Official Freewing 70mm F-16C Falcon V2 Thread

[Prowler901]

I just received the 90mm and the 70mm F-16 kits from MotionRC. Took the 70mm out this weekend, despite the overcast weather and 14mph winds. I threw on a cheap AIO fpv camera and flew it on low rates as I acclimate to the airframe. I am very pleased with it. Here is a video:

Cool video! Great music choice! :Cool:

It's nice to see one flying on 4S. That is what I'm building now. 6S batteries are just too rich for my blood. I bought the Arctic Camo ARF+. Just waiting on Motion to get the 4S power systems back in stock. Does anyone have any pictures of the stock ESC installation?

[wricksta]

Thank you sir! I’m very happy with the 4s 70mm. I have a bunch of 4s batteries from my other planes so it made sense for me to get that version. I’ll try and get pics of the esc location for you later tonight.

[gooniac33]

Got some speed runs in with mine this weekend. I didn't expect much but 102mph and 106mph are good numbers!! What was especially surprising was the 22mph High alpha speed.... Here are the videos...

[JohnVH]

You got it figured out! Cant wait to maiden mine!

[JohnVH]

Made an unboxing and build videos of the 70mm V2 F16 Camo, Enjoy!

[Prowler901]

Nice videos, John. I hope you get to fly her soon.

I've been working on mine slowly while I wait for Motion to get the 4S EDF units back in stock. I've upgraded the landing gear, and I'm adding some lights just for fun. I'm using the GT Power light set from Motion. I've also got the ESC installed with a BEC added and a Frsky current sensor installed. I'm going to install a gyro. I have the HobbyEagle A3 Super 3. I'm debating on where to put it. I saw where a guy on RC Groups put it in the channel under the refueling probe position. That's nice and close to the CG. I may do that since putting it up in the nose is very far from the CG.

Here's some pics just for fun.

[purduephigam]

I've always loved the F-16 and this arctic camo is just plain sick. I've contemplated a similar setup as this (upgraded gear, lights, in addition to throwing the 90mm missiles on it). If you wouldn't mind posting the finished product with the lights, I'd appreciate it!

[Prowler901]

Will do. They won't be totally prototypical lights. But, I'll post progress here.

[Hawk4me]

Fatal Flight on my 4s today :( right at the end of the video it literally flips over the opposite direction i'm turning and goes down. I'm trying to find out if it's a servo failure or not but doesn't matter much now cause it's gone beyond repair. I ordered the 6s Arctic Camo when I got home to make myself feel better :)

[Prowler901]

ACK!!! :Scared: Sorry to see that. Any thoughts on the cause?

Good choice on the Arctic Camo replacement. :Cool:

[Hawk4me]

Well Gooniac put a bug in my ear that it may have been signal loss. I've flown this plane quite a bit but now that I think back on it, it was a long way's out there i'm not sure why I let it ride out so far. It's a very good probable cause I think. It literally felt like I lost all control and you can see I had total control then it was just gone. So signal loss is what I'm going with I think.

I'm hoping the Arctic Camo is a bit easier to see cause this thing disappears on you pretty easily when it starts flying in a straight line. The 4s always felt really sluggish to me and having to full throttle it then wait a second or two for things to build up before you try making a turn with it made it almost a chore to fly. Long as you kept it good speed without slowing down much it flew great but get her slow on a 4s and better gun it and ride it out lol.

[fhhuber]

Very difficult to even guess what brought it down as there are a few failures that can do it and look the same. And impact tends to make more stuff not work.

I would kind of doubt the signal loss with 2.4 ghz. Disable the EDF/motor on a model. Set it on a table and turn on TX and RX system. Then wait 30 sec before turning off the TX. Note what happens.

We tend to bind with controls in neutral and all 2.4 ghz that I know of go to control positions at bind on loss of signal. (if you don't purposfully set the "failsafes")
The loss of signal would usually happen appx 2 seconds before hitting the failsafes (or positions at binding) and it would hold last command for those appx 2 seconds.
If that is neutral all controls and 0 throttle it should have just assumed a straight glide. It did not look like you were at an attitude that would cause a rapid stall on loss of power.

But I've not seen all 2.4 ghz systems... and the only way to know what will happen if you drop and destroy your TX (sneeze... oops. I HAVE done that with a 72 mhz) while the aircraft is flying is to do the test of turning off the TX.

The RX is the piece with the failsafe system. If it has power and loses signal it will go to failsafe (if it has failsafe)

[Hawk4me]

The crash pretty much destroyed any chance of figuring it out honestly. I am also leaning towards the possibility that the control board may have caused a failure as well. I agree with you that the attitude it was at and speed it was going it shouldn't have done that under normal circumstances. It looks like a second before the roll over it looses all power and slows down suddenly then flips over. Elevator servo could have failed on one side which would cause not only the slow down but also the rapid roll to the opposite side. I'm using an AR610 Spektrum receiver in it I run that in all my planes and never really had a problem. Guess we have to chalk this one up to mystery failure, the receiver is in the woods somewhere it shot out of there like a bullet. I had to cut about 10s of the video due to the curses coming out of my mouth youtube would've banned me LOL.

[purduephigam]

Made an unboxing and build videos of the 70mm V2 F16 Camo, Enjoy!

Cool jet, thanks for sharing. What afterburner were you using, Hobbyking? We'll see how my season goes this year, but this might be a winter project for me next year (new gear, LED, missiles, etc). I've heard people enjoy the 70mm more than the 90mm. I eventually plan to get both :Silly:

[JohnVH]

Cool jet, thanks for sharing. What afterburner were you using, Hobbyking? We'll see how my season goes this year, but this might be a winter project for me next year (new gear, LED, missiles, etc). I've heard people enjoy the 70mm more than the 90mm. I eventually plan to get both :Silly:

RC Castle 64mm LED setup. Id still like to add position lights or something to the bird, I wish they came with them like some of the others. Weather here is raining for the next week or two, if it ever clears, Im taking it up!

[wricksta]

Fatal Flight on my 4s today :( right at the end of the video it literally flips over the opposite direction i'm turning and goes down. I'm trying to find out if it's a servo failure or not but doesn't matter much now cause it's gone beyond repair. I ordered the 6s Arctic Camo when I got home to make myself feel better :)

Sorry to hear that. The Arctic Camo is an awesome scheme.

Made an unboxing and build videos of the 70mm V2 F16 Camo, Enjoy!

Love the LEDs for the afterburner. I've been thinking about doing the same, appreciate you posting that.

[purduephigam]

I did something similar with my F-15. The aluminum tape is a great and easy mod to better the visuals!

[wricksta]

Really loving this 70mm f-16. I swapped out the old FPV setup on my plane and replaced it with a Runcam Swift 2 and Foxeer 200mw vtx. Here is a video from this weekend. You can compare the LOS view with the FPV perspective.

[Prowler901]

NICE! :Cool:

Pretty cool camera mount and perspective. I've got a Runcam Sparrow Micro that I'm going to put in the cockpit of mine.

[wricksta]

Very cool Prowler. Let me know how that works out for you. Can't wait to see the videos from that perspective.