HSD 105mm F-16 EDF Jet

[Aros]

I brought the big girl out to the patio to get the ailerons in line. Basically all I did was increase the left travel to 150% and kept the right travel at 100%. Just the ol' fashioned eye test and it looks much better.

Sigh. Why can't this bird just be simple and fly fantastic for me from the start like others seem to have no issue with, lol. EVERY 3 models I've had (V1/V2/V3) gave me issues to the point of questioning my skill level. Just like the LX SR-71...

My muse...My nemesis.

[Bogietrim]

Haven’t had mine up again as of yet. I had been on the fence about changing radio systems and have decided to make a switch. So I am just going to wait and install the new equipment. Radio will be here on Thursday. Hoping to give it another go possibly the beginning of next week assuming I can figure out how to program it!

[Aros]

Good luck with your new system Bogietrim ! Keep us posted.

[PaulZ]

Aros Sounds like you have some bad luck with this one. Not sure what to make of the aileron thing...you sure your TX is setup correctly? That should not happen.

[Aros]

PaulZ I think it's something in my radio settings but I cannot find the source. All travels said 100%. I need to look at the sub trim menu as I may have forgotten that. These settings came from my old .SPM file from my last HSD F-16 (V2). I just assumed if I had everything working for that, it should translate to the V3. I am going to create a new model from scratch so I know everything is at 0/100% and start from there.

[PaulZ]

PaulZ I think it's something in my radio settings but I cannot find the source. All travels said 100%. I need to look at the sub trim menu as I may have forgotten that. These settings came from my old .SPM file from my last HSD F-16 (V2). I just assumed if I had everything working for that, it should translate to the V3. I am going to create a new model from scratch so I know everything is at 0/100% and start from there.

Ahh, there you go. I always start from scratch on my new models. It's worth the extra 20min setup time.

[Aros]

Yeah in retrospect, I should have done just that. Lesson learned.

[Aros]

Hey PaulZ or anyone, I asked this question on the RCG thread but that thread tends to go through "dead spots" of no activity for stretches at a time. Any info would be greatly appreciated...

Quick potential brain fart Q...

I can’t recall if there is an ESC Calibration method with this new V3? Like with my Freewing jets you move the throttle stick to max then plug in the battery, hear the beeps and drop the throttle to idle then hear the beeps again and the ESC is calibrated.

I just want to make sure I am getting the full power curve of this new system.

[Aros]

Disregard. Someone answered me in the other thread. For those who are wondering it’s the same method as Freewing jets. Hobbywing ESC so that makes sense.

[PaulZ]

Disregard. Someone answered me in the other thread. For those who are wondering it’s the same method as Freewing jets. Hobbywing ESC so that makes sense.

Yup, was going to say that. Same calibration method and highly recommend 😀

[Aros]

Flight #3 was the best and worst yet. I brought her out in the morning as we are anticipating mid-to-upper 90's today. This was the first time I had the Cortex gyro activated from takeoff to touchdown. What a difference! You can plainly see the stability on my video throughout, especially when compared to the first two flights.

I was able to trim her out even more for straight and level. Now I could finally enjoy the new power system V3 has to offer. Definitely more robust than previous versions. I could fly at half throttle without feeling like she was about to fall out of the sky. That's a huge difference to me. Top end speed is a bit more but not a huge difference that I can tell. But the crusing power alone is worth it.

So it became time to set her up for the landing. Hit my gear switch on the downwind leg, turned to base and it wasn't until I was on the glide slope for final did I notice a problem.

Only the nose gear was down. DOH!!!

So I went around, cycled the gear a few times and I could never get the mains to drop. Greeeeaat. Since I am flying off of pavement I knew some damage was inescapable. So I brought her back in on final with gear up and did the only thing I could do which was bleed off as much airspeed as I could until I hit stall speed close to the ground. All-in-all damage was thankfully minimal. The ventral fins tore off (cleanly) and the underbelly was scratched up.

The wings and stabs and control surfaces were all fine. I flipped her over and hit the gear switch to see what would happen. I noticed a pushrod was shoved into the forward section of the main gear bay. That was clearly an issue right off. The gear cycled just fine but the port-side servo that sits in the front of the gear bay (that is supposed to be attached to a part of the main gear see photos) just kept trying to spin freely which was causing the rouge pushrod to get caught up in the bay area.

So I will be contacting HSDJetsUSA for support. I have no idea what would cause the problem. The gear always cycled before without issue. It's ironic that this was my best flight yet, and also my worst with the damage and gear issue. I am just grateful the damage wasn't worse and now that I have her dialed in I can eventually get her back on her feet so-to-speak, with some support from HSDJetsUSA.

[Aros]

Okay studying the area more closely it appears that it's the port side servo that controls the port-side gear's locking mechanism. When you extend the gear the front legs "lock" after a few seconds. These are the servos that control that. Looking deeper, I noticed when the gear is deployed, that servo wants to keep spinning on its own and doesn't stop. So my theory is the servo, being faulty, was trying to spin which over-torqued the ball link which in turn snapped, coming lose and jamming inside the bay causing the gear not to extend for the landing.

Assuming that is the issue and nothing more, then I am hoping they will offer me a replacement servo, pushrod and ball link connector. I just hope replacing the servo isn't a nightmare in and of itself.

[Lcacing]

Aros one thing to remember about the locking servos is that they are a 360 degree servos. Essentially they only stop spinning when there is resistance, I.e. when the gear locks. Sounds like the bolt that holds the ball link came loose,the servo keep spinning looking for the locking position. If the servo keeps spinning then there is nothing wrong with it.

[Lcacing]

Since they ventral fins got ripped off, might as well to the mod to make them removable. Use some Freewing F16 weapons attachment hardware. makes it easier to transport.

https://www.motionrc.com/products/freewing-f-16c-90mm-weapons-attachment-hardware

[Aros]

Aros one thing to remember about the locking servos is that they are a 360 degree servos. Essentially they only stop spinning when there is resistance, I.e. when the gear locks. Sounds like the bolt that holds the ball link came loose,the servo keep spinning looking for the locking position. If the servo keeps spinning then there is nothing wrong with it.

AHHHH!! Good to know Lcacing thank you! Now I don't have to worry about replacing the servo. Still wonder why the ball link was broke though. Also, I tried replacing the ball link with a Kwik Connector and it was still acting funny...

Good idea on the weapons attachment hardware too!

[Dapreacherman43]

Hi guys...

adding new fan setup: https://youtu.be/gXKzQM1MPAE

balancing at 170mm : https://youtu.be/APJfiHFjOKg

I need to rebalance after the fun change and hope to fly at Waco jets in sept.

heres a Vanessa rig in action : https://youtu.be/eFBzB9lxr2s

[PaulZ]

Aros , Lcacing is correct - these are locking servos and they spin until something stops them. Look like you had a weak ball connector on that locking arm.

[Aros]

Aros , Lcacing is correct - these are locking servos and they spin until something stops them. Look like you had a weak ball connector on that locking arm.

That definitely appears to be the case. Still wild how that alone could cause a complete failure of deployment but every cog in the wheel matters!

[Aros]

Alright, I have cycled a few times and I feel I am back in the game. Ready for sortie #4. I will chalk this up to an unfortunate incident that just happened. All the parts that go into these models I'm surprised there isn't more instances of failure on some level or another. What I am focusing on is how great she flew that last flight. The gyro absolutely was a key element of that. I apparently have the perfect gain setting (45%) and the throws were what they need to be for proper authority. And yes, I can heartily admit that 175mm seems to be the sweet spot. Onward!

[evensen007]

This thing sounds like an absolute nightmare, but I certainly admire your tenacity and perseverance!