Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[rifleman_btx]

Very nice, as an f16 video this is far and away one of my favorites

[Porkster]

My biggest limitation with my F-16 is FOD from the turf runway we have to use now. Has anybody tried covering the cheater holes with any success, or is there just not enough intake area without them?

there just wouldn't be enough air getting to the fan from the scale intake. You could try and move the cheaters to the top of the airframe and blank off the underside?

[toothbuzz@hotmail.com]

Thanks for the response, Porkster. I've considered that, but the cheater holes basically disappear in the air located where they are stock, and they really aren't that obvious on the ground either. Guess I'll just leave them alone and fly it off tarmac when I visit clubs that have it. I attend several events during the flying season so I'll get to fly it, just not as much as I'd like.

[urrl]

Some glide in landings. It's possible but if you lack the confidence don't try this at home!

[seaviper]

I do not recommend using the stock ESC with the FMS 1900kv motor...it will eventually burn up the ESC. It happened to me and several others...read the related posts on the RCG FW F-16 thread.

Sean

How did that burn up a 130A ESC? Were you using a different fan than the stock FMS fan? Do you have any data on the amperage you were running?
I'm interested because I have an FMS 90mm unit to put in the F4.

edit: after 30 minutes of searching on RCG, 30 minutes I wish I could get back, I have found nothing relevant. A lot of armchair experts on there for sure.

[F106DeltaDart]

I ran into the same issue running the FMS EDF with the stock 130A ESC. Static testing showed a maximum current of 126A, and the ESC would at first seem to act normally. The first couple of flights went awesome, but after about 5 flights, things changed. After about 1 minute of continuous operation (even at 75% or less throttle for most of the time), the fan would start pulsing as if giving a low voltage cutoff. I switched batteries, and re-soldered all of joints with no impact. After 3 emergency glide landings to the runway, and one belly landing in the grass, I was really getting fed up with things. I switched out the ESC for a YEP 150A, and after some reprogramming, all of my issues went away. Best I could tell, the pulsing that I experienced was an ESC overheat cutoff. Highly recommend switching ESCs with the FMS unit to avoid any unexpected emergency landings.

[seaviper]

Looks like the yep is the way to go then. I use a yep in my P-51. And I have the programming card

[EDFjetpilot]

How did that burn up a 130A ESC? Were you using a different fan than the stock FMS fan? Do you have any data on the amperage you were running?
I'm interested because I have an FMS 90mm unit to put in the F4.

edit: after 30 minutes of searching on RCG, 30 minutes I wish I could get back, I have found nothing relevant. A lot of armchair experts on there for sure.

I'm not claiming to be an expert, just passing along my experience. Yes, I was using the stock fan and motor from FMS. I bought it from Horizon.

Like F106 said, static amps were around 126 peak, and 124 nominal. I got around 30 flights out of mine. I only used full throttle for take-off and 1-2 passes. When mine.quit, I was at about 70% throttle and had just enough altitude and airspeed to barely make the runway for one of my best landings on this jet.

It sounds like folks are having better success with the YEP 150.

I've since retired my FW F-16 and now fly the HSD F-16.

Sean

[seaviper]

I think it unloads to even less in the air. That being said, that is not good news about the Freewing ESC. I have suspected the Freewing ESC in two separate incidents involving the stock 1550kv/12blade setup as well. The most recent was yesterday.
So I think I will be going with the YEP 150 and the FMS EDF for my 90mm jets in the future.

[gooniac33]

I think it unloads to even less in the air. That being said, that is not good news about the Freewing ESC. I have suspected the Freewing ESC in two separate incidents involving the stock 1550kv/12blade setup as well. The most recent was yesterday.
So I think I will be going with the YEP 150 and the FMS EDF for my 90mm jets in the future.

EDFs don't really unload in the air. Sometimes they actually pick up amps because there isn't enough air on the ground but once they get moving the fan loads up a lil more.

But that being said the ESC timing is almost always off when you see the amps that high. Make sure that it is set to LOW and it should be in the 100-110amp range. Anything more than LOW timing is just adding amps since you don't get any real noticeable increase in RPMs. I have been using the stock esc in my F-104 for over a year with no issues as of yet. My current FMS 12 blade fan with 1900kv motor is pulling the same peak amps but less at half throttle while moving more air than the stock set up did. I really wanna try it in the F-16 and see if it helps as well.

[purduephigam]

Anyone follow this cat on youtube? Thoughts on this afterburner mod? Pretty cool. I'm assuming some sort of water-spray mechanism?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSOrNZG40Fg

[toothbuzz@hotmail.com]

That's pretty interesting! Can't wait to find out the scoop on that.

[fhhuber]

EDFs don't really unload in the air. Sometimes they actually pick up amps because there isn't enough air on the ground but once they get moving the fan loads up a lil more.

This is why I recommend to people new to EDF (or glow ducted fans):

Tie the plane to a post with a fish scale, slowly advance throttle. Note when the thrust measured drops off with increased throttle. That is your max throttle until 50% of the runway is used for short field take-off. (and you don't want to go much higher until you have established some altitude and airspeed)

Actually, you can have a perfect inlet volute (you never will on an airplane) and still not be able to have the fan get enough air at full throttle with the airplane tied to a post.

[toothbuzz@hotmail.com]

For comparison.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdczvix3EiE

[F106DeltaDart]

EDFs don't really unload in the air. Sometimes they actually pick up amps because there isn't enough air on the ground but once they get moving the fan loads up a lil more.

But that being said the ESC timing is almost always off when you see the amps that high. Make sure that it is set to LOW and it should be in the 100-110amp range. Anything more than LOW timing is just adding amps since you don't get any real noticeable increase in RPMs. I have been using the stock esc in my F-104 for over a year with no issues as of yet. My current FMS 12 blade fan with 1900kv motor is pulling the same peak amps but less at half throttle while moving more air than the stock set up did. I really wanna try it in the F-16 and see if it helps as well.

I thought the same the thing, but I checked and even ended up resetting it just to be sure it was on low. Still, the issue persisted. Maybe it's an isolated incident, but I'd beware. Keep plenty of altitude in case you need to fly her back in with little to no power.

[gooniac33]

I thought the same the thing, but I checked and even ended up resetting it just to be sure it was on low. Still, the issue persisted. Maybe it's an isolated incident, but I'd beware. Keep plenty of altitude in case you need to fly her back in with little to no power.

It has hundreds of flights on it now. If something happens it will just be its time. I love the plane though and always check things pretty good before I make my flights.

I did my amp readings with a clamp meter and it was well below what the esc is rated at... let's just hope that I can get the max amount of life out of it!

[JLambCWU]

A couple of awesome evenings flying and jamming with the Tbird.
HP 1680 motor inrunner going in when the fan and shroud arrive from Motion. Density altitude is a HUGE factor with this bird flying it in the mountains near Salt Lake City.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmOmmYD-3iSznBSKJJEc-vQ

[Bajora]

Rob repainted his and had it up recently ... Dude has rude piloting skills AND airbrushing skills too!

[C17loadmaster]

Has anyone else had this happen? I pulled out of a high speed dive, as fast as it would go, and the plane pulled so many Gs that 2 of the missiles snapped in half... it what my 5th flight on the airplane and I fly off the golf course next to my house. So they were never damaged from transport or had stress put on them other than a few flights. The plane did show signs of rough or poor shipping. MotionRC gave me a new canopy but there were signs of pressure being put all over the fuselage. I should have sent it back but I was too impatient. I guess I’ll drill a hole through the center and add a CF dowel.

[C17loadmaster]

I decided to go 8s after I bought this from RC Castle. It was $190. I’m selling it for the same amount I paid so I don’t have to pay to ship it back to China.