Official Freewing Twin 80mm F-14D Tomcat Thread

[mshagg]

The nose gear mounting plate looks similar to where i landed with it a few weeks back, but based on a captured hex nut rather than allthread + locknuts. The idea itself was adapted from Bmcormack who used a piece of plywood to achieve the same, but im not much for woodwork lol.

(Can also see the front of the full length tray in this shot, which adds some additional strength to the glue seam for the forward section of the fuse once glued in place)

[Corsair nut]

Pat those A nozzles look soo good!!!

[xviper]

Both the F-14 and a pair of fans arrived today.

[Elbee]

crxmanpat Those "A" Nozzles are outstanding, Sir. Bravo Zulu. Best, LB

[crxmanpat]

Thanks LB! Wish I could take credit for them, but they were designed by someone else.

Working on the final paint (main body), then final decals and assembly.

[Corsair nut]

Man the performance is gunna be so good on those inrunners

[Johnnyrabuse]

Maiden Flight Report

Wind at less than 3

Paved Runway 300 feet

First flight 4000 mAh batts 40 c

Aerolines shut off tailerons only 100 percent no expo

take off 200 feet no flaps needed up and left trim

(Deflection issue will adjust on bench )

3 minutes mixed throttle to much up mix on flaps ballooned at -10 on spectrum radio

Landing was touchy but a success

200 ft roll out

14 percent left on packs

Flight two adjusted elevator mix turned down to -5

Two 5000 packs have modified batt compartment

Back to back front wall to rear wall

Take off no flaps 200 feet

Slight up elevator trim needed

Roll rate is very scale tailerons only jets easy to see looks slow but it's fast on low passes


Full flaps no balloon settled great centerline landing no bounce 150 ft roll out

Don't chop throttle on this jet it will drop like a stone

It will also stall forward and come in hot

Third flight

5000 mAh batts no flap take off swept wings 65 percent on tailerons only

Rolled right aborted wing sweep but honestly I can tell it's going to be great and agile

Landed again full flaps centerline no wind 150 ft rollout perfect

It's rolling right because I have a deflection issue with the wings swept the deflection changes and disappears the tailerons are still trimmed for foward so I fully expect that once addressed wing sweep will be a non issue

This jets stunning 3.5 minutes on 5000 s 30 percent left

I'm not flying 6000s on this jet I feel it will be to heavy for my style of flying but I'm sure it will work so

It's a winner but definitely not for anyone with out substantial 90 mm jet experience I also feel it flys very similar to the freewing f15 90 mm

Hope this helps someone

P.s I have my rates connected to sweep switch H on spectrum two position

Wings open 100 percent no expo

Wings swept 65 percent on all no expo

This way I keep it simple

Also I'm using third hole on elevators and bypassing board I turned travel on aerolines down to zero

This shuts them off

I ordered a nine channel receiver from HH so I would have the ability to turn aerolines on and off and it hasn't come .... Nothing new...they haven't responded to my emails and calling them is impossible

So that's 150 I'm out plus the extra shipping 20 bucks but that's ok I'm not buying anymore of their aircraft anymore no su 30 for me .... What's the use no parts? I gave away my new p51 1600 because of no parts as for radio gear I'm committed and will unfortunately continue using their receivers but I'll eventually switch out to futaba

Everything they sell has no parts so .... There's no point unless I become a six star pilot that greases every single flight ....

Waiting five months for a prop and maybe a year for a retract is a little annoying

I'd use an admiral but I have a new dx 9 and for some reason on lemons and admirals I get holds and lost three planes in a month this past spring

Right roll into ground same exact thing on 3 different receivers but on my old dx 6 they work fine which leads me to believe a bugs been installed to prevent aftermarket receivers from being used

That's just conjecture but be advised if you get a new dx 9 test the other receivers in a beater plane first

[Elbee]

Johnnyrabuse , Outstanding debrief. She sounds like a winner. Bravo Zulu, Sir. Best, LB

[RCINFORMER]

Hey Folks, I am trying to Get out all the information on the Freewing F-14 that I have included in my videos and circulated around, for folks that would like to ask questions and get help on this epic model. I have put in a lot of effort on this model and wanted to share everything about it and some of the improvements I have made to it. I have made many Improvements to the model that many may have already seen. I wanted to create a place where folks can ask questions and get help:)

Additionally, I created a Separate thread called► The RCINFORMER FREEWING F-14 Thread for any and all Q&A on the Freewing F-14 TOMCAT Just for a bit of delineation so I can chat more directly with folks with specific questions:) Feel free to join in on the thread!

Here are the videos I have created so far:

Unboxing► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnygfe48tXs

Assembly► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77Ue4We-B5s

1st Flight► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNjviFTK1Tg

2nd Flight► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hko89Pb_QDc

3rd Flight► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPxCnz24bW0

SEFF 2019 demo 1► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb6py2gS1OU

SEFF 2019 demo 2► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGZPct9EkeE

SEFF 2019 NOON demo► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXo5IpU7_gk

UPGRADES VIDEO► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1gcECZESg8

Gooniacs centerburner flight at NIF 2019► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMFdEQN-KMo

Gooniacs centerburner Installation► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h93UcHBkKaE

Wing Platter Upgrade video► https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud6EOxgaefg

[Elbee]

RCINFORMER, Whoa and kudos, Sir. Looking forward to reviewing your reviews, tweaks, and upgrades. This model is on my 'to do' list, if ever I should live so long. , Thank you. Best, LB

[crxmanpat]

Finally, after 4 years of talking about it, and crashing the first one before I could do it, it's finally done!

Maiden report of my Freewing F-14 repainted in VF-1 Wolfpack colors circa 1975. This is actually my second Freewing F-14, so I already knew how she handled. The only major difference between my first one and this one is I put a pair of the T-33 fans/inrunners in it after removing the stock system, and added Chris Wolfe's (Thercgeek.com) twin burners for 36mm inrunners.

On the first flight my landing gear somehow got reversed in the radio even after I had tested it out on the ground the night before, so the first flight was with gear down the whole time. Was a little worried about it so I landed early without getting it properly trimmed. It also made me rush the landing and it bounced and scraped a wingtip up a little. No other damage though.

The second flight from which these pics came (thanks greenseaships!) I went up with wyldkrd flying his E-Flite F-4 and we did a little dogfighting. The gear went up properly and I managed to swing the wings for one pass. I was about to make another low pass for the camera with the wings back when my timer went off, so I threw the wings out and rushed the landing again. Only a small bounce that time.

Next time I fly I'll put the ordnance and tanks on. The inrunners work really well on this bird. She gets off the ground much faster than the old stock power system, and definitely has more thrust and speed. I also added a few scale details that I 3D printed, namely some A-model nozzles and nose gear plate (thanks ChrisK!), pitot tube, NACA ducts for the ESCs and a fuel dump vent. I replaced the cheese grater venting on the belly with some thin styrene and added the NACA ducts for cooling.

Here's a bunch of pics, I should have some vid of the maiden later.

[crxmanpat]

Here's the maiden video. Don't judge my landing too harshly. At least I didn't break anything.

[Elbee]

crxmanpat , Pat, Great Repaint and Congrats on the your re-first Carrier Qual. It's all good. Best, LB

[xviper]

Pat, I'm about 1 or 2 weeks before I maiden mine. Your F-14 appeared to fly pretty good. Are you using the stock recommended setup for rates? You said your gear was reversed. Wouldn't they have worked if you had flipped the switch to the other position? It's good to know the gear was able to take a bit of a thumping on the landing. Did you do any kind of reinforcements at all?

[crxmanpat]

Pat, I'm about 1 or 2 weeks before I maiden mine. Your F-14 appeared to fly pretty good. Are you using the stock recommended setup for rates? You said your gear was reversed. Wouldn't they have worked if you had flipped the switch to the other position? It's good to know the gear was able to take a bit of a thumping on the landing. Did you do any kind of reinforcements at all?

Recommended high rates on elevator, low rates on aileron, book rates on flaps. Yes, had I realized the gear was just reversed, I would have flipped the switch the other way, but I was flipping the switch too fast to see they were just reversed. The only reinforcement I did was the 3D printed landing gear plate as seen in this pic. I think that saved my nose gear on the first landing.

[crxmanpat]

crxmanpat , Pat, Great Repaint and Congrats on the your re-first Carrier Qual. It's all good. Best, LB

Thanks LB!

[mshagg]

Finally got a chance to fly this bird during the week. Wednesday afternoon out for a maiden + two, then back to the field all day Friday to really try and get a handle on it.

For the reputation is carries it's a fairly docile jet - certainly with the wings extended anyway. Wings swept is interesting, takes a lot of elevator to hold is nose up in turns but my goodness it's a sight to behold. The transition from low to high rates is also an interesting challenge to work with as the wings sweep back. Gyro performed beautifully and the functional air speed sensor mounted on the nose cone is neat - cruises around at ~120km/hr IAS.

Took a little to get the flap/elevator mix settled, had way too much dialled in to begin with which saw her floating in at too low a sink rate. Im still carrying too much speed in on final now but getting slower with each approach - I'd rather come in a little hot than go the other way lol.

All in all it's a fantastic jet to fly and has become an instant favourite. A little video from the day, the scene was to beautiful to not try and capture it.

[crxmanpat]

Congrats on the maiden and subsequent flights! There's just something about seeing this bird making a diving turn back to the field with the wings swept back. Pure awesomeness!

[crxmanpat]

Congrats on the maiden and subsequent flights! There's just something about seeing this bird making a diving turn back to the field with the wings swept back. Pure awesomeness!

[xviper]

Wings swept is interesting, takes a lot of elevator to hold is nose up in turns but my goodness it's a sight to behold. The transition from low to high rates is also an interesting challenge to work with as the wings sweep back.

Very nice! Good to see an uneventful maiden.
Picking up on your comment about holding the nose up, does this mean it's better to have higher throws on ELE with wings swept back? What about the roll? "RC Geek" indicated that when he first swept the wings back, the roll sensitivity was very alarming so he dialed down the AIL throw for swept wing. Combining what you experienced and what Geek experienced, should the ELE rate stay high and the AIL rate go low? Did you find that it rolled very easily in swept wing?