Thrust Vectoring F-16

[19000rpm]

Those darn Black Friday weekend sales sucked me in again.

Hobby-Lobby had a nice F-16 thrust vectoring jet on sale. This seems to be the least expensive 360 degree jet on the market. Besides price, I ordered it from HL because I've had good experiences with them on product warranty. So....



It comes with everything except the Battery and the Rx. The only thing I needed was a battery, so I ordered that from HobbyPartz. It's a 14.8 2650 4S 30C which should offer more punch than the 20C that is recommended. Nice deal; only 32 bucks.

The kit is supposed to include full instructions for thrust vectoring expo on the DX7, but I got the name and number of the guy who wrote the instructions...Just in case.

It'll be here this week. I'm going to try to not open it until Christmas. I'm not promising that will happen though.

[Gabe]

You'll never make it to Christmas!

[19000rpm]

Yeah, I had to open it up to verify there was no shipping damage.

Anyway, it looks very nice except the foam isn't EPO as I was told. It look's like EPS. Well, I'm going to keep it anyway.

Now, it gets wrapped by the wife and stuck "near" the tree. No way it'll go "under" the tree.

[akent]

Sounds awesome, but a shame it's EPS...

You could always accidentally replace what's in the box with a little air. Then the box can go under the tree!
That's what I did!!
I got an Eflite Pogo for Christmas, but it's not possible for it to stay untouched!
Kent

[19000rpm]

Wow! A Pogo. What a beautiful plane! Are you going with a 25 or 32? There's no way your going with a 15.

[akent]

Actually I went with the Turnigy SK 3542 1250kv.
This is the 'other' legal motor for EF1 (Electric Formula 1).
With a Castle ICE 75 ESC and 2650ma 4s batteries.
Spinning an APC 8x8E at first.

One of the first races will be in Austin early next year! I just might enter if I can fly in circles like that!

These are supposed to fly at around 110-120mph stock, in a straight line! That's as fast or faster than my normal Funjet!

And wow is it a beautiful kit. The quality of everything is outstanding.
I think a person could stand on the landing gear. This thing is really beefy!
Kent

[19000rpm]

Sounds very cool. Flying at those speeds with a bunch of other competitors will get the heart pumping. The biggest issue at first seems to be just keeping track of your own plane and not to start flying someone elses.

I've liked my Turnigy 3542. I think I'll try some G10 motors from HK. They have 5mm shafts and don't require moving the shaft.

Well, as it turns out, HobbyPartz sent me a 3300 30C 4s. That should be even more fun.

The instructions for setting up the DX7 for thrust vectoring looks fairly simple. Can't wait to try it out.

[Gabe]

That sounds like a killer setup! I'm a little envious now.

[akent]

Dec 7, 2010 7:22:25 GMT -6 19000rpm said:

Sounds very cool. Flying at those speeds with a bunch of other competitors will get the heart pumping. The biggest issue at first seems to be just keeping track of your own plane and not to start flying someone elses.

I've liked my Turnigy 3542. I think I'll try some G10 motors from HK. They have 5mm shafts and don't require moving the shaft.

Well, as it turns out, HobbyPartz sent me a 3300 30C 4s. That should be even more fun.

The instructions for setting up the DX7 for thrust vectoring looks fairly simple. Can't wait to try it out.

Please let us know when you fly that! I have been eyeballing those thrust vectoring jets for a while now! The videos sure look amazing!
Kent

[19000rpm]

I'll certainly post the results of the maiden and hopefully beyond that. I'm not sure of when that's going to be though. Mr. Winter is going to be the determining factor. I "might" be able to fly it off the ice road....Verrrrrrrrrry carefully. That would be sometime in January.

If this jet works out I'll probably get one of these: www.hobby-lobby.com/erc_f_a_18e_super_hornet_90mm_arf_jet_oversize_532911_prd1.htm

[akent]

WOW! I haven't seen that F-18 with TF before! It looks awesome!
I like the 90mm fan.
Kent

[19000rpm]

That is one beautiful plane isn't it?

[Gabe]

Oh wow. My mouth is watering.

[19000rpm]

Well, on further inspection it is EPO foam not EPS. That's a relief.

It's a very nicely detailed plane, it even has a pilot, and I like the size of it and the wheels look to be large enough for some rough ground.

The servos and motor installations checks out. The only thing that has me somewhat skeptical is the lack of a wing spar. And, theres no apparent way to install one that wouldn't put the spar into the airflow. This might be oK though due to the fact that the wheels are mounted in the fuse and the wing is rather small. I'm still going to look at installing a spar in it some way.

There's not much assembling to do since this is receiver ready plane. Epoxying the parts together, hooking up the control linkage, snapping the gears in place and plugging in the Rx and testing the electronics is about all there is to do except for setting up the Thrust Vectoring on the Tx.

There are instructions on setting up the DX7 in the manual. Since I've never set up TV, I'm sure there will be a learning curve on that. I'll be looking for advice there and on TV flying techniques from those that have done it before.

I'm really looking forward to a new flying experience with this bird.

[akent]

I like it!
I hope your weather cooperates soon, so we can all hear about that plane!
Kent