Skymaster F14 Tomcat
#1651
My Feedback: (8)
F14 throws
I used the factory recommended CG.
I flew with the following settings:
Wings out:
Elevator - 80mm up/down with 40% expo
Ail - 70mm up/down with 40% expo
Spoiler - 28mm mixed with elevon
Wings in, yet to test:
Elevator - 80mm up/down with 50% expo
Ail - 45mm up/down with 30% expo
Spoiler - 20mm mixed with elevon
I flew with the following settings:
Wings out:
Elevator - 80mm up/down with 40% expo
Ail - 70mm up/down with 40% expo
Spoiler - 28mm mixed with elevon
Wings in, yet to test:
Elevator - 80mm up/down with 50% expo
Ail - 45mm up/down with 30% expo
Spoiler - 20mm mixed with elevon
#1654
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 3
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F-14 Wing sweep problems
Hi everybody, I'm almost done with my F-14 and I wanted to program the wing sweep. The signal comes from a Futaba FX-36 via Powerbox Royal on a 3-stage switch. I use a LiPo 3S 1800 battery. Unfortunately it does not work! Also the second ordered electronics does not work. Does anyone know the problem - solution? The individual Akulator work with a servo tester.
Thanks
Marco
Thanks
Marco
#1655
Hi everybody, I'm almost done with my F-14 and I wanted to program the wing sweep. The signal comes from a Futaba FX-36 via Powerbox Royal on a 3-stage switch. I use a LiPo 3S 1800 battery. Unfortunately it does not work! Also the second ordered electronics does not work. Does anyone know the problem - solution? The individual Akulator work with a servo tester.
Thanks
Marco
Thanks
Marco
#1658
Can you please explain the actuators options? in SM web site they offer digital actuators as an option. What is coming with the kit and what is the better option?
#1659
The older kits came with 11v actuators with just the closed/open position, with plastic ends which were prone to break. Then came aluminum ends, and then came the proportional actuators. My actuators were sent at the end of 2018 and these are proportional and operate on 2S
#1661
I also have the original boxes as well, but same deal. Won't be able to access them until october sadly
#1662
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Join Date: Jul 2019
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Thanks for the Infomations
I m not really sure about the whole history, but I think there have been at least 3 revisions of the actuators.
The older kits came with 11v actuators with just the closed/open position, with plastic ends which were prone to break. Then came aluminum ends, and then came the proportional actuators. My actuators were sent at the end of 2018 and these are proportional and operate on 2S
The older kits came with 11v actuators with just the closed/open position, with plastic ends which were prone to break. Then came aluminum ends, and then came the proportional actuators. My actuators were sent at the end of 2018 and these are proportional and operate on 2S
#1663
Power Distribution Question
Supposed I want to use PowerBox system (with 2 Futaba 7008 receivers). PB Mercury SRS has 15 servo outputs. Can i manage with it, or I should use the Royal SRS?
my count for outputs, and here I need your advice if I'm counting correctly:
2 Elevator
2 Rudder
2 Flaps
2 Slats
2 Spoilers
2 Throttle
1 nose wheel steering
1 Speed brake
1 Gear retract (to sequencer for the doors also)
1 Brakes
Total 16. I didn't count Canopy operation and hook which i'm not sure i want to use.
Thanks, Dror.
my count for outputs, and here I need your advice if I'm counting correctly:
2 Elevator
2 Rudder
2 Flaps
2 Slats
2 Spoilers
2 Throttle
1 nose wheel steering
1 Speed brake
1 Gear retract (to sequencer for the doors also)
1 Brakes
Total 16. I didn't count Canopy operation and hook which i'm not sure i want to use.
Thanks, Dror.
#1665
#1666
My Feedback: (41)
The other issue was the engine setup as i wanted them both on one switch. I messed with the setup for weeks and could not figure it out. He fixed it in a couple of hours. Now you can put the three position switch at "0" and start the first engine. You have normal throttle and trim functions on that #1 engine. Flip the switch to the "1" position and you can start the second engine again with full throttle and trim control while the first engine idles.
Flip the switch to the "2" position and you have normal throttle and trim control of both engines simultaneously. My engines have consecutive serial numbers and were matched by the JetCat distributor before he sent them out to me.
Confession; I've not flown it yet mostly because I'm scared of it and also the pneumatic system needs to be completely redone, I bought the model from a gentleman who swore on a stack of bibles, that he had fixed the gear. He didn't......
#1667
Thank you so much. I liked the engines setup :-)
I watched 2 F-14s flying in Jets Over Kentucky event last month, hope you will fly yours soon.
I understand that programming will not be easy, hope to manage with the Futaba 18 i have.
I watched 2 F-14s flying in Jets Over Kentucky event last month, hope you will fly yours soon.
I understand that programming will not be easy, hope to manage with the Futaba 18 i have.
#1668
SBUS will make your life much easier with a futaba 18. You'll be programming each server independently, run a single heavy duty (really heavy duty) cable all over the plane, and you're all set.
#1669
#1670
1000000000% agree with this statement! I did my tomcat with sbus, and it made it soooo easy and required less electronics by far. For instance the leading edge slats for both wings requires four servos and inside servo has to travel further than the outside servos. I did all four servos on one channel, with end points, travel and speed adjustments in the servo. I did the same for flaps, spoilers and rudders. It was the only way to achieve the setup with a ton of extra electronics. It saves weight and my sanity!
I assume we are still talking about PB Royal SRS with two Futaba 7008 Rxs?
#1671
I use the Emcotec battery backer system. Its what Sbus in a large model like this needs in my opinion. I went away from PB due to the high cost and I didnt use most of the features, I use the radio to accomplish most things. You can search youtube for help videos on this and I think Espirit has some videos explaining the emcotec system.
#1672
I install 2 2s batteries in the nose, merge them with high current (40A+) diodes into a single cable and then run the power straight through the awg16 cable down to each servo, splitting as necessary, segmenting the backbone as necessary with an XT60 coupler.
No powerbox required, no emcotec required, no additional failure points added.
For the sbus you do the same thing, running a single wire from the (single) rx at the sbus socket over to all the servers, splitting as required when required.
On the f14 in particular, I have a 3way split at the wing spar within the fuselage (one way for each wing, one for the tail) then I have a 2 way split right before the engines (one for each side of the tail).
Wing actuators require their own signal cable (you can tap the main bus for power if your actuators are 7.4v) because they are not sbus capable, so must be plugged to their own port in the rx.
This way you power the whole airplane with a heavy duty power system which is as powerful as your batteries with hardly any bottle necking.
The smaller servo wires and servo connectors which connect your main bus to the servo also act as a fuse. Should the servo ever short out, that's where the circuit will break, leaving all the rest of the airplane's electric system intact and the plane controllable.
#1673
This is the same system applied to a different model (the rebel pro). At the bottom you can see the 2 battery plugs, 2 voltage meters, the black package contains the diodes. As you move up the bus you can see a servo connector - that's for a regular servo used for the nose wheel steering. The split at the center powers the receiver, taps into a servo connector for the wheel steering signal and the blue wire is for the main sbus tap. The system then continues with the main connectors for the wings (green plugs carry sbus signal - 2 pins for redundancy - and landing gear actuation/brakes). Finally the last part is where the fuselage disconnects and in this picture the 3way split for the 3 tail servos is missing.
Nowadays the xt60 are available as a 3 way connector, which is perfect for high power sbus backbones:
#1674
1000000000% agree with this statement! I did my tomcat with sbus, and it made it soooo easy and required less electronics by far. For instance the leading edge slats for both wings requires four servos and inside servo has to travel further than the outside servos. I did all four servos on one channel, with end points, travel and speed adjustments in the servo. I did the same for flaps, spoilers and rudders. It was the only way to achieve the setup with a ton of extra electronics. It saves weight and my sanity!
This is the same system applied to a different model (the rebel pro). At the bottom you can see the 2 battery plugs, 2 voltage meters, the black package contains the diodes. As you move up the bus you can see a servo connector - that's for a regular servo used for the nose wheel steering. The split at the center powers the receiver, taps into a servo connector for the wheel steering signal and the blue wire is for the main sbus tap. The system then continues with the main connectors for the wings (green plugs carry sbus signal - 2 pins for redundancy - and landing gear actuation/brakes). Finally the last part is where the fuselage disconnects and in this picture the 3way split for the 3 tail servos is missing.
Nowadays the xt60 are available as a 3 way connector, which is perfect for high power sbus backbones:
Now i have an idea :-) do you need to use special servos with this SBUS?
#1675
Yes, futaba SBUS Servos. Their latest is a 70 kg servo, I put these on the elevators as the 30 kg ones were occasionally hunting for the center.
Or, if you want to go lower budget (they are pretty pricey) you can use regular digital servos with sbus decoders available from futaba. In the rebel pro for example, you could put a decoder in the tail and split the signal to 3 regular servos. In the F14 there are so many servos I wouldn't know where to begin though... 8 in the wings, 4 in the tail, steering, tail hook, various other junk
Or, if you want to go lower budget (they are pretty pricey) you can use regular digital servos with sbus decoders available from futaba. In the rebel pro for example, you could put a decoder in the tail and split the signal to 3 regular servos. In the F14 there are so many servos I wouldn't know where to begin though... 8 in the wings, 4 in the tail, steering, tail hook, various other junk