Official Freewing 80mm A-4E/F Skyhawk Thread

[F106DeltaDart]

Finally we can talk about this! Yet another extremely well designed version of a complete badass comes to market. We just received ours and will be working it up as well. Capt Mike will be releasing the build this week more than likely. Bajora, great work! The Marines scheme looks fantastic. I love these 80mm jets disguised as 90's. These present large but have a better wingloading because of it. We'll do our best to show this off of grass as well. Those concerned about grass should check out the clever wood blocking done by one of our forum members on the Avanti thread.

Magnetic avionics hump I mean come on! How cool is that?

Now we just need an F-106 and F-100 in this same size! I do love the 90 sized 80mm setups for sure!

[racerx600rr]

You should've known Freewing was going to come through for us... They always do!

There are a few that just HAVE to be done over time... This, an F4, big F22, updated 90mm F-18, a Rafale.... Did I mention a Rafale? :)

I know, my childlike impatient nature with the toys I want couldn't talk myself into that reality. So I pulled the trigger. and yes, the phantom, raptor and hornet are all other jets I "need" in my collection. I owned both an Lx f-4 and f-22 and while I enjoyed them, they are/were no match to freewings quality, and flight envelope performance.

So please Motion/Freewing, do my insatiable desire for these jets a favor, and don't keep them a secret!!!! I can wait for your excellent renditions so long as I know they are actually coming!!!! :Silly:

[F106DeltaDart]

So please Motion/Freewing, do my insatiable desire for these jets a favor, and don't keep them a secret!!!! I can wait for your excellent renditions so long as I know they are actually coming!!!! :Silly:

I would love to see plans announced earlier as well, but their current policy makes sense. People tend to get angry if a plane isn't available very shortly after announcement. See the RCgroups theads for the Durafly BF-109E or Avios Spitfire for a bit of evidence... And it gives their competition more of a heads-up on what they are doing. While I would prefer them announced earlier so I can pre-plan my purchases, it just doesn't make sense for them to do so..

[OV10]

Finally we can talk about this! Yet another extremely well designed version of a complete badass comes to market. We just received ours and will be working it up as well. Capt Mike will be releasing the build this week more than likely. Bajora, great work! The Marines scheme looks fantastic. I love these 80mm jets disguised as 90's. These present large but have a better wingloading because of it. We'll do our best to show this off of grass as well. Those concerned about grass should check out the clever wood blocking done by one of our forum members on the Avanti thread.

Magnetic avionics hump I mean come on! How cool is that?

THANX Ryan.......look forward to being convinced this can fly from my clubs turf runways.:Cool: (and I'll have a solid scapegoat to blame this purchase on :P)

[Alpha]

Alpha or Tony, what other Freewing jet do you think it most closely resembles in it's flight envelpe?

From the Description I wrote in Post #1:

"Pilots familiar with the Freewing MiG-21's handling will be instantly comfortable with the A-4's acceleration, thrust, speed, and docile landing characteristics of this scale class EDF jet."

I'll let the other pilots chime in with which aircraft they think are similar to the A-4. The A-4 is very akin to a delta wing, and so flies like one (MiG-21 and Mirage). It rolls like a drill, bleeds speed in extended banking turns, can fly slowly nose high with power on (high alpha). The Freewing 80mm MiG-21 and A-4 are also approximately the same scale within a tenth, for those keeping score.



racerx600rr, I can appreciate your desire to be given more time to budget and save for upcoming models. It's a sentiment others have shared on occasion. However, like most companies releasing a new consumer product, we wait until there is something worth announcing before announcing it. From time to time we'll have a longer period between announcement and pre-order, but there are always Pros and Cons to this approach. Some people don't want to be held on the hook for months until a prototype actually makes it to production, shipment, and delivery. Some people want to know as far in advance as possible. There's no silver bullet solution to appease everyone. Over the past ~12 months, our FlightLineRC Ta-152, F8F Bearcat, and F7F Tigercat, and our Freewing 70mm F-16 V2, all had very short intervals between Announcement and Delivery. More expensive models like the Freewing 80mm A-10 and Freewing 1600mm Spitfire Mk.IXc had longer intervals, giving people lots of time to save.

An additional wrinkle that reduces the appeal to us for long intervals is the fact that publicly forecasting our next year or two of product releases would give competitors a clear view of our product roadmap. Apple for example would never show what their 2018 or 2019 iPhone is going to be like a year before they release it, because then Samsung and other competitors might have enough time to adjust their own product features, pricing, release dates, etc. Not to mention the fact that people probably wouldn't buy the iPhone that's in stock at that moment but instead may choose to wait. Customers "waiting" is what kills consumer product businesses.

[racerx600rr]

From the Description I wrote in Post #1:

"Pilots familiar with the Freewing MiG-21's handling will be instantly comfortable with the A-4's acceleration, thrust, speed, and docile landing characteristics of this scale class EDF jet."

I'll let the other pilots chime in with which aircraft they think are similar to the A-4. The A-4 is very akin to a delta wing, and so flies like one (MiG-21 and Mirage). It rolls like a drill, bleeds speed in extended banking turns, can fly slowly nose high with power on (high alpha). The Freewing 80mm MiG-21 and A-4 are also approximately the same scale within a tenth, for those keeping score.



racerx600rr, I can appreciate your desire to be given more time to budget and save for upcoming models. It's a sentiment others have shared on occasion. However, like most companies releasing a new consumer product, we wait until there is something worth announcing before announcing it. From time to time we'll have a longer period between announcement and pre-order, but there are always Pros and Cons to this approach. Some people don't want to be held on the hook for months until a prototype actually makes it to production, shipment, and delivery. Some people want to know as far in advance as possible. There's no silver bullet solution to appease everyone. Over the past ~12 months, our FlightLineRC Ta-152, F8F Bearcat, and F7F Tigercat, and our Freewing 70mm F-16 V2, all had very short intervals between Announcement and Delivery. More expensive models like the Freewing 80mm A-10 and Freewing 1600mm Spitfire Mk.IXc had longer intervals, giving people lots of time to save.

An additional wrinkle that reduces the appeal to us for long intervals is the fact that publicly forecasting our next year or two of product releases would give competitors a clear view of our product roadmap. Apple for example would never show what their 2018 or 2019 iPhone is going to be like a year before they release it, because then Samsung and other competitors might have enough time to adjust their own product features, pricing, release dates, etc. Not to mention the fact that people probably wouldn't buy the iPhone that's in stock at that moment but instead may choose to wait. Customers "waiting" is what kills consumer product businesses.

Completely understand! I think I'm just sharing my fluster with having spent money that I really didn't need to on sub-par manufacturing when what I really want is now staring me in the face. :Whew:

[TSHobbies]

You should've known Freewing was going to come through for us... They always do!

There are a few that just HAVE to be done over time... This, an F4, big F22, updated 90mm F-18, a Rafale.... Did I mention a Rafale? :)

Patience is a "virtue" ..I so wanted an A4 myself, but given the price tag of the LX, LXs history of quality and design...and not to mention it was a 70mm...I'm glad I held out for a Freewing release...same for the F4..would love to have one, but prefer a FW or FL made version...

[racerx600rr]

Now we just need an F-106 and F-100 in this same size! I do love the 90 sized 80mm setups for sure!

YEEEESSSSSS a suber saber in 80 or 90mm would be sweet! Oh and a thunderbird paint scheme please!!

[gooniac33]

You don't need to make THAT far of a drive to see, and even fly, the new A4 Ray! ;)

i see that now!! Sheesh!!! I may have to come out that way.... it has been a really long time since I came out to the wine country....

[dkalwishky]

Some people want to know as far in advance as possible.

I fall into that camp, I'd like to know well in advance to what coming so I can decide what I want to buy but I completely understand why there is no road map of new planes coming. I work for an automotive accessory manufacture and we don't announce new products too far in advance, we don't want the competition to copy us right away.

[Alpha]

While we await the Pro videos from Captain Mike and Pilot Ryan, here is a quick video showing some "Behind the Scenes" CG/throws flight tests back in March. ~100+ degree air temperature, light to zero wind, packed gravel/dirt road. Nothing special in this video since this flight was more to evaluate CG and stability and mostly lower cruising speeds, but it does show a short takeoff without any "pop" (thanks to the raised AoA nose), some nice sounds coming out of that 12B fan, and a stable controlled landing with minimal power and zero headwind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL6p...ature=youtu.be

[TSHobbies]

NEWCE!

[RCjetdude]

Thanks for the video. So about 3 minutes of pretty hard flying on a 4000. That's not bad at all. It looks fast and really agile. I have not flown the Mirage but it reminds me more of it than the Mig. Either way being a delta it will fly great. Looks like another well thought out design. Cudos!

[dahawk]

The A-10 is hardly broken-in with 20 flights and now this. Sigh. Will look forward to Ryan and Mike's review and grass ops flight. If she cuts the muster on grass like the Mig-21, F-86 or A-10, then it's a simple decision. I'll be in . Might have to have another sell-off to fund another plane that has arrived much faster than I had thought.

Hawk

[Evoman]

GUYS......YOU ARE KILLING ME!!!!! Why was this a secret?!? I just spent good money on an LX kit and freewing parts to have one of these....I mean literally have all the parts new in the bags/boxes haven't even looked at putting it together and NOW THIS!!!! Killing me. :Angry::Sick2:

That is why it pays to just be patient in the long run. As much as the A-4 was a legend it was just a matter of time before it came to market. And like they stated before, they had been working on it since 2013 but could not not get it right at the time.
I know how it is to want something now and go with whatever is currently available at any cost and quality. I really want an AJS-37 Viggen but the only ones on the market is the Flite Test Viggen kit. Even though it is really cheap I know I would en up putting way too much money into it than it is worth. So in the mean time I will just continue being patient waiting for a Freewing version. There are plenty of other jets available to keep me busy in the mean time.

Since you still have the parts in the bags you could just try returning them and selling the your A-4 as is to recoup some money.

[Beeg]

I like the last minute reveals. I have plenty of planes to play with and other projects to keep me busy. What I don't like are the long waits for the product to come to market. Yes, I spent a small fortune on an Aeronaut Tigercat and all the associated electrics just to have a really cool, and more scale foam version released but that's the way the turbine turns. I'm not complaining.

[AceMigKiller]

It was difficult to contain my excitement over the phone when I was informed of the existence of this model.
The way Alpha described it, I couldn't help but think, "No way it's THAT cool".... well... IT IS THAT COOL!!!

This A-4 has a ton of presence in the air and on the ground.
A *ton* of thought went in to this one to make it not only great from a scale perspective, but also user friendly. It is packed with features and options.


Check out the intakes, split flaps, landing gear (set to as close to a scale stance as possible), tail hook, etc. All little things that help set this this Skyhawk *at least* one step above other models in it's class. Plus removable wing cannons, refueling probe (easy to make a cranked probe if you want a different A-4), avionics hump, and of course the weapons package. Much like the A-10 you won't notice much, if any difference, flying with or without ordinance.

There's tons of inspiration out there from the full-scale Skyhawk --- Various Air Forces flew them, dozens of hot lookin' schemes, and various mods people will undoubtedly do to make their birds stand out from the crowd. Can't wait to see it all!

In the meantime, here's some more pictures to help hold you over. Enjoy!

Vic

[RCjetdude]

Reserved.

Have you flown it yet?

[zrooster99]

Now we just need an F-106 and F-100 in this same size! I do love the 90 sized 80mm setups for sure!

Thud! A BIG one! One cannot dispute the role/history of the F-105 in Vietnam!

Anyway, I was bellyaching over on RCG...BL, wish I'd waited for this A-4. I'll eventually get one. Keep up the good work!

[AceMigKiller]

Have you flown it yet?

Let's just say I've been... busy and out of town. LOL
A simple question, yes, but I like to keep a certain degree of mystery to my involvement in the hobby.