Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[PaulZ]

Somewhere along the way I have lost my subscription to this thread so I have re-subscribed...It's been several years since I had this jet. Love the size and scale appeal but never liked how heavy she was and flew stock. I have satisfied my large scale F-16 itch with the HSD 105mm F-16 in recent years, but she too, is a chunky monkey. However, having no idea when or if Freewing will be coming out with a New Gen 90mm F-16, I thought I would revisit this model, especially after seeing Jeff's (of Jeff's Custom RC on YouTube) fabulous job of converting his to the Arctic Camo (video below)...Now I want one again, and paint it up the same!

So before I sink my teeth through 20 pages I was hoping I could get the quick and dirty Upgrade/Mod Cheat Sheet...

I assume I will need to put a new power system in it. Looking for a great solution. Something that can help offset the AUW with the appropriate thrust to weight ratio. Looking forward to any and all information!

Thanks!

Aros, I found the perfect combination for this bird...here is a quote from my earlier post:
Mar 20th, 2019, 06:04 PM
New 1835KV upgrade! I upgraded my F-16 from the stock edf to the new FW 6S 1835KV EDF. What a difference! The model came to life and the thrust to weight ratio is perfect. I was thinking of going to 8S but I am glad I did not - the 6S setup is lighter and this plane does not need any more wing loading.

I had to add 30g of weight in the nose and move the battery forward as far as it would go. The new FW inrunner is 107g heavier than the old outrunner. I highly recommend this upgrade and the EDF unit is a drop-in replacement with no foam cutting needed.

[DCORSAIR]

I'm happy with mine to, that 1835kv works great for 6S, put one in the F-18 as well, flies awesome.

[Aros]

Good to know! Thanks for the info! I love choices!

This the one? Also did you have to swap out the stock ESC or mess with timing?

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...inrunner-motor

[PaulZ]

Good to know! Thanks for the info! I love choices!

This the one? Also did you have to swap out the stock ESC or mess with timing?

https://www.motionrc.com/products/fr...inrunner-motor

That's the one, did not need to do anything with the ESC or change timing.

[Aros]

Fantastic. Added to my Wish List.

[Rcfiddy1]

I have yet to maiden mine but I installed a FMS1900kv 12b edf and was wondering how it compares to that new 1835 fw edf.

[gooniac33]

I have yet to maiden mine but I installed a FMS1900kv 12b edf and was wondering how it compares to that new 1835 fw edf.

The 1835kv will win in top speed for sure. But that fan will not get as good of a flight time and the weight is considerably more than the FMS unit. With the FMS you will get a slight boost in speed over stock but the main benefit is lighter weight, increased efficiency and really good sound as well!

[C17loadmaster]

I agree with Gooniac. Like all planes, the lighter the better, especially in the F-16. If you keep the batteries light too it will be drastically improved.
I prefer 5000s (725g) and below. All my 5000s are HRB. With some of the hobbystar and roaring tops of late, you can go larger than 5k at probably less weight

[Aros]

Well, weight was always my primary issue with this model. I agree, if weight can be shaved using the FMS setup, I am all for it. I am sure the Freewing setup is good too, but for this model, weight saving is gold currency.

[gooniac33]

Well, weight was always my primary issue with this model. I agree, if weight can be shaved using the FMS setup, I am all for it. I am sure the Freewing setup is good too, but for this model, weight saving is gold currency.

With my f-104 it helps with shifting the CG into a better part of the range. I believe that it may also do the same thing with this plane.

[DCORSAIR]

It might help with the weight but no way does the FMS unit sound better, I had one in my F-15 and pulled it out and dropped in the FW 1680kv, now it has a nice woosh which is what I am into more than weight savings, the weight penalty is worth it so my F-16 has the new 1835kv in it now, I didn't really notice better flight times with the FMS unit but I did feel the weight savings.

[gooniac33]

It might help with the weight but no way does the FMS unit sound better, I had one in my F-15 and pulled it out and dropped in the FW 1680kv, now it has a nice woosh which is what I am into more than weight savings, the weight penalty is worth it so my F-16 has the new 1835kv in it now, I didn't really notice better flight times with the FMS unit but I did feel the weight savings.

Whoosh to me mean means wasted ampsand lost thrust from turbulence...so the sound of the FMS is much better to me. For sure was better sounding in the F-104 too...

[DCORSAIR]

Whoosh to me mean means wasted ampsand lost thrust from turbulence...so the sound of the FMS is much better to me. For sure was better sounding in the F-104 too...

That's what makes this hobby so fun is all the opinions, just like these afterburner lights, I could care less about having one in my jet but other people get a kick out of them and try to out do one another. If my so called stock afterburner lights burn out on my F-16 or the F-104, I won't even bother replacing them.

[gooniac33]

That's what makes this hobby so fun is all the opinions, just like these afterburner lights, I could care less about having one in my jet but other people get a kick out of them and try to out do one another. If my so called stock afterburner lights burn out on my F-16 or the F-104, I won't even bother replacing them.

Ok that's funny.....LOL Or you could do as I have done with my F-104 and use both the ring and a center mounted one as well...

[Hugh Wiedman]

Received the 90mm F-16 and have a bit more work to finish it out as a "Wild Weasel". In the meantime, can anyone give me some advice on how much, if any, up elevator they use with the recommended flaperon deflection of 25mm? I'm installing the upgraded inrunner and thinking of setting take-off flaps at about 15mm and landing around 20-25mm, but have no idea how much elevator compensation I need, could always start similar to the F-4 I guess, or the Stinger 90, but would love to hear from anyone in the know.

[Hugh Wiedman]

So it seems this "thread is dead"? Doesn't anyone out there fly the 90mm F-16 anymore? Trying to get some info on the elevator compensation when using take-off and landing flaperons, but nothing yet. I would guess it's similar to the Stinger 90 and maybe the F-4, a certain amount of up elevator with the flaps, however, the only post I could find in this entire thread was from 2016 and he stated "PLUS 19 with take-off and PLUS 28 with landing". Now I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, but to me that means DOWN elevator, and that just seems to be counter intuitive, but what do I know, just plugging in a battery takes all my brain power. Could this be the only plane in my fleet that uses down elevator with more flaps? If I program some up elevator and it really is down, I'll probably go into a stall before I know it. Someone of all you brainiacs out there must know.

[Aros]

Would love to help out but I never added flaperons on mine, and I sold mine eons ago due to the aforementioned "weight problem"...I would love to pick one up again but this time adding an inrunner so the power is more in line with the AUW. You could add in flaperons and just a hint of up elevator and then tweak accordingly based on how your flight(s) went. Good luck!

[EDFjetpilot]

So it seems this "thread is dead"? Doesn't anyone out there fly the 90mm F-16 anymore? Trying to get some info on the elevator compensation when using take-off and landing flaperons, but nothing yet. I would guess it's similar to the Stinger 90 and maybe the F-4, a certain amount of up elevator with the flaps, however, the only post I could find in this entire thread was from 2016 and he stated "PLUS 19 with take-off and PLUS 28 with landing". Now I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, but to me that means DOWN elevator, and that just seems to be counter intuitive, but what do I know, just plugging in a battery takes all my brain power. Could this be the only plane in my fleet that uses down elevator with more flaps? If I program some up elevator and it really is down, I'll probably go into a stall before I know it. Someone of all you brainiacs out there must know.

Hugh,

I haven't flown mine in years however I did use flapperons. I used what Pilot Ryan recommended in the product video. Flapperons will require up elevator (measured down on the leading edge...I think there lies the confusion). To be clear, flapperons without elevator compensation will pitch the nose down.

Sean

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just finished my "fleet" of four 90mm F-16's: The "Wild Weasel", the Lone Star Gunfighters, the Flying Razorbacks and the 115th Wisconsin Fighter Wing. Was going to maiden it this week but found major timing issues with the 155amp Gecko ESC with the 12 blade 4068-1835kv inrunner. Motion even recommended not to mess with the firmware update and reprogramming of the timing, so I'm now waiting on a Castle 130 amp and waiting to see if Motion will give me any credit for the Gecko if I return it. If not, I'm tossing it in the ocean, wouldn't feel comfortable even giving to a friend (or enemy) and worrying about it failing and destroying their plane.

I'm sure you've already guessed, but I didn't buy four F-16's, just did 4 different tail versions and about 6 nose cone versions with the help of Callie as I couldn't decide which one I liked best. The tail and nose piece change out in less than 10 minutes, so in theory, I can fly 4 different ones all in the same day. Had to also do some additional painting to help me with orientation (and cause I just can't leave well enough alone). If HP can do 4in1 printers, then I can do 4in1 planes. The upside is I only have to maiden 1 for all 4 to be set and the cost, averaged out over 4 jets bring it to less than $200 per jet, thereby saving me a total of $2,200 on 4 jets (that's the logic I used on my wife, and she can't argue cause that's the type of logic she uses on me when she returns from shopping). Of course the down side is if I lawn dart 1, they all go down.

I know the F-16 isn't all that popular right now, but it's such a bad ass looking jet with the missiles and lighted afterburner that I just had to have one (or 4). Everybody suggested the F-15, F-22 or F-35, but I just love the look of the F-16, and better to "look good than fly good". I wouldn't know a good flying jet from a bad one anyway as I fly them all bad. Besides, in test flights against it's replacement, the F-35, the F-16 won all dogfights and was never "shot down" (although the F-35 does have stealth and superior electronics and only costs $90 million more than the F-16).

Hopefully, I'll get the new ESC by the end of the week and maybe get to maiden it some time next week, just about in time for the next Hurricane to come through.

[Aros]

...Everybody suggested the F-15, F-22 or F-35, but I just love the look of the F-16, and better to "look good than fly good". I wouldn't know a good flying jet from a bad one anyway as I fly them all bad.