bleached recycled toilet paper.

A wing fence prevents the air from flowing sideways and keeps it flowing across a wing (in stall conditions). The location of the wing fence on the Avanti will keep the air flow going across the outside of the wing (and directly over the ailerons) in a stall condition helping maintain aileron control in a stall. Does it help in this model? I believe it does as it is almost impossible to stall the Avanti, in my experience, but when it does (flying at a snails pace), I noticed it still maintains aileron authority. Try flying extremely slow in a high alpha position with this Avanti, the first time I did, I was amazed at how slow it could go while still allowing you to keep the wings level with the ailerons all the while the nose is up at a 35 degree angle. I think without them, it would be almost impossible to keep the wing tips level, but that's just my thoughts. If you just fly around normally, then the wing fences won't do anything for you. And if you decide to install them, I don't seem to remember having to cut any grooves into the wings, they were already there on the red Avanti I got when the red one first came out.

[Chilly Bear]

I'm looking for some clarity on the wing fences. Do they or don't they improve flight characteristics? They are fugly so if they don't I'd just as soon leave them off. If I install them there is a wide variety of opinion on to cut or not to cut. Some say the new models have a wing fence groove which they do, and so there's no need to cut, but the manual shows this and says cut. A depth of 3mm and a thickness of 2mm. I will look on Amazon for laparoscopic hobby knives.

So to recap, the wing fences are fugly. Do they provide a benefit that outweighs the fugliness? If so, to cut or not to cut with an aircraft that has wing fence grooves?

Disclaimer: I don't think they would be fugly if they were made out of a nice material instead of bleached recycled toilet paper.