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[Elbee]

Airguardian

WOW.

Best, LB

[Airguardian]

I made a custom TV nozzle for the Freewing Gripen, here go the first test flights!

The Gripen is back!!! Or rather... a new Gripen has joined the ranks!

After struggling with my former 8S-modded Gripen from Freewing for a long time, I decided I wanted to try getting a new airframe to make a lighter 6S build with Freewing's newer motorization, which seemed to deliver a lot more thrust with a reasonable power consumption.

My former Gripen could only make 2.5 to 3min flights with the Jetfan setup, so it was not as fun to fly as other jets. With that in mind, I ordered one anew, but kept in the box.

I obviously wanted to have a TV nozzle on the new one, but I didn't feel like paying another 100€ for it, more so considering that the FW nozzle butchered the duct efficiency, so I decided to try and fix it for myself, but in the meantime, the jet was waiting... it took me about a whole year to come up with the design, model it in CAD, prototype the basic working-concept idea, then adapt it for the Gripen, which meant modeling the entire aft-fuselage section as accurately as possible and optimizing for strength and weight... then finally printing it in PETG, painting it to match the new Gripen livery and finally getting to test fly it!

I've been pretty busy with other projects, so I kept dragging my feet, but now I have finally maidened the new 'Gripen 2.0' with my custom nozzle and you can see the results for yourself in the video!

I'll give more details in future videos, but for the time being, know that my nozzle design is a much more good-looking and scale-accurate approach than Freewing's one, using recessed servo installation so they don't protrude from the fuselage skin other than for the servo arms as well as featuring my own 'gapless TV nozzle' concept, that leaves no nasty holes affecting the aerodynamics of neither the inside of the duct, nor the exterior of it. And no, I didn't copy Freewing's idea, I started working on this before they made their revised 'V2' nozzle design which so far they've shown only for the AreS. The mechanics of how mine works aren't even the same.

My nozzle intentionally adds a lot of weight, to fix the inherent nose-heaviness nightmare of the model's design. On the current setup, I can manage to fly with a pretty neutral CG of 40mm aft of the wing marks with a 680g 6Ah 6S Lipo pushed all the way back without carving foam, but having removed the nose gear light, the lighting controller and the pilot figure. Still, this meant having the whole piece weigh about 340g.
I'm considering shaving some extra weight from it, but that would require reversing the nose landing gear position to be able to fly such a large pack at that CG, so I'm pondering whether it's worth the effort...

So far this new nozzle has survived 11 flights and over 7Gs repeatedly, so it's looking good!

At the moment I intend to test and debug potential problems with the current nozzle design, and if it survives my scrutiny and flying antiques, I will likely sell it. I still haven't decided whether I'll sell whole nozzles as add-ons or just the 3D printing files, we'll see. Feel free to speak your mind about it in the comments section!


These were flights 1st to 5th on 'Freja'.

Pilot: RC4ever
Ground video: Luis Ibáñez
Airfield: Club Pla de Vent
Music by Linkin Park (Check video chapters)

SPECS (Reflecting my setup):

Model Scale: 1/9th
Wingspan: 882mm
Length: 1613mm
Weight: 2300g (w/o batteries - aprox)
TOW: 3300g (aprox)
CG: 40mm-45mm aft of factory recommended position (molded into the wings)
Material: EPO
Motor: Freewing 3658-2150Kv Brushless Inrunner
EDF: Freewing 12-blade 80mm EDF
ESC: Freewing 100A w/ 5A UBEC
Servos: All stock except the TV nozzle, which is driven by a couple of PTK 9497MG-Ds
Landing Gear: Electronic retractable w/ aluminum trailing link struts
Receiver: Jeti Rex12A (user choice)
Gyro: Jeti Assist - Receiver integrated
Main battery pack:
HRB 6S 4000mAh
CNHL 6S 4500mAh LiHV
CNHL 6S 6000mAh LiHV

The jet is powered with the stock Freewing 6S 80mm 12 blade EDF with. This time, I didn't cover the cheater hole with a mosquito net to improve static thrust numbers, but I'll be sticking to paved runways to protect the fan. This setup is much less power hungry than my former 8S Jetfan setup, allowing me to fly 4 - 4.5min on 4Ah 6S packs, compared to the terrible 2.5 - 3min from the Jetfan setup. My current batteries aren't the most powerful out there, so I can likely still improve thrust, but I'm almost hovering the jet already, so it's an improvement all the same!

More setup details hopefully coming soon, when I finish fine tuning everything!

[Airguardian]

Today's video is a bit special, as it was filmed from a high vantage point, making the scenes look extra cinematic! :D

[paulrkytek]

My Mustang at PANDAS field https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhRl2iUWOBU

[Airguardian]

Long time no headbang... time to quickly put a remedy to that...!

[paulrkytek]

My Mustang with sound system and updated paintwork https://youtu.be/-EDAfE7dQVI?is=X8IlKY_QPvybQjk0

[Airguardian]

New girl in the fleet comes to say hi... !

[Grossman56]

Grateful Memorial Day!

Dan

[Grossman56]

What do they say about idol hands

[Elbee]

Grossman56

Beautiful work and rework, Sir.

Best, LB

[Grossman56]

I know these are posted elsewhere, but what the heck!

Not finished yet but a heck of a canvas to work on.
This is a 12 year old airplane that has been smucked up twice, the last time being 2019. She's sat in the waste box ever since. Winter does strange things to the mind and since I had the pieces I needed to attach the wings to the fuse again, I went ahead. The canopy is actually two canopies joined to make one and the port side rear window is made from a piece of clear from a greetings card box top. replaced the red cowl, pilot and the prop blades. That's it.
I've started in on the cleaning up of things like the wheels and guns before 'aging' it again.

Dan

[Airguardian]

Those were some pretty crazy flights... 🤩🤩🤩

[Elbee]

Hugh, you're the best, Bro. I thank you and I am the one who is unworthy. LB

[Hugh Wiedman]

MotionRC,

For your consideration, the Flightline B-25J conversion to the B-25C 'Desert Warrior' circa 1943.

The Desert Warrior operated from El Alamein across Africa through Sicily and flew 73 combat missions from 1942-43.

She dropped over l0 tons of bombs, shot down 3 enemy fighters, and flew 191 combat hours without losing a single crew member.

The crew brought her back to the US to do war bond tour and she was decommissioned in 1944.

Link below for more photos and history.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72177720301586635/

Best, LB

Build highlights:

LB: Incredible detail on the engine cowls, wheels, cockpit, instruments, machine guns, pilots, (Oh Hell, Just the Whole Damn Thing)

[Elbee]

MotionRC,

For your consideration, the Flightline B-25J conversion to the B-25C 'Desert Warrior' circa 1943.

The Desert Warrior operated from El Alamein across Africa through Sicily and flew 73 combat missions from 1942-43.

She dropped over l0 tons of bombs, shot down 3 enemy fighters, and flew 191 combat hours without losing a single crew member.

The crew brought her back to the US to do war bond tour and she was decommissioned in 1944.

Link below for more photos and history.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sdasmarchives/albums/72177720301586635/

Best, LB

Build highlights:

[Airguardian]

No kidding...

[paulrkytek]

Partly the Jet, but definitely the Pilot that's always breaking the Law of Physics!! For some unknown reason, when I fly the laws of physics are rock solid along with several other laws, like the Law of Gravity!

We are all victims of the laws of gravity but they are expensive when combined with the laws of mis judgement that we have all come across now and again

[Airguardian]

Guilty as charged!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Having some serious fun...

Partly the Jet, but definitely the Pilot that's always breaking the Law of Physics!! For some unknown reason, when I fly the laws of physics are rock solid along with several other laws, like the Law of Gravity!

[Airguardian]

Having some serious fun...