Official Freewing JAS 39 Gripen 80mm EDF Jet

[Airguardian]

Thanks Ben!
Feels good to be back!

I got less than 2 min in and had to stop. My connection out here on the road sucks! I must see this in 4K! Wait til I get home and get the popcorn!

Love to hear that!


Sadly, no 4K (My computer can't really take it, ATM), but still pretty good quality 1080p.

[BenOzzy94]

Well, now that I have already made the video on the Gripen crashes and the thing is repaired and airworthy again, let's go back to my usual heavy-metal flight routines!

Glad to see her back in the air again Jandro.
I do enjoy watching you make her dance around the sky.

[SgtRay]

I got less than 2 min in and had to stop. My connection out here on the road sucks! I must see this in 4K! Wait til I get home and get the popcorn!

[Airguardian]

Well, now that I have already made the video on the Gripen crashes and the thing is repaired and airworthy again, let's go back to my usual heavy-metal flight routines!

[BenOzzy94]

Nice flying place!
Plane will feel even better when you get the CG past 30-35mm aft of the wing marks. Slowly progress towards there and you will see for yourself ;)

It definitely feels like it would get better, think I'll wait for the gyro before moving it too far back. 🤣

[BenOzzy94]

Lol it's on vacation at the beach!

It's the only place I can fly them where I live, it's a pain waiting for the tide, weather and daylight to align perfectly

[Airguardian]

Nice flying place!
Plane will feel even better when you get the CG past 30-35mm aft of the wing marks. Slowly progress towards there and you will see for yourself ;)

[SgtRay]

Lol it's on vacation at the beach!

[BenOzzy94]

Got a few more flights with the CG moved another 10mm back, were about 15-20 mm behind the factory cg mark and it's feeling much better, I've noticed a load of wing rock so will be putting a gyro in her to help that also I have to constantly adjust the controls to get her flying straight and level (had the same issue on the mirage) will update to better servos that centre better as that fixed the problem last time and then with lighter packs should be where I want it to be.
here are some shots I got while waiting for my batteries to charge up.

[Airguardian]

There goes some discussion as to my recent 'crashing spree' with the Gripen and the reason why I haven't been posting much on the plane for the past year...

[Airguardian]

Does anyone else feel dirty adding so much power sucking weight to the tail of this bird? I must be in the 80-100 grams range to get on the 130-135 mm cg range

I do.

[Evan D]

It's worth the effort.

[BenOzzy94]

Not sure what you mean by the very back as the back tapers down pretty far back there. Get rid of everything behind the battery and move it back. put the light module under the battery tray, the receiver too. Here is mine, my 6S non-TV one.

Power Hobby 5000mAh 100C, probably not available where you are.

That wiring is so neat 😱. I've been messing with mine tonight, pulled all the cables from the battery bay into the rear of the jet to move as much stuff backwards as possible, I've pulled the ESC back as far as I feel comfortable and the Rx and led controller are now behind the wooden tray and under the rear of the battery. Let's hope that gives me a few grams of lead out of the tail

[Evan D]

Not sure what you mean by the very back as the back tapers down pretty far back there. Get rid of everything behind the battery and move it back. put the light module under the battery tray, the receiver too. Here is mine, my 6S non-TV one.

Power Hobby 5000mAh 100C, probably not available where you are.

[BenOzzy94]

I'll have to get creative, the battery won't go back anymore I don't think. its quite narrow on its edge and is only about 10mm from the very back and that's due to the cables at the back of the bay. moved everything back already including the light controller and esc is as far back as it can go too Evan D what brand of batteries are you using? be interesting to see how light a battery I can get in and still have decent flight times.

[Evan D]

I'm using 575g 5000's. Dremel a little foam so you can move it back further. Move everything aft as far as you can, receiver, gyro. Reduce weight where possible, I shorten ESC and battery leads and on some even the balance lead wires, all weight loss is good weight loss. Some remove the pilot figure. Add weight to the tail that is semi productive, an afterburner, nicer tail cone, (TV)...

[BenOzzy94]

Dirty? Power sucking weight? Use lighter batteries, move stuff aft. You are adding a lot more weight than myself or others have.

Yeah dead weight, if its only there to balance the jet its surely detrimental to the power to weight ratio of the jet. I wonder could mine be nose heavier than others? I do have lighter 4000mah batteries on the way but I thought my 4400 mah wouldn't be too bad its only 650g.
On the "dirty" thing.. just doesnt feel right adding weight to the plane, might be old habits from gliders where for cg we add battery not lead

[Evan D]

Dirty? Power sucking weight? Use lighter batteries, move stuff aft. You are adding a lot more weight than myself or others have.

[BenOzzy94]

The negativity is strong in this one.

Clearly you haven't tried it.

guilty as charged, not tried thrust vectoring on an EDF. My inner scale nerd won't let me stick one on a jet that doesn't have one in the full size. or if it was just a generic sport jet that would be ok too. I'm strange like that though

[kallend]

That makes perfect sense if you like to throw her around like a rag doll :P my personal preference is realistic flight envelope and scale looks, i think the TV tail ruins the lines a bit too much for me.
I'll definitely be adding a more powerful power combo but i fear it might end up lighter than the original

The negativity is strong in this one.

Clearly you haven't tried it.