Official Freewing 80mm EDF F-86 Sabre Thread

[rifleman_btx]

2 20x3 and 2 10x3

[Evan D]

Things like this are in the manual which is available on Motions site.

Hi everyone, I picked up an old one that I am rebuilding, but am missing the wing bolts, does anyone know what size they are?

[TBolt]

Thanks

[Elbee]

Hey Y'all,

It would appear that Motion RC has discontinued the 80mm Sabre Jet.

We have a hometown hero who flew these in the Korean War, Col James (Jabby) Jabara.

I had hoped to build his livery one day.

Well, if you snooze you loose, and I'd presumed this model would be around forever, like forever.

Not certain how it would work, but I do think MotionRC should let the community know when a model is going to be discontinued.

I am sure there are marketing reasons, but still it would be a nice service to provide, IMHO.

Onward and upward, I do like what they do over there.

Keep up the good work, MRC.

Respectfully, LB

[rifleman_btx]

You do have the fms option, just saying

[Elbee]

rifleman_btx

Thanks for the tip.

Agreed, I've been looking at those and it's a great looking model.

Just didn't want to start modding on a plane that really doesn't need anything...except a possible repaint.

And it's not a Freewing, but I suppose that's snobbery on some level,

I've been accused of worse.

Price point is decent, I figure I'll checkout the RCG Forum for reviews and maybe their classified for a used Freewing F-86.

Best, LB

[rifleman_btx]

Yeah i have a little of everything in regards to brands, but freewing is has the highest number of hanger slots taken at the moment

[davegee]

I enjoyed flying the Freewing F-86 for a long time. After tons of flying it for several years, I finally had to remove the goodies inside for use on future airplanes and trash the airframe. I hadn't thought too much more about this plane except when they came out with the FMS F-86 a couple of years ago. Since there was nothing currently out or available that I fancied, I picked up the FMS F-86 and received it a couple of days ago.

It went together very well, and I ran ground tests on it yesterday and early this morning. Then, the moment of truth. I pushed the throttle stick forward on our very rough runway and took off! The plane was really in the groove from the beginning, I don't think I added any trim, maybe a click or two of up elevator in cruise, but it flew like on a rail.

I remember from my Freewing F-86 that in turns because of the wing design it has a tendency to lose a little altitude and required some moderate back pressure on the elevator (more than I'm used to.). But it was very manageable, as was the whole FMS airplane.

The one thing I found remarkable is that this plane is SLICK, especially going "downhill" on final approach with gear and flaps out. It sped right past me landing long, but for both flights I did today, landings were very manageable and the reverse thrust was really critical keeping it from sailing off the end of the runway. I did NOT use the speedbrakes on either of these flights, but will start introducing it on the next round of test flights I do on it. This plane is currently in a total Stock configuration with no changes (yet) by me. I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far.

I'll attach a couple pics I took after today's maiden and subusequent flight I did this morning. I still have some minor adjustments I need to add to my transmitter, but I'm hoping for a very long and happy life for this plane with me. I'll work in weathering, pilot replacement from OEM, etc., as time goes on. I Love its classic lines and lineage from North American Aviation!

Davegee

[Elbee]

Yeppers, she's a beauty for sure. Best, LB

[davegee]

I enjoyed flying the Freewing F-86 for a long time. After tons of flying it for several years, I finally had to remove the goodies inside for use on future airplanes and trash the airframe. I hadn't thought too much more about this plane except when they came out with the FMS F-86 a couple of years ago. Since there was nothing currently out or available that I fancied, I picked up the FMS F-86 and received it a couple of days ago.

It went together very well, and I ran ground tests on it yesterday and early this morning. Then, the moment of truth. I pushed the throttle stick forward on our very rough runway and took off! The plane was really in the groove from the beginning, I don't think I added any trim, maybe a click or two of up elevator in cruise, but it flew like on a rail.

I remember from my Freewing F-86 that in turns because of the wing design it has a tendency to lose a little altitude and required some moderate back pressure on the elevator (more than I'm used to.). But it was very manageable, as was the whole FMS airplane.

The one thing I found remarkable is that this plane is SLICK, especially going "downhill" on final approach with gear and flaps out. It sped right past me landing long, but for both flights I did today, landings were very manageable and the reverse thrust was really critical keeping it from sailing off the end of the runway. I did NOT use the speedbrakes on either of these flights, but will start introducing it on the next round of test flights I do on it. This plane is currently in a total Stock configuration with no changes (yet) by me. I'm really liking what I'm seeing so far.

I'll attach a couple pics I took after today's maiden and subusequent flight I did this morning. I still have some minor adjustments I need to add to my transmitter, but I'm hoping for a very long and happy life for this plane with me. I'll work in weathering, pilot replacement from OEM, etc., as time goes on. I Love its classic lines and lineage from North American Aviation!

Davegee

For some reason, I couldn't post the other photo I wanted to with my above writeup. I'll try adding it here.

[jetfool]

Nice!

[Grossman56]

Good choice Dave!
I was thinking of this one for a winter project, great to hear that she's a great flyer. No surprise though, all my FMS birds have been rock solid.

Dan

[davegee]

Good choice Dave!
I was thinking of this one for a winter project, great to hear that she's a great flyer. No surprise though, all my FMS birds have been rock solid.

Dan

Yeah, I'd like to get a concensus on making mods on the FMS gear (if we actually do a group build) so that the gear doors will go up after the gear is down. FMS disappointed me on that score. I tried one of the offerings from Chris Wolfe RC Geek using braided fishing string on the main gear to do this, but it wasn't satisfactory for me in testing. Could be I needed a fishing wire closer to what he used. That might have made a difference, I don't know. For the nose gear, that is some sleight of hand with servos and servo wire plug-ins to make that door cycle like the real thing. A group build I bet would come up with answers that would work for this plane.

The new FMS F-86 has six sheets of waterslide decals, optional for the modeler interested (or daft) enough to put them on. Yesterday, I had a couple of hours free and was daft enough to put almost all of them on the plane. Looks pretty cool when done, and a bit more realistic. For coming from China, the English language was reproduced very well, just a few minor typos that I saw. Good drawings of location for the decals in the instruction booklet.

I'm taking it back out to the field tomorrow morning to do some more practice flights.

Cheers

Davegee

[F106DeltaDart]

Very nice Dave! I've been working on the FMS F-86 as well. I ran a separate wire for the nose gear door and sequenced it in my transmitter software.

Mine is in the middle of a major refinish right now.. Panel lines have been filled and wing covered in aluminum tape panel by panel. Before moving to the fuselage, I wanted to correct the speed brake geometry (they should be angled down more when deployed). Designed a 3D printed hinge block and a few replacement hinge section to glue to the existing parts. Also finished painting up a new pilot figure. It is resin 3D printed from Bastlero and scaled to fit.

[davegee]

Very nice Dave! I've been working on the FMS F-86 as well. I ran a separate wire for the nose gear door and sequenced it in my transmitter software.

Mine is in the middle of a major refinish right now.. Panel lines have been filled and wing covered in aluminum tape panel by panel. Before moving to the fuselage, I wanted to correct the speed brake geometry (they should be angled down more when deployed). Designed a 3D printed hinge block and a few replacement hinge section to glue to the existing parts. Also finished painting up a new pilot figure. It is resin 3D printed from Bastlero and scaled to fit.

Wow! Very impressive, F106Deltadart!

I've sorta run out of gas for the time being doing detailed redo's on rc airplanes, but when the right one comes along, I'll probably jump in with both feet!

I have a Spectrum DX 18 transmitter that has been very reliable for many years. Could you give me any more info if my present transmitter could be used to make the front gear door fully cyclable like the real thing when the gear is down? I'd be very interested in being able to get that nose gear door to cycle properly instead of just hanging down with the nose gear extended. I wish FMS would have taken care of this detail with the gear doors instead of leaving it for the customers to figure out how to do.

Love the proper angle of the speed brakes, too! Well done!

Cheers

Davegee

[Elbee]

Very nice Dave! I've been working on the FMS F-86 as well. I ran a separate wire for the nose gear door and sequenced it in my transmitter software.

Mine is in the middle of a major refinish right now.. Panel lines have been filled and wing covered in aluminum tape panel by panel. Before moving to the fuselage, I wanted to correct the speed brake geometry (they should be angled down more when deployed). Designed a 3D printed hinge block and a few replacement hinge section to glue to the existing parts. Also finished painting up a new pilot figure. It is resin 3D printed from Bastlero and scaled to fit.

F-106

Very nice indeed.

Jon @ Two Bros RC had also mentioned the speed brake servo(s) was/were a bit light on power, did you change those?

Best, Steve

[F106DeltaDart]

Thanks Dave! I hooked the nose gear up to an unused channel and used the sequencer function to set when it opened and closed. I did this on my IX20. Will need to check later what the exact setting were. Looks like it is available on your DX18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQphSWqKRtU

[F106DeltaDart]

F-106

Very nice indeed.
Two Brothers RC Jon had mentioned the speed brake servo(s) was/were a bit light on power, did you change those?

Best, Steve

I have not had any issues so far, so have left them stock. The biggest item of note for the speed brakes is to be careful when using then for the first time. Mine had one of the vinyl decals overlapping the door-to-fuselage seam. If you didn't catch this quick, its an easy way to burn up the servos..

[davegee]

Thanks Dave! I hooked the nose gear up to an unused channel and used the sequencer function to set when it opened and closed. I did this on my IX20. Will need to check later what the exact setting were. Looks like it is available on your DX18: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQphSWqKRtU

Thanks, F106. I'll check iit out. Probably will have more questions for you! Keep on your great redo of the F-86!

I did get my third flight on the FMS F-86 today. The best of the three I have done so far, and the first time I tried a landing using the speedbrakes extended. Worked great on a pretty light wind day. I have my speedbrake hooked up to the right slider switch on my Spektrum DX18. A bit of work for my finger to get over there to move it while on final approach, but I'll get better with it with more practice. I did have to do two go arounds as I was a bit higher on final approach with the runway than I like, but that was good practice doing that and retracting/deploying the speed brakes in the mix. Great airplane so far by FMS!

Still working on upgrades to this model, pretty much stock at this point. But still fun!

Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Thanks, F106. I'll check iit out. Probably will have more questions for you! Keep on your great redo of the F-86!

I did get my third flight on the FMS F-86 today. The best of the three I have done so far, and the first time I tried a landing using the speedbrakes extended. Worked great on a pretty light wind day. I have my speedbrake hooked up to the right slider switch on my Spektrum DX18. A bit of work for my finger to get over there to move it while on final approach, but I'll get better with it with more practice. I did have to do two go arounds as I was a bit higher on final approach with the runway than I like, but that was good practice doing that and retracting/deploying the speed brakes in the mix. Great airplane so far by FMS!

Still working on upgrades to this model, pretty much stock at this point. But still fun!

Cheers

Davegee

I was able to figure out one way to get the nose gear door to close once the gear is extended in the down and locked position, as the real ones did. I had an extra Doors/gear cable from my E Flite P-51D and plugged it into the gear and door for this plane. Works perfectly!

I think I'll take another stab at Chris Wolfe's plan to use braided fishing wire on his main gear doors that then attach to the main gear struts. I had some success, but not enough to satisfy me so I removed them termporarily. If this doesn't work this time, I might try to add some dedicated servos to do the job for the gear.

I ordered a 1/10 scale USAF pilot bust from Chris Wolfe that should be arriving in the mail tomorrow. That will be my weekend project extracting the "Chinese" pilot and installing him in his place (after I paint him, of course!)


Cheers

Davegee

[davegee]

Thanks, F106. I'll check iit out. Probably will have more questions for you! Keep on your great redo of the F-86!

I did get my third flight on the FMS F-86 today. The best of the three I have done so far, and the first time I tried a landing using the speedbrakes extended. Worked great on a pretty light wind day. I have my speedbrake hooked up to the right slider switch on my Spektrum DX18. A bit of work for my finger to get over there to move it while on final approach, but I'll get better with it with more practice. I did have to do two go arounds as I was a bit higher on final approach with the runway than I like, but that was good practice doing that and retracting/deploying the speed brakes in the mix. Great airplane so far by FMS!

Still working on upgrades to this model, pretty much stock at this point. But still fun!

Cheers

Davegee

I was able to figure out one way to get the nose gear door to close once the gear is extended in the down and locked position, as the real ones did. I had an extra Doors/gear cable from my E Flite P-51D and plugged it into the gear and door for this plane. Works perfectly!

I think I'll take another stab at Chris Wolfe's plan to use braided fishing wire on his main gear doors that then attach to the main gear struts. I had some success, but not enough to satisfy me so I removed them temporarily. If this doesn't work this time, I might try to add some dedicated servos to do the job for the gear.

I ordered a 1/10 scale USAF pilot bust from Chris Wolfe that should be arriving in the mail tomorrow. That will be my weekend project extracting the "Chinese" pilot and installing him in his place (after I paint him, of course!)


Cheers

Davegee