Official Freewing JAS 39 Gripen 80mm EDF Jet

[wvrcdude]

Yes. Not hard but, since I knew I was going to put the TV on I lightly glues the back half on and put no glue on the rods.

Thanks Evan. That's kind of what I had planed on doing. Minimal glue and none on the rods.

[xviper]

Same here. I only "Tac welded" (with FoamTac) the tail piece, knowing that the VT nozzle was coming. I should have just waited as I was not able to fly the thing anyway due to winter.

[kallend]

Yes. Not hard but, since I knew I was going to put the TV on I lightly glues the back half on and put no glue on the rods.

Same here. Once the vertical stab. screws were undone a gentle tug got the old tail off.

[Lnye22]

Hi All,
Can anybody help me with getting some wing missiles for the Gripen wing tips . Anybody have a 3D printer that can do them for me .I will pay but I Live in Scotland so better if there is someone in the UK . Look forward to a reply 👍👍

[kallend]

Hi All,
Can anybody help me with getting some wing missiles for the Gripen wing tips . Anybody have a 3D printer that can do them for me .I will pay but I Live in Scotland so better if there is someone in the UK . Look forward to a reply 👍👍

Assuming you find someone with a printer, I have posted .STL files for Sidewinders and IRIS-T missiles scaled for the Gripen on Thingiverse:

https://www.thingiverse.com/kallend/designs

[xviper]

Finally managed to maiden my Gripen. It's got the Assan steering gyro and HobbyEagle gyro, VT nozzle. The canards and elevons are X-linked and all on the gyro. Very solid flight on a windy, gusty day. Gyro kept it rock solid. Two wonderful flights, loops on a dime (more like a back flip). No surprises, nothing broke, everything worked as they should. This is a great jet. I no longer have any desires to get the Rafale. Didn't take any videos as there are enough of those already. Next time out, will explore the slow, high alpha flight capabilities.

[Evan D]

Congrats. Sounds like mine and I don't have a flight gyro...

[xviper]

I don't believe this plane needs a gyro but when I decided to get this plane, I wanted the "full meal deal" just for the heck of it. We get so much wind here that if we don't fly on windy days, there are very few days of the year that we fly. A gyro does bring a little stability under those circumstances.

[Airguardian]

I installed the vectored thrust unit on mine already and tested it out today, along with jetfan moved 2.5cm aft and new Hobbywing Flyfun 150A ESC installed (Previous ZTW Mantis shat itself in just about 10 flights). So far so good, 3 flights in and she's still in one piece. Vectored thrust expands this jet's capabilities by A LOT. :)

I hacked the foam nozzle and covered it with the spare plastic piece cover, so it actually looks good despite the vectoring upgrade (foam nozzle looks so bad IMO).

Replaced part of the tail ballast for the extra weight of the TV unit but I still have quite some ballast in on the vertical stab.

CG is about 22-25mm behind wing marks and the jet is still so sadly nose-heavy. :'(
Short flight time is also still an issue.

More pics/videos to follow:

[kallend]

I installed the vectored thrust unit on mine already and tested it out today, along with jetfan moved 2.5cm aft and new Hobbywing Flyfun 150A ESC installed (Previous ZTW Mantis shat itself in just about 10 flights). So far so good, 3 flights in and she's still in one piece. Vectored thrust expands this jet's capabilities by A LOT. :)

I hacked the foam nozzle and covered it with the spare plastic piece cover, so it actually looks good despite the vectoring upgrade (foam nozzle looks so bad IMO).

3DP nozzle overlay for the Gripen VT

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4763795

[Airguardian]

I didn't want to add too much weight and kinda liked the looks of the plastic piece, but sure, there's that too ;)

[Gary S.]

Here is my EDF re-location pic's 80 flights in has worked well.

[Evan D]

Agree. While the 3DP part looks nice I want to keep it light.

I didn't want to add too much weight and kinda liked the looks of the plastic piece, but sure, there's that too ;)

[Airguardian]

A few extra pics :)

[kallend]

I didn't want to add too much weight and kinda liked the looks of the plastic piece, but sure, there's that too ;)

But you said "but I still have quite some ballast in on the vertical stab." I doubt the 3DP nozzle weighs any more than the ballast you're using.

[Airguardian]

Yes, that's right.
I also said I like the looks of the plastic piece. It's very smooth.

I also don't have yet a readily available 3D printer (I will get one soon enough I think).
And already abused friends confidence on that matter a couple of times and don't feel like pushing it.

Also don't feel like paying for a 3rd party to print them for me... so there's all that.

[Airguardian]

First flights with vectored thrust, there ya go!

Note that I also kept shifting CG aft and now I no longer need to keep pitch-up pressure to hold the jet in high alpha.
Finally this bird is starting to behave as I want it to... and it does fly much better.
The nay-sayers can go boo-hoo!



PS: Now I just need to get sorted the 2min flight times, rofl.

[Evan D]

That's what I'm talking about! First, awesome music. Second great flying.

That's why I say the Gripen is my favorite plane! I picked up my third one this week. I had bought #2 a month ago when they went on sale as a back up and a local was selling his at a great price so I now have the original in a Uruguayan Air Force fantasy scheme with sidewinders and JF/ HET 8S and TV, another more or less box stock, and a spare in the box...


Awesome!

[Airguardian]

Thanks Evan! : )

... looks like you have a Gripen stockpile just as I have a Su-35 one!
(2 airworthy airframes, 2 spare fuselages and countless spares from my two older, deceased airframes).

After these flights I further encourage Gripen pilots to try and shift CG a bit more aft when possible (Adding wingtip missiles as I did helps out).

[kallend]

Thanks Evan! : )

... looks like you have a Gripen stockpile just as I have a Su-35 one!
(2 airworthy airframes, 2 spare fuselages and countless spares from my two older, deceased airframes).

After these flights I further encourage Gripen pilots to try and shift CG a bit more aft when possible (Adding wingtip missiles as I did helps out).

IRIS-T for the Gripen: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4706132

Sidewinders for the Gripen: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4653284