Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[dkalwishky]

I picked up the Thurnderbirds version over the winter at a swap meet, did the maiden flight yesterday. My first impressions are she flies heavy. I wouldn't say the plane in under powered but she takes time to build up speed (I see that others in the thread had had the same experience).

I'll decide at the end of the flying season if I'm going to keep the plane, sell it or upgrade the EDF to something with more power.

[C17loadmaster]

I did the FMS 90 1900Kv and YEP 150. It’s much lighter and cheaper than just a Freewing Inrunner upgrade. It flies a lot less heavy and has a big performance increase. You do have to modify the fuselage to fit the motor but with balsa filler and paint matched at my local hardware store for $5 it looks like it’s brand new

[gooniac33]

I did the FMS 90 1900Kv and YEP 150. It’s much lighter and cheaper than just a Freewing Inrunner upgrade. It flies a lot less heavy and has a big performance increase. You do have to modify the fuselage to fit the motor but with balsa filler and paint matched at my local hardware store for $5 it looks like it’s brand new

You have done what I actually thought about doing myself! The FMS set up is so much lighter and it helps a lot! I swapped it out in my F-104 and it transformed the flying of the plane! Much easier to fly and land now. Higher top speed and much better climb!!

[dkalwishky]

Thanks C17loadmaster, I'll check out the FMS option.

[dkalwishky]

I just ordered the YEP 150a ESC from HobbyKing. I had $6 in bonus points so I added the programming card and I got free shipping. Now I'll decide on which 90MM EDF unit to use, I'm looking at the FMS unit now. :)

I'll scan the thread to see if there are any posts about putting it in the plane and what mods need to be done.

[C17loadmaster]

I bought the card as well. I asked someone else what settings to program the ESC. I’ll attach them below. You have to watch a YouTube video to learn how to use it but it’s pretty simple once you see it. I had to solder the 3 female motor connectors and extend the battery lead. I bought the extension off amazon.

[C17loadmaster]

I only fly with HRB batteries. The 5000mah 50c have been great. The probably have 75-100 EDF flights on them. I decided to try the 6000mah HRB today and I have buyers remorse. The F-16 will get 4 minuets of pretty hard flying on the 5000s. I assumed I’d get a little longer of a flight from the added size. That was not the case. It obviously flew heavier and I decided to land at 3:30. The plane landed great, but wouldn’t provide thrust after it came to a full stop. I had just done the YEP 150amp ESC and FMS upgrade so I thought I fried something. I checked the battery when I got home and it had 3% left. I’m guessing the workload of carrying the extra weight used the battery up quicker? Or do you think it was just a new battery that hadn’t been broken in? I wish I stuck with the 5000... there was a noticeable difference in performance. Oh, that ESC and fan upgrade is a must... both are cheaper together that the freewing inrunner

[DCORSAIR]

Hey guys, if I do this FMS fan and motor upgrade on my F-16, I take it that it's not a drop in fit and requires some surgery on the fuselage and I can't use the stock 130 amp ESC??

[rifleman_btx]

I only fly with HRB batteries. The 5000mah 50c have been great. The probably have 75-100 EDF flights on them. I decided to try the 6000mah HRB today and I have buyers remorse. The F-16 will get 4 minuets of pretty hard flying on the 5000s. I assumed I’d get a little longer of a flight from the added size. That was not the case. It obviously flew heavier and I decided to land at 3:30. The plane landed great, but wouldn’t provide thrust after it came to a full stop. I had just done the YEP 150amp ESC and FMS upgrade so I thought I fried something. I checked the battery when I got home and it had 3% left. I’m guessing the workload of carrying the extra weight used the battery up quicker? Or do you think it was just a new battery that hadn’t been broken in? I wish I stuck with the 5000... there was a noticeable difference in performance. Oh, that ESC and fan upgrade is a must... both are cheaper together that the freewing inrunner

Ouch! Yes it did. There is a point when battery weight overloads the performance parameters of a given size of the plane. I would actually venture to guess if you had gone the other way, to 4500 or even 4000 you could have gotten the extra flight time due to not needing as much on the go stick.

[C17loadmaster]

Ouch! Yes it did. There is a point when battery weight overloads the performance parameters of a given size of the plane. I would actually venture to guess if you had gone the other way, to 4500 or even 4000 you could have gotten the extra flight time due to not needing as much on the go stick.

Yeah I kinda figured I’ll try it in other planes with less of a wing load.

[C17loadmaster]

Hey guys, if I do this FMS fan and motor upgrade on my F-16, I take it that it's not a drop in fit and requires some surgery on the fuselage and I can't use the stock 130 amp ESC??

The stock ESC will eventually stop working. Everyone that said theirs worked fine came back and retracted their statements with the eventual ruined 130a ESC. The YEP 150a and the FMS fan combined is actually the cheaper option and weighs less.

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah I kinda figured I’ll try it in other planes with less of a wing load.

There ya go, atleast it won't go wasted:Cool:

[C17loadmaster]

I put a gps unit in my F-16 with the YEP 150 and FMS fan. It clocked 111mph in level flight using a 4000mah battery

[rifleman_btx]

That ain't too bad at all!

[RCPilot66]

I really like this jet! I upgraded the motor to the 12 blade in-runner and WOW, it's quick and really good vertical! Not unlimited vertical, but more than enough.

[dkalwishky]

I really like this jet! I upgraded the motor to the 12 blade in-runner and WOW, it's quick and really good vertical! Not unlimited vertical, but more than enough.

Which EDF did you use?

[DCORSAIR]

I really like this jet! I upgraded the motor to the 12 blade in-runner and WOW, it's quick and really good vertical! Not unlimited vertical, but more than enough.

I upgraded my F-16 to the inrunner FW 4068-1680kv and it is just perfect, not to fast that you need expo but better than stock and even though vertical isn't unlimited, it went up as far as I could hardly tell which way it was going, love it, it was worth the investment. It was good stock but the upgrade gave it a little more speed and vertical and a great sound. I tried the FMS 12 blade 1900kv in my F-15, it wasn't any faster than the FW upgrade, so I didn't try it in the F-16, in the F-15 it's a drop in fit but the F-16 requires a little surgery, so that is the other reason I went with the FW, it's a drop in fit and I don't have to buy another ESC, these stock ESC's seem to be fine, lots of flights with no issues using the FW 4068-1680. So now my F-15, F-16 and the F-4 have the 4068-1680, sweet sound.

[C17loadmaster]

I upgraded my F-16 to the inrunner FW 4068-1680kv and it is just perfect, not to fast that you need expo but better than stock and even though vertical isn't unlimited, it went up as far as I could hardly tell which way it was going, love it, it was worth the investment. It was good stock but the upgrade gave it a little more speed and vertical and a great sound. I tried the FMS 12 blade 1900kv in my F-15, it wasn't any faster than the FW upgrade, so I didn't try it in the F-16, in the F-15 it's a drop in fit but the F-16 requires a little surgery, so that is the other reason I went with the FW, it's a drop in fit and I don't have to buy another ESC, these stock ESC's seem to be fine, lots of flights with no issues using the FW 4068-1680. So now my F-15, F-16 and the F-4 have the 4068-1680, sweet sound.

At first I was going to do the same and even purchased the Inrunner. I wanted the weight savings so I went with the FMS and YEP 150 because it was so much lighter and actually cost less for both components than just for the heavier Inrunner. I sold it on eBay. Do you have telemetry or a gps unit in yours? Just curious to see what is faster. My F-16 was 111mph in level flight

[DCORSAIR]

At first I was going to do the same and even purchased the Inrunner. I wanted the weight savings so I went with the FMS and YEP 150 because it was so much lighter and actually cost less for both components than just for the heavier Inrunner. I sold it on eBay. Do you have telemetry or a gps unit in yours? Just curious to see what is faster. My F-16 was 111mph in level flight

No, I don't have any idea on my speed, don't run telemetry or anything like that, I flew it stock and made the switch in 10 minutes and flew back to back and yes, way better than stock. I didn't go with the FMS because I didn't want to cut on my fuselage, the FW unit is a drop in fit and you can use the stock ESC. I wasn't impressed with the FMS unit in the F-15 so I didn't want to bother with it in the F-16. The FMS is lighter, but the FW sounds better, that inrunner is quiet so you can really hear the wooosh, which is what I like more than performance.

[RCPilot66]

Which EDF did you use?

Dave, I used the inrunner FW 4068-1680kv on both my Freewing F-16s. One of the guys in our club has a radar gun. Both of my Freewing F-16s came in at 113 - 116 mph straight and level on the radar gun.