LX Model F4 Phantom twin 70mm to 90 mm conversion.

[ddsjoseph]

Some more photos

[Alpha]

Congratulations on your maiden, ddsjoseph, I know it's such a feeling of accomplishment when something you've worked hard on takes flight for the first time. I'm sorry to see about your dead battery...this bird doesn't want to glide at all. At least the model didn't flip over and luckily the damage is minor. I look forward to more of your videos! Do you have any changes planned for the model after having flown it, or is it good as is?

[F106DeltaDart]

Nice work on the maiden Joseph, looks like it flies much better than mine did! Power in particular looked fantastic, my upgraded edf units did not get near that much performance, and the sound is wonderful. Shame about the emergency landing, but damage doesn't look bad considering the circumstances. Almost makes me consider getting one and trying for a second time.. I spent so much time and money on my original and it only lasted maybe 15 flights with 3 crashes, only 1 of those being pilot error.

[Aros]

Great job ddsjoseph! I love watching the Phantom in the sky. Sorry to see that unfortunate end to the maiden but at least it wasn't a total disaster. Yeah like Alpha said these F4's have the glide characteristics of a brick. LOL

Looking forward to your other videos!

[Bogietrim]

Great job! Looks like it flew really well. I really hope someone comes out with a good one or I will have to go this route as well.

[ddsjoseph]

Thank you all for the great responses. I appreciate and all the positive encouragement. The plane flew great and the 165mm CG was spot on. I had this same model last year and flew with the original stock set up. It was horrible. It was under powered and flew like a brick. The sound was awful and on top of all that, it was a maintenance nightmare. Here is what I felt flying this plane with this set up. It flew like a combination of planes. The F4 glides like the Stinger 90, and with no bad tendencies. Turns like the Mirage/ Mig21. Great plane to fly. Looks like no other in the air. It actually floated and had a nice glide path and considering the lack of power it did land right side up. The damage was very minor. I have it all fixed up and just needs touch up paint. The front landing gear motor was damaged and the main landing gears got ripped out, which caused minor damage to the foam on top of the wing. That's it. I would not change a thing about this build. After flying it, I realized that I accomplished everything I wanted to achieve about this plane. I wanted a freewing quality F4 that was fast and sounded like a real jet. I believe I got it. I have only one small thing to add, the Afterburner LED. I ordered the red LED rings but got the Blue ones instead. I'm still waiting for it to arrive

(Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/US-2X-80mm-R...lUB9H~&vxp=mtr).

The inner diameter of the LED ring perfectly coincides with the inner diameter of the exhaust nozzle. I am using the Hobby King Advanced LED control board ($12) to control the Afterburner LED brightness, which is tied to the Throttle port of the RX with a Y connector. I still have to try landing with the Slats and the Flaps. Here are the photos showing the outcome of the repair after the crash. I will try to fly again next Saturday, if the weather cooperates.

[crxmanpat]

Great project! I'm currently building one of these, but will use the stock setup twin 70mm that comes in the Freewing Me-262. Seems to move the 262 along very well, and hope it will do the same for the Phantom.

Thanks for posting the details about the CG. I'll make sure mine is set the same before maiden.

[edwen303]

Great conversion done! Is your EDF the freewing 1680kv 12-blade? That unit would draw over 100A at full throttle and would be great for your setup. Just wonder how much wattage your Phantom is getting?

[ddsjoseph]

The motor and EDF is a Freewing 90mm 12 Blade 4068 1680KV Inrunner. Yes, It does draw over 100A. My Amp meter only shows up to 102A and it maxed out with this motor. The power was great It was as fast as my Freewing Stinger 90. I agree, the ME262 twin motors would be great and would save you lots of Modification time, however those motors come with 5Bladed 70mm EDFs and would not give you the proper jet sound. As one of the forum Pilots posted, the FMS inrunner motors for the YAK130 has 12 Bladed EDFs and have 1850Kv. The lower KV rating will give more torque and use less power. I, would go with that set up. Some of the guys at our flying field are working on this project as I'm posting. I have tried using the Freewing 70mm inrunners, and they work great with almost as much power as the single 90mm. The metal housings add more tail weight and your battery placement needs to be adjusted to accommodate for the CG. The only problem would be the power consumption. With the twin Freewing inrunners, the flight time might be less than 2.5 minutes. That's why I believe the FMS motors would be the way to go.

[dahawk]

Excuse me for drooling while watching your videos. Outstanding work and a wonderful project. The F4 looks so majestic , especially against your gorgeous backdrop. After all, who doesn't love the iconic and ubiquitous Phantom?

I'm afraid if I wait for Freewing to bring out a nice sized 90mm F4, I'll be waiting for the cows to come home. Do you have a build log for the 70-90mm conversion? Parts list? I would not the waste time and effort on any other plane.

Maybe we can hold a peaceful march on Barrington. LOL " We want a Phantom ! " " We want a Phantom ! "

Hawk

[F106DeltaDart]

Maybe we can hold a peaceful march on Barrington. LOL " We want a Phantom ! " " We want a Phantom ! "

Hawk

Better be careful how we phrase that... They might give us a DJI :Silly:.

[gooniac33]

good job!! the plane sounded and looked great! Just gotta set that timer!!

[ddsjoseph]

I have flown the Phantom several times since the crash. It is awsome. I will gladly help anyone who want to do what I did. You can email me at ddsjoseph@yahoo.com. I will forward all photos and help as much as I can. Justin Dornbush just posted the video on YouTube. The first flight was done by our best Jet Pilot at the field, Ron Gilner. Hope you guys will enjoy the video.

[ddsjoseph]

I will post more videos of the subsequent flights and I can honestly say that it exceeded my expectations. I have been working on another project, A4 SkyHawk by LX Models. Banana Hobby has it for $235 KIT. I would not waste my time with the PNP version because of the under powered 5 Bladed EDF. I added all freewing electronics with a 70mm EDF inrunner. I don't think it will do well, since the plane feels a bit heavy. There was no Manual with the plane and even Banana Hobby does not know the true CG. I hope we get this thing to fly well. I will post viedos of this as well.

[gooniac33]

I have flown the Phantom several times since the crash. It is awsome. I will gladly help anyone who want to do what I did. You can email me at ddsjoseph@yahoo.com. I will forward all photos and help as much as I can. Justin Dornbush just posted the video on YouTube. The first flight was done by our best Jet Pilot at the field, Ron Gilner. Hope you guys will enjoy the video.

Very cool! Loved the video! My buddy has one of these! He swapped out the fans for some xrp 14 blades first. Super fast but way to high of an amp draw. He switched those out for the new FMS 70mm fans that draw 55amps each and it is perfect now. Well over 1:1 thrust to weight and they run on 1 6s pack now instead of 2... I like the idea of a single 90mm fan too. Just wish freewing would make one...

[ddsjoseph]

Thank you "gooniac33". Here is the latest flight video. This time we managed to land it on time

[Bogietrim]

Stupid question, but what type of foam did you use as a filler?

Thanks!

[Aros]

Nice flight! Looks like it has nice scale speed, great sound...Tell your camera buddy the Russian Judge had to dock points for missing the landing though. LOL

[ddsjoseph]

I used this foam from Home Depot. This foam is a bit more dense than others and less porous.

[Bogietrim]

Thanks for that!