Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The [link=http://www.venom-group.com/storeitems.asp?section=Air#gpJets]Venom Group International[/link] has released the F-86 Sabre in a 70mm Almost-Ready-to-Fly (ARF) Electric Ducted Fan (EDF) jet airplane. It is available in three striking scale color schemes and is made from tough, yet lightweight EPO Foam. These jets come pre-painted with all graphics pre-applied making the time from bench to flight line very minimal. A powerful 70mm Ducted Fan and 2836kv Brushless outrunner motor provide plenty of thrust for scale fighting action. Major features include working flaps, scale airbrakes, pneumatic/spring retractable landing gear, and scale external fuel tanks. All servos are pre-installed, as is the 45-amp ESC with a 5-amp external BEC. Simply install your own 6-channel receiver, 4S 3200mah LiPo battery, and you are ready to fly!

Features:[ul][*] 70mm Ducted Fan (Included)[*] Powerful 2836kv Brushless outrunner motor (Included)[*] 45-amp ESC with 5-amp external BEC (Included)[*] All micro servos are pre-installed[*] Working flaps[*] Scale airbrakes[*] Air Retracts, struts, and rubber wheels (Included)[*] Scale external fuel tanks[*] All decals pre-applied
[/ul]Specifications:[ul][*] Age Rating: 14+[*] Wingspan: 43.4" (110.3cm)[*] Length: 42.7" (108.5cm)[*] Flying Weight: 52.9oz. / 1.5kg[*] Motor: 2836kv Brushless Outrunner[*] Fan: 70mm EDF[*] Radio System: 6-channel minimum (Not Included)[*] Battery: 4S 3200mAh-4500mAh LiPO (Not Included)[/ul]

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The F-86 parts were well secured in the box by custom compartments. Each plane part or group of pieces was sealed in plastic. The wings each had the metal air retracts installed as well as the servos and control surface hinges. All the parts were pre-painted and ready to install. Notice the red servo is reversed for the opposite flap and the metal struts come with with pre-assembled rubber (not foam) wheels. A set of servo extensions and a painted pilot figure were even included!

The 14-page manual has a very condensed set of instructions but the photos and text look clear. The multi-step QC sheet shows a good commitment to quality and consistency by Venom.

Not shown are the two plastic gray wing fences that I decided not to use. The wing fences were used on later F-86 full-scale jets.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

A closer look at the Venom F-86 fuselage reveals that it is loaded with extras. The tail servos are already installed for the rudder and elevators. The cockpit hatch is held in place by four strong magnets and a front tab to keep it from coming off in flight. The retract control servo and linkage are pre-installed as is the battery bay and holding strap. A nosewheel steering servo is also installed.

The motor, ducted fan, and ESC are already mounted. The air lines and tank are all in place and need only be connected to the main retracts. Even the thrust tube is already in place!

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The assembly starts by gluing the wing halves together and routing the servo extensions for the ailerons and flaps. The manual is sketchy here so you need to take a look at what is trying to be accomplished. I found it easier to first glue the wing halves together, using the supplied glue, and then route the servo extensions. Notice that the extensions should end up on the same side where it can be fed through the channel inside the fuselage wall.

Before screwing the wing in place, you need to also route the air lines and attach the ends to the cylinders on the retract mains. Note that the servo extensions use one channel on the wing bottom and the air line to the opposite side uses the other channel. I added some small washers to the long screws before securing the wing to buffer the metal screw head on the pre-attached wooden washers. The wing seated perfectly when all the extensions and air lines were properly in the channels.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The air up / spring down retracts required a little work for proper operation. Since there was some binding on the retracts, I sprayed them with a light coat of silicone lubricant and worked them up and down until they could spring freely. I also needed to cut away some of the foam on one of the wheel wells to keep the retracted wheel from sticking. A slight cut was also done on the nose wheel bay to eliminate the wheel from hitting the foam when retracting.

I also discovered a leak in the main fill valve. After several attempts to determine where the leak came from, I gave up and replaced it with a Robart fill valve which matched all my other planes anyway. By connecting the servo to the gear channel on a live receiver, you can slowly dial in the correct positions on your transmitter for up and down so that no air escapes. To monitor the air pressure, I simply leave the Robart pump connected and watch for a change in pressure. I left the pump connected overnight and saw little change in the morning so I knew my air system was intact. The retracts seem to operate flawlessly with 60lbs to 100lbs of pressure.

I'm using a Spektrum AR7000 dual receiver on my F-86. I tested all the servos, except for the vertical stab, for proper operation. I got big kick out of my my first functional set of air brakes!

The strut wires on the mains had a nice flat spot to tighten the set screw. The nose wheel strut is different so the steering cables will need to be hooked up before it is ready to go.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The vertical stabilizer has the rudder servo pre-mounted so all you need to do is plug it in and test it before gluing the fin in place. I used the supplied glue and hooked up the linkage to the second outer most holes on both the servo arm and control horn. The servo arm holes needed to be opened up a bit to accept the Z-bend on the control rod.

I replaced the stock battery connector with a Dean's Ultra which allowed me to use some pre-enjoyed ThunderPower 4s eXtreme V2 and Pro Power 3300mAh packs.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The manual was very poor on the nose steering assembly but with a little common sense it can be made to work well. In general, you always want the steering servo arm parallel to the control arm so by cutting the servo arm ends shorter, you can mount it sideways to the control arm.

The nose strut already had a flat spot in the rod so the control arm doesn't end up perfectly parallel to the servo arm. When tightening the set screw on the strut, allow the wheel to be able to spin freely without pulling out. I used the second hole from the inside on the servo arm and the steering came out just about perfect.

When the nose wheel is retracted, the steering wires get loose and stay out of the way. Note that the control arm wants to be mounted one way so that it can nestle into the plywood cutout when retracted.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

great review so far, thanks. My bro just ordered it so hoping your finished review will have good flight report and not to difficult to build.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Hi,

Yes, I think I will find the F-86 easy to finish and fly since others have already had great success with it. My post after this one will contain a product bulletin from the Venom Group that fixes an issue with the rigid plastic air tubing. The company seems to be very progressive and has a nice entry into the popular market of foam EDF models.

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The horizontal stabs were glued in place using the supplied glue. The control horns hooked up easily with the only issue being the need to drill out the servo arm holes a bit to accept the Z-bend. I used the second hole from the outside on both the servo arm and the control horn.

At this time, I connected the aileron and flap linkages as well. The fuel tanks were glued into the wing seats using the supplied glue. The wing seats provided easy alignment for the tanks. All linkages were connected to the second hole from the outside except for the flap control horns, which used the outer most hole.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

In the photo, you can see where I replaced some of the original rigid orange air tubing with softer purple tubing. I had noticed when my canopy was in place, it pressed against the tubing and allowed the air pressure to leak out. The rigid orange tubing did not like being twisted or flexed at the tee connections or it would start to leak. As for the gear struts, I have not seen an issue with mine but it is nice to see VGI support their product without hesitation.

Product Update Alert

Venom Group International is providing updated parts to those customers who are not satisfied with the landing gear alloy struts and the harder air lines. Please contact them for a free replacement by calling 1-800-705-0620 or e-mail [link=http://[email protected]]Customer Service[/link].

The updated landing gear struts are now simple light weight wire parts. The air lines are softer and clear. These parts will be in stock by Sept 1st. Future production of the Venom F-86-70 will include these updates.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The pilot and canopy were the last steps of the assembly. I glued the pilot in place using the last of the supplied glue and then glued the canopy onto the hatch with a similar clear foam-safe glue of my own.

To balance at the 180mm point recommended in the manual, I needed to move the 12.5oz ThunderPower pack slightly forward as shown. The strap just covered the back end of the pack.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

I see a problem with the nose steering assembly after explaining your setup to bro. With front gear retracted and servo horn in that position, isn't giving any rudder in flight going to cause servo horn to bind on strut? Or am I missing something here, since rudder and steering are on same channel? It would appear he got friday or monday kit. The wing bolts do not even start into nuts, holes in wings for bolts were filled with some kinda glue, wing panels needed lots of sanding on root to line up correctly with each other and fuse. Some other issues he found also, but so far these were the worst. I told him to call VGI and ask for a replacement kit swap. He says nah, already got wings joined, and should be able to figure out wing hold down nuts himself. Hope it works out for you both though, nice looking jet! Like I say his main concern is front steering cables/servo horn orientation. Any more details on that would be great, especially if your setup works without binding. Thanks for great reviews on here on all planes you've done so far!

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

When the gear is retracted, the cables are slack so that even though the steering servo still turns with rudder control, the nose wheel does not move. I taxi tested mine yesterday and saw no issues when I played with the retracts.

On the wing screws, you should be able to press on the screw as you turn it to break away any of the excess glue. I'm not sure what caused the wing panel issue. Perhaps the wings halves were glued together at a slight angle.

Good luck!

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

My Venom F86-70 Sabre was ready to fly at 55oz (3.4lbs) including the 12.5oz 4s ThunderPower pack. I measured 670 watts at 45 amps for a power level of 195w/lb. The jet should fly nicely!

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

After a perfect pre-flight check, we thought the Venom was ready to go but the rotor blew out when we were taxiing for take-off on grass after about 20’. I’m not sure if something got sucked in the nose (nobody saw anything) or if the distortion from bouncing on the grass made a rotor blade strike the fan unit. I had the power system up to full throttle 3 or 4 times at home without issue. It was actually quite smooth running at full throttle.

Anyway, I'll look to get a replacement rotor from VGI and try again in about 3 weeks.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

To bad about the rotor shredding, at least it didn't blow out a chunk of fuse when it went. I was able to go and see bro's over weekend. Very nice looking plane in person. Some issues with wing halves not lining up for gluing must have been molding marks or something, as he only had to sand wing roots flat in order to join together, fitment of wings to fuse was spot on, probably best I've seen on a foamy. After futzing with speed brakes to get them to close fully, he opted to disconnect them for first flight. Sunday morning we were off with a 3-5mph wind, nice. Preflight check, throttle up slowly to full and he's off! Took a long way to build up speed, but once in the air, we both wished he was on the ground, YIPES! A word of warning to anyone flying a very swept wing plane, put on the drop tanks! I can orient on my habu no problem, but this thing was impossible to tell orintation without sun directly behind me. Same for him, so put on the drop tanks! The wind was light, but it really really through this thing around badly. So much so, he couldn't get trims set and decided to land in a hurry. He got it lined up fair on the runway, nice speed, slowly sinking. 8-10ft from ground, I see the tail go up as he says UH OH! and I hear the elevator stick bottom out all at same time...wham, bounce...crunch. Bleepity bleep. It is a handfull in any wind it seems, even at 180mm cog. Plywood servo mount for nose steering immediatly sucked into fan, destroying rotor. Nose wheel strut and pull pull steering arm snapped, main gear wire/struts bent, nose a bit smushed and seperated, and blown rotor. My thoughts/opinions...Beautifull jet when assembled, a little underpowered, but not much. Not happy with steering arrangment or instructions for them. Follow Gregs setup and it's ok. Aileron throws just a bit high, elevator a bit low. Pnumatic retracts, eh...To finicky and snap open and closed way to fast for a nice jet like this, electric retracts would be much better on here. If you have batteries, rx, air pump, and lots of patience, it's a nice jet. If you need all the extras, you're close to 600$ bucks for a average quality foamy.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Although my replacement rotor arrived within a week from Venom, back to back R/C shows delayed my repair of the F-86.

The rotor was actually quite easy to replace. After removing the four screws holding the wing, it could be set off to the side while the rotor was swapped out. I did notice some slop in either the stock outrunner motor or DF mount that may have allowed the rotor blades to strike the sides. Otherwise, there was no evidence of what caused my blade failure.

I ran it up to full throttle 3 or 4 times outside and it sounded smooth with little vibration. Hopefully, I'll get to test fly it this weekend.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

I logged a few flights on mine today. It's really a blast! This one actually "flies" rather than "flits". It behaves like a much larger aircraft.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Has anyone figured out if the ESC has a low-voltage cutoff? It doesn't arm with the standard "4 beeps" indicating that it's set up for a 4-cell LiPo (or that it has an appropriate voltage cutoff).

I hooked a LiPo checker to the balance connector and ran the motor until the pack was down to "0% on the checker (just over 12 volts), and the motor still ran. This (and no "4 beeps" when arming) tell me that there is no appropriate voltage cutoff for a 4-cell LiPo.

Can the programming be changed? I didn't see any ESC instructions with the kit.

These EDFs chew through a battery in just a few minutes, and I'd hate to ruin a battery by discharging it too far.

Has anyone else run into this?

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Bro's does the same, just a beep to let you know it's armed, and no low voltage cutoff. Simple answer is to use a timer function on radio, or kitchen egg timer. Set it for around 4-5 minutes, see how many milliamps you put back in, and set timer accordingly. He's getting 7-8 minute flights comfortably, with enough power for a few go arounds if needed. He's using 3600mah packs I think.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

The weather was great today so I finally got a chance to test fly my Venom F86-70. My usual crew was not available so my wife, Kim, helped me out with the video and photos. My first attempt to fly off grass with the gear down didn't work and the soft struts that were never replaced on my earlier review unit managed to bend a bit. As I tried to bend the nosewheel forward, the strut just snapped off. All the newer kits should have these struts replaced by now (as well as the rigid airlines) so it won't be a problem for kits purchased after August 2010.

I decided to hand toss the F-86 and land it on the tips tanks on grass. This plan worked out great as the F86 was easy to hand toss and slowed down to a crawl without using the flaps or air brakes. The scale model EDF really flies great! Flight times were about 5 minutes and I could perform just about any maneuver without bad tendencies. The stock CG seemed dead on and I used the recommended control throws with about 35% exponential. No mixing was used.

Since I fly off grass, I will likely remove the retracts and air tank to reduce some weight. The Venom F86-70 appears to be a very versatile and stable flier. When landing, I simply reduced power and increased elevator until it slowly landed in the grass. Although the tip tanks didn't even scratch, I will likely protect them with some clear foam-safe paint now that I know I can easily land on grass.

[link=http://www.gregcovey.com/Reviews/VenomF86.wmv]Venom F86-70 Test Flight Video[/link] (13meg)

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Heh heh, nice review, with some minor "oversites". Number one is -QC! The valve to the retract system SUCKS! If you get 30 cycles, you are a GOD! O-rings, p-poor mnfng...whatever, they suck and will FAIL! 45AMP esc on a 70mm fan? Yeah, it is in good cooling, but come on...?Directions/instructions, LOL!!! Replacements/support? Bananna will do just as good, heeeeh heeheehehe, glonk! 20 clams for eachhhhhhhhh wing half!!!Nic, your killing us, lol! 60$ for a fuse...? Bwah ha ha ha! Lets see, 42$ for overnight air on a thursday, (42$!!!), delivery expected MONDAY! WTH!Venom site lists servos as .99$ each for regular rotation ones...Hmmm..are they up to snuff? Bro swapped in a e-flight delta-V 15 fan(after original sucked in a 1/25GRAM screw from front retract system thaty ate the fan/housing)and take offs were finally less than 100YARDS! Venom groups, why do we gotta test your stuff and still pay for it? My impression is the fan/motor is really weak, replacement parts are way overpriced, shipping/costs are a joke, landing gear is still patheticly weak, Can you say, "electric retracts"? Or at least add a useable valve? Pull pull steering? In this modern age? Pro's though, flies ok at full throttle, (less than full is a landing). Looks pretty...(so does a 40$ hooker...) Parts are...UNAVAILABLE?(ok, con) Lands pretty at least 2 times, (before gear failure). They at least waurranty stuff!(if you pay full price for replacement). Other than being run by easily tricked guy's unused to china's view of patent law, (we make it, we sells it)and ungodly priced parts, and pathetic power/electronics package, it's a good buy! On the plus side, the 3 out of 5 flights that didn't require divine intervention were nice looking...Just sayin...he hehehheheh.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Has anyone else retrofitted this jet with E-flite 10-15 electric retracts? I have! All retract/strut/steering issues SOLVED.

The power system more than adequate. It'll fly @ 1/3 throttle with a bit of back stick and cruise @ half throttle (even at 5300ft ASL). I believe the 45A ESC is sufficient because even after a hard run it isn't warm (nor is the battery, for that matter). The slow flight capabilities of this EDF are AWESOME. It lands at a crawl with no tip-stall tendancies. Everyone who's flown it or seen it fly has been duly impressed.

It radared at 68 mph out of a shallow dive then leveling off. For those wondering about the drop tanks, I've flown it both with and without them, and there doesn't seem to be much of a difference in speed (although they help me a lot with orientation). The flaps and speed brakes are nifty, for sure, but this plane slows down so well that you certainly don't "need" them. They are fun to play with, though!

It's even got a clear plastic thrust tube so that when the speed brakes are open, you don't lose any airflow through the openings (if you were to accidently open them in flight or on takeoff).

Despite a few minor issues (mostly with the landing gear), I still believe that this is a terrific EDF. Anyone who can handle a ParkZone T-28 could easily fly this plane. It really LOOKS cool in the air, too! Most people comment that it is very scale-like in flight.

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Can someone recommend a fan unit upgrade for the F-86. Sorry, not to savy on EDF stuff.
Thanks

RE: Venom F86-70 EDF ARF
 

Yeah Tony, I agree actually. It is a great flying plane, and a low altitude low speed pass with flaps down is a thing of beauty. Rock solid, no rocking, awesome really. My only complaints are replacement parts costs, and retract system. Maybe something was wrong with bros fan/motor? Took a LOOoong way to takeoff, and at 1/2 throttle it wont stay up, but slowly descends. That goes on to Mach 1's question though! He bought an eflight delta v 15 fan unit and their 3600kv motor to go with it. After much bench testing, decided to use stock 45 amp esc, since motor/fan unit supposedly draws only 46 amps and has great cooling. It flies MUCH better with the eflight fan and motor, much faster and can tool along at less than 1/2 throttle now easily. It is a direct fit once he got the old one out, and a few dabs of clear silicone caulh holds it solid.