raron455

My Feedback: (38)

Well,, I finally decided to un-ass the money for converting my landing gear,, I have one of the older 1/8 scale FEJ f-16s with the advanced gear, the previous owner had plenty of flights, and from the sounds of it had to put plenty of work into the landing gear, I know it had collapsed at least a couple times on it. I bought the jet last year and am getting SO Close to being done. But have been fighting retract problems, one cylinder leaking, the other wont release the locking pin on the piston of the cylinder. System wont hold air for long, I replaced all the O-rings, removed the locking pins on the cylinders and put a tapered point on them, and still have problems. Got in touch with FEJ about getting brand new cylinders, still have not heard back on a price, and just don’t have any faith in the pneumatic system at all any more. When I purchased the jet, a lot of guys told me the gear was the weak link on it, and as it turns out that has been the case.
SO I bit the bullet, pulled the gear out and sent it to Down And Locked. Hopefully this will take care of all the trouble I have been having. Its $$ for the conversion, but the way I figure I really like this jet, it is my first one, and I am in it so deep, I might as well spend the money to get some confidence in my gear,, the last thing I want is to belly land the jet, and damage it or the turbine. The guys at D&L seem to have a good reputation and have done about 30 of these particular gear conversions according to Mitch. So I am hoping this was this was a wise choice on my part..
So, hopefully this will be the end of my retract problems,, the conversion is supposed to take about a month, once I get them back in, I will update this with my thoughts on the change.

THIS POST IS TO SHOW HOW MY EXPERIENCE WITH A DOWN AND LOCKED CONVERSION TURNS OUT,,
If you want to bash FEJ,, got to one of the other post, they are easy to find, and have the same group of members bashing on each one..Personally My opinions of the jet are good, it is put together well, just not a lightweight, No honeycomb in this one..

dubd

Worse case scenario... Buy a set of gear from jet legend, skymaster, or matrix.

lookilook

Same problem here about 3 years ago and finally sent it to Mitch and 3 weeks later no more problems!!! The retracts are still functioning flawless.
If you have doors get their sequencer also.

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

Thanks for the Info, and words of confidence in down and locked,, I was hoping I made the right choice. This is my first jet, and I have to be honest,, It has really made me understand how much money can get wrapped up in a jet and how fast... I am a working man, I sold one of my giant gassers to help fund this build, and the rest has been done with hard earned overtime pay. I bought a used jet, but when its all said and done I am still going to be in this thing for over 5k, the first time I seen a turbine Jet, I said that it was awesome, and I had to have one. Im almost done with mine, and have ran into a few problems, but have not bought any junk, I hope I like this plane as much as I want to..

FenderBean

Once I got the binding out of my gear I never had any issues with my 1/6 scale f-16 gear and I had the old motors that are not as powerful as the new. The new motors are so powerful they had to upgrade the transmission.

olnico

Your guts feeling is right Raron. 5K is a lot of money for a used Chinese plane. Even with good upgrades like a D&L setup.
Consider that you can get a brand new Superphoenix/ Merlin VT-80/ Behotec gear/ servos combo for the same price. That plane is the perfect weekend flyer and will serve you well forever. Spare parts are easy to get in a reasonable time frame as well.
I still fly my fisrt gen Phoenix that is 17 years old...
http://www.ultimate-jets.net/collect...s/superphoenix

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

Not worth the $$ to go for JL or Matrix. SM doesnt have a 1/8 scale gear that would fit, however, if I was facing the same sceneario I'd do the mod to convert to SM non-scale gear, which works very well.

Otherwise, it is a very good airframe, almost as if made by a separate assembly line.

basimpsn

My Feedback: (5)

I bought a Jet with down and lock gear system.. I was very impress with just one single gear channel operate three heavy duty 1/4 scale gear sets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmmSXx7V56c

essyou35

My Feedback: (11)

Its a moot point now but...

Make sure you dont tighten the bolts too tight on the various pivot points, they need to be able to spin by hand that is why they have locking nuts. Torquing them down will cause issues as most connects are metal to metal. You may need to still consider this even with an electric conversion. I am sure D&L will address the issue.

Also the locks are too small for the lock cylinder, so they are sensitive to the oring you use. Otherwise they cock sideways and get jammed up.

Finally, you have to keep them "wet" with silicone lube. Otherwise the fat orings they used shrink up and then leak, as well as the cylinders jam up. I tried using fatter orings to get rid of the lube but the friction was too high.

I have a skymaster mig NIB I am working on, same issues with the gear. Leaks, wont retract etc... So much fun!

Might be sending to D&L too.

dubd

Essyou, the issue with your MIG-29 is NOT the same as a FEJ model. You bought your plane second hand, so to blame SM is unfair. I've owned and flown the SM MIG-29 and had to do nothing special and the gear worked all the time, every time.

essyou35

My Feedback: (11)

I meant I am having issues with the gear that have the same result. Leaking, not working etc. I do reference the build thread when you paid that guy to build your mig, and he also mentioned issues about getting a "rebuild kit" for the gear due to leaks.
You gear worked everytime? I thought I just read somewhere one leg didnt come down on landing.........

I did buy it second hand but it is NIB and the gear never been cycled or pressurized.

I should not of even said anything.



I am not the only one having issues with the mig either..

dubd

My gear worked all the time, every time. Even when one got hung up, it wasn't because of the gear, it was because a door extended past the fuse and jammed. That was my mistake.

The o-rings can rot if not cycled or if the plane sits for a long time. My plane sat for a long period of time before it was built, but I don't remember it needing a new cylinder. My BVM F-100 needed it's air cylinders replaced because it sat I flown for a long time before being flown. It happens.

AFAIK, The other issue that people are having with the MIG is related to a custom pipe for thrust vectoring.

Let me know what issue you're having with the gear. Maybe I can help.

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

Well, I do have an update,, the retracts were supposed to get to D&L in North Carolina last tuesday, but they moved (very close to where they were by the way) and the package was supposed to be forwarded,, SO the post office lost my retracts for about 4 days and then they turned up somewhere in virginia.. From what I can figure out, hopefully they will get them tomorrow or monday,, we will see, Once again the USPS shows that they are still a US Government organization.
I have talked with alot of guys and I believe this was the best choice to keep piece of mind in the retract system, the conversion is supposed to cost 650$ plus return shipping, I dont have to spring for their sequencer because I fly with a dx-18 and it has a built in sequencer that will work just fine. So all I can do right now is wait...

ESSYOU,, I know about the pivot links and not binding to allow movement and rotation,, the sole problem I was having was with the cylinders, after monkeying with them for over 2 weeks I just got fed up with them, I could not count on them every time, so that makes them a risk I just was not willing to take. I considered buying new cylinders but decided to just do the conversion.

OLNICO,, thanks for the advice,, I went with this plane because I have always loved the vipers,, I did not want to go with such a plane as the superpheonix, or an elan, or boomerang, because My preference is military war planes.

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

well, I sent the gear out on feb 15th, D&L was supposed to get it on the 18th. However D&L changed addresses, I sent mine out to the old address on the website, but called D&L and they said it would not be a problem, they have a forward address with the post office,,SO
today is march the 12th, according to the tracking number my package has been to north carolina 3 times virginia twice, maryland once. Still has not been delivered to D&L. The post office continues to show that they are a true government organization, and completely screwed up.
I have now filed a claim on the gear, as I dont believe it will ever show up. I did purchase 700$ worth of insurance on it, so lets see how this goes....

FalconWings

My Feedback: (57)

Well, if you do get the $700 claim, you may want to consider installing the Jet Legend "main" gear then. It is by far the simplest scale gear to install. It bolts down to the aft bulkhead, and another two bolts on the lower fwd bulkhead, at the bottom. For the nose gear I'd just buy a Skymaster one. They work flawless.

BTW, have you checked the rest of the gear door cylinders too, they probably leak as well!!

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

GOOD NEWS,, got a call from Mitch at D&L, he said they arrived,, thats about right, they show up 2 days after I file a claim..
He is going to get on the asap, and hopefully have them back to me by the end of the month..

Thanks again for all the ADVICE Falcon,,It really is a value to have help from another who knows about this stuff..

essyou35

My Feedback: (11)

Wow way too much drama with this jet Once you get the gear back there shouldnt be much to worry about.

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

I know,,, everything else is ready to go just waiting on the gear now,,

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

OK,, so here is the update,,about a month ago I got a call from MITCH at D&L they got my retracts, he stated they would get right on them since the delay in the shipping was due to an incorrect address on their website. SO, a little bit after that I talked with him about the completion date, He stated they were taking a trip, and would get the retracts done by the end of the month. The end of the month came and went, I waited some more, and contacted them again, this time they were at the Toledo show. He stated they were finished, and in the electrical dept. He would have an invoice sent to me immediately so I could pay,, I waited another couple of days still no Invoice, so I called on Wednesday, left a voicemail. Mitch returned my call and left a voicemail letting me know that an invoice would DEFINATELY be sent to me on THAT DAY which was thursday,, So friday morning still no invoice, I call again, get ahold of Mitch, he tells me they are out of the shop, but the gear is done,and Ron is not sure whether or not he sent an invoice, and I will definately get an invoice on monday and then I can pay and have my gear sent to me. So I am now waiting for monday, What really pisses me off is that my club was invited again to the annual ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS outdoor waco show on saturday, and I will be setting up another display this year, introducing the community to our hobby and club.. I had the jet planned to show, and was going to do a startup Demo for the public to see,, Now there is no way that will happen, I wont be able to get the gear in and the plane setup for the event.
I must be old fashioned, When I say I am going to do something I do it, and I do it when I say I will,, That mentality seems to be gone nowadays. To be honest this whole conversion process beginning with the post office losing my gear for a month, to D&L not keeping to their promise of completion has left a bad impression on me. I can only hope that when the invoice comes in, it will be for the agreed upon amount and the when I get the gear in it works as I hope. I will update this post when more results get in.

smaze17

My Feedback: (60)

Wow - classic case of the runarounds. Sorry you're having to deal with this BS.

S

dubd

The upside is the unknowing community will not be subjected to seeing a FEJ product representing our hobby.

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

I started this thread to show my results of changing from pnuematic to electric retracts, they are a known problem, and some people are interested in this subject, if the best comment anyone has to offer is ANOTHER bashing of Fej, then take that opinion to another thread, they are easy to find its the same guys all the time. The remark he posted is of absolutely no value, except to insult me, so, believe me I slowed my roll considerably by limiting my comment to the word chump.

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

You are right,, I should have left the Chump off,,, It was an angry response Sorry,, Now back to task,,
I will be on D&L first thing monday and let everyone know what is going on,,

j.duncker

My Feedback: (2)

I have remover some posts that contravened our policies, see below

The posts were rather childish but nevertheless unacceptable.

BobbyMcGee

Wow. If all this is accurate, I hope they compensate you for the delays by taking some money off. From what I know about them, I would bet they will.