Official Freewing 90mm F-16 Falcon Thread

[Aros]

Good job! She can bite with her heavy wing load but if you get her figured out, especially landing profile, she will reward you with awesome sorties!

[Hugh Wiedman]

After 2 years as my prize hanger queen my 90mm F-16 Thunderbird had her maiden flight. Was nerve racking on first flight till I got her dialed in with some trims. 2nd & 3rd flights she was on point and flew great. Wondering why it took me so long to get her in the air? Only been flying a couple years so wanted to get my landings down on these big jets. She has a 8s FMS 1500Kv EDF, Spectrum AR8360T receiver, Castle Creations 130amp ESC and Hitec D85MG servos for the elevators. Have some mixes added in , but will wait to try them out.
Flying weather is finally here on Cape Cod so the birds are in the air where they belong....

Sweet!

[rifleman_btx]

So this is what it looks like from the cockpit. Man I love how clear the canopy is in this thing.

[Aros]

So cool!

[SanExup]

It even sounds cool!

[rifleman_btx]

Here is another flight with the F16 in fpv.

[rifleman_btx]

I got to chase some folks around the field a little this time.

[Eric Gottwald]

Dear Hugh,
very well said👍. Have fun with the new CG😉.

Dear Hugh,
after I have flown my F-16 with a CG of 115 mm (without flaps and/or tailerons), I didn't notice any much better landing behaviour and the first flight ended up with a broken main gear suspension. However, for the next flight I programmed tailerons and flaps and it landed much smoother and easier. The next flight will be with flaperons and usual elevators. We will see what works best 😉. Did you fly yours with the 115 mm CG meanwhile?
Best, Eric

[DCORSAIR]

Dear Hugh,
after I have flown my F-16 with a CG of 115 mm (without flaps and/or tailerons), I didn't notice any much better landing behaviour and the first flight ended up with a broken main gear suspension. However, for the next flight I programmed tailerons and flaps and it landed much smoother and easier. The next flight will be with flaperons and usual elevators. We will see what works best 😉. Did you fly yours with the 115 mm CG meanwhile?
Best, Eric

I know your asking Hugh but I thought I would jump in, I have owned and flown 6 of these F-16's and I found 118-120mm to be the sweet spot for getting a good landing, 115mm is a bit much nose heavy but I did use that measurement for awhile when I bought my first one and flew it, then I worked my way back as I got used to it, I never used flaps so I can't say anything on that, my buddy installed a gyro in his F-16 after having trouble landing, I did fly his with a gyro and it does help on landings but I never installed one in my jets, just lots and lots of practice landings...

[Eric Gottwald]

I know your asking Hugh but I thought I would jump in, I have owned and flown 6 of these F-16's and I found 118-120mm to be the sweet spot for getting a good landing, 115mm is a bit much nose heavy but I did use that measurement for awhile when I bought my first one and flew it, then I worked my way back as I got used to it, I never used flaps so I can't say anything on that, my buddy installed a gyro in his F-16 after having trouble landing, I did fly his with a gyro and it does help on landings but I never installed one in my jets, just lots and lots of practice landings...

Dear DCORSAIR, thx for your post. As you said: one will need lots and lots of landing practice. However, there must be a reason for this! The E-Flite F-16 is landing so easily, what is different compared to the Freewing one? I haven't worked it out yet but I know as sure as hell that I will not buy 7 ones to practice it😝. BTW: I painted my first one in the Belgian Air Component Solo Display Team like yours in the AVATAR picture. This is one of the best air show liveries ever.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Eric,
I'm still flying mine balanced between 122-125mm. Tried it at 115mm and like DCORSAIR, found it too nose heavy. I'm now using a slightly lighter battery, the new SMC HiV 5900 which weighs only 740 gr, vs the SMC HiV 6200 I was using at 840 gr. Actually get more flight time and it seems to fly much more nimble (if that's even a thing). Actually now using that 5900 in almost all my EDF's, Mig/F4/F18/A-10 etc. I love it! Additionally, I've found that I still have to keep a little power on when landing with the nose up, in fact give it a little bump in throttle just before the mains touch to get the landing right, unlike other military jets I have (like the Mig/F4/A10).

BTW, your F16 is outstanding, love the job you did on it. Makes me want to get another and copy you.

[DCORSAIR]

Dear DCORSAIR, thx for your post. As you said: one will need lots and lots of landing practice. However, there must be a reason for this! The E-Flite F-16 is landing so easily, what is different compared to the Freewing one? I haven't worked it out yet but I know as sure as hell that I will not buy 7 ones to practice it😝. BTW: I painted my first one in the Belgian Air Component Solo Display Team like yours in the AVATAR picture. This is one of the best air show liveries ever.

I agree, my buddy has the Eflite one as well and I got to fly it too, it does land easier than the Freewing F-16, I can't explain it but it does fly very well, the Freewing is heavy and you have to fly it that way, once you move the CG back you will find it likes to lock in at a certain high alpha angle and then you just float it in using power and holding elevator, you kind of have to freeze on the elevator and not get into the roller coaster ride on final, once you loose it then you have to fight it to get it back on track and that's when things go wrong on touchdown, just take your time and hold elevator and power it in. Oh, it didn't take 6 F-16's to learn to land it, it only took two, I just sold them as I abused them and got many many flights out of each one....

[Eric Gottwald]

Eric,
I'm still flying mine balanced between 122-125mm. Tried it at 115mm and like DCORSAIR, found it too nose heavy. I'm now using a slightly lighter battery, the new SMC HiV 5900 which weighs only 740 gr, vs the SMC HiV 6200 I was using at 840 gr. Actually get more flight time and it seems to fly much more nimble (if that's even a thing). Actually now using that 5900 in almost all my EDF's, Mig/F4/F18/A-10 etc. I love it! Additionally, I've found that I still have to keep a little power on when landing with the nose up, in fact give it a little bump in throttle just before the mains touch to get the landing right, unlike other military jets I have (like the Mig/F4/A10).

BTW, your F16 is outstanding, love the job you did on it. Makes me want to get another and copy you.

Dear Hugh,
Oh, you're flying larger batteries, I am flying mine with just 5000 mAh packs which is why you would move the CG backwards. However, your packs are interesting since they are obviously much lighter compared to mine. However, I with the X-Tiger I hope I get used to the landings this time. And: thx for the flowers regarding the Belgian Air Component Solo Display Team livery F-16. 🤙

[Evan D]

The weight or size of your battery does not change where you should have your CG. I may change the placement of the battery within the aircraft to achieve the CG.

Dear Hugh,
Oh, you're flying larger batteries, I am flying mine with just 5000 mAh packs which is why you would move the CG backwards. However, your packs are interesting since they are obviously much lighter compared to mine. However, I with the X-Tiger I hope I get used to the landings this time. And: thx for the flowers regarding the Belgian Air Component Solo Display Team livery F-16. 🤙

[Eric Gottwald]

The weight or size of your battery does not change where you should have your CG. I may change the placement of the battery within the aircraft to achieve the CG.

Dear Evan D, of course you are right. I wanted to say that to achieve the desired CG with different battery weights, you have to change their position. Thx😉

[Evan D]

Ah, perfect!

[rifleman_btx]

Heres the new fpv setup for my 90mm f16. You can tell the vacuum effect on the altimeter from the edf. Im working on ways to fix that. Otherwise enjoy the flight! The upgrades include the HUD, auto flaparons activated by airspeed, and full elevon flying tail as well as auto trim to 1g.

[Elbee]

Heres the new fpv setup for my 90mm f16. You can tell the vacuum effect on the altimeter from the edf. Im working on ways to fix that. Otherwise enjoy the flight! The upgrades include the HUD, auto flaparons activated by airspeed, and full elevon flying tai as well as auto trim to 1g.

RM, HUD is OUTSTANDING! Best, LB

[rifleman_btx]

RM, HUD is OUTSTANDING! Best, LB

Thank you sir!

[rifleman_btx]

Got a couple g pull on the level off from the loop. According to the flight stats at the end 5.78G was aquired.