George Miller does his thing to a "Freewing" F-14
09-30-2016, 02:49 PM
#26
Finished !!!
Hi fellow modelers,
I have finished my modifications to this Freewing F-14. How do you like this paint job?
I think it came out very nice. Sorry that the photos do not actually show the panel lines all that well. But I assure you they are there and in actual viewing of this F-14, they look great.
Yes, I did remove the circuit board that comes with this aircraft. I have run everything through my Spektrum DX8 radio with no problems.
I also did away with those nylon ends that they use to attach the control arms to the servo horns and went to "Z" bends. I like them better and don't have to worry about one of those nylon things coming off.
It was a lot of work, but it is now my own F-14 and no longer a ARF considering all the modifications I did to it.
And the big question. How much weight did I add to it?
EXACTLY ONE POUND.
I actually consider that amazing. Removing a lot of weight when modifying it has a lot to do with that. I will be making my first flights with 6000mah 6 cells. This will be adding a total of 2 pounds above their suggested set up. But I know from Chris Wolfe that this F-14 is awesome with a additional one pound and I expect it will still be awesome with 2. If I am wrong I can always go to the suggested 4000mah 6 cells and bring it down to the weight of the one Chris Wolf and others are flying. So the flying ability of this modified Freewing F-14 is not a concern of mine. Considering the reshaping of the flight surfaces and removing those very thick trailing edges on them will also make it fly better.
WAS IT WORTH IT ????
It all depends on how you look at things. As all of us who have been around for decades have seen, the days of the true modelers are coming to a end.
When you go to a field now a days you will see a lot of RC fliers and few, if any, RC modelers. They run down to the nearest "Toys R Us", buy one of these ARF's and head to the field to play with it. It matters not if it is a very expensive large IMAC airplane or a small foamie, it's still the same game.
So I am one of the dying bread. I get as much enjoyment out of building a model aircraft as flying it. I remember the days when if you were not a modeler, you were not in this hobby. And it really wasn't that long ago. There were no ARF's, and no China. You either built a kit of scratch built.
Almost all the kit manufacturers are gone now. Very few left and even some of them that are left are going to China to have their kits pre-built for the RC fliers.
Yes it took me months of building to make my F-14 you see here. And everyone who sees it knows I built it. But that doesn't mean as much to me as one would think. I did it because I enjoy doing it. It is just who I am. I will never be a ARF flier. I have too much pride in my models for that. That is just who I am.
I hope you enjoyed this project and maybe got some of you thinking. Especially about what you are going to do when your Freewing F-14 starts looking like most ARF's do after a few flights. Reading this complete thread and seeing all the changes I made to it, sure makes it look a whole lot better.
I have finished my modifications to this Freewing F-14. How do you like this paint job?
I think it came out very nice. Sorry that the photos do not actually show the panel lines all that well. But I assure you they are there and in actual viewing of this F-14, they look great.
Yes, I did remove the circuit board that comes with this aircraft. I have run everything through my Spektrum DX8 radio with no problems.
I also did away with those nylon ends that they use to attach the control arms to the servo horns and went to "Z" bends. I like them better and don't have to worry about one of those nylon things coming off.
It was a lot of work, but it is now my own F-14 and no longer a ARF considering all the modifications I did to it.
And the big question. How much weight did I add to it?
EXACTLY ONE POUND.
I actually consider that amazing. Removing a lot of weight when modifying it has a lot to do with that. I will be making my first flights with 6000mah 6 cells. This will be adding a total of 2 pounds above their suggested set up. But I know from Chris Wolfe that this F-14 is awesome with a additional one pound and I expect it will still be awesome with 2. If I am wrong I can always go to the suggested 4000mah 6 cells and bring it down to the weight of the one Chris Wolf and others are flying. So the flying ability of this modified Freewing F-14 is not a concern of mine. Considering the reshaping of the flight surfaces and removing those very thick trailing edges on them will also make it fly better.
WAS IT WORTH IT ????
It all depends on how you look at things. As all of us who have been around for decades have seen, the days of the true modelers are coming to a end.
When you go to a field now a days you will see a lot of RC fliers and few, if any, RC modelers. They run down to the nearest "Toys R Us", buy one of these ARF's and head to the field to play with it. It matters not if it is a very expensive large IMAC airplane or a small foamie, it's still the same game.
So I am one of the dying bread. I get as much enjoyment out of building a model aircraft as flying it. I remember the days when if you were not a modeler, you were not in this hobby. And it really wasn't that long ago. There were no ARF's, and no China. You either built a kit of scratch built.
Almost all the kit manufacturers are gone now. Very few left and even some of them that are left are going to China to have their kits pre-built for the RC fliers.
Yes it took me months of building to make my F-14 you see here. And everyone who sees it knows I built it. But that doesn't mean as much to me as one would think. I did it because I enjoy doing it. It is just who I am. I will never be a ARF flier. I have too much pride in my models for that. That is just who I am.
I hope you enjoyed this project and maybe got some of you thinking. Especially about what you are going to do when your Freewing F-14 starts looking like most ARF's do after a few flights. Reading this complete thread and seeing all the changes I made to it, sure makes it look a whole lot better.
10-07-2016, 08:34 AM
#34
Junior Member
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Hi George,
the F-14 looks great. It's sad that there's so few people left these days that have the will and talent to invest in their model and take it to the next level like you have.
Dan Eaton
the F-14 looks great. It's sad that there's so few people left these days that have the will and talent to invest in their model and take it to the next level like you have.
Dan Eaton
10-24-2016, 11:37 AM
#38
Flight Report
This F-14 got it's maiden flight Saturday.
It really wasn't anything all that exciting other than getting to see it in the air.
But I was very pleasantly surprised.
Did a little taxing around to make sure the steering was straight. Then I went to the end of the runway to give me as much runway as I could get considering I do weigh two pounds heavier then the ARF version, I did not know exactly what to expect.
I advanced the throttle and it really accelerated. About half way down the runway the nose wheel was bouncing and I knew I had the speed to rotate. A slight amount of up and it rotated beautifully. It flew out with great authority, I got some altitude, did a procedure turn and discovered I could throttle back to about 3/4 throttle and it was flying great. Almost no real trim needed.
I then retracted the gear and that did require a little more trim. I had noticed when balancing the aircraft that the CG did shift forward a little when the gear are retracted considering all three retract forward. But it didn't really seem to effect the aircraft in flight.
My next procedure was to try a aileron roll. I have been informed that flying this F-14 using solely elevons for flight controls that the aileron roll with the wings expended would be a little sluggish. However I did notice that I was having no difficulty doing procedure turns right or left.
I would say that if you are looking for a pretty snappy aileron roll with the wings extended, you are not going to get it. It did a nice roll, but it was not snappy. More what one would call a smooth gentle one. It may have been quicker if I had gone back to full throttle.
That was enough for it's first flight. About 4 and a half minutes. I didn't even try retracting the wings on this flight.
The landing was as nice as I was expecting. Very nice control at slower speed, but I did not really get into trying to slow it down as much as I think I could have.
That was it's first flight. I only have two 6 cell 6000 mah batteries and my charger takes forever to charge them, so it was done for the day. I did not want to buy another set until I saw if the F-14 could handle the weight of them considering my modifications. I have now ordered another set of batteries for it.
I do not have any photos of it in flight. I do not concern myself with trying to take photos of maiden flights. To be honest with you, it would just be like any other F-14 you have seen in flight. But I will be trying to get some on future flights
.
It really wasn't anything all that exciting other than getting to see it in the air.
But I was very pleasantly surprised.
Did a little taxing around to make sure the steering was straight. Then I went to the end of the runway to give me as much runway as I could get considering I do weigh two pounds heavier then the ARF version, I did not know exactly what to expect.
I advanced the throttle and it really accelerated. About half way down the runway the nose wheel was bouncing and I knew I had the speed to rotate. A slight amount of up and it rotated beautifully. It flew out with great authority, I got some altitude, did a procedure turn and discovered I could throttle back to about 3/4 throttle and it was flying great. Almost no real trim needed.
I then retracted the gear and that did require a little more trim. I had noticed when balancing the aircraft that the CG did shift forward a little when the gear are retracted considering all three retract forward. But it didn't really seem to effect the aircraft in flight.
My next procedure was to try a aileron roll. I have been informed that flying this F-14 using solely elevons for flight controls that the aileron roll with the wings expended would be a little sluggish. However I did notice that I was having no difficulty doing procedure turns right or left.
I would say that if you are looking for a pretty snappy aileron roll with the wings extended, you are not going to get it. It did a nice roll, but it was not snappy. More what one would call a smooth gentle one. It may have been quicker if I had gone back to full throttle.
That was enough for it's first flight. About 4 and a half minutes. I didn't even try retracting the wings on this flight.
The landing was as nice as I was expecting. Very nice control at slower speed, but I did not really get into trying to slow it down as much as I think I could have.
That was it's first flight. I only have two 6 cell 6000 mah batteries and my charger takes forever to charge them, so it was done for the day. I did not want to buy another set until I saw if the F-14 could handle the weight of them considering my modifications. I have now ordered another set of batteries for it.
I do not have any photos of it in flight. I do not concern myself with trying to take photos of maiden flights. To be honest with you, it would just be like any other F-14 you have seen in flight. But I will be trying to get some on future flights
.
Last edited by George Miller; 10-24-2016 at 11:45 AM.
10-30-2016, 12:18 PM
#41
Next project
I was on the internet a while back and I do not know how I ran into it, but I found this drawing of a "FA-45N Angel Shark" that this person had done. I really liked it and decided I wanted to build one from this drawing.
This is not a scale aircraft. It is just this person's concept. So my next aircraft is just going to be a "Sport Model".
I really like building my own designed sport models. This is a area of RC that most do not go to. One can really go off the deep end and just go for it. They may not always be all that successful, but that is also part of the learning and experimenting part of this.(yea, I know. Sometimes you get laughed off the field on maiden flights, but I usually wind up getting the last laugh and also know that the one's laughing have never gone this far.
Each one of these aircraft has something unique about it.
This Angel Shark is really going to be something !!! Fiberglass fuselage off a plug, built up flight surfaces, twin 90mm fans, retracts and doors, operating canopy, and thrust vectoring exhaust nozzles.
I am not going to be doing a construction thread on it, It basically is the same type of construction as was shown in my first F-14 thread.
I am in a group of guys who share our projects with each other through e-mails. If you are interested in being one of this group, just give me your e-mail address in a PM and I will add you to the list.
Be Well !!!!
