Official Freewing 80mm Avanti S Sport Jet Thread

[TopGun]

Hey HANGER FIFTYONE, Glad my nose gear mod has helped someone, I don't fly without it. Our air-field is all grass and it is kept up nicely, but grass is grass and even though we keep it cut short, there are times when the mod comes in handy on those not so perfect approaches. I have the most trouble on cross issues and during that time is when it can make a hop or two before coming to a rest. But no matter what, this jet is the best in my book, I have and have had for some time the Stinger 90 and the Taft Hobby Viper jet. They are all great birds, but Avanti sits at the top of the pile.

Cheers... and Blue Skies to ya...:f4phantom

[TopGun]

Well guys and gals, I see that the Avanti is loosing its grip, Motion Rc has put us on the lower back page of the site. We stayed on the front page at the top for a long time, wonder whats up with that?
:Confused:There sales are through the roof every time a boat comes in, if one boat isn't enough make they should get two boats at a time.LOL

Cheers... and Blue Skies to ya...:f4phantom

[TopGun]

Fixing to put my Avanti in dry-dock for an upgrade. I went and bought a set of brakes to put on it. The new tires, wheels are 65mm in size. The stock tires are 70mm, so not to much difference there. They are however not a wide as the stock tires but should still be good on grass. The stock nose tire is 65mm. Once I get them installed, I'll post some pictures to share.
Cheers... and Blue Skies to ya...:f4phantom

[Grossman56]

Hey TG, that sounds like an interesting mod, please keep us up to date!

Grossman56

[TomPatton]

Well after 17 great flights, my Avanti bites the dust...
Towards the end of my 2nd flight today I was coming across the field towards me at a 45 degree angle and had a serious wing rock, then straight and level. My spotter said was probably the wind as it was a little bit of a crosswind, but never did that before...
Anyway I put the gear down and did a fly by to make sure gear was down and all seemed good. I went to turn final and the plane rolled and went straight in, I had no control...
On inspection the aileron horn was almost pulled out and could see no damage to the aileron or real damage to the wing.
I have the video from my hat cam but the video from the plane was not there even though it was still on when recovered. Impact must have erased it.
My buddy thinks it was the circuit board but I am just wondering if it is not the loose aileron control horn???
In the video you can see I pull up on high rates and do a spin tumbling maneuver before control issues. I saw a post earlier where a guy did the same thing and after the maneuver his plane went in also. He showed his aileron horn was pulled out completely.
My question is, why would they not have a back on top of the aileron horn and a couple screws to secure it . Plastic glued to foam on a jet just doesn't make much sense on a control surface.
Would like to hear from anyone else that has had an issue and what you came up with...
I have another arf but am reluctant to fly it until I know what happened.
Not sure if MRC is listening to these issues and I follow the posts pretty close but have not seen anything on these issues...

[Mach9]

Well after 17 great flights, my Avanti bites the dust...
Towards the end of my 2nd flight today I was coming across the field towards me at a 45 degree angle and had a serious wing rock, then straight and level. My spotter said was probably the wind as it was a little bit of a crosswind, but never did that before...
Anyway I put the gear down and did a fly by to make sure gear was down and all seemed good. I went to turn final and the plane rolled and went straight in, I had no control...
On inspection the aileron horn was almost pulled out and could see no damage to the aileron or real damage to the wing.
I have the video from my hat cam but the video from the plane was not there even though it was still on when recovered. Impact must have erased it.
My buddy thinks it was the circuit board but I am just wondering if it is not the loose aileron control horn???
In the video you can see I pull up on high rates and do a spin tumbling maneuver before control issues. I saw a post earlier where a guy did the same thing and after the maneuver his plane went in also. He showed his aileron horn was pulled out completely.
My question is, why would they not have a back on top of the aileron horn and a couple screws to secure it . Plastic glued to foam on a jet just doesn't make much sense on a control surface.
Would like to hear from anyone else that has had an issue and what you came up with...
I have another arf but am reluctant to fly it until I know what happened.
Not sure if MRC is listening to these issues and I follow the posts pretty close but have not seen anything on these issues...

Look at my post #1586. My aileron horn pulled out. Never used high rate and never was agressive. The glue was only on the surface part of the horn and none on the "spine". All of the horns should have backplates like the Taft Viper 90 or similar.

[TomPatton]

Look at my post #1586. My aileron horn pulled out. Never used high rate and never was agressive. The glue was only on the surface part of the horn and none on the "spine". All of the horns should have backplates like the Taft Viper 90 or similar.

I agree with you 100%... Definitely a flaw in the construction of this fantastic flying plane...
My next one will be modified for sure. Hopefully MRC will address this issue...

[rpellicciotti]

Well after 17 great flights, my Avanti bites the dust...
Towards the end of my 2nd flight today I was coming across the field towards me at a 45 degree angle and had a serious wing rock, then straight and level. My spotter said was probably the wind as it was a little bit of a crosswind, but never did that before...
Anyway I put the gear down and did a fly by to make sure gear was down and all seemed good. I went to turn final and the plane rolled and went straight in, I had no control...
On inspection the aileron horn was almost pulled out and could see no damage to the aileron or real damage to the wing.
I have the video from my hat cam but the video from the plane was not there even though it was still on when recovered. Impact must have erased it.
My buddy thinks it was the circuit board but I am just wondering if it is not the loose aileron control horn???
In the video you can see I pull up on high rates and do a spin tumbling maneuver before control issues. I saw a post earlier where a guy did the same thing and after the maneuver his plane went in also. He showed his aileron horn was pulled out completely.
My question is, why would they not have a back on top of the aileron horn and a couple screws to secure it . Plastic glued to foam on a jet just doesn't make much sense on a control surface.
Would like to hear from anyone else that has had an issue and what you came up with...
I have another arf but am reluctant to fly it until I know what happened.
Not sure if MRC is listening to these issues and I follow the posts pretty close but have not seen anything on these issues...

My friend's Avanti went in last week. After 50 or so flights, he was feeling his oats and was doing a lot "harder" maneuvering including snaps and tumbles. Toward the end of the flight he did a snap roll and then "lost" the airplane and it went straight in. Examining the wreckage, the aileron horn was pulled out of the left aileron. There seems to be enough of these now that it would warrant an investigation at the factory. I have tugged on mine and they seem ok.

Rick Pellicciotti

http://www.avantijet.com

[TomPatton]

After dissecting my
dead Avanti due to aileron failure, I noticed this had been cut out and removed from the speed control. Just curious, does anyone have an answer as to why this is done, and has anyone else noticed this on theirs. Wonder if mine is the only one...

[TomPatton]

My friend's Avanti went in last week. After 50 or so flights, he was feeling his oats and was doing a lot "harder" maneuvering including snaps and tumbles. Toward the end of the flight he did a snap roll and then "lost" the airplane and it went straight in. Examining the wreckage, the aileron horn was pulled out of the left aileron. There seems to be enough of these now that it would warrant an investigation at the factory. I have tugged on mine and they seem ok.

Rick Pellicciotti

http://www.avantijet.com

Mine was also the left aileron. It appears that the only glue was all at the front edge of the control horn...
I also noticed that the rest of my control horns could barely be pulled out with pliers. Definitely had to do some serious tugging to pull them out. When they did come out, the whole bottom of the horn and spline had foam stuck to every part of the surface.
On the one that was loose after inspection, no foam on it at all. I will post pics later of both...
I believe the setup is strong enough for the job, IF enough glue is used. I am going to contact MRC and see what they have to say about it...

[T-CAT]

After dissecting my
dead Avanti due to aileron failure, I noticed this had been cut out and removed from the speed control. Just curious, does anyone have an answer as to why this is done, and has anyone else noticed this on theirs. Wonder if mine is the only one...

Hi Tom, that is pretty normal procedure. Cutting the shrink wrap on the ESC's hestsink is done in hopes of allowing the heat sink on the ESC to do its job, which is to help cool it during operation.

[HellHathNoFury]

I agree with you 100%... Definitely a flaw in the construction of this fantastic flying plane...
My next one will be modified for sure. Hopefully MRC will address this issue...

I doubt MRC can do anything about the gluing of parts on a plane... It's all relative to a Crap shoot ie a raw recruit starting or if you're lucky a seasoned veteran..It always pays to go through all the parts when receiving a new plane.. On my one I found a aileron clevis totally devoid of glue as well .. Moral of the story.. Never trust Factory gluing..Always check regularly after flts..

[Mach9]

I wonder how many pounds of pull should be applied to each one for a safe test. When you crimp coax cable ends they should be able to accept at least 50 pounds of pull.

[ltc]

Hello,
Would anyone happen to have any information on a P20 powered version of this plane?
Grumania sells a thrust tube designed for the P20 and this plane (so somebody must have built one), but I can't find any build threads or photos on the web.
http://www.grumania.com/xtcommerce/J...wing::833.html
I have this planes sort of big brother, a Krill Avanti S fc with a JetCentral Cheetah SP, and would really like to have this plane with a P20 as well.
I think the only thing missing (for AMA) would be brakes, but that should be straightforward.
Thank you very much

[TomPatton]

I doubt MRC can do anything about the gluing of parts on a plane... It's all relative to a Crap shoot ie a raw recruit starting or if you're lucky a seasoned veteran..It always pays to go through all the parts when receiving a new plane.. On my one I found a aileron clevis totally devoid of glue as well .. Moral of the story.. Never trust Factory gluing..Always check regularly after flts..

I check everything upon assembly, and before each flight...
Someone ask, how many pounds of pressure should you use when pulling on horns to check them. The thing is, we are talking foam here. Even if there is sufficient glue, the foam is only so strong. Normal flights with the construction as is may be fine, but full throttle snaps and tumbles is a different story. How much more could it possibly cost to have control horns with backplates and a couple screws. No more pulling or guessing if they put enough glue in it. Pretty simple fix really, if done at time of construction.
There have been enough instances of these failures that I believe warrants a modification of the control horns.
There is also a safety issue here. If one of these fail in the wrong place at the wrong time, and another pilot or spectator catches it in the chest at close to 100 mph, it will be a bad day for someone...
It's one thing to be out a few hundred bucks, but getting someone seriously hurt or killed is quite a different story...

[CAPT John]

My friend's Avanti went in last week. After 50 or so flights, he was feeling his oats and was doing a lot "harder" maneuvering including snaps and tumbles. Toward the end of the flight he did a snap roll and then "lost" the airplane and it went straight in. Examining the wreckage, the aileron horn was pulled out of the left aileron. There seems to be enough of these now that it would warrant an investigation at the factory. I have tugged on mine and they seem ok.

Rick Pellicciotti

http://www.avantijet.com

After reading these recent posts, I thought I should take a close look at the aileron horns on my Avanti. I found one aileron horn has started to pull forward digging into the foam toward the leading edge and showing some play. It looks a lot like the photo of Tom's post crash aileron horn, although not yet to the point of failure. Coincidentally it is also the left wing. The photo doesn't show it well, but it looks like the foam is compressing under load and causing the rear tab of the horn to pull loose. i believe I need to remove the horn, fill in the dent and remount it level in a more secure way. By the way, I have not done snap rolls or extreme maneuvers with the Avanti. This should not be failing after 15 flights.
John

[T-CAT]

When I received my plane, I gradually worked all my control horns out of their foam pockets, which can ruin the pocket a bit though, and reglued them back in with plentiful amounts. I'm not particularly easy on this jet and need it to withstand that, and so far so good. However, I'm always worried about it, so I check them every five flights or so with a little tug.

[OV10]

When I received my plane, I gradually worked all my control horns out of their foam pockets, which can ruin the pocket a bit though, and reglued them back in with plentiful amounts. I'm not particularly easy on this jet and need it to withstand that, and so far so good. However, I'm always worried about it, so I check them every five flights or so with a little tug.

And there it is ;).........way too many pilots(myself included) get complacent about pre/post flight checks.
These models require constant maintenance and mechanical integrity vigilance in a similar aspect as full size.

[toyhog]

My left horn pulled out in flight right in front of me. It was clearly a aileron problem so i threw the flaps full down. That stopped it from wing rocking. A lot of rudder and a little aileron turning into finial. Here i'm thinking i'm pretty slick with the flap idea. Oh crap my gear is still up! That was the longest 3 seconds of the day waiting for the gear to deploy.Hurrying i hit the dual rate switch instead of gear. I don't think the nose gear was all the way down but i saved it. It was only the left horn, all the rest are glued in tight. 140 flights and still going strong. Flying 100% stock on gens ace 6200mah 60c 6s 886 gram batteries. I bought 5 of them. No more having to charge large batteries at the club.

[foxtrot]

Can someone advise me about battery placement in an Avanti for the best CG. The battery that I will use is a 4000 60.