Official Freewing 64mm EDF F-22 Raptor Thread

[sanjoseraptor]

The Raptor is probably not the best for a first EDF. My first was the 3S 64mm Freewing Stinger. I added the landing gear and a gyro, and still have a lot of fun with that bird over a year later.

I've been told the Raptor needs to run at full or nearly full throttle the whole time, while the Stinger does fine with the throttle backed off. The 3S Stinger is relatively inexpensive, easy to transport, and flies on a very affordable battery (I'm running the 3S 1600mAh Admiral battery).

For a little more money, and a bit larger size, the Freewing 70mm Rebel is a pretty good first EDF. I maidened mine this past Sunday, and did just fine with no gyro (though there's plenty of room to mount one). The larger size makes it easier to see in the sky (and that's also going to be a drawback on the Raptor - that scale grey scheme is designed to not stand out in the sky).

If you prefer the idea of a scale warbird EDF, the L-39 is reported to be an easy EDF, though it's a larger bird and correspondingly costs more. Back in the smaller 64mm birds, the F9F Panther is said to be fairly easy to fly.

F22 64mm is my first edf. Mine is 3s version. I removed the landing gears and added a hobbyeagle gyro. I only use 100% throttle for hand launch then use 50% throttle for cruise about 4 minutes with 3s 2200mAh batery.

[Bazza]

why is it that with both the F22 and the F35 in the 64mm ducted size, that there are very few people, and far far less discussion on hobbysquawk compared to the 70mm and 70mm size planes. I would have thought that more people would be able to afford the 64mm than the 70mm and that would then show up as more people talking about the 64mm size birds. I purchased the F22 in the 64mm before I read all the comments about the 3S plane being so underpowered so I ordered this motor and made i 4 cell https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3285...27424c4d4bLMNV
in the 3800kV and have just about finished the edf change over and I have fitted the A3 gyro and am now waiting for some fine weather to have the maiden flight, but that will be some days off as we have a large front coming in off the Indian Ocean. Holding the plane vertical the edf can almost get it to hover at 95% throttle

[at2017axd]

Maidened my 3s version today, handlaunch at full power, easy to get going, easier to handlaunch than a funracer. Not fast but good reasonable scale flight, perfect landing. Needed almost no trim with 1800 3s a little bit more to the back than stock I think. 4s would make it more sporty and give more options to punch oout of nasty situations. Looked great against sky with some clouds and a setting sun.

[Naveda08]

Hello guys first post on here, pretty new to RC flying only been doing it a couple of months but def hooked on the EDFs. Here is my maiden of the "High Performance" version https://youtu.be/nPRA9d_5KQg then I had to upgrade the EDF since it was pretty lethargic. Went with the Xfly 3200kv and its def a whole different bird https://youtu.be/SKihdK8EqKI def recommend this upgrade.

[paulrkytek]

My Freewing 64mm F22, Blue Raptor Metallica with following modifications :-
FMS 70mm 2.25Kg static thrust 12 blade edf unit, sprung nosewheel, working rudders, lipo air intakes to rear of pilot The copper is peel and stick A4 sheets. I drew a full size scheme on tracing paper then cut through the paper and copper film in one go before applying to the mid blue paint. all up take off weight incl 6s lipo is 1.26kg, so it should get off our grass field ok

[Twowingtj]

Naveda08 Hey Angel, Welcome to Hobby Squawk. I thought that field looked familiar LOL. Nice work on the upgrade. Tony

paulrkytek Looks sweet!

[Naveda08]

Naveda08 Hey Angel, Welcome to Hobby Squawk. I thought that field looked familiar LOL. Nice work on the upgrade. Tony

paulrkytek Looks sweet!

Thanks for watching Tony

[Naveda08]

[paulrkytek]

Looking good, what was the final all up weight with the 3200 battery and where did the cg end up.. I am curious to compare with my own 70mm version before I test fly. . I suspect you have quite a forward cg which is perhaps partly why your flight speed is a bit quicker to maintain level flight and landings are a bit quick compared to your 2200mah video as there was less noticeable slow down flair. compared to your first video

[SanExup]

I did put a 64mm FMS fan unit in my F22 and fly it with an admiral 2500 all the way back. With a little foam cut out. It's nose heavy and I end up having to re trim elevator when I go back and forth between just a 2500 and a 2200. But I have been happy with the performance boost. I definitely prefer the balance of the 2200. And I'm too lazy to add weight and subtract weight based on which battery. I find it quicker and easier to add or subtract a few clicks of trim. I own way more 2200s than the 2500s.

[paulrkytek]

I did put a 64mm FMS fan unit in my F22 and fly it with an admiral 2500 all the way back. With a little foam cut out. It's nose heavy and I end up having to re trim elevator when I go back and forth between just a 2500 and a 2200. But I have been happy with the performance boost. I definitely prefer the balance of the 2200. And I'm too lazy to add weight and subtract weight based on which battery. I find it quicker and easier to add or subtract a few clicks of trim. I own way more 2200s than the 2500s.

My current setup is with fms 70mm 12 blade 4s edf unit working rudders and 1800mah 70c battery and weighs in at 1165 gms with cg 85mm back awaiting my maiden flight when field conditions permit ( currently very wet grass, a bit muddy and draggy ). Where is your cg with the 2200 in it ?

[SanExup]

paulrkytek It's like 88mm from the wing root. Roughly, 6 or 7mm from the rear of the rectangular plastic wing mount. I do have a small weight on the tail, for the 2200.

BTW, I also installed an xfly 64mm 4s system in my F9F but haven't flown it. Nor did I do your amazing wing mod. I've been tempted to land it on the snow but I know it'll get torn up.

[paulrkytek]

paulrkytek It's like 88mm from the wing root. Roughly, 6 or 7mm from the rear of the rectangular plastic wing mount. I do have a small weight on the tail, for the 2200.

BTW, I also installed an xfly 64mm 4s system in my F9F but haven't flown it. Nor did I do your amazing wing mod. I've been tempted to land it on the snow but I know it'll get torn up.

Thanks, I have about 25gm in the tail and currently balance out 8 to 10mm behind the plastic wing mount . I pick up the xfly edf unit tomorrow so I should have the F9F done before the weekend, I will post picture and details by then. Its just a question of field conditions now, I can fly the ugly stick, P51 and big wheel stuff no problem but I am reluctant to maiden the F22 and F9F until conditions allow. I can wait

[Naveda08]

Looking good, what was the final all up weight with the 3200 battery and where did the cg end up.. I am curious to compare with my own 70mm version before I test fly. . I suspect you have quite a forward cg which is perhaps partly why your flight speed is a bit quicker to maintain level flight and landings are a bit quick compared to your 2200mah video as there was less noticeable slow down flair. compared to your first video

The CG is considerably forward at 80mm but it is not something that bothers me much at all, it was more of a let's see how much more weight this thing can carry type experiment. I had some 3200mAh 50C(322 grams) packs laying around that I use on my 8s Eflite Thunderbird 70mm pretty much exclusively. Now I find myself pushing the 2200 pack forward to get a similar feel without having to trim. If you want to fly slower and high alpha around and such then the 2200 30c is much better choice IMHO, but if you want to zoom around and carry lil more speed then the 3200 50c works ok

[Naveda08]

I did remove the nose gear servo and installed my RX in the middle to keep as much weight off the nose as possible

[paulrkytek]

I did remove the nose gear servo and installed my RX in the middle to keep as much weight off the nose as possible

Thanks, that all makes sense, my main field is a bit tight and about 200 metres is the limit so in this case I need the power to get off the grass but do not have the space to go really fast and stay in bounds so I tend to fly more high alpha than high speed and try to keep the cg more neutral

[Naveda08]

Added some extra vents on top

[paulrkytek]

Change of colour scheme and lights added to aid visibility and orientation using 6volt leds fed off spare rx channel.

[Relaxibus]

Is there a need to calibrate the ESC? If yes, how it has to be done?

[Evan D]

Always. New build or if you change receiver, ESC or transmitter. All off/ unplugged. Turn on TX then put at full throttle. Plug in plane wait for two beeps then full low throttle. Beeps like normal and you’re ready.