Official Freewing 80mm Avanti S Sport Jet Thread

[Hugh Wiedman]

If you paint the cockpit flat black and glue on the canopy it will appear very dark.

Why black out the canopy. Build it out with pilots and cockpit instruments instead.

[Beachsideflyer]

I’m just wondering what people are using to darken or black out there canopy?? Or what spray is best.

If you paint the cockpit flat black and glue on the canopy it will appear very dark.

[Patriotic_Banana]

I dont think there's many servos like being horsed around manually when they're powered up lol. But that said the servos the avanti ships with arent exactly bullet proof. I probably wouldnt tolerate a questionable aileron servo, given the cost of replacing - and 2 years seems like a respectable service life.

Not sure bypassing the junction box is all that easy given the electronics in the wing are connected via a ribbon cable, but it's doable. I've heard it said that using a slowdown on the Avanti flap servo contributes to the problem so you could try disabling that if you use it.

The struts do get a bit sloppy, grass takes its toll even on this fantastic gear, but you need to identify where the slop is. If it's between the strut and the trunion then might just be the grub screws.

For the misbehaving aileron servo I'm talking the movement created when you place the aircraft on the ground. It is a really weird behavior that doesn't effect flight, and I'm not inducing it with violence.

I will run my servos with no delay for a while and see what I get, but I may also replace the Blue box just as a cautionary measure.

For the gear, I've tightened all the screws I could find to no avail, I think it's just at the end of it's useful life. Grass is hard, especially since the Avanti doesn't have very ridged gear. My F-22 and F-18 behave very well on grass.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hey all,

I've had my Avanti for over 2 years at this point, probably 70+ flights. But I'm starting to get frustrated because it seems to develop new gremlins every 15 flights or so. So here is a list of the problems I've been having, a few of them are common known Avanti issues:
1. Left flap gets stuck for no reason, super common issue (Solution: Bypass board?)
2. Right aileron begins to vibrate around center if moved at all manually, really weird issue
3. Nose gear steering will not work after gear deploy unless the rudder is cycled fully in both directions 2 times, which isn't a good idea on final
4. Landing gear have a LOT of slop after so many grass op flights, and plane is hard to keep in a straight line on the ground as a result (Solution: New Gear?)

In conclusion it seems like replacing/bypassing the blue box will tell me more about these issues. The landing gear probably just need to be replaced. I also have everything on the plane powered by a Castle BEC.

Agree with mshagg, replace the servo and gear that you can. My Avanti from the get go had a flap servo that would stick full down more often than not. Rewiring around the blue box is difficult and would add another connection when installing/removing wings. Instead, try reducing the delay on the flap deployment to 0. Worked for me, as well as both my B-24's which had the exact same issue. I replaced the servo at first, didn't help, and changing delay to 0 (not 1 or 2 or 3 seconds but 0) did the trick.

[mshagg]

I dont think there's many servos like being horsed around manually when they're powered up lol. But that said the servos the avanti ships with arent exactly bullet proof. I probably wouldnt tolerate a questionable aileron servo, given the cost of replacing - and 2 years seems like a respectable service life.

Not sure bypassing the junction box is all that easy given the electronics in the wing are connected via a ribbon cable, but it's doable. I've heard it said that using a slowdown on the Avanti flap servo contributes to the problem so you could try disabling that if you use it.

The struts do get a bit sloppy, grass takes its toll even on this fantastic gear, but you need to identify where the slop is. If it's between the strut and the trunion then might just be the grub screws.

[Patriotic_Banana]

Hey all,

I've had my Avanti for over 2 years at this point, probably 70+ flights. But I'm starting to get frustrated because it seems to develop new gremlins every 15 flights or so. So here is a list of the problems I've been having, a few of them are common known Avanti issues:
1. Left flap gets stuck for no reason, super common issue (Solution: Bypass board?)
2. Right aileron begins to vibrate around center if moved at all manually, really weird issue
3. Nose gear steering will not work after gear deploy unless the rudder is cycled fully in both directions 2 times, which isn't a good idea on final
4. Landing gear have a LOT of slop after so many grass op flights, and plane is hard to keep in a straight line on the ground as a result (Solution: New Gear?)

In conclusion it seems like replacing/bypassing the blue box will tell me more about these issues. The landing gear probably just need to be replaced. I also have everything on the plane powered by a Castle BEC.

[Jimbo818]

Gyro -
I run a Jeti Assist Rx in my Avanti. It flies great with it turned off, but it flies like it is on rails with the gyro on. I also use other gyros with great success. Recently I put an Aura 8 in a Timber-X and it makes a huge difference and the airplane is much funner to fly.
If you fly a few race track laps and compare the flight characteristics with the gyro on vs off - you will notice that the airplane is flying like it is much larger. The oscillations are gone.
So, an Avanti certainly does not need a gyro, but is better with one in.

[Jimbo818]

HI,
What is the deal with the new in runner EFD? Does it have more power?

[Nosram]

Thank you Rick, I have sent an email....

[rpellicciotti]

Thank you Rpellicciotti, that's very good info. I have Spektrum and also have a couple of foam warbirds with AR636 receivers.
Quick question regarding the AR9350:
Did you program the gyro gains, or just use it as it came? If you programmed them can you please post what you input?
Thank you in advance,
Nick Marson

A little more about my setup. I push the red wire out of the throttle lead from the ESC/BEC and run a separate 1100mah LiFe receiver battery. I run a voltage sensor on the flight battery and a temperature sensor. With this receiver you get all of that through the telemetry. I use a switch for the gyro with one position being OFF and the other position enable the gyros in rate mode. I do not have any heading mode set. The highest rate I have is about 20%. I'm not home right now but I can share my setup file with you if you want. You can email me at: rick@avantijet.com

[Nosram]

Thank you Rpellicciotti, that's very good info. I have Spektrum and also have a couple of foam warbirds with AR636 receivers.
Quick question regarding the AR9350:
Did you program the gyro gains, or just use it as it came? If you programmed them can you please post what you input?
Thank you in advance,
Nick Marson

[rpellicciotti]

I am considering getting an Advanti, does anyone have any gyro recommendations? I'm thinking of using it in F3S aerobatic competitions...
Thanks

Hi. The Avanti is a great plane and you will love it. I fly Spektrum and I have used the AR9350 in both of my Avanti's. This receiver has built in telemetry and AS3X gyros.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh: For the record, when you replaced the servo, did you use an original or something different?

An original replacement from Motion I had in inventory. I also tried reducing the deflection on the landing flaps since it only would stick with landing flaps, never take-off flaps. Made no difference though. The only thing that stopped it was changing the delay to 0, but I've heard in this thread that for some, that didn't help either. Wish I knew for certain what causes this, but it may remain a mystery, for me at least. My last resort was going to be first change to a new circuit board, then bypass it completely, but for now with no delay it hasn't happened again, at least up till now.

[Mach9]

Hugh: For the record, when you replaced the servo, did you use an original or something different?

[Hugh Wiedman]

This has been happening since the first Avanti was made. Some state that not having a delay on the flaps solved the problem. I have never had a delay and it has happened to me. Others also that do not use a delay have had it happen. Some have bypassed all of the circuit boards. I know the wing boards had an issue with the pins being soldered at the wrong lengths but seems to not be the case now. I have not seen a definitive answer as to whether the problem ever happened again with the boards bypassed. I presented several possibilities to investigate but it seems Freewing has not followed up on anything. Several years now and not a solution in sight. Being as random as it is makes it very difficult to pinpoint.

My Avanti did it with the left flap almost from the first flight when I had a 4 second delay in it. After having it happen about a dozen times, I replace the servo and it still happened. Then I reduced the delay from 4 sec, to 3 sec, to 1 to 0, and it happened less frequently when I reduced it, but it still happened until I went to 0. Since then, about 50 flights and it has not occurred since. Both my B-24's had the same issue until I went to 0 delay. Not sure if that solved it, but I think it has something to do with the circuit boards (which I did not replace in either plane). I'm still cognizant of the potential problem with any plane having a flap stick, but so far, so good. Not sure we'll ever find the culprit, so I just make sure that when I change flap settings, I ready for an issue in flight, meaning with a little altitude. I'll still occasionally drop full flaps for a low, slow pass, but when returning them to full up, I make sure I'm not inches above deck and ready to return them to the last setting at a moments notice. Good luck brother, I think some of us are in the same boat.

[Mach9]

We had an epic day yesterday with 5mph winds right down the runway and 68 degrees, clear skies. It’ll be a little worse today with a chance of snow. Oh well, on to the question. I was able to fly 7packs thru my red Avanti S and an issue started to pop up. Perfect flight slow smooth landings but when taxiing back, I’d retract the flaps and the right flap would stay down. I’d flip it back and forth and it would retract just fine. It did this twice. I cycled it maybe 10-15 times with no other issues. Does it sound like a connection issue or servo going bad? (And yes, it’s grounded until I can figure it out)

This has been happening since the first Avanti was made. Some state that not having a delay on the flaps solved the problem. I have never had a delay and it has happened to me. Others also that do not use a delay have had it happen. Some have bypassed all of the circuit boards. I know the wing boards had an issue with the pins being soldered at the wrong lengths but seems to not be the case now. I have not seen a definitive answer as to whether the problem ever happened again with the boards bypassed. I presented several possibilities to investigate but it seems Freewing has not followed up on anything. Several years now and not a solution in sight. Being as random as it is makes it very difficult to pinpoint.

[mirion]

After reading about suspected aileron servo issues being the cause of Avanti crashes and the fact that my used Avanti appears to have had a lot of hard use I am considering putting in some new servos. I see that the new "High Performance" Avanti has different servos than the Red Avanti.

Do you think these new Avanti servos from Motion RC are a much better servo or are there some other suggestions for quality servos that will fit in the same opening?

[Patrnflyr]

We had an epic day yesterday with 5mph winds right down the runway and 68 degrees, clear skies. It’ll be a little worse today with a chance of snow. Oh well, on to the question. I was able to fly 7packs thru my red Avanti S and an issue started to pop up. Perfect flight slow smooth landings but when taxiing back, I’d retract the flaps and the right flap would stay down. I’d flip it back and forth and it would retract just fine. It did this twice. I cycled it maybe 10-15 times with no other issues. Does it sound like a connection issue or servo going bad? (And yes, it’s grounded until I can figure it out)

[Hugh Wiedman]

As I understand the F3 rules for jet acrobatics, no gyro is allowed.

[James]

I am considering getting an Advanti, does anyone have any gyro recommendations? I'm thinking of using it in F3S aerobatic competitions...
Thanks

Welcome to HobbySquawk Nosram ! The Avanti is a great choice and although it doesn't need a gyro you definitely have some options. If you fly spektrum you could go with the Admiral RX600SP receiver as it has a built-in gyro and I produced a step by step video series to help you get it set up which you can in the video tab on the product page here: https://www.motionrc.com/products/ad...izer#video-tab

Or if you already have a receiver then you can add a stand-alone Hobby Eagle gyro which again I produced step-by-step set-up videos for and they are on the video tabs of each product page, you can find those here: https://www.motionrc.com/collections...and=HobbyEagle

I am unfamiliar with the F3 rules regarding gyros so maybe someone else can answer that, but those links should get you started in making the right decision. Welcome to the Squawk!