[4stripes]

The Hobby Topgun L-39 is a very nice 90mm foamy. My dad deserves all the credit for details and cockpit and it is our best EDF yet. The two cockpits require extra effort as they are too large to ignore. The upgrade from parkflyerplastics required heavy modifications to make more scale but the clear canopy is a much better outline than the stock one (The exterior frames are in a better position). The wings are reinforced with carbon fiber and alloy arrow shafts. The stock landing gear legs have been modified to make them shorter. I've used some inexpensive FLYFLY clone air retracts from HK and the servos are HXT900. Flaps were added to improve T/O rotation and reduce landing rollout (worked well on my F-86). The final weight with 6S 5000mah 45-90C Nano-tech battery is 3.08kg (about the same as my F-86 and F-16). The fan is a hodge podge of parts. Freewing fan, Haoye shroud lined with plastic to reduce inside diameter and Turnigy Typhoon 500H 1800kv motor. The 38mm motor diameter forced me to use the Haoye shroud but I didn't like the fan as it drew way too many AMPS. The Freewing fan is a smaller diameter so the shroud inside diameter had to be filled to reduce the clearance. Hardly worth the effort as a stock Freewing motor/fan will produce similar thrust.
We chose the DDR (East German) markings as they used a similar camo scheme that the plane comes with. All large markings and cockpit instruments are photographs printed on photo paper. The smaller markings were hand painted. We also added a rudder (as we did on our F-86). All things considered this is a better product than the F-86. The biggest improvement is the landing gear struts are beefier and the flying surfaces are also more solid.
Can't wait to fly it!
Cheers

[4stripes]

Some cockpit shots and original pics.
Cheers

[rusty33]

very nice Eric.

[Bob Byrnes]

Holy Crap. That Park Flyer Plastic's Pilot sure looks a lot better than mine. You guys certainly do a great job on these foamies. I did the new cockpit for my Sabre, but, it won't fit over the batteries without a hack job. I'll just use the old one.

[4stripes]

Hi Bob!
It's not hard to lower the F86 battery floor. Cut straight down into the duct then cut a 1/8" plywood floor to place underneath. We used thin plastic wing bolts screwed into the plywood from the top through 2 hardwood rails that sit on either side of the battery. A nice cockpit brings a plane to life. The PFP cockpit does protrude deep so we ended up cutting the floor of it as well.

Flew the L39 yesterday and my homemade hoye/freewing/typhoon powerplant shredded the fan! We think the inner shroud liner must have lifted contacting the blades after close to 40 flights. The deadstick approach couldn't have worked out any better. Turned final and dropped the gear less than a second before touch down. Great fun but now I have to rob my last fan that is about to go into the Mig. Ordered a couple Freewing 90mm fan/motors from HK to have one spare just in case.
Cheers

[Struts1]

Very nice Eric, L39 looks sweetass killer machine!!....cockpit is phynominal!!

[4stripes]

Stock Freewing 90mm fan and motor installed after robbing from the F86 (it's grounded with retract problems). HTG landing gear and alloy wheels installed with fantastic results!

This plane really can handle grass for takeoff and landing! Taking off with no wind takes about 150' using 1/2 flap. Landings are easy now that there is no pressure to make the pavement every time. After a typical 5 minute flight with mostly high power, the battery only uses 4000mah. Added a few shots from yesterday. I have to say this is easily my favorite large EDF! Can't wait to put the same landing gear components into the F86.
Cheers

[dalrayc]

Beautiful Aircraft.

[4stripes]

Time for an update. A long time back we changed the 6 blade fan to a Changesun 12 blade 90mm powered by the "stock" Emax B3660 1650kv in runner that was supplied with the kit. Alloy cooling fins were glued to the outside of the motor (with JB weld) to help in cooling. The CS shroud was shortened by cutting off the aft part to make it as long as the stock shroud for easy installation. The shorter shroud leaves the motor exposed with plenty of surface area to glue the heat sink on. It powers the plane with equal thrust to the first fan and flight times did not suffer by more than 30 seconds.
The end of the thrust tube is flared upward at the top which did cause a slight pitch up when full power was applied. The problem was fixed by gluing some plastic sheet to make the tube continue straight out the back to correct the thrust line. A picture is attached.
Recently we converted the Flyfly air type retracts for the medium sized servoless type with metal trunions. The old HTG legs had 4mm shafts fit but needed shortening.
These are the retracts used and have worked well in a number of our other models.
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...product=23481;
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...dproduct=23483
It is so nice not to have to worry about pumping up the gear and the movement looks more realistic with the servoless type.
For steering a Turnigy TGY-9018MG was used with a pull pull fishing line setup. The servo was attached to the retracts motor section using some balsa rails which allows the whole assembly to be dropped right in after all is confirmed working properly.
Lastly a Hobbyeagle A3 pro SE micro gyro was added making the plane fly much steadier in windy conditions. Although this kit isn't in production, there may still be a few kits around that people have lost interest in. Highly recommended for anyone wanting a nice 6s powered jet.

[jnidd]

Amazing detail. It looks like the real thing. Congrats