Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Ok another SM F-18F Super Hornet takes to flight on the east coast !Actually from what I hear my SM F-18F is one of less than a handful flying to date in the US.My F-18F is done up in the beautiful VFA-2 scheme(the same scheme as the Tamjet BVM factory F-18F is done up in)She flew last Sunday under very ideal conditions! My test pilot/mentor & good friend Jack was on the sticks with his very savy jet Experience!!The maiden passed with flying colors until the landing when my F-18F decided to chuck one nose wheel & kick one of the main tires off the wheel.All has been fixed and we are bringing her out for some more trim flights tomorrow

My SM F-18F has a Merlin 160(36 pounds) for power and is guided by a JR 10X.I must have gotten one of the more powerful Merlin's cause mine is putting out 35 lbs of punch with a bifricated pipe!! She is VERY fast & true/on rails in flight.Unlimited vertical to say the least!!Many thanks to Duke from Airpac for his courteous help on the phone with setup tips,etc!! You are a true asset to this great hobby. And you were right this jet is a REAL winner and looks incredibily beautiful in flight .She can handle some serious G's just like you said she would.I'm looking forward to getting on the sticks Sunday .She was built & painted by my good friend Jack with his 40 plus years in the hobby.If anyone is considering a SM F-18F I highly recommend this baby!!I'll post some pics tomorrow after I return from flying & we are looking forward to many flights on her at the Mid Atlantic Jet Rally next weekend


Steve

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Pictures!! Video!! We demand it!!!

Congrats!!

B

PS. Where did you place the CG?

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

B


I'll be posting some pics tonight after I get back from flying.I'm just watching the wind this morning.Yesterday it was a good 20-25 thru out the day but luckily right down the runway.Wind does not seem to affect my Boomerang XL as I got 4 flights on her yesterday flies great still even once the XL looses the hatch! [X(]We looked for it for a good 2 hours yesterday where it fell in the thick woods with no luck.I still dont understand how it departed the airframe as it is a very tight fit-only thing I can figure is that it came off from the constant rocking of my XL in flight

Really sucks that I lost the hatch of all times right now!! cause Patricia of Boomerang jets is visiting her brother ALan in the UK until the 25th of May.So no way I'll be able to fly my XL at the jet event here next weekend errr

In any event I'll post the F-18 pics tonight ,sorry cant do video tho .I'll ask my good friend & builder Jack about the CG,he called Duke at Airpac to get the ideal CG.I'll let you know about that tonight once I get back home.Two more guys sent me emails asking about the ideal CG as well[8D]


Steve

Shaun Evans

Steve,

Congrats! Yes, I'd also like to see some pics/video. You're right about Duke, too. He's the John Redman of the South Pacific.....

JetsRC

Congrats on your maiden, it is an awesome jet, and flys great.

B, I got the CG on mine at 140mm. It is very stable in that point. At first I had it a 150mm but it had a bit of a tendency to woble the nose up and down when aproaching for landing.

Michel

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Thanks Michel & Shaun!


Well unfortantly my F-18 did not fly again today due to one of my aileron servos acting up (JR 3421's)Just my luck! I certainly wasn't taking the gamble in flight . I am gonna have to change out the servo this week & we will fly her again this coming Friday-the day before our annual jet rally starts.I was very bummed about this today cause I was very eager to see my F-18 airborne for another flight or two

I will get plenty of shots in flight and statically this coming weekend at the jet rally

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

What specifically was the issue with the 3421? Was it brand new? Was it checked with an amp meter during setup? What's the isntallation look like?

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Yes the JR 3421 was brand spanking new & what it was doing was that it was twitching up & down -it continued to do it when the ailerons were in neutral position.It did not do it at all when the surface was deflected.The left aileron servo was perfectly fine.We suspected that maybe the linkage had developed some slop or another problem in it so we flipped the jet over on the stand and looked closely at it.And that was not the problem,the linkage was totally tight & everything was straight as an arrow.My builder did not check the servo with an amp meter during setup but he does always use a JR matchmaker.

He is a great builder and never skips any corners when building or doing his setups.He never does use an amp meter for setup unless he sees something odd when doing so. However he has never had an issue ever before and he has built tons of jets.I have never heard of anyone having a bad brand new JR3421 before but there is a first for everything of course.They are only 75 bucks so I will just go buy a new one tomorrow and hopefully that should solve the issue once & for all

Steve

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

I'm more concerned that an out of the box JR servo (especially one I'm about to install 6 of that particular servo) would have an issue.

You say "matchbox" but I've never heard of a matchbox being used on ailerons, that has to be a mistake statement.

I find that an amp meter like Todd sells at DW is crucial to the setup of a jet. There is no other way with today's powerful servos to know if you are mechanically over amping your equipment. The sound won't do it anymore. You might tell your guy that and buy the 40 buck amp meter, it will likely save you some future headaches.

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Sean


I said a Matchmaker from JR,not a matchbox I only use Matchboxes on Flaps or rudders/steering.My Kingcat has them on flaps & rudders/steering.I like to avoid using them if at all possible .I have never heard of an issue EVER with the JR3421's other than when linked to a gyro on Bobcat rudders back in the day.A few guys fried some cause apparenty the 3421 couldn't mate up in a friendly fashion with gyros.This is a new one on me too with a new out of the box 3421.Even JR has a bad servo here & there apparentlyI'm sure this is just an isolated case with this 3421

The matchmaker is a nice little gizmo from JR too that aids in setup,etc. to a certain degree.I think after today's ordeal I will be definately ordering one of those amp meters from Todd.I need to place an order here soon anyways with him

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

I'm not familiar with the matchbox, sorry about that. I guess I'll be testing servos again. A few years ago I tested several make and models of servos, some to failure point to see if they would indeed put out rated capacities.

The winner by a long shot was the 8411 which sloshed 9 lbs of water out of a picher like it was nothing. I went with JR servos and never looked back.

HotelSierra

My Feedback: (9)

Try checking your servo extension, especially if using a Y harness or an amplified extension. Have seen this problem on friends' jets and everyone (three different jets) has been a bad servo extension.

Ray Davis

My Feedback: (1)

You don't describe the type/degree of instability w/ your servo......I've had 8411s act twitchy...when the linkage was too tight. I don't mean no-slop...but the 'pivot' points had too much friction/were tight or restricted. Much louder buzzing than normal and maybe plus/minus 1/2" TE excursions...I dunno, at maybe 200 Hz. And, it can look/act fine outa neutral/at commanded deflections. Get the pivot points friction-free and all is well again. That what you saw..or something else?

Ray

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Steve,
I agree with the statements made here, I would be suspect of linkage or lead connections from your description. Easiest way to tell, plug a spare RX driectly to the servo, if it still buzzes, disconnect your linkage. If the problem still exists, it the servo ;-)

For those that have not seen the JR [link=http://dreamworksrc.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=768]Matchmaker[/link], It is a handy device when doing initial installs and linkage setups. The Matchmaker Allows for the cycling of up to two separate servos at a time at variable speed rates. Perfect for finding erratic servo behavior in the cycling mode and Allows the precise digital centering of up to 2 servos at a time to help with setup on the building bench. Nice tool!
Todd

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Thanks alot Todd & Ray!! We will look at this tonight ,I'm taking my F-18 over to Jack's house tonight to get right down to the "thick of things" and figure out exactly what the culprit is ultimately.I did buy a new 3421 today from LHS just in case.We hadn't even suspected the lead yet ,don't know why we didn't think to look that direction already.We will also conduct the test just as you indicated & figure out exactly what the issue is.I will report back with the findings thereafter



thanks again,Steve

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Alrighty,I just got back from my builders house and we took the servo out real fast,did exactly what you stated Todd,and sure enough it ended up being a bad extension.It was one of the Maxx products one which usually are awesome.I have them on every other surface on the F-18,Kingcat & my Boomerang XL


Well glad we got that straight so we can fly it again Friday before the jet rally here


Thanks,Steve

Aero65

My Feedback: (2)

Howzit Shaun

You are too nice, thanks for the compliment. Lol im no John Redman, but I aspire to be like him! I hope things are well on the West coast for you sir.

Steve

Great job on getting the 18F in the air, and Im glad you like it. Chris B. here has a Merlin in his and Yes I agree it is awesome with that turbine in it. Look forward to flight reports. By the way, on our Tim found that by mixing the speed brakes to deploy during down elevator inverted flight did not require as much down elevator.

Duke

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Pretty much what I expected your reply to be Steve.... your symptoms where typical of what i have seen with bad leads. Glad to hear you got it worked out. Have fun @ Fentress, not going to make it this year
Regards,
Todd

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Thanks duke!!


She flew awesome on the maiden! I have not gotten any stick time myself yet but this weekend I will at our annual jet rally! She was smoking fast with the Merlin and had a very unique sound in flight.I was also amazed to see that the throttle response is just as fast my Rhino is!I didn't think that would be possible as the Rhino has instant throttle response. My F-18 has the roaring takeoffs much like the fullscale on the aircraft carrier deck My Kingcat does too tho with the Rhino !


Todd


We'll miss ya this year man!!sorry to hear ya cant make it .How's the little one & the Mrs. doing?? I will upload plenty of pics of my F-18 in flight & all this coming weekend.We will be shooting for some more trim flights on Friday before the rally starts Saturday.Can't wait & the weather is looking great too[8D]I got the sidewinder missles & the underwing missles/pylons all painted and detailed last night for the event.She's looking sexy now


Steve

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Steve,

Try to get some vids too! I'm drooling...

Beave

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Beave


I will bring my cam corder & take some video.I'd gladly do that.The problem I have however is that I can't upload the video footage to my computer cause I lost the PC patch cord quite some time ago.I need to contact Panasonic & get another one never got around too it cause I haven't use my camcorder in years


Steve

bevar

My Feedback: (27)

Ever get any pics or video?

B

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Here are some pics taken yesterday at the field.My F-18F didn't fly yesterday due to a terrible crosswind.She does have 3 trim flights so far & flies beautifully.Looks absolutely scale in every way in flight





Steve

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

Sorry but I can only send one pic at a time



Another

Steve S

My Feedback: (54)

http://image.rcuniverse.com/forum/up...09/Vt58388.jpg