“Flew my new Freewing HiPerf F-18E 64mm today, and I was very impressed. It's a great little EDF that performs well at an affordable price. It's almost exactly the same size as the Freewing Rebel, in case you're wondering about the size.Pros: Foam, paint and decals are excellent. This is a really good looking model. Pilot looks scale to me, and it's very impressive looking sitting on the stand and in the air. All pieces were well packed. Model was in great shape when it arrived. Used UPS Ground delivery. Received it in 3 days across the country. Great job on shipping! Instructions are adequate, but not for the beginner. Recommend having some experience building EDFs or ARFs. It went together in about 2 hours (mainly waiting for glue to harden).Cons: Wish it had retracts. Would also be cool if it had wing-tip missiles. These items would make this a firm 5 star plane. Rudder would also be very helpful, but not needed.Build: The build is pretty straight-forward. Nothing to worry about, but like many Freewing EDFs, there is some gluing, so be prepared. The vertical fins, nose cone and exhaust nozzles all need gluing on. I used epoxy on the fins and the provided glue on the other parts. 2 screws hold on each wing, and 1 screw holds on each horizontal stab (that makes me a little nervous). Nose gear screws on with 6 screws. The main gear struts just slide into slots on either side of the air intakes. It calls for gluing the main gear struts to the fuselage, but the fit is so tight, I don't think there is any way they will come out in flight or on take-off or landing (I hope I'm not wrong about that). I didn't glue them in, as I want to be sure I can get the gear out should one of them break. If they were glued in, it would probably tear up the fuselage to get the strut out of its slot. There is plenty of room in the battery compartment for a 4S 2200, receiver, and any other gear you want to add. I added extensions to the nose gear and elevator servo leads to keep them from binding and to make it easier to get the battery in and out. Battery is positioned a little forward, and it balances perfect according to the CG point laid out in the manual.Flying: Plane takes off really stable and sounds great in the air. It needed a lot of left aileron and some nose down trim. Other than that, there were no issues with flying. It's pretty solid hands-off. I did dial the aileron and elevator rates down from the manual-prescribed settings. It seemed a little too touchy to me. I have 50% aileron with 40% expo and 50% elevator with 30% expo. I may add some more expo to the elevator, as it gives a little too much elevator too quick on landing, but not a big issue. I also dialed down the nose wheel to 49% with 30% expo, since it seemed a little squirrly on the runway. With it dialed down to these settings, it tracks perfectly on the runway. Flying 3 minutes at moderate to high power brought me down with 35-40% left on the battery. A 4S 3000 fits in there, but I think it might be a little too heavy, so I don't recommend it. Plane has good speed (not a rocket), and it handles well. Haven't done any aerobatics yet, but it should go vertical just fine, as it has lots of power. Plane lands with no problem. Just kill the power after turning on final and glide it in. Gentle pressure to keep the nose up, and it settles on the mains nicely. Doesn't have flaps, but I think they would just be useless weight and you would never use them.Overall, I am very satisfied and highly recommend this as a second small EDF. Not sure about a fit for a first EDF, as it probably isn't that forgiving. But, you don't need to be an Ace to fly it. Very satisfied. If you're familiar with EDFs, and you want to add a fighter plane to your fleet, this is a great choice.Hope this helps, and Enjoy!”
“Shipping from MRC was quick as always and the kit was received with zero shipping damage (outside cardboard was slightly damaged but the factory box was perfect). Initial impressions: Great looking kit with excellent detail and 12al placement. Quality of the foam is very good although there were some minor imperfections, nothing that would affect flight. All parts were there, some minor dings in the stabs but otherwise in excellent shape. It is a very easy build, 4 screws for the wings, 2 for the stabs and glue for the fins. My kit had a slight flaw in the placement of one of the stabilizer mounts which necessitated some sanding. It probably will not affect flight, remains to be seen. I will post a flight review later. Overall I'm very impressed with the looks and quality. Not quite perfect but an outstanding value.”
“this is one of my edf jet from motion rc and this is not a beginner jet you must practice on another jet before buying this jet i extremely recommend buying the high performance version as this plane tends to stall at slow speeds but other than that its a extremly fun little jet to fly around as it reaches speeds of around 80 mph”
“Read all the reviews before purchasing and almost bought the 3s version but after getting this one I'm glad i got the 4s. definitely a go getter. awesome power and flyer. have crashed it multiple times and its still holding up! Even went over the time limit and had the motor shut off on me in air and was able to glide it down smoothly to a landing! pretty crazy. Overall very impressed with this one.”
“I will admit, I bought the 3s version of the FA-18. What a mistake. I upgraded to a 4s battery, 4s edf and motor, and she now flies like a dream. If your considering an 18, do yourself a BIG favor, buy the 4s version.”
