Greg Covey

The Exceed RC F/A-18C EDF Jet from [link=http://www.nitroplanes.com/fho4brrecoed.html]Nitro Planes[/link] comes in either RTF or ARF versions. The 31" wingspan Jet has a Blue Angels finish and 70mm brushless EDF that is now powered by a 4-cell LiPo pack. Exceed RC's high quality foam provides great durability and the F-18 RTF can be put together quickly.

F/A-18C Features:[ul][*] Ready-To-Fly, Easy to Assemble[*] Fully Proportional Elevator, Rudder, and Throttle controls[*] Includes 4-channel Transmitter, Receiver, Servos, and Flight Battery[*] Includes Powerful Brushless Motor and controller[*] Innovative Wing and Fuselage designed to improve aerodynamics[*] Durable Fuselage and Wing Construction[/ul]
F/A-18C Specifications:[ul][*] Wingspan: 780mm (30.7 in)[*] Length: 1160mm (45.7 in)[*] Flying Weight: 850g[*] Wing Area: 12.5dm^2[*] Wing Load: 68g/dm^2[*] 70mm Ducted Fan (2.75 in)[*] Servos: Five 9G Servos[*] Motor: 2836 Brushless Motor[*] Speed Controller : 45A[*] Power System: 4-Cell 2200mAH LiPo[*] Radio System: 4-Channel TX and 6CH Rx
[/ul]

Greg Covey

The parts are well protected in the box and each piece or group is individually sealed in plastic. Even the instruction manual has a protective covering.

I removed the plastic and bubble wrap from the battery and transmitter for a closer look. The 4-Cell 2200mAH LiPo pack has a ElectriFly/E-flite compatable charge/balance connector and comes with a Dean's Ultra compatable connector already soldered on the power leads. The 4-channel 72MHz FM transmitter has channel reversing switches but needs 8 AA batteries (not included).

Greg Covey

The fuselage is 45.7" once the nose is attached. It has excellent details and the decals are already applied. The ESC has great cooling and the battery box is easily accessible. The intake and exhaust ducts looked clean.

Greg Covey

The wing halves, fins, and stabs were ready to glue in place once removed from the plastic. All the control rods are pre-cut and bent with the clevis installed. A small tube of glue is also supplied.

Greg Covey

The assembly starts by gluing the nose piece to the fuselage. I used the supplied glue for this step.

I decided to use 5-minute epoxy to glue the wing in place. It dried hard and fast which allowed me to hold it until the epoxy set. The servo arm hole needed to be drilled slightly larger to accept the Z-bend end of the control rod. I added my own rubber keeper to help hold the plastic clevis in place.

The servo control line was then connected to the fuselage extension and I sealed it in place with some clear shipping tape. I add a small piece of yellow trim tape to complete the "Y" in the decal.

Greg Covey

The horizontal stabilizers were glued with 5-minute epoxy. They fit on the fuselage in a way that was self-aligning.

Since were were no screws left to attach the control horns, I glued them in place with epoxy after first sanding the bottom side. Perhaps you were only meant to use two screws per horn on the ailerons but the manual wasn't clear. Like before, I added my own rubber keepers to help secure the clevis to the control horn.

Since the two elevator servos are connected to a Y-harness going to the receiver, I assumed that the black servo on one side was normal direction and the other red servo was reverse direction.

Greg Covey

The gear was pre-bent and ready to screw into place. The steerable nose gear (controlled by the rudder channel) was held by a set screw against a flat spot on the metal rod. I used thread locker to help keep it secure.

I'll likely paint the powder blue plastic areas with royal blue for a closer match to the fuselage.

Greg Covey

The Exceed F/A-18C was originally designed for a 3-cell LiPo battery pack but now ships with a higher voltage & capacity 4-cell LiPo pack for more power. Please be aware that while the included ESC can handle the extra voltage and power, the BEC on board the ESC can not properly handle the higher voltage. You will have to supply your own BEC to fly this plane safely with the 4-cell LiPo pack and disable the BEC on the included ESC by removing the red center BEC pin on the connector that plugs into the throttle channel. I used a Castle Creations [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXSWL3&P=ML]CC BEC[/link] for my external BEC. The CC BEC supply lines needed to be soldered to the ESC battery connector and then plugged into the receiver.

Since I fly in a high RFI area, I cannot use the supplied single-conversion receiver so I swapped it out with a Spektrum AR6100 2.5GHz receiver. Since I am using a Spectrum receiver, the programming wire pin was removed from the CC BEC before plugging it into the throttle channel.

Greg Covey

The Exceed F/A-18C was Ready-To-Fly at 32oz (2lbs) including the 8oz 4s LiPo pack. I measured 500w at 35amps which will provide a strong 250w/lb performance. It was time to test fly!

Greg Covey

We had an opportunity to test fly the Exceed F/A-18C this weekend in some pretty harsh conditions. The cold winds gusted from 15-25mph but didn't seem to phase the smaller EDF using the 4s LiPo pack. The plane flew very well and can easily be hand-launched. Much of the flight was at half-throttle because it had plenty of power for loops or fast fly-bys.

We'll see if we can get some more video and photos on a brighter day...

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/reviews/ExceedF182.wmv]Exceed F-18 Maiden Flight Video[/link] (9meg)

Greg Covey

Nitro Models has reported back that a new version will be available sometime in February '09. The new Exceed F/A-18 will have an external BEC that connects to the main battery and provides power to the on-board electronics.

TEBerg

My Feedback: (1)

Greg,

Great Review!!!

I just ordered my Red Viper version of the Exceed 70mm F-18 and it shipped today... I'll drop a note here and let you all know how it works for me.

The "new" Red Viper is supposed to have an upgraded UBEC instead of the previous BEC that you had to replace. That was a big part of ordering this plane.

Besides that item and some of the glue issues you mentioned in your article, is there anything else you "needed" to do with the plane before the first flight or after a few flights were done??

Specifically, I'm wondering about any EDF "Break-in" the plane might need...

Thanks…

Greg Covey

Hi Tom,

Thanks. I haven't changed anything on my F-18 since this report. The only "break in" you should do is a quick sanity check of the EDF power system before flying. I usually start with a low throttle setting to listen for rubbing rotor blades. Sometimes, they clean themselves after a short run but if the rubbing is too great, they will need to have the ends sanded equally. If all sound well, then give it full throttle for a 5 second burst to see that it holds together. Only after you are comfortable that it is running ok, you can place you hand behind the duct about 12" to feel the thrust level.

Good luck!

TEBerg

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks for the Reply Greg,

The F-18 should be here tomorrow; I'll grab some pics and report back here with the general assembly and testing.

Right now I have a replacement fiberglass nose cone on the way from a guy who makes one custom for the Exceed 70mm F-18. Besides that, I'm planning on doing the first test run (checking the fan as you mentioned) with the provided TX/RX than checking everything out and switching to my own JR setup - Just for piece of mind flying.

Question for you Greg - when you hand-launched, was there a good/comfortable grip somewhere on the plane???

shurlock1

Hello Greg I am Joe. I want change the edf and use a wemotec fan I hear to many problems with this system and dont want crash and burn. I cant figure how to get shaft off motor so I can remove it from fan. There is no screw that I can find to remove. Any ideas? Thanks Joe

Greg Covey

Hi Joe,

I am not aware of any issues with the EDF unit in this model. The issues were with the BEC capability on a 4-cell pack and the new lot in February at Nitro Models should have addressed it.

I'll assume that you meant to get the fan or adapter off the motor and not the shaft itself. Typically, these rotors are mounted with a collet adapter that uses pressure to hold itself in place on the motor shaft. If thread locker has also been used, then it makes it even more difficult to remove. On other EDF units, I have tapped the top of the adapter with a hammer to break the hold.

Good luck!

TEBerg

My Feedback: (1)

Mine was put together just like the Air Power 700 EDF: [link=http://www.airpacmodels.com/upload_img/usemanual/AP700DF.pdf]AirPower AP-700DF[/link]

There is a fan adapter that is held on the motor shaft with two set screws.. You need to take the cone off and the fan before you can reach the adapter. My EDF schroud also had a hole drilled in it to reach the set screws.

shurlock1

Thank you Greg I am leaving the shaft on the motor till the new fan comes. There are no allen screws holding my fan on. Thanks again Greg. Joe

TEBerg

My Feedback: (1)

Here is an update on my 70mm Red Viper F-18…

The Things I did to check and modify the “ready to fly” airplane include:
1) Removed and balanced the EDF and sanded the shroud.
2) Did a “break in” on the EDF Unit
3) Installed working rudders and mixed them with the nose wheel servo
4) Swapped receiver with my JR radio
5) Installed a fiberglass nose cone to replace the light/flimsy one
6) Installed a pilot - Marvin
7) Bent Main Gear to clear the fuselage
8) Installed a skid along the tail hook mold
9) Added about 1oz of weight in the back to balance the model with battery (probably from the fiberglass cone and pilot)
10) Turned the nose wheel around so the spring is winding the correct direction.
11) Held the ESC in place with a wire tie and soldered a new Deans Connector on

Now, there was good and bad with this plane:

Good – Low Price and Fast Shipping : Bad – Broken, missing and incorrect parts sent.
Good – Complete Kit in a box : Bad – No where near Ready To Fly
Good – John replaced all the incorrect or broken stuff : Bad – Had to ship stuff back and wait for replacements.

Some things I noted while I was waiting for parts and working on the plane include:

Control Throws*** Based on RCOnline Review***
- Elevator: Up and Down 1/2 inch
- Ailerons: Up and Down 3/8 inch
- Rudders: 5/8 inch each direction

** Battery Box Dimensions: 110mm Long X 35mm Across X 55mm Deep.

** Stock Battery Dimensions: 100mm Long (4 inches) X 33mm Thick (1-1/4 inches) X 35mm Wide (1-3/8 inches)

I went with the RTF setup because I just gave up on things like which battery would fit the plane and which speed control and BEC would work with the stock fan and some motor…

One thing for sure – This thing would NOT FLY right out of the box; at least not for long.
A) The EDF cone in front of the fan was cracked upon inspection. When I took the EDF out of the plane I found they had test run the setup and there were some pretty good groves in the shroud from where the fan blades rubbed.
B) They had packed the battery charger in the box with the plane and caused some damage, cosmetic and structural (Nitro Hobbies replaced all structural damage).
C) Yes, you have to unfold the antenna, but even then I would get glitches with the stock radio and RX (servos would “pulse” like the UBEC was making noise or something). Installing a different radio setup fixed this, but I still have to go range check with the motor operating.
D) The left side main gear did not have any retaining “grommets” on the plastic piece inside the fuselage. I had to make some screw retainers/bolts out of an old servo arm to mount the main gear.
E) I would not suggest ordering this thing on Wednesday and expect to fly it on Saturday!!!

The first photos show the little hatch to pull out the rx antenna and the new UBEC that is included with the plane.
Photos 3 & 4 show the fan damage.
Photos 5 & 6 are where I re-installed the motor using allen screws by wrapping in paper to center it up and Marvin on his new space ship .
Photos 7 & 8 are the working rudders cut hinged and installed
Photos 9 & 10 are some housekeeping. I secured the ESC with a zip tie becasue I saw it hanging down in some of the flight photos from the othere website. I tied the wires right to the EDF flange that sticks out the bottom of the plane. I also needed to solder a new Deans connector on the ESC/BEC because the knock-off they used had bad springs and would not go into the batteries. It was just a bunch of sparks as I tried to pry their connector into the battery, the real Deans plugs work much better.

Photo 11 are the parts I “added” to the plane. These are the nose cone from AirSally (other Site), E-flite servo and pushrod set from their P-38 (they fit right out of the package), Marvin and a wing skid.

The Last photo is the canopy glue drying. Note; in the last photo you can see a nice white blob right behind the nose cone. While I was testing the servos and throws I “forgot” about having a live throttle and bumped the stick – The plane jumped right across my work bench and into the peg board. Spackle was applied and paint will follow…

With luck I’ll have flight reports for you this weekend…

Edited to fix the photos/order.

TEBerg

My Feedback: (1)

Well, the F-18 did not make it through her maiden flight...
Take off was a bit sluggish and the plane was kind of squirrely with the throw settings shown above. I had a guy helping me and it took 7 clicks of up elevator to keep her flying level at 2/3 throttle. We were working on trimming the ailerons when things got bad.

I needed left stick to keep her flying level. I would fly the plane and Bob was adding trim a couple clicks at a time. On the fourth pass across the flying field, we were adding left trim and the plan suddenly snap-rolled to the right and dove into the ground from 80 to 100 feet...

The plane was traveling away from us and a little to the right, so the next turn was to be left back to the runway when it happened. Nothing much left forward of the air ducts...

I had already run two batteries through the plane on the bench and everything seemed fine. The range check was OK, but if I pointed the antenna (down) at the plane farther than 50 feet away the plane would glitch. I could go farther if I kept the TX at an angle to the plane… JR recommends 75 to 100 feet with the antenna down so this could have been the problem.

However, there are two things I can’t answer from this: 1) before the flight all the surfaces were trimmed at center; but, after the flight the ailerons were off-set to the left. Even when I changed the trim tabs back to center. 2) During a bench test after the crash everything was working well until I picked up the BEC while the motor was running and all the servos glitched. However, I could not get it to happen again.

So, what I have right now are a couple of questions left in my mind and the plane gone… I’m seriously thinking about swapping the ESC and batteries into my Kadet with a different motor… Then I can test out all the electronics on a lot slower platform…

The ride was fun and the experience educational… I think I may wait for my 2.4 GHz system before I fly any more EDF…
[]

shurlock1

Thats why I am going to use a castle 60 amp esc and another bec not sure the brand yet . I am also going to use a wemotec fan and maybe a typhoon or a medusa motor. I cant believe they would sell something that wasnt that good. I hear so many problems from the esc thats too small to the fan blowing apart. I should have bought the other version so I could make a great plane instead of a piece of junk.

MANFRED

My Feedback: (27)

Same thing happened to my piece of crap!!

MANFRED

My Feedback: (27)

By the way, I haven't had to bash a supplier this bad since my VMAR experience 5 years ago and there's been alot of planes since then.

robin4

Hi!

Wouldn't it be easier to remove the old BEC by cutting the wires from the ESC->BEC, and the solder on the new UBEC/BEC to the ESC->BEC wires. Making a replacement I mean, istead of having 2 BECs on the plane. Or wouldn't this work? I have a UBEC from hobbycity.

Robin

TEBerg

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Robin,

If you get a plane that has the old BEC/ESC setup you have to keep the ground and signal wires to the old ESC in place. That is the control signal for the ESC and plugs into the throttle channel.

On the "new version" electronics, the BEC is completely separate and provides power from the battery plug and goes to an open channel or the battery slot on the RX. The ESC with the new electronics plugs into the throttle channel directly.

Hope that helps...