Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

[Dawgface]

Hi all. Has anyone flown their Panther with the optional landing gear? If so were they satisfactory?
No grass around our desert paved airstrip so the gear is mandatory.
I'm thinking seriously about ordering one.
Thanks in Advance
Lou

[Loneflier]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Wish I could help you on the landing gear question. I have the F9F and it is one of the first EDF jets I flew, and I still enjoy flying it, however, I have never tried the optional gear for it since I fly off grass. It is an easy plane to handlaunch and land though. Good luck to you if you get it!

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings,

Funny thing....

I just epo'd the landing gear on my F9F Panther today!!!

If the wind stays down to a wonderful 2-5mph as predicted this weekend I'll get a chance to check them out and let you know. Initially, they appear to be as robust as anything else i've seen in a bird of this scale. Considering they're only $10 and change with a steerable nose gear/servo, I think they are a steal.

Stay tunes.

Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[Hippie 64]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

I have them but have not flown it yet . Once you the nose gear in your battery hits so be aware when you set up everything . You don't notice til you turn

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings Guys,

Agreed.....

I did notice that the gear does limit how far forward the battery can now go.

Might have to add a bit of weight to be able to hold the battery off slightly from the gear.
Another little experiment for the weekend.

Bill L.
in Okla.

[colemn615]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

I fly with the landing gear. I use the Admiral 3s 1600mah battery pushed all the way forward. I would start to far forward and work your way back. This play will not fly very well if it's tail heavy at all. I recommend using 30 minute epoxy for the mains and some double sided tape for the front. This way if you need to make any adjustments or anything you can get it out.

Good luck I take mine with me anytime the wind is less than 10 mph.

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings Colemn615,

Indeed, I was messing around and put a 2200mAh 3-cell in it as far forward as it would go just for grins and giggles and tried lifting it at the designated CG points and it was still dipping a bit toward the tail.

I did used plenty of epoxy on the main gear some on the front but as it was a really snug fit, just enough to still allow for any necessary changes/alterations.

I'll know more this weekend.

Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[Dawgface]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Thanks guys I'm pretty well sold on ordering one now! There is a guy at the field with one w/out the LG so I'll ask him if he wants me to order him one when I order.
Thanks again
Dawgface

[RonF]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Hey Rocket,

I would have thought that adding the LG would make the plane more nose heavy so one would need to move the battery pack aft. I don't own this plane but it is on my wishlist with the LG option. I have the F-86 and Stinger 64 (3S) and use the 2200 pack. For both planes, I have to move the pack aft about as far as I can to get a good CG. My impression of the Freewing stuff is that they make it so you do have extra room to put in a larger pack than suggested and can still get the CG needed.

Am I wrong in assuming that you were just barely tail heavy without the LG? Or you had to put the battery as far forward as the LG would allow to get the proper CG and w/o LG you were fine? Just asking as I like ROG and adding LG to the Stinger would be something I'd like to do as well as get a Panther with the optional LG. My concern is with the added weight of the nose LG, I would not be able to move the battery far enough back to compensate.

Thanks,

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings Ron,

To tell the truth, I have never experienced a plane as tail-heavy as the F9F (with or without the LG), IF you want it to CG where it is supposed to (36mm or 1 3/8"). Now, and I believe it has been mentioned by someone here, one would think the inclusion of the nose gear servo would provide the additional nose weight to allow the CG to lock in and perhaps even require moving the battery aft, but NOOOOO!

The nose servo is not heavy enough to make up the fore weight difference for the loss of no longer being able to move the battery as far forward as you could BEFORE the nose servo was installed!!

I learned this the really hard way. I THOUGHT I had it CG'd to an acceptable range. It tracked bullet straight down the runway multiple times without even hinting that the nose gear wanted to leave the tarmac.
However, when I added some elevator you would have thought I launched one of my rockets!!! It simply went vertical with authority in both directions.

So, the bottom line if one wishes to add the landing gear to this EDF, and maintain relative proximity to the spec'd CG, is to still move the battery as far forward as possible (mostly until it rests against the nose servo) and understand that additional weight will be required to make up for the lost forward travel of the battery and that the servo weight is not enough to make up the difference. I will have a better idea of how much weight when I'm through experimenting. An early guess might be 1/2 to 3/4 oz.

Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[wayne hall]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Hi f9f fans I just pick up one and ordered a 2836 3500 KV motor plus a 40 amp ESC , planning to use a 4s batteries and fly off of short grass , so let the beat down begin

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings Wayne,

Congrats and best of luck with your mod set up.
I will be curious to see how the 4S set up works with this super lite EDF and only 28" wing span.

Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[RonF]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Thanks for the info, Rocket. That is just what I was wanting. Will have to think on this. I do have a spare 64mm fan unit with ESC set up for 4S. May have to give that a try.

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings,

I wanted to follow up on the Freewing F9F fiasco as I have been experiencing it.

First off, and I will once again reiterate an earlier comment on the plane....
I have NEVER experienced a plane as uncharateristically tail heavy as this plane!!! Especially with such a short fuse length.

No matter what I try, once in the air this plane just wants to go nose up! And I mean straight up!
I just don't understand it... On the stand it CG's at level to slightly nose heavy, right where it should be.

The first flight, saw it rocket up and rocket down. (effected repairs)

The second flight, w/1&1/2oz lead in the nose PLUS a 1600mAh 3-cell shoved as far forward as possible saw it as still tail heavy and uncontrollable thus, rocket up and rocket down. (effected repairs)

The third flight, again w/1&1/2oz lead in the nose PLUS 1800mAh 3-cell moved to allow for the correct CG point - favoring nose heavy - and STILL tail heavy!!! Now, for the third flight I asked the best pilot at our field to fly the F9F (taking me out of the equation) and the results were the same...... Nose Up, No Control, Rocket Down!!! (Tired of effecting repairs!!!)

I have discussed this situation with multiple people, had pilots varify the CG on the plane prior to flights, and had a VERY experienced pilot attempt to fly this plane, ALL with the same results.
We are Bumfuddled!!!

Other than trying a 4S pack (which I doubt would fit without carving), I am out of ideas on this plane.

Bottom line is I was really dissapointed, especially after reading so many great reviews on the F9F.

Clear Skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[JAG]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Just a quick note: I have several flights on the Panther with the landing gear. This was off very short grass and it tracked great both on take off and landings. It also flys great, super trainer for ducted fan flying. Hope that helps.

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings JAG,

Like you, the majority of folks who have this plane speak very highly of it as evidenced by the 50+ reviews on the item page.
There are a few instances where pilots espressed have their planes fly extremely tail heavy.

It's just a very strange situation and mostly frustrating because I'm the type that can't stand not being able to figure somethime out. Especially, when I know I've followed the appropriate procedures.

I feel there must be something I'm missing because too many pilots say they just shove a battery in the nose and off she goes!!

I'm almost to the point where I want to buy another one just to get it figured out......

Thank you for your input.

Clear skies

Bill L.
in Okla.

[Loneflier]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Rocketeer-Sorry you are having so much trouble with your Panther. I don't understand what happened with yours, but mine has been a joy from the first flight. It has been a while since I built it, but I believe I did have to add about 1.5oz of weight to the nose, and I fly with a 1500mAH 3 cell battery shoved as far forward as possible. I just checked the marks on mine, and I am using a CG that is 1.25" back from the leading edge right at where the blue ends and the yellow begins on the wing. I also cut the aileron throws back to about 60% and it is still very sensitive in flight. I am running expo at 40%. Again, mine has no gear, and I simply handlaunch upwards at maybe a 15-20 degree angle at about 3/4 throttle. I just flew it this weekend and had a really good time with it. I hope this information will help, and that you can get yours working correctly soon.

[Rocketeer]

Re: Freewing F9F Panther landing gear

Greetings Loneflier,

Thanks man, as I mention to JAG, it's just soooo darn frustrating.

I'm not sure the latest remants from flight 3 are able to once again provide a viable test.
I'm seriously thinking of just buying another one just to get it figured out.

Clear skies

Bill L.

[Wayne C Hall]

hi flyers been awhile , have about 20 flights on the 1600 4c and stock motor . put larger tire on front landing gear works great on short grass , as far as CG I put my fingers under the two aileron wires position bat to have a slight nose heavy plane works every time , oh and I love this plane

[Jody Shaneyfelt]

I finally got my 3rd and 4th flights on my new F9F with the gear installed. I had another Freewing Panther w/o the gear and loved it and flew the heck out of it, but wanted something I could take off and land on our runway. 1st and 2nd flights were ok, but it was tail heavy and was hard to land. Today I glued 1/2 oz weight to the front underside of the canopy and it flies and lands great now. With the previous Panther I could slide the 3cell 1600 Admiral all the way forward, but on this one the front gear servo restricts how far the battery can go forward. I only fly this with the recommended 1600 3 cell Admiral and it flies like a dream now.
I really love this plane now and can't wait to fly it again tomorrow. It even flies nice and stable at slow speeds now. :)