Thanks, Walrus!

Originally Posted by the_walrus

Nice!!

How was your first flight with the rudders? I've added rudders to this jet, too: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1450793

Maidened my first EDF, a Nitorplanes Airfield 64mm Blue Angel Rx-R, yesterday using 20C 4S 1800mah batts. All I can say is WOW!

What a difference after flying sport & scale prop planes for about a year now. Had a case of the nerves but man, this jet is really stable. Not as fast as I thought it was going to be (yet) but I really didn't know what to expect. Now I do...

CG was too far forward (for me) on the first flight based on the 65mm distance spec'd in the build manual. On the next two flights I slid the front edge of the 4S battery back even with the rear opening of the canopy & that helped balance it out.

Note: I made a slight mod to accept a 4S pack & it wasn't hard to do at all. I took a hobby knife with a #11 blade & cut one side of the "arched" foam webbing from inside the plane using the canopy as the tunnel. Worked just fine & I can move this (or any other similar-sized battery) at will to fine tune the CG. It is a little tricky sliding the pack into place but not that hard.

Back to the review. WOW! Can't stop thinking about how much fun this bird is to fly! Tracks great on the dirt field (landing gear on) here in San Diego. The initial climb out was much different than my forward wing prop planes. Needed more up elevator than those planes to get it skyward. After it was airborne it needed a fair amount of up elevator trim to keep the nose from dipping in level flight. It seemed sensitive to control inputs but not twitchy like I thought it would be. First landing was slightly nose down so it bounced but stayed up right veering off the runway without sustaining any damage.

Second flight was even better after I got over my nerves from the Maiden voyage. Flew vertical patterns & horizontal ovals, did some rolls, loops, vertical climb outs, etc.

Then came time to land, again. All I can say is this has to be one of the easiest planes (that I have) to land! Just brought it around with about half throttle, lowered the throttle some more to descend & get it level to the deck. Right before touching down I gave it slight up elevator to flare the nose to get the main gear to touch down first & it landed as smooth & straight as an arrow! Almost seemed too easy, like I was cheating. Thanks to one of the veteran EDF pilots at the SEFSD field giving me some pointers after my first exhilarating flight.

Third flight was much like the second with the same landing result, meaning great fun! Just wish I had more charged batteries to keep her airborne...

I couldn't be happier with this Airfield F-18C as my first EDF. I was contemplating getting one for a while now & I'm glad I went with the Hornet. The F-18 is a fine airframe design & even though it isn't a high-end EDF it's perfect for novice pilots like me for their first foray into RC jets, IMHO of course. Can't wait to get this "Blue Bird" back up in the air & log more airtime...

Originally Posted by fredmdbud

How was your first flight with the rudders? I've added rudders to this jet, too: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1450793

Your original thread was the one that inspired me to add rudders to this F-18C. As this was my first attempt at adding double rudders on an EDF. And the fact that I like to have rudder control for takeoffs/landings, to fight crosswinds. Due to it's size, this mod took a little planning and some work.

I haven't had a chance to maiden her yet. Too windy! And high winds are in the extended local forecast as well. So it may be awhile before I take her up. Plus, she looks so nice sitting there, in a static view. I'm starting to already dread the enevitable....the first minor/major mishap!

Great report Acv8tor! Awesome that you are enjoying this plane too. It was my first EDF too and it has been a blast. What power system do you have? You are flying it in 4S so I guess you changed ESC + motor, what KV?

I fly mine 3S using Don's Wicked 4800kV motor and it's a blast to fly. I added rudders too which helped me with the landings, gotta post some pictures later on.

HardAbz, no worries about the mishaps, these planes can take a beating! We fly 4 of them together (Blue Angels ) as in the video posted before, trying to fly formation and do maneuvers, etc. We have had mid-air collisions and mishaps but they go back together easy. I have had to saw off the front and glue a new one ($20 fuselage) and we are back flying the next day and you can't tell it crashed. I also had tons of hard landings learning since this is my 2nd plane, it can handle it . I think it's a great 1st EDF plane.

Hi I recently acquired this jet (very) second hand real cheap with heaps of other RC gear. Just thought I'd share some pics from my last crash! I hit a light pole on a low pass at about 80kph (decent tailwind). It took a lot of hot glue to repair, gonna be heavy for the next flight!

Has anyone had good success with 4S Lipos with the stock motor and ESC? I see the ESC says 3S-4S, but motor has no markings on it. I have a 2200 4S I would like to use.

Ouch, ouch and ouch. But looks like she can claw her way back into the sky!

The stock motor is about 4300kV.

Originally Posted by fredmdbud

Ouch, ouch and ouch. But looks like she can claw her way back into the sky!

The stock motor is about 4300kV.

She'll fly do u know if stock motor will handle 4s? I have a spare so might just give it a go anyway

I think this is the motor they use in the ARF/RTF kits. It is rated at 28A, I suspect that's with a 3S battery. Don't know what the max current is (e.g. possible winding burnup, demagnetized stator)

Originally Posted by fredmdbud

I think this is the motor they use in the ARF/RTF kits. It is rated at 28A, I suspect that's with a 3S battery. Don't know what the max current is (e.g. possible winding burnup, demagnetized stator)

If I do a ground test with 4S, if there's likely to be a problem will it appear straight away? I would prefer to not have the plane drop out of the sky (again)
28A is the current rating you meant right? Or did you mean you didn't know max voltage?

As I said, I have a spare motor that came with the plane when I bought it (2nd hand) so if I burn it out I can put that in, but if I can help it, I would prefer to keep both motors running.

Originally Posted by Castel101

Great report Acv8tor! Awesome that you are enjoying this plane too. It was my first EDF too and it has been a blast. What power system do you have? You are flying it in 4S so I guess you changed ESC + motor, what KV?

I fly mine 3S using Don's Wicked 4800kV motor and it's a blast to fly. I added rudders too which helped me with the landings, gotta post some pictures later on.

HardAbz, no worries about the mishaps, these planes can take a beating! We fly 4 of them together (Blue Angels ) as in the video posted before, trying to fly formation and do maneuvers, etc. We have had mid-air collisions and mishaps but they go back together easy. I have had to saw off the front and glue a new one ($20 fuselage) and we are back flying the next day and you can't tell it crashed. I also had tons of hard landings learning since this is my 2nd plane, it can handle it . I think it's a great 1st EDF plane.

Ditto, on Acv8tor flight report! Very good!

Castel101, thanks for the durability report of this F-18C. I did see your 4 up formation flying. Nice! But how do you guys keep track of who's flying what, if there is a break in the formation, and at low altitude?

Actually we don't try to stay in fixed positions like the most left lane, or in the center, we are all basically trying to do the same maneuver and stay close, sometimes you are closer or further or a little over or under the others. It's actually easier than you think to keep an eye on your plane, you just never loose sight of it, I don't think we have confused our planes with the others while flying.

The only thing that is tricky for me sometimes is to judge which plane is closer and which one further, sometimes I think we are too close while on reality they are quite far apart and vice-versa. We've also had many touches in the air and more than a few crashes, but it's all good. We just see it as the price to pay to fly the angels lol.

Originally Posted by Castel101

Great report Acv8tor! Awesome that you are enjoying this plane too. It was my first EDF too and it has been a blast. What power system do you have? You are flying it in 4S so I guess you changed ESC + motor, what KV?

I fly mine 3S using Don's Wicked 4800kV motor and it's a blast to fly. I added rudders too which helped me with the landings, gotta post some pictures later on.

Thanks Castel101. I was so jazzed about flying the F-18C for the first time I wanted to let the other enthusiasts know what it was like for me being a new guy to EDF's.

As for the motor & ESC they're both stock (for now). I'm only relying on my own judgement & throttle management to keep it under control & I know that can cause issues. For the record, the ESC & battery were warm but not hot to the touch...

Originally Posted by HardAbz

Ditto, on Acv8tor flight report! Very good!

Thanks HardAbz. I appreciate the positive feedback. I can tell there are some diehard F-18C fans in this long-standing thread...

Does anyone know how to/have a manual to program stock 30A esc? Cheers

made the first 8 flights today
did the rudder mod discussed in this thread a few pages back
got the airframe only and put my own guts in
cyclone 4500kv motor
Turnigy 60amp plush esc
freewing balanced EDF unit - sounds very nice
fly's on 3s and 4s - timed the first few flights at 3 minutes

see more pics here
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1580031