Flite Test Master Series F-14 Build

[vicentel]

I wanted to document and share my build of the awesome Master Series F-14 that John designed, with a few modifications of my own.
1. Included rudders and did not go with differential thrust for yaw control
2. Included retractable landing gear and steerable nose gear, E-flite F-4 main gear, Freewing A-10 wheels for the mains, Freewing F-14 nose strut
3. Used plasitc bits from my Freewing F-14 to add some additional details, i.e. FLIR in the nose (think that.s what it's called), gun in the nose, tailhook, plastic inlets for the cheater holes, under-wing missile rails
4. 3D printed drop tanks from RCGeek
5. Power system taken from the Twin 70mm E-flite Su30 (2x 80Amp ESC, 2x 70mm EDFs)
6. Battery is 6S 6000mAh

 

[vicentel]

Installed the landing gear. Reinforced the battery box using bass wood down the length of it. Created boxes for the mains and glued them to the swing-wing ply where John recommended.
1. Eflite mains (metal) and nose retract (from Eflite Su30)
2. Main retracts are Eflite, struts from Eflite Su30 and wheels (pictured), but I ended up replacing them with the F4 struts and A10 wheels
3. Nose strut taken from Freewing F-14 80mm

 

[CrshNBrn]

Installed the landing gear. Reinforces the battery box using bass wood down the length of it. Created boxes for the mains and glued them to the swing-wing ply where John recommended.
1. Eflite mains (metal) and nose gear (from Eflite Su30)
2. Main struts from Eflite Su30 and wheels (pictured), but I ended up replacing them with the F4 struts and A10 wheels
3. Nose strut take from Freewing F-14 80mm

Amazing work!

 

[vicentel]

Finished putting it all together! Started the painting and detailing of the F-14. The mixes for the different wing configurations will take some time to explain. But here are some pictures.

 

[vicentel]

I wanted to put missile rails on this beauty. So I went to my spare parts bin for my Freewing F-14 and installed the plastic underwing mounts for the missile rails as well as the mounts for the phoenix missiles. If you take a close look at the nose you may notice I installed a vulcan cannon. I used the missiles from my Freewing F-14 but they are a little on the small side.

 

[vicentel]

I have the maiden video.

FT F-14 Maiden

 

[vicentel]

Applying the vinyl stickers for the Sundowner's Miss Molly livery as well as panel lines and some shading via airbrush. As I look at images of the actual plane (google search). I realize that I have the "eyes" stickers placed incorrectly. Don't worry this will be fixed.

 

[vicentel]

I finally brought it to the park and took more pictures. This time with the missiles. I have 3D printed drop tanks that I got from the RCGeek and scaled it up to the correct scale...picture to come. Here is a URL to the more flights.

FT F14 Completed build with flights

 

[CrshNBrn]

I finally brought it to the park and took more pictures. This time with the missiles. I have 3D printed drop tanks that I got from the RCGeek and scaled it up to the correct scale...picture to come. Here is a URL to the more flights.

FT F14 Completed build with flights

Absolutely fantastic build AND piloting. Nice job!

 

[vicentel]

Installed the drop tanks and other bits. Notice the Vulcan cannon, tail-hook and as promised drop tanks!

 

[Mr NCT]

Installed the drop tanks and other bits. Notice the Vulcan cannon, tail-hook and as promised drop tanks!

I would not be able fly that, too pretty.

 

[Burnhard]

That‘s one impressive build. Well done!

 

[vicentel]

I would not be able fly that, too pretty.

I was so nervous during the maiden, my thumbs were literally shaking.

 

[Jarofish11117]

Having installed landing gear, how long was your flight time?

 

[vicentel]

Having installed landing gear, how long was your flight time?

With a 6000 mAh 6S pack, I have my timer set to 3.5 min of usable throttle time. I start my landing with 1 minute left, that way if I have to go around I still have some juice left in the tank so to speak. With my existing power system I find that I'm at max throttle throughout most of the flight. I have to do some creative wing mixing to get the plane to roll, and I have not had the courage to try a loop...don't feel like I have enough power to do it. The power system I'm using was pulled from an old Su-30 that I "refurbished" but its giving me the same flight times as the one John Overstreet recommends in the Flite Test store (I have that power system in my F-18 MS, lighter airframe better performance).

I've been experimenting with other battery packs:
1. 4.35 volts/cell HV packs from SMC racing give better power with similar flight time
2. 9000mAh packs - longer flights (4-5minutes usable throttle) but flies heavy

I'm thinking on my next build to have twin 80mm EDFs on 100Amp ESC using 2x6S 5000 mAh batteries. I'll use the same landing gear, reinforce the battery tray for 2 batteries. I'm confident the air frame can handle it.

 

[Jarofish11117]

Thank you! If you were to change the power system to 80mm and 100Amp ESC, would you rebuild the entire plane or just replace the existing system?

 

[vicentel]

Thank you! If you were to change the power system to 80mm and 100Amp ESC, would you rebuild the entire plane or just replace the existing system?

I'd probably rebuild the entire plane.

 

[JustPlaneChris]

Really amazing build! Listening to the motors in the videos, it sounds like one of your fans may be out of balance or the ESCs aren't calibrated exactly the same. They also sound a bit starved for air. Are there any cheater inlets?

 

[vicentel]

Really amazing build! Listening to the motors in the videos, it sounds like one of your fans may be out of balance or the ESCs aren't calibrated exactly the same. They also sound a bit starved for air. Are there any cheater inlets?

Hi JustPlaneChris - You are correct. I did recalibrate the ESCs and this seemed to fix that weird harmonic sound from the EDFs. I do have cheater inlets, not just the bear holes that John designed but with plastic louvers modified from my Freewing F-14. Between the inlets and the cheater holes, I'm hoping it's not starved for air. Do you think I should add more cheater holes?

Thanks
Vic

 

[JustPlaneChris]

Hey Vic! Good to hear about the calibration helping. It's hard to tell from photos if that's enough inlet area. Best bet is to do some measuring of the inlets + aux inlets and calculate the area. That area should at least equal the FSA (fan swept area) of your fans. Calculate this by measuring the diameter of the rotor, then subtract the diameter of the spinner. The resulting area is FSA.