Freewing 80mm F-5....Any thoughts?

[seaviper]

Man Gooniac that video is the best! Yours got up quick. I am planning on using the 4000 pack as we have grass and I have to blast out. I use this pack on the Scorpion for great performance. I would love to get longer times though. I have to live with my runway either way.
I hope the F-5 will do ok. We'll see soon.

Note: Do not adjust your television, the hills are red and the runway is green...

[DCORSAIR]

Two things I will warn you about this jet, very hard to see if you get to far out, the camo works, and it likes to dive down in the turns if you get them to steep, I think part of that is from using the 5000 batts but I heard it had this problem no matter what battery you use. On your maiden, pull power back after you get some altitude, you don't need it on your first flight and you can save some battery for your approaches, make small stick movements too. Other than that it is a great flyer and flies like its on rails.

[Alpha10]

Are you saying it's too heavy with the 5000? I like the xtra flight time, though.

Too heavy for the plane, no... I fly all of my 80s on that pack, but too heavy for the stock outrunner (I'd say so)

It'll fly, like I said though... Just don't expect much performance without an upgrade.

[AZFlyer]

Thanks for the battery, CG and throw tips. Sounds like a project, if I have to make a new battery tray.

Thanks!

[DCORSAIR]

You will have to make a new tray, it won't balance with a 5000 placed on the stock battery tray. Mine is all stock and it has great vertical with plenty of speed, I'm not changing a thing, it's hard to keep up with it as it is. Don't forget guys, make sure you calibrate the ESC.

[seaviper]

Hope to fly mine this week if the wx stays good. It arrives tomorrow! If it's anything like the Scorpion, it has plenty of power stock. I'll be using the 4000 as I like to keep weight down.

[Alpha10]

Hope to fly mine this week if the wx stays good. It arrives tomorrow! If it's anything like the Scorpion, it has plenty of power stock. I'll be using the 4000 as I like to keep weight down.

Great idea. Yup, and if you want to step it up in the future for cheap, you can just drop the 1820 inrunner in and run a 5000. Done. :)

[gooniac33]

Hope to fly mine this week if the wx stays good. It arrives tomorrow! If it's anything like the Scorpion, it has plenty of power stock. I'll be using the 4000 as I like to keep weight down.

4000 is the perfect combo!! I can get 4 mins tops if I am good on the throttle but usually around 3:30. You will love it!

[bill34207]

Found some video of mine from about a year ago. This club member's 1st attempt at shooting video If you go to full screen there's a lot of "speck in the sky" footage although he did occasionally get some of the lower fly-by's pretty good. The take off and landing footage are the best.

https://youtu.be/FJYp3OFtDzs

[AZFlyer]

OK, got the F-5 and maddened it this week. After looking at it, there was just WAY too much modifying that needed to be done to fly a 5000 battery in there. Besides, that seemed to make it very heavy. So, I flew it with a 4000 and it few great. Didn't need a single click of trim. It was spot on and few great. Had to do some elevator mixing with the flaps after the first flight, but after that it was perfect.

I'm going to stay with a 4000 battery and fly it as is.

thanks everyone

[gooniac33]

OK, got the F-5 and maddened it this week. After looking at it, there was just WAY too much modifying that needed to be done to fly a 5000 battery in there. Besides, that seemed to make it very heavy. So, I flew it with a 4000 and it few great. Didn't need a single click of trim. It was spot on and few great. Had to do some elevator mixing with the flaps after the first flight, but after that it was perfect.

I'm going to stay with a 4000 battery and fly it as is.

thanks everyone

Congrats!!!

[DCORSAIR]

Glad you like it, it is a fun one for sure. I went with a 5000 because that's all I have but I might have to pick me up a couple of 4000 to try out. Mine flies great too, glad you got it flying okay.

[seaviper]

Still waiting on weather to maiden mine!

[seaviper]

Well the maiden was uneventful. The book Cg is spot on. Zero trim. Excellent flier.I used the Admiral 4000. Acceleration is a bit slower than the Scorpion but top speed appears to be higher. The Scorpion did 114mph so there you go.
I love the F-5. Got two flights on her today as well as two on the Scorpion. Rain is going to set in for a week here I think. Can't wait to fly her again.

She might need a little down elevator mixed in with flaps. All landings were done with 40mm flap extension.

I got Mobius video that will be uploaded probably tomorrow. Couldn't be happier.

[gooniac33]

Well the maiden was uneventful. The book Cg is spot on. Zero trim. Excellent flier.I used the Admiral 4000. Acceleration is a bit slower than the Scorpion but top speed appears to be higher. The Scorpion did 114mph so there you go.
I love the F-5. Got two flights on her today as well as two on the Scorpion. Rain is going to set in for a week here I think. Can't wait to fly her again.

She might need a little down elevator mixed in with flaps. All landings were done with 40mm flap extension.

I got Mobius video that will be uploaded probably tomorrow. Couldn't be happier.

Super big congrats!! We got a radar reading of 121mph on our F-5s a while back. It is a lot faster than people realize and with the inrunner it may even be faster!

[seaviper]

[BIG JETS JOE]

I have the F-5 also. I fly the 4000 because the 5000 makes it feel heavy. The first flight was exciting to say the least but when I toned it down a little it flys great. I put a guardian stabilizer in it and it makes high speed low passes much easier . well over 100 mph. You will love this plane.

[AZFlyer]

OK, I've got 8 flights in on my new F-5, and a lot of what has been said I can validate.

• The thing looks great on the ground and in the air.
• It sounds really good, and that's the case not even at anything near full power. The 80mm fan sounds and performs really good.
• The thing is hard to see out at a distance in a turn. Those tiny wings just disappear out there, especially in bright sunlight. I almost lost orientation on one flight, and I think it took 10 years off my life when my heart stopped for about 8 seconds.
• No need for flaps on take off, unless you're flying off a short runway or want to get off the ground really quickly.
• This plane did not need a single click of trim. It was dialed in rock solid on the first flight, no kidding. I was very impressed with that.
• It's a little tricky to handle until you get the CG right, the throws dialed in right and the flaps and elevator mix just right. I find the nose does dip some in a tight turn, and I've found it somewhat unstable with gear down and full flaps. I've got to work on the flap/elevator mix and find the right speed to deploy both.
• Someone had made a mention somewhere about the nose gear door causing some flight issues when open, and I am finding that to be the case. I've never seen a plane want to balloon with the gear down, but that's what I'm finding with this plane...especially in a turn.
• I'm finding that unless I use full flaps, the plane lands really fast. When I tried landing with only half flaps and at what I would consider to be a good speed for landing, it wanted to stall. So, the flaps and elevator need to be mixed just right, or you've got a handling issue you're dealing with just when you're slowing down in the pattern for landing. That's how I almost lost orientation...I got too slow and in a bad attitude too far away.
• I'm flying with a 6S 4000, and that seems to be plenty of battery. I really don't see the need to modify the plane to go up to a 5000.
• It's very fast.

That's my experience so far. Looking for any tips on elevator/flap mix and throw settings.

Thanks guys

[gooniac33]

OK, I've got 8 flights in on my new F-5, and a lot of what has been said I can validate.

• The thing looks great on the ground and in the air.
• It sounds really good, and that's the case not even at anything near full power. The 80mm fan sounds and performs really good.
• The thing is hard to see out at a distance in a turn. Those tiny wings just disappear out there, especially in bright sunlight. I almost lost orientation on one flight, and I think it took 10 years off my life when my heart stopped for about 8 seconds.
• No need for flaps on take off, unless you're flying off a short runway or want to get off the ground really quickly.
• This plane did not need a single click of trim. It was dialed in rock solid on the first flight, no kidding. I was very impressed with that.
• It's a little tricky to handle until you get the CG right, the throws dialed in right and the flaps and elevator mix just right. I find the nose does dip some in a tight turn, and I've found it somewhat unstable with gear down and full flaps. I've got to work on the flap/elevator mix and find the right speed to deploy both.
• Someone had made a mention somewhere about the nose gear door causing some flight issues when open, and I am finding that to be the case. I've never seen a plane want to balloon with the gear down, but that's what I'm finding with this plane...especially in a turn.
• I'm finding that unless I use full flaps, the plane lands really fast. When I tried landing with only half flaps and at what I would consider to be a good speed for landing, it wanted to stall. So, the flaps and elevator need to be mixed just right, or you've got a handling issue you're dealing with just when you're slowing down in the pattern for landing. That's how I almost lost orientation...I got too slow and in a bad attitude too far away.
• I'm flying with a 6S 4000, and that seems to be plenty of battery. I really don't see the need to modify the plane to go up to a 5000.
• It's very fast.

That's my experience so far. Looking for any tips on elevator/flap mix and throw settings.

Thanks guys

Sounds about right!! The 4000 is more than enough for this plane with the 4500 being the limit that I would use in it. I always use take off flaps just to get in the air really quickly and full flaps for landing. I have my plane set up in a way that keeps it from ballooning when flaps are lowered regardless of when they are deployed. It took a couple of flights to get right but it works perfect now. I also ripped off the nose gear door landing on grass and never put it back. Before I removed it there were some issues with the plane doing strange stuff with gear down. taking it off works great....

[AZFlyer]

Yes, I can see why you left the nose gear door off. I think I have it dialed in now.

For me, it's about the right airspeed to deploy gear and flaps and not having to do any crazy maneuvers out at range when getting set up to land. I'm going half flaps after the speed comes down, then drop the gear and then go full flaps when on final. That seems to be the right sequence for me. I also dialed the flaps down a little and tweaked the elevator mix so there isn't a big impact when deployed.