Phase 3 F-16 build thread.

[CHELLIE]

Congrats on the maiden flight Mike, your jet flies great, Take care and have fun, Chellie

[Angler-Hi]

Thanks Chellie. It'll be a while before I need to paint another plane though. I have never heard of the short cuts paints before. Thanks for the heads up.

Mike

[AlexinFlight]

I found H20 primer at the local Walmart. Priming all the foam tomorrow.

Alex

[USMC_VTOL_Mech]

Alexinflight
Your gonna love that primer
About 2 to 3 thick coats ...sand with 360 to 400 grit until butter smooth
Like I said though..make sure you sand outdoors because it's literally like sanding a piece of chalk.....

[Angler-Hi]

Just got back from the field with my buddy max2112. Had a great flight with the F-16! My battery was worked a bit and puffed ever so slightly, but has receeded and is good to go. I think I may need a higher "C" rating...maybe like a 25-30C. This was my third flight with the F-16 and I have always used the same battery. My flight was actually shorter than the maiden, so I have no idea why she did that. I LOVE this plane!!

Mike

[crxmanpat]

Good job Mike. I know what you mean, this is my favorite plane right now too. Got two more sorties in today.

I also picked up some Krylon H2O primer yesterday. I'll probably use this on the ducting in my EDFs to get a nice smooth finish, then just coat with WBPU to make it slick.

[Angler-Hi]

Originally Posted by crxmanpat

Good job Mike. I know what you mean, this is my favorite plane right now too. Got two more sorties in today.

I also picked up some Krylon H2O primer yesterday. I'll probably use this on the ducting in my EDFs to get a nice smooth finish, then just coat with WBPU to make it slick.

Hey Pat, what batteries are you using in her...mah, "C" rating?

[crxmanpat]

Mike,

I use one of the following:

ThunderPower Pro Lite 3S 2600mAh 20C (I won this pack from TP at SuperFly VII in Vegas in October. This pack is not listed on their site, so it may be brand new.)

X-Caliber 3S 2200mAh 25C. You can find these at innov8tivedesigns.com.

Both give about equal performance, and flight duration is about 5-6 minutes WOT.

When I order from Hobby City again, I'm going to get some Rhino 3S 2250 25C as most of my planes are currently using packs of this size, and all I have are the two listed above.

[Angler-Hi]

Thanks Pat! I think I'll order some of the TP batts. They seem to be smaller and lighter. I don't think I'll go below 25C. Thanks again friend!

Mike

[M@F69]

Hey Guys need a little help.
Not sure how far back to put the fan. I am using a Flight Power EVO Lite V2 2500mAh 3s 11.1V Lipo 20C 50Amp Continuous 30c 75Amp Max Burst. THe website says the battery is 183.7grams.
Can I use this battery on a stock setup? ALso haw far back from the lip should I place the fan?

[crxmanpat]

That's about the exact same size as the ThunderPower 2600 I'm using right now. I put my stock fan back further than the instructions say. I basically put the entire plane together except for gluing on the bottom intake/duct section, then adjusted the fan until I balanced at the front of the cheater hole openings. The pre-formed exhaust tube stuck out of the tailcone by about 1.5".

[Angler-Hi]

I think Pat hit the nail on the head friend. The manual also suggests where to mount the fan unit according to the weight of the battery.

[jismail]

Originally Posted by Angler-Hi

I think Pat hit the nail on the head friend. The manual also suggests where to mount the fan unit according to the weight of the battery.

The manuals battery locations stop at 170g. My Battery is 195g (mystery 2200ah 3s 20C) so the manual locations don't help. I too was wondering how to properly setup the EDF.

Is Pat's method what everybody else did or would addiing 10mm ( what they seem to be adding for each new battery weight level) going to work out pretty close too?

[Fly Time]

Originally Posted by jismail

The manuals battery locations stop at 170g. My Battery is 195g (mystery 2200ah 3s 20C) so the manual locations don't help. I too was wondering how to properly setup the EDF.

Is Pat's method what everybody else did or would addiing 10mm ( what they seem to be adding for each new battery weight level) going to work out pretty close too?

Are you sure about the weight? All of my Mystery batteries are light in weight. I have a 2200 25c that is just 165g.

[birdDog]

Hey, my mystery batteries are light too! The world may never know....

[jismail]

Originally Posted by Fly Time

Are you sure about the weight? All of my Mystery batteries are light in weight. I have a 2200 25c that is just 165g.

Well, the website lists the battery at 195g and my cheap, dimestore scale seems to verify it..... there are multiple batteries from mystery and some are lighter than others. Mine is the 102mm 2200.

http://www.esky-heli.com/mystery-111...te-p-4082.html

[trebs]

I'm using Zippy 2200mah 3S' and they weigh in at 165gm, it's amazing how much variation there is on battery weight.

[jismail]

Originally Posted by Fly Time

Are you sure about the weight? All of my Mystery batteries are light in weight. I have a 2200 25c that is just 165g.

Can you give me the battery part number off the front of your battery.... I would rather buy a 25c that is lighter than stick to the 20c that is heavier.... also, if you could let me know if you have a good source for it...

so back to the original question, assuming the 195g is correct on the battery weight, is there any method for determining the EDF location for that size battery or is it just hit and miss?

thanks!

[Fly Time]

Originally Posted by jismail

Can you give me the battery part number off the front of your battery.... I would rather buy a 25c that is lighter than stick to the 20c that is heavier.... also, if you could let me know if you have a good source for it...

so back to the original question, assuming the 195g is correct on the battery weight, is there any method for determining the EDF location for that size battery or is it just hit and miss?

thanks!

Mystery 3S 2200mAh 25c MY853496HHH. I was mistaken about the weight though. They are 184g per my digital scale. I bought 2 of them over the summer and they are hands down the best battery I have every used. I was just looking for these on eBay, but it doesn't look like anyone is selling them now

FWIW, I don't think 20 grams will make much difference as long as you have a good strong battery in there.

[jismail]

I moved the 195g battery marking for the EDF back to 50mm as an estimate and it seem to have enough battery movement to final balance as it is.

Didn't really like the stock look of the bird with the supplied decals as I tend to like the planes to look a bit more authentic, so i was looking around the web for an interesting paint scheme for an F-16 and saw that the Alaska Air Defense squadrons have use an "aggressor" paint scheme - like this:



So with a little paint and a bit of time and using their bird as an inspiration, I ended up with this:





I know I took a bit of artistic license with the paint and markings but I think it looks pretty cool....

Can't wait to maiden it....

[Larry3215]

Very nice!

[M@F69]

NIce painting. I am also going for a MIlitary Scheme. I live her in Florida so I might go for the Homestead Reserve Base F-16, Makos.
Anyone now where I can buy transfer paper for my computer?

[Fly Time]

Originally Posted by M@F69

NIce painting. I am also going for a MIlitary Scheme. I live her in Florida so I might go for the Homestead Reserve Base F-16, Makos.
Anyone now where I can buy transfer paper for my computer?

I recently got some from Tower Hobbies. Made by Testors. Here's a link.

[Larry3215]

Cool! I didnt know you could buy the plain water slide paper.

I have been using clear or white label paper from Office Depot etc.

[crxmanpat]

I've had a lot of trouble finding that Testors decal paper locally. Don't know why the LHS' don't carry the stuff (it is made by Testors after all). But I did manage to pick some up at Hobby Lobby (the arts & crafts store, not the RC store we all know). I've had varying degrees of success and failure with the stuff. The tricky part is spraying on the protective coating. On small black lettering it tends to run the ink and give off a pink hue, no matter how long you let it dry before hand.

However, I have also used some laser decal paper from www.beldecal.com. This stuff is fantastic and extremely easy to use. It comes in standard 8.5X11" sheets, and I just plop it right in the color laser printer for awesome looking decals. I used this on my F-16 shown back in post 109. It's expensive stuff, but well worth it if you ask me.