Spitfire76's Build Log of Ben's XF-16

[Spitfire76]

Still working on the battery mount not that easy so taking a break to print these.

Part - Missile Launcher Rail for Ben Harber's 1:13 Scale F-16 or Similar Jets

I created a set of LAU-129 missile launcher rails for the F-16. Similar to the style Freewing uses for their jets but this incorporates a keyhole mount based on a 4-40 (3mm) bolt. It allows for adjusting the tension and mounting just about...

forum.flitetest.com

 

[Yankee2003]

Still working on the battery mount not that easy so taking a break to print these.

Part - Missile Launcher Rail for Ben Harber's 1:13 Scale F-16 or Similar Jets

I created a set of LAU-129 missile launcher rails for the F-16. Similar to the style Freewing uses for their jets but this incorporates a keyhole mount based on a 4-40 (3mm) bolt. It allows for adjusting the tension and mounting just about...

forum.flitetest.com

Oh oh….what type of problems are you running into?
I am going to finish my F16 this week. I just need to break out the airbrush. But a nice bbq day with the family here in NC.
The F16 can wait for Monday.

 

[Spitfire76]

Oh oh….what type of problems are you running into?
I am going to finish my F16 this week. I just need to break out the airbrush. But a nice bbq day with the family here in NC.
The F16 can wait for Monday.

I may have come up with a 3d printed battery tray, but it's still work in progress

 

[Spitfire76]

Still work in progress, must nail this today.

I did have a good idea to secure the front of the battery tray by using the "under canopy former 1" and gluing it in with a slot in it.

Prototypes of the 3d printed battery tray

 

[Spitfire76]

I may be overthinking this but here is the lastest design to be printed.

 

[Yankee2003]

I may be overthinking this but here is the lastest design to be printed.
View attachment 239213

Looks cool.

 

[Yankee2003]

Battery placement and balance.
Then she is ready to soar.

 

[Yankee2003]

Battery area and placement finished.
Here we go again…..”Next one”….I will know about the battery placement being way near the rear of the canopy hatch. My battery is stuffed partially back above the wing.
All in weight…with battery….1328g.
I think the battery was 379g…I’m not going to weigh it again. So empty weight is near 950g.
She’s a fat boy.
what are you coming in at Richard?

 

[Yankee2003]

Just looked up the EDF I bought. Recommended for models weighing up to 1580g. So I probably have a good choice In battery (3700Mah 4s). That leaves me a bit of head room with the EDF I have.

 

[Spitfire76]

Battery area and placement finished.
Here we go again…..”Next one”….I will know about the battery placement being way near the rear of the canopy hatch. My battery is stuffed partially back above the wing.
All in weight…with battery….1328g.
I think the battery was 379g…I’m not going to weigh it again. So empty weight is near 950g.
She’s a fat boy.
what are you coming in at Richard?

AUW is 1195g and without the battery 838g so 112g less than yours (?)

Regarding battery mount I did use my last 3d printed design and so the battery should be well secured with both Velcro and a battery strap to take those high Gs

I really wanted to mount the Aura at the rear of the canopy as it made the wiring simple but the battery is a little forward but the plane is only slighly nose heavy. If that's a problem I'll add some small weights to the tail.

 

[Yankee2003]

AUW is 1180g and without the battery 821g so 129g less than yours (?)

Regarding battery mount I did use my last 3d printed design and so the battery should be well secured with both Velcro and a battery strap to take on any of those G forces

I really wanted to mount the Aura at the rear of the canopy as it made the wiring simple but the battery is a little forward but the plane is only slighly nose heavy. If that's a problem I'll add some small weights to the tail.

View attachment 239229 View attachment 239230

My esc is metal with fins to dissipate the heat. Next one I will pick up a lighter esc.
The good news…..she handles the weight just fine. I was all alone at the field so I had to hand launch it myself.😬
I had about 80% throttle and threw it with some authority. I angled it about 35 degrees. No problems. She did dip a bit but then sailed out like a champ. I will probably launch her with about all she’s got next time. But like I said…no issues.
Here she is after her two flights. Barely a scratch on her.

Before I headed out I rechecked the CG. It was marginal so I added small weights under the vertical fin in the back.
If you feel you want to add some weight, do it. The plane flew solid with the CG as indicated on the plans.
I also added a small bit of Velcro to the back of the hatch. I think it is more secure than just the magnets. I would probably just skip the magnets on the next one.

I was pleasantly surprised on how agile she is with just the elevons. I have pretty large throws, because I was skeptical. She flew really good on low rates. I might bump the expo up to 35% on the high rates.
So there you go. My post maiden debrief. I don’t have any experience with edfs (Well very little now), so it is hard for me to compare it to other edfs, but she is pretty easy to fly.
No gyros…she flies well without it. Definitely going to build another better and cleaner. I can see using this platform to learn edfs on.
My suggestion would be to get out there sooner rather than later….she won’t bite.

 

[CappyAmeric]

I downloaded v8 of the plans, but cannot find the 4 spar pieces. Are they on a previous version of the plans?

 

[Spitfire76]

I downloaded v8 of the plans, but cannot find the 4 spar pieces. Are they on a previous version of the plans?

that may have been the case for earlier versions but v8 has just 2 one piece spars that I imagine was considered a bit stronger. I also didn’t bother with the bbq sticks for that reason

 

[CappyAmeric]

that may have been the case for earlier versions but v8 has just 2 one piece spars that I imagine was considered a bit stronger. I also didn’t bother with the bbq sticks for that reason

Thanks. I missed seeing them because they were not a shape I was expecting, and missed the "B" label.

 

[Spitfire76]

Well, here it is a post maiden debrief.

So yesterday, Aug 3, 2023, was its maiden flight. Not having flown an EDF before, Randy, one of our club's most experienced pilots, took it for its first flight and it's me launching it. Play with audio to hear my fellow club members surprise as some were not convinced it would fly.

So apart from the canopy coming off and the low battery alarm after just over a minute of flight time the maiden was a success. I'll have to make a latch rather than using magnets for the canopy and some full throttle testing prior to takeoff may have contributed to the short flight time.

 

[Mr NCT]

Well, here it is a post maiden debrief.

So yesterday, Aug 3, 2023, was its maiden flight. Not having flown an EDF before, Randy, one of our club's most experienced pilots, took it for its first flight and it's me launching it. Play with audio to hear my fellow club members surprise as some were not convinced it would fly.

So apart from the canopy coming off and the low battery alarm after just over a minute of flight time the maiden was a success. I'll have to make a latch rather than using magnets for the canopy and some full throttle testing prior to takeoff may have contributed to the short flight time.

Great flight! Did you find the canopy?

 

[Spitfire76]

Great flight! Did you find the canopy?

Yes, as this flight drew quite a bit of attention a couple of the club members noted where it landed and one went out into the field and found it.

 

[Yankee2003]

Nice job Richard. It was fun joining you on your journey.

 

[Spitfire76]

Took this F16 to the field again this week. Instead of hand launching we tried to use a dolly that I had made for another plane, but it didn't take off and ended up off the runway in the grass but fortunately no damage. The dolly is not designed for a swept wing and the nose of the F16 was pointing down a bit. Anyway, was able to hand launch it while Randy took it off but this time I took over on the trainer's buddy box once in the air. Randy took back the controls to land it and the only real issue was again the very short flight time. Now we did use up some battery in the dolly launch attempt so that may have contributed to it. I will do a bench test with a watt meter to see how much current is being drawn as maybe the 4s 3300mAh battery is just not enough.

The dolly


PS - also I had done this to keep the canopy on and although not very elegant it did work.

 

[Yankee2003]

I’m not flying anything but an old E-Flite Valiant at our club field until the corn is cut down.
it’s not really much of a hardship since the Valiant is such a great flier.
Glad to hear you now have some Jet stick time!