Hobby Lobby Super Hornet - 2011/07

Hobby Lobby Super Hornet

Michael Ramsey [email protected]

REPRESENTING THE PRIDE

Representing the pride of the US Navy is the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which the Boeing Corporation presently manufactures. McDonnell Douglas built the original F-18C/D in great numbers to serve in the Navy and Marine branches of the American military, and it is still the machine of choice for the Navy Blue Angels aerobatics demonstration team.

The Hornet has supported our military with honor and distinction. Even through economic challenges, the F-18 held its ground with military strategists as it boldly took on fighter and attack roles that had previously been filled by as many as three other aircraft types. Its versatility was obvious enough that the original Hornet became the basis for a larger, more modern defender.

The Super Hornet is literally the backbone of carrier-based military aviation. It does everything: air-to-air, air-to-surface, reconnaissance, anti-submarine hunting, and it can even be fitted as a refueling tanker. The F/A-18 will take out terrorist trash and come back with dinner and a movie. To see one of these jets streak through the air is awe-inspiring!

If you're an RC pilot who’s jazzed about our nation's military might, as I am, you should consider the eRC electric-powered, ducted-fan F/A-18E ARF from Hobby Lobby. The eRC version is not a toy — it flies like a serious model. Here's why.

Features and Equipment

Scale and finish

• Actually licensed by Boeing; Hobby Lobby went through the proper licensing to make this model as scale-like as possible. The extra cost for licensing is worth it for a model Boeing would be proud to call scale.
• Factory paint and decals replicate F/A-18E aircraft 101 from carrier wing CVW-8, VFA-31 "Tomcatters" (2007).
• Minor paint nitpicks: black on the vertical-fin bases could be masked more accurately, and the canopy frame is painted gray rather than black.

Hardware and systems

• Single high-power 90mm electric-ducted-fan (EDF) with twin hyper-flow nozzles that pivot up to 30° in any direction — vectored thrust for added agility.
• Rugged electric-powered, retractable landing gear with spun-aluminum, spring-actuated struts front and rear; rear struts have knuckle pivot points like the full-scale jet.
• Retracts use worm-drive motors for slow, scale-like extension and retraction.
• Seven-bulb LED lighting system concealed behind clear lenses; low power draw, minimal drag — visible at dusk or moonlight.
• Factory-installed 9-gram analog submicro nylon-geared servos; factory-determined normal/reverse directions; servos are rubber-cemented in place.
• 80-amp ESC with a splitter to connect twin 3S Li-Poly batteries.
• Generous top hatch with secure latch; sturdy battery compartment with a heavy-duty strap.
• Preinstalled hard-aluminum retracts are electric-powered and spring-loaded for shock absorption.
• Each flying stabilizer fully pivots 40° with an independent servo.
• Tab-lock joinery for wings and vertical fins; motor, wiring, and harnesses preinstalled and neatly routed and labeled at the receiver end.
• Thrust-vectoring nozzles come installed; full power system is installed and wired.

Power and performance specs

• 90mm EDF breathes well without cheater holes.
• Thrust-to-weight ratio slightly better than 1:1 with a 30C–40C Li-Poly battery of 3200–3600 mAh.
• Recommended battery: 3700 mAh 6S Li-Poly pack (nose-heavy but tolerable); Model Rectifier Corporation RFI 3200 mAh 6S pack is a compact, lighter alternative.
• With a 3700–4200 mAh 6S pack, expect roughly a five- to six-minute flight with aggressive vectored-thrust flying.

Build, Packing and Manual

• The model is molded from EPS foam and is available as an ARF (as reviewed) or as an airframe-only package that includes retracts and lighting.
• The eRC ARF comes nearly complete — servos installed with pushrods, undercarriage, lighting, and a fully installed power system. It resembles an RTF more than a traditional ARF.
• Plastic-wrapped parts are delivered in a custom EPS-foam box designed to cradle all pieces and prevent dings. Packaging is excellent.
• My initial bench run of the fuselage showed a loud but smooth EDF — no issues after many flights.
• The short 13-page manual includes useful epoxy-joint tips and recommends rubbing alcohol for wet-glue cleanup. Be careful: glue left to dry will stain flat paint with glossy streaks.
• The black-and-white manual images can be hard to read; I recommend downloading the full-color version from Hobby Lobby’s website.
• The manual focuses heavily on radio programming, using the Spektrum DX7 as an example, but adapting instructions to other radios is straightforward.

Radio Setup and Thrust-Vector Mixing

• Multiple servos on a control are wired into preinstalled harnesses. Opposing servos (e.g., elevator halves) arrive with one servo set to normal and the other to reverse so they operate the twin surfaces together.
• The vectored-thrust nozzles require electronic mixing (P-mixing/program mixing) with the ailerons, elevator, and rudder to achieve coordinated movement. The nozzles provide 360° possible movement in combination with the control surfaces.
• Y-harness: The yaw servo is Y-harnessed to nose-gear steering and doesn't require a mix. The two nozzle servos require electronic linkage via four of the six available mixes on a typical seven-channel radio.
• After first setup my elevator and aileron mixes made the nozzles move in reverse; adjusting the mix values corrected the directions. Correct relationships:
• Up elevator → nozzles point up
• Right aileron → right nozzle points up
• Left rudder → nozzles point left
• Optional: assign the four mixes to a two-position switch so you can turn thrust-vectoring on or off and experiment with its effects.

Flying Impressions

• With control surfaces aligned and stabilators neutral, the Super Hornet will fly straight off the workbench. Before test flight, ensure the thrust nozzles are as square to the thrust line as possible.
• Takeoff: the recommended 3700 mAh 6S pack tends to make the model a tad nose-heavy; if flying in consistently windy conditions, leave it nose-heavy. A fair amount of elevator is needed to break ground, but once unstuck the model accelerates briskly like it was catapulted.
• Handling: low rates are forgiving and scale-like. High rates can be sensitive on roll; recommended to add ~30% exponential on aileron high rate for better stick harmony. Elevator and rudder rates are appropriate for aggressive aerobatics.
• Cruise: comfortable at ~60% throttle with enough power for quick turns and rolls. Loops are big and tall at full throttle; inverted and outside aerobatics are comfortable.
• Landings: bring the jet in under power — keep about 30% throttle through the approach until the wheels are down to maintain consistent control response.
• Stalls and departures: hard to stall unintentionally; a high-alpha departure is easy to correct. A stall must be forced, which makes landings forgiving.
• Vectored thrust:
• Allows better low-speed control and maneuverability similar to a prop-blown aircraft without the prop.
• Enables dramatic maneuvers such as a Cobra (abruptly pointing the nose up from cruise without gaining much altitude) and wicked flat spins: add full power and full rudder at low speed to spin flat; recover by neutralizing and bumping down-elevator.
• Not a true 3-D platform, but vectored thrust greatly expands the slow-speed envelope and maneuver options. Roll rate does not appear to be significantly enhanced by vectoring.
• Flight duration: with a 3700–4200 mAh 6S pack expect approximately 5–6 minutes of spirited flying.

Reliability Notes and Tips

• One flight experienced a main gear leg that failed to extend; cycling the transmitter retract switch restored function. Cause unknown.
• On one takeoff the left main wheel spun off. The main-wheel axle cap and hub are PVC and have a relatively low melting point; high-speed friction can cause the wheel to heat and spin off. Preventive measures:
• Apply a touch of Teflon lubricant to the axle.
• Add a dab of CA on the axle cap to secure it.
• The nose-gear door draw-cord clips arrived broken in my kit; the tiny pieces were in the box and were repaired with CA and a Kevlar-thread splint.
• Reinforce string hooks for the nose-gear doors if desired.

Assembly Observations

• Tab-lock joinery makes wing and fin epoxying nearly foolproof.
• Wiring plugs are prewired and tuck into designated cavities.
• The full-flying stabilizers bolt into place easily.
• Glue handling is the build task that requires the most patience; clean up with rubbing alcohol while the glue is still viscous.

Verdict

The eRC Hobby Lobby F/A-18E ARF bursts the envelope of what an ARF can be — nearly turn-key, well thought out, and loaded with scale and functional features. For roughly $400 door-to-door it’s a strong value, especially given the vectored-thrust capability and the completeness of the kit. It’s not perfect, but it’s a highly capable, fun, and impressive EDF jet that a sport pilot can get comfortable with quickly.

Manufacturer / Distributor

• eRC / Hobby Lobby Distributors

5614 Franklin Pike Cir. Brentwood, TN 37027 (866) 512-1444 www.hobby-lobby.com

Sources

• Model Rectifier Corporation

(732) 225-2100 www.modelrec.com

• Spektrum RC

(800) 338-4639 www.spektrumrc.com

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.