Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[rifleman_btx]

I just got home from my maiden voyage with this one and my F100, also with the 1900kv freewing fan now installed. I'm more than happy with the performance of it as is. And with the upgraded fan in the 100, man that was a wakeup from a 1600kv outrunner. One of the coolest things is seeing 2 eras of thunderbird jets sitting side by side. Especially now with the 100 having much stronger performance. Estimate the speed increase between 15-20 mph.

[gooniac33]

I just got home from my maiden voyage with this one and my F100, also with the 1900kv freewing fan now installed. I'm more than happy with the performance of it as is. And with the upgraded fan in the 100, man that was a wakeup from a 1600kv outrunner. One of the coolest things is seeing 2 eras of thunderbird jets sitting side by side. Especially now with the 100 having much stronger performance. Estimate the speed increase between 15-20 mph.

Congrats man! Yeah I put the 1900kv inrunner in my HK Mig-17 and it was a pretty good increase in efficiency and a bump in speed too! Not sure why the guys at Flex aren't using the better inrunners! FMS has a new line up of fans coming out as well! I have a couple on the way...

[gooniac33]

I got another 4 flights on mine this weekend! Loving this bird and especially since I have added this FMS 1500kv 8s set up! I can fly the plane hard and still get 4 min flights with 3.75v per cell when done!! Not to mention the packs not even being warm! that is a lot of time on a 5000 set up! really happy with it!

[e4dragongunner]

4 min on an F-16 ?? Quiet a milestone.... I remember talking to guys at JetJam years back that were getting 2:30 .... Ouch

[Hugh Wiedman]

4 min on an F-16 ?? Quiet a milestone.... I remember talking to guys at JetJam years back that were getting 2:30 .... Ouch

I'm getting 5 minutes on mine, with the 12 blade inrunner and a HobbyStar 8000 mAh 100C brick (not that bad at 895 g, only 70 g more than an HRB 6000). Battery just fits in width wise and she flies just as well as with a 6000 and gets off the grass (with flaperons and a slightly larger nose wheel) in less than 150 feet.

[gooniac33]

4 min on an F-16 ?? Quiet a milestone.... I remember talking to guys at JetJam years back that were getting 2:30 .... Ouch

yeah its pretty good! The FMS set up works wonderfully!! Here is a video from a lil while back... note the flying time... this was a hard flight too! I have since gotten even more used to it and fly it even harder. I plan to take it to an event this weekend and have my new runcam with me so more footage soon...

[rifleman_btx]

I feel like I can increase my timer on my F100, and I run my f16 around 4 minutes with identical battery life remaining. Around 3.75 per cell on my 5200mah packs. Quite thrilled with everything about this plane.

[Adop]

I recently got the F-16 High Performance with 9 Blade 90mm , what strikes me is the amp usage , which is around 130A
while I have the same Fan in the Sniper , and it consumes 115A max where can that be due , to the input of air or would it be the output ?

mvg Andre

[Hugh Wiedman]

Got 5 flights each on 4 aircraft today, including my FW 90 mm F-16. I've got the 12 blade inrunner in this (and now have that fan in ALL my 90mm EDF's) and it just flies fantastic. I've been using a HobbyStar 8000 mah 100C (IR meter tested it at 18C), but just picked up a couple SMC (Superior Matching Concepts) 8100 mah 20C batteries from Danny Sullivan. If you have a 12 blade inrunner in your F-16, you gotta try these batteries! Over 5 minutes of flight time (coming in with 25-30% left). The battery just fits 45mmX62mmX160mm, put as far aft as possible. Flying it balanced at 128mm (instead of the book 118mm) and it flies high alpha nicely and is easy to land slow with a nice high nose up attitude. The battery weights 904 gr and the 12 blade handles that weight with absolutely no problem, in fact it flies the same (take-off distance and vertical) as it does with a lighter 6000 mah battery, but gives at least an extra minute and a half or more. And I'm not just cruising around in boring oval patterns!

Some of you know I've been testing a lot of different batteries over the last couple of years using a Progressive RC Internal Resistance meter to get the actual C as well as a GT power meter to test them with difference EDF's. Generally, the advertised C is no where near the actual C. But the SMC Flight batteries are at or above their advertised C. The 8100 tested out at 22 C with individual cell IR's in the 1.7 ohm range and individual cell amps in the 170 range. The Hobbystar 100C tested at 17C, and every other battery I tested was anywhere from 30% to 50% actual C compared to the advertised C. SMC's are at least as advertised, if not more. The batteries are also about the same weight as others and the price isn't outrageous. The 8100 is $135. There 6200 40 C (currently out of stock ) weighs in at 814 gr and has a actual C twice that of other 6000's I've tested and cost $95. I'm definitely hooked on SMC's now. I've been using a 6000 50C weight 875g in my F-4 with the 12 blade, and it flies great with just under 4 minutes of flight time, but gotta stick that 8100 in there (only 29 gr more) and see what it does for flight time. Of all the batteries I've tested over the last several years, the SMC's are by a long shot the best, not only in actual C, but weight and cost. For me, that's a "Hat Trick". I got turned on to these by RudyD54 who uses the 5300 mah ones in his Mig. Those are excellent as well.

[Tigerman]

After buying the Venom then the F 86 and then progressed to the Sky Hawk I am really hook on these Freewing EDF .I want to progress to the 90 mm High Performance F 16 I am a bit concerned because someone at our field has the old inrunner F 16 and is flying it on the Admiral Pro 6s 6000 lipo .and it really struggles to get airborne and then it looks gutless in the air .So if I brought the high performance with the inrunner and used a lighter lipo ,say a 5000 or a 4000 lipo will this be a lot better then the old outrunner or is it still a bit of a heavy bird and maybe buy a different Freewing EDF ?

[Hugh Wiedman]

After buying the Venom then the F 86 and then progressed to the Sky Hawk I am really hook on these Freewing EDF .I want to progress to the 90 mm High Performance F 16 I am a bit concerned because someone at our field has the old inrunner F 16 and is flying it on the Admiral Pro 6s 6000 lipo .and it really struggles to get airborne and then it looks gutless in the air .So if I brought the high performance with the inrunner and used a lighter lipo ,say a 5000 or a 4000 lipo will this be a lot better then the old outrunner or is it still a bit of a heavy bird and maybe buy a different Freewing EDF ?

Tough question, a lot depends on your personal preference. I happen to love my F-16, but I have the 12 blade inrunner in it so can't compare to the 9 blade inrunner. I know a lot of people have complained that it flies "heavy", but I think that was mostly with the old stock outrunner. This is the only EDF I have that can handle and still fly outstanding (including take-off on grass and great vertical) with a 900 gr 8100 mah battery, and if that ain't "heavy", I don't know what is. As I said above, 5 minutes of flight time ain't nothing to sneeze at, especially since I'm not just cruising with it. If I did, I'll bet I could get 6 minutes or more. There is no difference in flight characteristics using an 800 gr 6000 mah, but I suspect that's more a testament to the 12 blade inrunner. I know the new high performance version has the 9 blade inrunner, but IMO, I would still rather have the 12 blade inrunner. I'm not sure the Admiral 6000 is the best battery for this bird. I have plenty of those and there are a little heavy at 840gr and the actual C is quite low, more like 25C. The inrunners get max performance out of a higher "ACTUAL" C battery (forget the labels). I've used an HRB, Roaring Top, Hobby Star, Admiral, Liperior and SMC in my F-16 and have to say, the SMC is tops. The 8100 for max flight time with an actual C high enough to get the most out of the inrunner and what you might like even better is their 6200 mah 40 C (and it is an actual 40C) which weighs in 814 gr.

The attached video is flown first with an HRB 6000, second with the HobbyStar 8000 and both without ordinance. Haven't done a video yet with the SMC 8100 (first flights on those were earlier this week-no video yet), but it flies even better with those and now fly it "fully loaded".

[rifleman_btx]

The high performance version has no issues getting off the grass. Mines off the ground in 60ft.

[Tigerman]

Think I might hold off on the Freewing F 16. Just seen the new Eflite F16 80mm. Looks to me the Eflite F16 might be the better buy when ever it becomes avaliable

[Gravythe clown]

I just bought the open box thunderbird motion had listed. I’ve been wanting to upgrade from my 70mm for awhile now the listing said yellowing on the white. I’ll see how it looks before I decide to do a repaint or not.

Gravy

[rifleman_btx]

Think I might hold off on the Freewing F 16. Just seen the new Eflite F16 80mm. Looks to me the Eflite F16 might be the better buy when ever it becomes avaliable

Just be forewarned, eflite had a nasty history of discontinuing planes in short order. The 4f was gone after 2 years. If I crash mine I'm going to the freewing because eflite left us no other choice.

[Gravythe clown]

Yeah that’s why I stop buy eflite and blade stuff a long time ago. They practically discontinue an item the day after the reveal it.

Gravy

[Aros]

That's why I rarely buy E-flite. They are well known for discontinuing their models in a heartbeat.

[James]

That's why I rarely buy E-flite. They are well known for discontinuing their models in a heartbeat.

Yeah that is always surprising considering the costs involved with making a new model. I'll be with Motion for 4 years this summer and Freewing has yet to discontinue any of the models introduced in my time frame let alone a majority of them that were released probably in your tenure too.

That said, this 80mm F-16 looks great for sure, but the lengths I see the marketing rep downplaying the 90mm Freewing to upsell the 80mm just seems odd. We have never marketed a plane in that way. We just market why our plane is awesome, not why it's "better" than a competitor model. And also he was using old information like how it used to not come with ordnance (the grey one has come with it for a long time now) and that it was underpowered (which was the case probably with the original power system, but now it has the inrunner).

That said, as a marketer, I never really had the chance to market a model from Freewing in my tenure that had a very similar-sized competitor version except for the FlightLine Corsair, But the FMS 1700mm was over 6 years old at that juncture so it should be "better". Most models Freewing produces are usually the only version of said model until others produce a version. Since I have been here off the top of my head the Freewing (Flightline) list is:

F-8 Crusader
F104 Thunderchief
Lippisch
BAe Hawk (before FMS)
F/A18C (Before Eflite)
F-22
MiG-29
Gripen
T-33
F-35
L-39
AL37
B-24
Corsair
OV-10
Dora 850mm
P-51 850mm

Wow, never really laid them out there. That's a great list! All still available, spare parts still available, and this represents maybe 15-20% of the total models available by Freewing.

Longevity is maybe an underappreciated value in an RC model. If you buy a Freewing, you can be sure you bought a model that you will be able to service/upgrade, etc for a long time without worry.

[Mizer67]

I've wanted a big F-16 for a while. But I'm completely not enamored with 80mm models that weigh >=3200 grams with a battery installed.

E-Flite very quickly cuts away from or avoids any real verticals, just like with the Rafale. Their new planes badly need to go on a diet. I'm sure they know what will sell to their market and the scale features are nice, but for me, if they come at a severe performance penalty the juice isn't worth the squeeze.

It looks like the FW F-16 is the only real option in my book at a size that's still easily transportable. Having a 90mm fan option makes a big difference. I wish the trend wasn't towards heavier and towards 80mm models. I don't find 80mms worth the the compromises any longer at the size and weight planes are being made.

[Gravythe clown]

Yeah I see there point comparing the new scaled down version with 2021 jet tech to a model that first came out in 2014 (almost 7 years ago). That’s like comparing your 21 year old girlfriend to your 50 year old wife. However my 50 year old wife has been upgraded and blows your 21 year old girlfriend away.
also like how they talk about the scale gear as though it’s the newest thing since sliced bread.

I am though happily waiting for my 90mm Tbird.
it was the last 90mm F-16 motion had on Friday they had 3, two ARF’s and the open box Tbird. On Saturday they had only the open box.
Maybe HH just did for the freewing F-16 the our née administration did for gun sales. IDK. But I got mine in both cases.

Gravy