Freewing 80mm F-5E Tiger II

[Mizer67]

Thanks for the info. I’ll prob just go ahead and replace the retract. I have one in hand and ready to go.

I took apart a couple of my Mirage nose gears for inspection Flyinghigh. While I cleaned them both up of any sand, dirt and gunk in the mechanism, I don't think it made much difference. I lubed them up good with some dry lube as to not attract more dirt and sand and they both work, but I don't have any faith and confidence they'll not stall.

The only issue I can see is there are a couple of rough threads on the jack screw mechanism on mine. It's very slight, but it's there. It's possible this is causing enough friction to stall out the gear while trying to close.

I don't feel like replacing the current retract to test them, but if I have to swap it out, I may give it a shot to see if a very thorough cleaning and full disassembly did the trick.

[flyinhigh042]

I took apart a couple of my Mirage nose gears for inspection Flyinghigh. While I cleaned them both up of any sand, dirt and gunk in the mechanism, I don't think it made much difference. I lubed them up good with some dry lube as to not attract more dirt and sand and they both work, but I don't have any faith and confidence they'll not stall.

The only issue I can see is there are a couple of rough threads on the jack screw mechanism on mine. It's very slight, but it's there. It's possible this is causing enough friction to stall out the gear while trying to close.

I don't feel like replacing the current retract to test them, but if I have to swap it out, I may give it a shot to see if a very thorough cleaning and full disassembly did the trick.

Thanks again for the info. From what I’m seeing these particular retracts are almost lacking in power. I suppose it wouldn’t take much at all to cause enough friction as you mentioned to cause it so stall out. The nose gear in particular has a number of things working against it. Including the obvious spring door closing mechanism and having to retract forward into on oncoming airflow. Mine will still work retracting inverted, but I don’t enjoy having to do that. I also applied dry lube to the jack screw with no change in operation. I’m overdue in replacing the retract with the new one I already have.

[blackonblack]

Hey fellas, I'm shopping for a new plane and I think I'm down to the HP F5 vs the T33.

Currently flying an eflite F16 but it seems a little underpowered to me, other than that I really like it and can fly it very comfortably.

Reading on here, I'm gathering that people like it, perhaps a little tricky and the gear can be an issue.

Any other advice or input either way is helpful. Thanks!

[John Bergsmith]

Hey fellas, I'm shopping for a new plane and I think I'm down to the HP F5 vs the T33.

Currently flying an eflite F16 but it seems a little underpowered to me, other than that I really like it and can fly it very comfortably.

Reading on here, I'm gathering that people like it, perhaps a little tricky and the gear can be an issue.

Any other advice or input either way is helpful. Thanks!

I have a lot of flights on my HP version F-5, it’s a hot rod to fly. No bad habits that I’ve found so far. Flaps are very effective, and the jet remains very controllable when they are fully deployed. I’ve had zero issues with the landing gear so far. I fly mine just about every weekend.

The only issue I had to address is the nose section is extremely flexible. I added some flat pieces of carbon on each side to help support the structure better. Easy fix.

I also have the T-33 and it’s a great flyer as well.

[Mizer67]

Hey fellas, I'm shopping for a new plane and I think I'm down to the HP F5 vs the T33.

Currently flying an eflite F16 but it seems a little underpowered to me, other than that I really like it and can fly it very comfortably.

Reading on here, I'm gathering that people like it, perhaps a little tricky and the gear can be an issue.

Any other advice or input either way is helpful. Thanks!

Drop an FMS 1900kv 70mm motor in the E-Flite and an 80A ESC. The FMS motor is a drop-in fit.

Really helps with the thrust on the F-16 vs. stock. About 2100 - 2150 grams static at 25V.

[blackonblack]

Thank you both for the responses.

John, if you had to pick one between the F-5 and T-33, which would it be? I like the look of the F-5 in the air better, and the missiles set it off but only the swiss version is available with the upgraded motor.

Considering the fact that the T-33 is a newer release and the quality seems improved, I'm leaning that way but if anyone wants to push me over the fence one way or the other, I welcome it!

[Mizer67]

Thank you both for the responses.

John, if you had to pick one between the F-5 and T-33, which would it be? I like the look of the F-5 in the air better, and the missiles set it off but only the swiss version is available with the upgraded motor.

Considering the fact that the T-33 is a newer release and the quality seems improved, I'm leaning that way but if anyone wants to push me over the fence one way or the other, I welcome it!

Depends on what you're after.

I think the F-5 is harder to land, but more interesting. It is older though and missing ~5 years of design improvements.

[Alpha]

Depends on what you're after.

I think the F-5 is harder to land, but more interesting. It is older though and missing ~5 years of design improvements.

Mizer67 I couldn't have said it better myself. I'm partial to the F-5 Swiss HP (fast!), but the T-33 would not be a bad choice at all. It's among our top three sellers in the Class for a reason.

[John Bergsmith]

Thank you both for the responses.

John, if you had to pick one between the F-5 and T-33, which would it be? I like the look of the F-5 in the air better, and the missiles set it off but only the swiss version is available with the upgraded motor.

Considering the fact that the T-33 is a newer release and the quality seems improved, I'm leaning that way but if anyone wants to push me over the fence one way or the other, I welcome it!

That really is a hard choice. For an all-around fun jet, the T-33 is an absolute blast to fly. My son slows his down to an absolute craw on landings, and my wife enjoys flying it as well. We have the whole family thing going on. The T-33 is one great jet!

The F-5 you need to be more focused when flying it, but it does nothing wrong. Slightly more difficult to land, but it's very predictable. I really enjoy flying it.

Most likely you will end up with both of them anyway, so what are we discussing here? :)

T-33: You will enjoy every flight. It does what it's supposed to do, every flight, without much effort. It's higher quality fit and finish compared to the F-5.

F-5: It forces a smile on your face, and makes you feel like the best pilot in the world after each flight. You will most likely find yourself sewing Top Gun patches on everything you own and singing Danger Zone throughout your day. Possibly even throwing out Top Gun movie quotes. You will wonder why at first, but then it will hit you.......I fly the F-5! It sort of reminds me of my old BVM Aggressor.

[Alpha]

John Bergsmith I see that you too feel the need, the need for...

[blackonblack]

Thanks everyone, I've been chewing on this for weeks! I pulled the trigger on the T-33, but as mentioned above, I'll be back for that F-5.

Now if Alpha can just give me a hint that its not going to disappear, or possibly an update beyond the motor. . . . ;-)

[John Bergsmith]

John Bergsmith I see that you too feel the need, the need for...

Gotta have fun, speed is fun! 😀

[John Bergsmith]

Thanks everyone, I've been chewing on this for weeks! I pulled the trigger on the T-33, but as mentioned above, I'll be back for that F-5.

Now if Alpha can just give me a hint that its not going to disappear, or possibly an update beyond the motor. . . . ;-)

You will have some serious fun with the T-33!

[blackonblack]

So I wanted to post the end of the story. . .

I did the thing where you keep checking back on the other one. Well as luck would have it, the inventory went from 2 down to 1 on the HP F-5. . . so I did what anyone would do and took it off the market.

Maidened the T-33 this morning. F-5 shows up Wednesday. Giggity!

[John Bergsmith]

So I wanted to post the end of the story. . .

I did the thing where you keep checking back on the other one. Well as luck would have it, the inventory went from 2 down to 1 on the HP F-5. . . so I did what anyone would do and took it off the market.

Maidened the T-33 this morning. F-5 shows up Wednesday. Giggity!

I knew it, I knew that would happen! Good move, double the fun!

[blackonblack]

Could someone post a couple pictures for battery placement, 4000 & 5000 batteries?

maiden flight didn’t go so well, lasted all of 8 seconds. I triple checked the CG with the gear up but am suspecting this is what did me in.

I had a spectrum 4000 with the CG just forward of the plastic wire cover panel. The battery went about 1.5 “ aft of the seam.

heartbreaker

[GarrisonR]

Sorry to hear that.
What happened on maiden? I'm just forward of the wire cover on mine as well.
Too much elevator throw can get you into trouble on this jet.. ask me how I know.

Could someone post a couple pictures for battery placement, 4000 & 5000 batteries?

maiden flight didn’t go so well, lasted all of 8 seconds. I triple checked the CG with the gear up but am suspecting this is what did me in.

I had a spectrum 4000 with the CG just forward of the plastic wire cover panel. The battery went about 1.5 “ aft of the seam.

heartbreaker

[Quickstop]

Could someone post a couple pictures for battery placement, 4000 & 5000 batteries?

maiden flight didn’t go so well, lasted all of 8 seconds. I triple checked the CG with the gear up but am suspecting this is what did me in.

I had a spectrum 4000 with the CG just forward of the plastic wire cover panel. The battery went about 1.5 “ aft of the seam.

heartbreaker

It’s dangerous to assume that where I put my battery will be the same place on your plane. So many different weight batteries. For it to crash so soon after takeoff, something had to be more than a little off, maybe something reversed?

[gooniac33]

Could someone post a couple pictures for battery placement, 4000 & 5000 batteries?

maiden flight didn’t go so well, lasted all of 8 seconds. I triple checked the CG with the gear up but am suspecting this is what did me in.

I had a spectrum 4000 with the CG just forward of the plastic wire cover panel. The battery went about 1.5 “ aft of the seam.

heartbreaker

Those are incredibly light packs. You will want to put those really far forward to get the balance that works for me. In my opinion nothing less than a 5000 should be used in the newer inrunner equipped birds. Also make sure that you don't have too much elevator throw. That can cause all kinds of problems as well.

[blackonblack]

Thanks for the feed back. Here is a little more of the backstory on my maiden

As I mentioned, I was quite diligent on the CG, and it was ¼-½" forward of the plastic wire cover. Triple checked all the throws, control direction, range check, etc. Had a very knowledgable RC buddy looking over my shoulder and checked everything as well. It wasn't haphazard.

The language in the manual for 55% nose wheel steering raised an eyebrow, but I set it up accordingly and had 35% expo for rudder.

Gyro was off for takeoff, flaps 0. Aileron low rates, elevator high rates.

On the takeoff roll, it tracked well for the first half, then got squarely after 200' or so and started to dodge right towards a fence. I corrected back and rotated with about 100' remaining on a 400' runway. Possible I jerked it off the ground instinctively, but I don't think so. Maybe the high rates did me in. It was unstable and pitched up 60 degrees or so. I tried to push it over and can't really say if I had much control authority or not. It just happened so fast. It climbed 100' or so and stalled and I could never power out of it. I was lucky that it came down 10' off the side of the runway rather than on the pavement. Lasted 8 seconds.

Post impact inspection wasn't really revealing. I posted the pic of the general placement of the battery. I'll look again at the Elevator placement, but I had it centered on the square cutout. If I had to do it over again, I think I would give myself more rudder/NWS authority and dial down the expo. I would takeoff in low rate elevator rather than high and be careful to make a slow rotation.

My new fuselage and nose gear servo showed up and I'll put it together again and send it up later this week. What could go wrong???