Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[gooniac33]

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

Sometimes the weight gain doesn't pay off. And it is pretty important to break in your batteries to get the most out of them. It can be annoying and time consuming but it has worked really well for me. Try to get at least 5 flights at low throttle settings, or just run it up on the ground at half throttle for a few cycles before you really start to beat on it. I try to get at least 10-15 low power cycles before I go crazy.

FMS has really done a great job on their fans!! My buddies and I have been experimenting with just the rotor mixed with other manufacturers housings on other planes and the design is really good! We actually have a set up that is lighter than the stock High Perfornamce set up but with much better all around performance! I am really tempted to get this plane and try it out with what we have come up with!

[seaviper]

As far as the gear go, check the little motor wires. You have to remove the gear to get to them. Mine had to be re-soldered on the F-104. And it's the same gear.

As for the batteries, a good break in is critical. I almost lost my T-45 due to a weak battery that was not yet cycled enough. On the old Admirals it took about 10 or so cycles. On the new ones, maybe 3 or 4 cycles. On my Turnigy HD brick, it took only 1 or 2 cycles.
They are all different.

[silver182]

Anyone know of a fix for the nose gear....arm Not Locking? Now the drive motor either doesn't go far enough or has stripped or something but darn thing won't lock down.....Oh well for now I'll fly with the gear down & locked (manually). Is there a trick to fix??
Hey just noticed I came up as Student Pilot...he he he...changed that....been doing this for over 40 years!! Up R/C over 40 years

[rifleman_btx]

Hey welcome to the squawk! More than likely there is a bend in the worm gear or a small malformation in the casing it rides in. Only way to fix that is to buy a new unit and transfer the strut from this broke one to the new.

[F106DeltaDart]

Anyone know of a fix for the nose gear....arm Not Locking? Now the drive motor either doesn't go far enough or has stripped or something but darn thing won't lock down.....Oh well for now I'll fly with the gear down & locked (manually). Is there a trick to fix??
Hey just noticed I came up as Student Pilot...he he he...changed that....been doing this for over 40 years!! Up R/C over 40 years

It could also be that the knee joint on the locking support is binding. Happened to my F-16 after a while. Removed the E clip, opened up the fingers a bit until the joint was smooth, and then it worked fine. No issues since.

[rifleman_btx]

Yes that is a good idea, would check that as well

[EDFjetpilot]

Anyone know of a fix for the nose gear....arm Not Locking? Now the drive motor either doesn't go far enough or has stripped or something but darn thing won't lock down.....Oh well for now I'll fly with the gear down & locked (manually). Is there a trick to fix??
Hey just noticed I came up as Student Pilot...he he he...changed that....been doing this for over 40 years!! Up R/C over 40 years

Welcome!

The actuating shaft from the retract to the strut could be twisted as well. That also calls for a replacement if so. Also ensure the set screw in the strut hasn't stripped.

Sean

[silver182]

Thanks everyone....new nose gear servo & nose gear strut system on the way to my front porch ....I believe the problem area is the servo drive output shaft slipped or broken alignment... also notice thing morning after a couple flights the allen set screw stripped out...time for the new setup....seems like a weak spot in the gear. The only other thing about this bird is it seems to be underpowered. Of course everything up here 5400 MSL seems underpowered. I'd like to see a souped up version....like the F-4....I just got my second one recently....now all I want to see is many paint schemes...the Blues first..

[F22]

I have had better luck with a different manufacturers landing nose gear same jet just stronger more reliable gear ,good luck

[silver182]

It could also be that the knee joint on the locking support is binding. Happened to my F-16 after a while. Removed the E clip, opened up the fingers a bit until the joint was smooth, and then it worked fine. No issues since.

I believe I found the problem after disassembling the complete nose gear system. The torque end of the knee joint locking strut...set screw threads were stripped out. Also I noticed the aluminium seems to be torqued out of shape to make that (critical torque alignment) sloppy....causing the knee joint to not over throw enough to lock...when this happens the nose gear will not stay locked in the down position. New parts on the way:(( Darn that didn't last but approx. 30 flights..disappointed as the gear basic design is great only thing lacking is refinement of aluminium strength at critical points! i.e. a little more beefy please....

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah exactly what happened with my P38. But the replacement worked very well. Since lost that bird. Whole other story. But wouldn't hesitate to use that replacement retract in anything.

[purduephigam]

Anyone ever attempt smoke in the Thunderbird version? Thinking about it now after seeing the t-birds this weekend LOL

[purduephigam]

I've scoured the web/YouTube, only to really find one example of smoke in a 90mm F16 and through comments found out they just rigged a smoke grenade to the plane. Being that the smoke apparatus at motion runs on 2 3s batteries, I can only assume this will be an incredibly tight fit with I'm assuming significant modification. Does anyone have any photos of their battery bay? Is it relatively roomy, or even possible to consider this setup without ruining the flight characteristics?

[mongo]

uhh, smoke coming out of an electric model is generally considered a bad thing.
juss saying...

on another note, anybody done the math to get an approximate scale for this 90 mm jet?

[purduephigam]

For a T-bird? I was going for a scale look. But after research, it looks like the electric smoke models are just not great currently. I'll have to hold off on this for now. Went ahead and grabbed the high performance 70mm F16!

[F22]

For a T-bird? I was going for a scale look. But after research, it looks like the electric smoke models are just not great currently. I'll have to hold off on this for now. Went ahead and grabbed the high performance 70mm F16!

I like my F16 handles like a flying wing but faster.

[vduniec]

Here is my repaint of my F-16. Decals are from Callie Graphics. This version represents one of the Aggressors based at Nellis AFB, NV. This was originally a 6S setup but it wasn't as peppy as I had hoped. I purchased the 8S version of the F-4 and swapped the power plants. This thing is a blast to fly now as an 8S! I'm happy with the F-4 as a 6S too, so it was a good move in my mind.

[Alpha]

That looks top notch! You know how I feel about all your repaints, Vduniec. This is another homerun in my book.

It sounds like you executed the perfect lateral move, too, in swapping the F-16 to 8s and the F-4 to 6s. Those are my optimal setups for these two aircraft given their differences.

[F22]

For a T-bird? I was going for a scale look. But after research, it looks like the electric smoke models are just not great currently. I'll have to hold off on this for now. Went ahead and grabbed the high performance 70mm F16!

YOUR JET IS AWESOME

[RMatteson]

I just bought a TB ARF F-16 and would like some input as to a EDF unit for it. My objective is to find a unit to give the good take off speed on a geotex runway about 325 foot long with grass on the ends of it. I want to use 6s power. I have a almost new FW 12 blade 1550kv and 130amp esc set up which would be stock power. I also have looked at the FW 90mm 4068 in runner and the FMS 12 blade 1900kv out runner. The FMS unit is the lightest and the FW IR is the heaviest, with the stock in the middle. I'm assuming that the FMS edf is all composite? With the heavier weight in runner because of motor. Look I want a good flying plane, but don't care how much vertical it has, but rather good cruising scale speed at 1/2 or so power to have fun my way. I have read the threads, with some saying stock power is fine, and others saying it needs all the power it can get. I have 2 FW 70mm F-16s, one gray and one camo but wanted the 90mm TB scheme as well. So should I go stock or get one of the higher power fans? Thanks for your help.
Rick