Official Freewing 80mm Avanti S Sport Jet Thread

[ryramZ]

Questions for Ryan:
1. Are you using any expo on ailerons or elevator? The manual doesn't call for any.
2. Are you using the control throws called out in the manual?
3. What paint is OK to use on the canopy tray? I want to paint mine before I glue on the canopy.
4. I assume the glue that comes with the model is OK to glue the canopy on with?
5. The front LG door spring is quite strong and has bowed the gear doors in so that one sits well below (inside the fuse) the other one when closed. Did you stretch this spring to reduce the force?
6. Ball links have side-to-side slop. Is this an issue (I don't want flutter at high speed)?
Thanks for your help!

1. I'm using 30% expo all around for both high and low rate
2. I am using the throws called out in the manual. I used the percentage rather than the mm, ie 70%, 85% and so on. Both are provided.
3. Any latex should be fine. Lowes Home depot paint samples are very popular.
4. The glue provided should be fine. I however use our Foam Tac for everything. Mil spec made in USA
5. I did not stretch the spring on my door. If mine were too tight like you mentioned I would definitely relieve the tension in the way that you suggested.
6. Absolutely no flutter exhibited in all of my flights.

[ryramZ]

Wood tray tapper... Hilarious.

look aft of the battery tray, there is a recess for it. It's a wire holder downer for those that want to slide battery back. Not necessarily needed but available.

[Felixs10]

Check your pm

Hi Ryan ,

Hotdogx had some great questions . Can you share your answers to 1,2,5, and 6 ? ... Thanks Felix

[ryramZ]

Hi Ryan ,

Hotdogx had some great questions . Can you share your answers to 1,2,5, and 6 ? ... Thanks Felix

Answered them all in post 903.

Thanks guys!

[Felixs10]

Answered them all in post 903.

Thanks guys!

Hi Ryan , I had no PM and post 903 was my question too you .. you answered another post in a pm

thanks Felix

[Ron lake]

CG done at 108mm with the plane inverted and gear down. with the gear up the CG shifts closer to the middle of the range in the manual. Had no problem getting it to balance at that point with either the Admiral Pro 4000mah 60C or Admiral 5000mah 50C packs.

The finish and parts fitments was excellent. No handling or shipping dings. No issues with electroncs at all. Even the servo arms were well centered at zero. The stock fan seems pretty well balanced out of the box. No reclocking was needed on mine. Really like the light set up on this bird. The white strobe and red anti-collision light are awesome.

The only notable issues were the loose ball link connectors and the roughness of the cut and finish of the wing fences. Still don't know what that plywood piece is for??????

Overall well done FW and MRC!:Cool: Hopefully it flys as good as it looks. Grass field maiden tomorrow.

I got slop in the ball link connectors as well. The gear on this thing is nice and beefy.

[Grossman56]

Dang guys, the one thing I just can't tolerate is sloppy balls !! LOLLOLLOL
(Sometimes I crack myself up !)

Grossman56

[TomPatton]

While setting up the radio today and getting the gear down, I noticed a lot of play in nose gear strut. It moves back and forth and side to side an 1/8 to 3/16th an inch while the mains are rock solid. Anyone else have that much play in theirs?

[Shirty]

Wood tray tapper... Hilarious.

look aft of the battery tray, there is a recess for it. It's a wire holder downer for those that want to slide battery back. Not necessarily needed but available.

A wire holder downer... steady on the tech jargon, us Aussies will find it hard to understand. ;)

[Alpha]

While setting up the radio today and getting the gear down, I noticed a lot of play in nose gear strut. It moves back and forth and side to side an 1/8 to 3/16th an inch while the mains are rock solid. Anyone else have that much play in theirs?

Hi Tom,
The play is normal for Freewing retracts. Truth be told, years ago the retracts were tighter all around but we had a series of issues with snapping trunions and stripped gears. After relieving the tolerance between the trunion and the lead screw, those kinds of failures have almost entirely stopped. By introducing a bit of play to dissipate forces, the retracts are much less prone to stripping.



Regarding the hub as photographed earlier, we've gone to a one piece impeller and a more aerodynamic round hub in the Avanti and A-10. While the 12 individual piece blades have served us well in our 80mm and 90mm for years, across thousands of aircraft, certain advances have allowed us to achieve more consistently balanced impellers with the new one piece design. While the end result for customers really won't be visually noticeable, from a mass production standpoint, every advantage we can give our assembly team in terms of consistency, and every sliver of efficiency we can squeeze out for our customers, is worth the effort to obtain.

Regarding loose ball links, it's difficult to define "loose". They certainly shouldn't be too tight, but we don't want them to be falling off the ball, either. All I can say is that the ball links and the clevises in the Avanti are the exact same as we've been producing for all the Freewing aircraft that use them (same huge orders of tens of thousands at a time), so they shouldn't be any less tight or loose than your other Freewing aircraft. I was at the factory while most of these were Avantis were produced alongside many of our other aircraft and the balls/clevises come from the same box. If upon comparative inspection I did find a ball link to be too loose for my liking, I would probably pop off the clevis and squish it slightly with a pair of flat pliers. Any of us flying a fast jet like the Avanti should have the experience to use our judgement as to if a part of an aircraft is flight worthy or not. If something just isn't right to your judgement, never hesitate to call the Tech Support team and see about a replacement. It's their pleasure to serve!

Fly, fly, fly! This should be a fun Avanti weekend for many people, with more coming down the pipe soon.

[Adrian-M]

While setting up the radio today and getting the gear down, I noticed a lot of play in nose gear strut. It moves back and forth and side to side an 1/8 to 3/16th an inch while the mains are rock solid. Anyone else have that much play in theirs?

Yup mine is the same but I must say there isn't allot of weight on the front wheel so it shouldn't be a problem unless you land hard on it. I have my CG at 110 and when you taxi it to the runway it keeps lifting the nose :Silly:

[hotdogx]

Thanks for the answers, Ryan! Family stuff all this weekend so won't get to test fly until next week. Also painted the cockpit interior, added a rear instrument panel, and will be putting a pilot in front before the canopy gets glued on, so a slight delay from that too. The guys at my field are going to be jealous!

[HellHathNoFury]

Hey Alpha..Define More ?? I'm ready when you are..:)

[Alpha]

Hey Alpha..Define More ?? :)

more
môr/
determiner & pronoun

1. 1.
   comparative of many, much.
2. 2.
   a greater or additional amount or degree, especially in terms of airplanes.
   "Motion RC produced more new toys than we could afford and faster than we could afford them without jeopardizing our marriages."

   synonyms:

   additional, further, added, extra, increased, new, other, supplementary More

adverb

1. 1.
   comparative of much.
2. 2.
   forming the comparative of adjectives and adverbs, especially those of more than one syllable.
   "for them, one new plane isn't enough, they always want more."

[T-CAT]

LOL

[bruceW]

Sitting at the backyard patio this morning with some friends...a dude with a big box says [bet you were waiting for this] we all laughed and I disappeared into the shop..........

[TomPatton]

Thanks for the quick response to the answers Alpha...
Can't wait to get this plane airborne. Not sure when that is going to be, been having 20 mph plus winds continuously. Looks like the same for next week...:Angry:

[HellHathNoFury]

Hahahaha..Touchdown .. Alpha ..:P.. More is always Good.. Less & Hobbysquawk ceases to exist..;)I love the Avanti by the way..:Cool:

[Alpha]

Thanks for the quick response to the answers Alpha...
Can't wait to get this plane airborne. Not sure when that is going to be, been having 20 mph plus winds continuously. Looks like the same for next week...:Angry:

Fly it fly it fly it fly it fly it! 20mph means you can try landing it flying backwards, it will be fun. Ask us how we know.

[Donu]

After wondering whether I liked the tinted canopy or should change the color on it, I made the decision to go with black and man did it make the Avanti S looks really pop! Here's a couple pics for comparison side by side. Either way it's a cool looking jet!