ORIGINAL: eastern
Hi Wes, wlecome to the crazy world of jets!! I think a lot of compaines assume rightly or wrongly that most jet flyers are very experienced builders/flyers so you will find that a lot of jets come with very little in the way of instructions. If you need any help with what to put where then let us know and I'm sure someone will send you pics or diagrams. Its funny you should mention turbines as I have been flying my F16 on a Wren 54 and as you can imagine it struggles, take off is about 150 mtrs and thats off concrete, off grass it would be a no no. The Turbine I have been looking at with a lot of interest and its getting v favourable feed back is the Jets Munt merlin 90. For its weight you could mount it in the rear and its kicking out about 22lbs of thrust, which is what you need for the FEJ kit. As for nose legs the FEJ early ones are crap and I've just about given up with mine and put a non scale one in. The lock down mechanism is prone to sticking and the centering mechanism is a piece of bent wire! Mine collapsed last week so needs new gear door/ram/leg/nose cone and pito probe total cost $220 delivered. Ive spoken to James at FEJ, who by the way is a star and very helpfull, about FEJ upgrading the front nose leg and they are looking at it. On batts etc it depends if you are mounting turbine in the the rear or not, if you are use 2 Nimh through something like an Emcotec switch and a lipo for your turbine power, mount the batts in the nose and this will balance the airframe. The other issue with the F16 is no airbrake or flaps so you will need to nail your landings on a short strip and be prepared it lands fast so make sure yoour brakes are good. Personally I wouldnt have an F16 as a first jet, I would go for a Roo or a Harpoon or a Phoenix, these jets go like the clappers but land like trainers. On servo's take a look at the new HiTec ones they run off 7.2v and look the business also Savox do some v good Hi torq servos as well. Of course JR are the one nearly everyone goes for but they are pricey. Use the highest torq you can afford and metal geared, personally min 15kg especially if you are using tailerons.
Hi Eastern
first off thankyou for the quick reply and making me feel welcome, its one thing im finding venturing into new areas of the rc industry, if you dont know anyone and your not annoying anyone you often get ignored.
Im really looking foward to flying my first jet, I still remember the first time i saw one fly and thought to my self that has to be the coolest rc thing ever and im goin to get me one one day. Well that day now has finally come Yahoo!
Im pretty right with the everything its just the turbine and retractsthings that im a bit vague with because there really the last thing im yet to have in one of my models.
In the servo department i was thinking of using Hitec 7955tg rated at 24kg with titanium gears on the elevators and ailerons and dont really know about the rudder and theor the rest. It was suggested to be by the guy im getting the jet through to look at maybe getting one of the FlyEagle 5 in one valves things, apparently they eliminate 3 servos and also allow you to time the retaction of each wheel and door independantly. What are these like? has anyone had anything to do with them? are they reliable? Is there another brand to consider?
Power systems, i have always been in favor of running reduntant lithium Ions so I will more then likely through a pair of Fromeco 2600's on the RX but for the turbine ecu i havent a clue as im not familiar with them enough yet.
Does anyone know of a cheap place to aquire a Merlin M90, im just shopping around, there seems to be quite a difference in prices, im thinking its goin to comedown to local knowledge of whos the best and cheapest, (if its not suitable to post please PM me or email me at
[email protected])
Irealise that this model is far from a beginners model however that said i like i mentioned earlier, im lucky enough to have quite a few competant jet flyiers in my club so i will more then likely run buddybox for the first one, it will really be the landing thats the issue, the rest doesnt bother me, but ive test flowin many crappy built models for other people and have never crashed one or even nosed one over yet in 10yrs of doinbut on the otherhand theres a first time for everything. I will certainly pay close attention to the break systemsEastern based on your recommendations.