Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[rifleman_btx]

I think it could be done. Do you have any other edf planes? Do they have any trouble lifting off? Minus the F22, that one can get off the ground if a mosquito farts.

[Peter Flinn]

I think it could be done. Do you have any other edf planes? Do they have any trouble lifting off? Minus the F22, that one can get off the ground if a mosquito farts.

Hahaha, yes I do. I love flying the freewing mirage 2000 and have a little trouble rotating however until I hit that launch ramp that my field has. However, I only got the mirage this winter here in Australia so the dew of the ground makes it very wet. I generally run the tanks and 3d print a centre tank that kinda rubs on the grass slightly but manage to still rotate. I still should be good with the Falcon I hope...

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hahaha, yes I do. I love flying the freewing mirage 2000 and have a little trouble rotating however until I hit that launch ramp that my field has. However, I only got the mirage this winter here in Australia so the dew of the ground makes it very wet. I generally run the tanks and 3d print a centre tank that kinda rubs on the grass slightly but manage to still rotate. I still should be good with the Falcon I hope...

Mine gets off grass cut to about 3/4", in 120 feet which is just under 1/2 your 70 meter runway. I'm using a heavy SMC 8100 mah battery though and have the 12 blade inrunner which has a bit more horsepower for take off. I have also put a larger 2" nose wheel on it and set up flaperons. I would definitely recommend you set up flaperons if you need to get off grass. With a lot of dew on the grass you may not be able to get off if it is too wet. The F16 has a rack of cheater holes just in front of the fan that can suck up a lot of grass cuttings and water. It's a spectacular flying EDF, easily gets into high alpha and is a blast to fly so you should love it. You definitely also need a true higher C battery for the inrunner to get the most out of it. The attached flight may help you judge the take off distance.

[Peter Flinn]

Mine gets off grass cut to about 3/4", in 120 feet which is just under 1/2 your 70 meter runway. I'm using a heavy SMC 8100 mah battery though and have the 12 blade inrunner which has a bit more horsepower for take off. I have also put a larger 2" nose wheel on it and set up flaperons. I would definitely recommend you set up flaperons if you need to get off grass. With a lot of dew on the grass you may not be able to get off if it is too wet. The F16 has a rack of cheated holes just in front of the fan that can suck up a lot of grass cuttings and water. It's a spectacular flying EDF, easily gets into high alpha and is a blast to fly so you should love it. You definitely also need a true higher C battery for the inrunner to get the most out of it. The attached flight may help you judge the take off distance.

Thanks for the advice and help. I will pull the trigger and get one:)

[Peter Flinn]

Mine gets off grass cut to about 3/4", in 120 feet which is just under 1/2 your 70 meter runway. I'm using a heavy SMC 8100 mah battery though and have the 12 blade inrunner which has a bit more horsepower for take off. I have also put a larger 2" nose wheel on it and set up flaperons. I would definitely recommend you set up flaperons if you need to get off grass. With a lot of dew on the grass you may not be able to get off if it is too wet. The F16 has a rack of cheater holes just in front of the fan that can suck up a lot of grass cuttings and water. It's a spectacular flying EDF, easily gets into high alpha and is a blast to fly so you should love it. You definitely also need a true higher C battery for the inrunner to get the most out of it. The attached flight may help you judge the take off distance.

Also mate, did you find the need to change your elevator servos? What about the power system; do you feel like it has enough power? Also anything I should be aware of with the plane. I have also been curious of where to have the elevator set at. Any reference for its location will be much appreciated.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Also mate, did you find the need to change your elevator servos? What about the power system; do you feel like it has enough power? Also anything I should be aware of with the plane. I have also been curious of where to have the elevator set at. Any reference for its location will be much appreciated.

I did not change my servos (probably just lazy) and have yet to have a problem after about 120 flights. I did, however, put a carbon tube around the elevator control rods to stiffen them up, not that there was a problem, just to be safe.
I'm using the 12 blade 1835 Kv inrunner along with a Castle "Cremations" Phoenix 130 Amp ESC with an integrated 5A BEC. I purchased the ARF at a time the F-16 only came with the 1750 Kv outrunner (which was not going to cut it for me) so put the 12 blade inrunner in and an ESC of my choosing. Now that it has been upgraded with the 9 blade 1900Kv inrunner, I probably would have just bought the stock F-16 or at least left the FW 130 amp ESC in it. Not sure what the difference in take-off or vertical is between the 12 blade and the 9 blade, but I believe the 12 blade has more punch, but may be slightly less on top end.

I definitely feel I have enough power, however, if you want to go to the wall, set it up with an 8S system. I don't have the right set of batteries for an 8S setup and with over a 100 batteries already, not too keen on adding to that inventory. I just helped one of my flying buddies put together the FW Thunderbird F-16 with an 8S system and the FMS fan. Flew it last weekend with me and although it seemed like it had a higher top end speed, I didn't notice that much difference in our respective take-off distances (he also set up flaperons, but left the stock 1 3/4" nose wheel and I changed to a 2" nose wheel). He also didn't achieve the 5 minutes of flight time I'm getting using the SMC 8100, but he got over 4 minutes. The battery compartment is large enough to handle just about anything and the airframe does not seem to be bothered with extra weight.

Nothing in particular that you need to watch out for, except maybe that if you balance it further aft than around 140 mm, it flies high alpha exceptionally easy, but on landing at a speed just before it will wing stall (which is about the right landing speed) it will automatically go into high alpha with no up elevator, rise up a few feet, stall and come down HARD! That's always Exciting! I fly mine at the aft end of the recommended CG at 128 mm gear down (which is 130mm gear up). I now fly it fully loaded with ordinance because it looks just so bad .ss and doesn't mind the added weight or resistance. You may also find the recommended throw on ailerons to be on the aggressive side, so definitely program in some lower rates as well for the maiden and then push it to where you feel comfortable later. I'm only using 18 mm of flaperons for take-off and 23 mm for landing. My neutral elevator position, balanced at 128 mm and using the 905 gr SMC 8100 is below. The Thunderbird F-16 used the same setup and required very little trim on the maiden. The included ring afterburner is OK at dusk, but fairly anemic in the daytime, so I also installed an RC Geek burner to compliment it. An F-16 just has to have a decent After Burner! You should enjoy this one, Happy Hunting!

[Peter Flinn]

Thank you so much mate for the help and guidance with set up. I will follow and tweak slightly to the things you have done and I think it should be sweet! I don't think I will have the urge to upgrade to a 8s setup purely because it costs a lot more and we don't really see a huge difference in speed. I got other planes for that purpose that are pushing 300km/hr which is plenty for me:) I see the f16 as a scale flying jet that I just want to enjoy flying it around watch those beautiful gears in action. So cool. I purchased the in runner 9 blade version and will keep posted on how it goes....😉

[millerjr88]

Does anyone know how to get the afterburner LED light to only come on at half throttle and above? Mine lights up as soon as battery is plugged in, which is just not scale. I contacted Motion and they were no help, just told me I had a bad circuit board and sent me a replacement that works just like the original. The online video shows and describes it only coming on at half throttle and above. I am using a Spektrum DX9 with an Admiral 6 gyro receiver. Everything works as it should except the stupid afterburner being on with throttle off. Not sure how you would do a throttle mix to fix this as the lights are controlled by the circuit board, not a receiver port. Any help is appreciated.

[DCORSAIR]

Does anyone know how to get the afterburner LED light to only come on at half throttle and above? Mine lights up as soon as battery is plugged in, which is just not scale. I contacted Motion and they were no help, just told me I had a bad circuit board and sent me a replacement that works just like the original. The online video shows and describes it only coming on at half throttle and above. I am using a Spektrum DX9 with an Admiral 6 gyro receiver. Everything works as it should except the stupid afterburner being on with throttle off. Not sure how you would do a throttle mix to fix this as the lights are controlled by the circuit board, not a receiver port. Any help is appreciated.

I've had 5 of the F-16's and never ran into that issue, wonder if the afterburner light is plugged into the wrong port on the circuit board or is that possible? I sold all my F-16's and don't have one in front of me, it was just a thought.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Does anyone know how to get the afterburner LED light to only come on at half throttle and above? Mine lights up as soon as battery is plugged in, which is just not scale. I contacted Motion and they were no help, just told me I had a bad circuit board and sent me a replacement that works just like the original. The online video shows and describes it only coming on at half throttle and above. I am using a Spektrum DX9 with an Admiral 6 gyro receiver. Everything works as it should except the stupid afterburner being on with throttle off. Not sure how you would do a throttle mix to fix this as the lights are controlled by the circuit board, not a receiver port. Any help is appreciated.

On mine it comes on at 1/2 throttle, so not sure what's up with yours. I suspect, as DCORSAIR mentioned, it is plugged into the wrong port, most likely one for solid lights (no blinking) which would most likely be the wing tip lights. See if you can find another light port. If you look in the manual on page 10, it shows the correct port for what they call the "Flame Light" on the circuit board, which is at the bottom of the board just past the Throttle connection and the UBEC connection. If it's plugged in correctly, then you've got a real mystery on your hands.

[Gravythe clown]

Check and make sure it’s not plugged into the UBEC port instead of the tail flame port.

Gravy

[ochoaoctavio89@icloud.com]

I need to get a better run with my 90mm. I know it has more speed in it, I just haven't got a decent pass with it yet.

I actually put a GPS speed tracker on mine on a dive and 8 mph wind I did 130 mph stock out of the box with the 1900kv inrunner

[rifleman_btx]

Nice, mine struggles to get 105 lol. I'll have to keep pushing it.

[ochoaoctavio89@icloud.com]

Does anyone know what is the trust on1900kv motors that come in the HP models.

[Cape Jets]

Mine gets off grass cut to about 3/4", in 120 feet which is just under 1/2 your 70 meter runway. I'm using a heavy SMC 8100 mah battery though and have the 12 blade inrunner which has a bit more horsepower for take off. I have also put a larger 2" nose wheel on it and set up flaperons. I would definitely recommend you set up flaperons if you need to get off grass. With a lot of dew on the grass you may not be able to get off if it is too wet. The F16 has a rack of cheater holes just in front of the fan that can suck up a lot of grass cuttings and water. It's a spectacular flying EDF, easily gets into high alpha and is a blast to fly so you should love it. You definitely also need a true higher C battery for the inrunner to get the most out of it. The attached flight may help you judge the take off distance.

Hey Hugh, What tire did you use for the 2" upgrade on the nose gear ?

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hey Hugh, What tire did you use for the 2" upgrade on the nose gear ?

I used the 2" Hangar 9 ProLite wheel. I had a couple in inventory from use on other planes, but unfortunately, I recently noticed that the wheel (as all the ProLite wheels) has been discontinued and doesn't seem to be available anywhere. It only required very minor sanding on the nose wheel strut so it would spin freely and I did have to slightly modify the gear door so it would close completely. Those were great tires that I used on several other planes, including the 2 1/4" on my SU-30 (no mods required), the 3" on my FL 1600mm Spitfire and the 3 1/4" on the FL B-24. The axel hole was drillable to fit whatever size axel you have. If you can find them anywhere, they're a great wheel, but like most things, if it's good, it's no longer made. :face_with_symbols_o Most other planes I use the Robarts (which tend to be wider) but the ProLite was just the right width for several of my planes. On our grass runway, the ProLite works great on the F-16 and SU-30. really helps the take-off roll.

The 2" and 2 1/4" Pro Lite compared to stock nose wheel and the 2 1/4" on the SU-30:



The 2" Pro Lite on the F-16 and the gear door mod:

[Cape Jets]

I used the 2" Hangar 9 ProLite wheel. I had a couple in inventory from use on other planes, but unfortunately, I recently noticed that the wheel (as all the ProLite wheels) has been discontinued and doesn't seem to be available anywhere. It only required very minor sanding on the nose wheel strut so it would spin freely and I did have to slightly modify the gear door so it would close completely. Those were great tires that I used on several other planes, including the 2 1/4" on my SU-30 (no mods required), the 3" on my FL 1600mm Spitfire and the 3 1/4" on the FL B-24. The axel hole was drillable to fit whatever size axel you have. If you can find them anywhere, they're a great wheel, but like most things, if it's good, it's no longer made. :face_with_symbols_o Most other planes I use the Robarts (which tend to be wider) but the ProLite was just the right width for several of my planes. On our grass runway, the ProLite works great on the F-16 and SU-30. really helps the take-off roll.

The 2" and 2 1/4" Pro Lite compared to stock nose wheel and the 2 1/4" on the SU-30:



The 2" Pro Lite on the F-16 and the gear door mod:

Yeh Hugh, those 2" Hangar 9 wheels are all gone I've got some 2" wheels to try to see how it works out. Thanks for the info. Do you ever make it up to the Fantasy of Flight field or the Cape Coral field. We have a couple of Otis Aero Model Club members that flee the cold Cape winters for Florida. If you do look them up Brian at Fantasy and Jim at Cape Coral. Keep Flying

[Hugh Wiedman]

Yeh Hugh, those 2" Hangar 9 wheels are all gone I've got some 2" wheels to try to see how it works out. Thanks for the info. Do you ever make it up to the Fantasy of Flight field or the Cape Coral field. We have a couple of Otis Aero Model Club members that flee the cold Cape winters for Florida. If you do look them up Brian at Fantasy and Jim at Cape Coral. Keep Flying

I've also looked all over for the 2" Hangar 9's with no luck, so if you find something similar, keep me posted. They were a nice set of wheels! If I ever get back up there, I will definitely check your field out. My wife and I took a 10,000 mile road trip in September 2019 to Jan 2020 and spent a lot of time up in the Northeast and your area and just loved it, so when/if this goes back to normal, we're doing a repeat. Hopefully Fall of 2022 (gotta be up there again for that!).

[Tigerman]

Have the 70mm F16 and love the F16. The 70mm F16 fly great. Thinking of getting the Freewing 90mm F16 but have been told the 90mm is a bit heavy and under powered but I think a lot of this is aimed at the old outrunner version. What difference does the 90mm inrunner motor make to the 90mm F16. Been told the Eflite 80mm F16 would be a better buy but I like Freewing with their back up service
So is the 90mm HP F16 OK on power and how does it compare with Eflite 80mm F16?

[rifleman_btx]

I really love how the inrunner version flys with a 6s 5200 pack