FREEWING SR-71 FULL REVIEW and Speed test!

SR-71. I am really excited to get this in the air. This will be the maiden flight. I have not flown this yet. I'm already a little scared, hands are already a little shaky, but we're going to get it up in the air. I am running it as it comes out of the box, 6S stock gyro, 6000, no afterburners. So we're going to get it up in the air for maiden flight and see how it does. All right guys, we are ready for the maiden flight. All the control surfaces look good. So let's go ahead and take it up. Gear coming up, it's flying well. All right guys, so I'm going to voiceover this maiden here so you can learn a little bit about the aircraft as it's flying around. So I was very scared to do this maiden. As you could probably tell in the intro, my voice was stuttering, my hands were already shaking and the plane wasn't even on the ground. My knees were weak, arms were heavy, there's vomit on my sweater already. And I was just very scared to do this maiden. A big $700 jet, brand new platform for a SR-71. And there's nothing really ever been released like this before, so it's hard to compare it to anything else. So I was very, very unsure and very scared. But nonetheless, I was running stock gyro, stock 6S 6000, well not stock, but new 6S 6000, and was right on the CG marks on the wings. Wasn't behind them, I was dead center on them. And the second I took off, I knew it was going to be a piece of a maiden. It felt so locked in the second I took off. And just flying around, it did feel a little bit sloppy in the turns, not nothing super concerning, but just a little bit tippy in the turn. So just be aware of that when you're flying, that's something to expect. But as you can see guys, right now the way I'm flying, I felt very comfortable with it already on my second lap ever with this jet. Was already doing some low passes. I threw some rolls in there in the maiden flight too. It does roll excellent if you guys are wondering. And it lands really well too. You just have to get settled in that approach. We'll do a whole landing section later in this video, but I just wanted to give you my thoughts on the maiden. If you have not made into your SR-71 or have not bought one, and you're thinking about it, and you would be scared to maiden it, don't be. It behaves very well on the stock setup that I have. I can't really speak well for AS3X+. My buddy flew his on AS3X+, and bypassed the stock gyro, and his seemed to fly really well as well. So I think it's just a really well-engineered airframe to begin with. So yeah, stock gyro performed really well. There wasn't a ton of wind, so I couldn't really get a gauge on how it performs in the wind, but very comfortable, very locked in. Didn't fly super heavy. My cruising throttle on the maiden flight was around 65-60%. I could cruise around, but I like to fly fast and slow, fast and low. And what else are you supposed to do with an SR-71 besides go fast? So yeah, those were my thoughts on the maiden flight. If you haven't made into yours yet, I would not be scared to. If you're running the box stock setup like I am, like I said, I can't really speak for other setups, but if you plan on running box stock and you have not made into yours yet, I would go CG marks on the wings, and I would just take her up, because there's nothing that should go terribly wrong, unless control surfaces are reversed or something like that. So very pleased with the maiden flight. Was skeptical at first, but it turned out very well. And parachute is out. Got a little stuck there. Didn't pull the button, but all right, guys. So that was the first maiden flight of the freewing SR-71 twin 70 millimeter. Couldn't have gone better, except for the drag chute got a little stuck. But yeah, we're going to put some more pads to this thing, and then I'll give you my thoughts when we come back to the bench. All right, guys. So after that was my timer was at three minutes of useful throttle time, and we landed at 23% after a couple full throttle passes. So this is how the SR-71 flies and what to expect. All these clips were after the maiden flight, so I did get a good feel for the airplane. I did notice in the turns, it was a little bit tippy, a little bit sloppy in the turns. I'm not sure if that has something to do with the stock gyro or just the airframe itself, because a buddy of mine set his up on AS3X plus, and he said it was a little bit kind of tippy in the turns as well. So that might be an airframe flaw, but I can look into that, ask around. But as for flying the SR-71, besides that, it is a really good flyer. It tracks really straight and true. That stock gyro did handle very well, except for the issue on the turns. But it wasn't really windy when I was flying it, so I couldn't really get a gauge on how it handles in the wind. But it does fly really straight and level like an SR-71 should. As for power, I am in Colorado, so I am at altitude, and I was able to cruise around at 60, 65% throttle was a comfortable cruise for me. And this is at altitude, so if you are lower, then that should be lower. And this is 6S stock power system, no modifications, just how it comes out of the box. So pretty pleased with that. But I like to rip it every chance I get, because it is an SR-71. What else are you supposed to do with it besides go fast? So my flight time, I set my timer to 2 minutes and 30 seconds. That has a little bit of wiggle room, just in case I need to go around again. But I did for my maiden flight, I set it for 3 minutes, and I came down at 23%, which was a little bit lower than I would hope for. But I am also juicing it the whole time, every pass. So if you just do cruise around, I bet you could get around maybe 3, 3.30, and then land at around 35% with your battery. But the SR-71, the silhouette is just unmatched in the air. It is a real presence to fly. And as you saw, right after the first circuit on my maiden, I was already ripping it, doing low passes, rolls, etc. As for agility, it is an SR-71. If you are expecting it to be super agile, then you have got the wrong plane. This plane is meant to go straight, level, and fast, and just look really cool in the air. It does perform basic acrobatic maneuvers really well, rolls, loops. I did get an inverted pass in there. So you will not have to really worry about any of those things. But if you want something super agile, then you go with an F-16, or Eurofighter, or something like that. But this plane is just such a unique and special airframe. It does track very straight and true in those full throttle passes. No oscillations, none of that. There wasn't really any wind, so I can't really get a gauge on how it handles in heavy winds. But as for my experience, I put six packs through it. So this is my review, just based off of six batteries and a maiden flight. So I got a pretty good gauge on how the airplane flies. Alright guys, onto the takeoff and landing section of this video. I was pleasantly surprised on how well the SR-71 handles in takeoff and landing. On the maiden flight, it did kind of jump off the ground at first on takeoff, and that's because I kind of yanked the elevator. But I found a good way to counter that is just hold some back pressure as you're speeding up on the ground, and that nose will lift off very gently. And as for landing, if you guys have flown any sort of Mirage or F-16 or any Deltawing, you just come in with a high alpha approach and hold that nose up and control your descent with throttle, and then gently set it down on the ground. And it's as simple as that. It does come in a little bit fast, but it's the same idea as any sort of Deltawing. So if you've flown an F-16 or Mirage and you can land those well, you will most likely be able to land this SR-71 well, which I was very surprised on how well it was able to keep its nose in the air and hold that high alpha attitude. It didn't have any bad tendencies. It felt really locked in the whole time, so I am very pleased on how this lands. I found the best way to pack the parachute is just to fold it up and then roll it up really tight and then just shove it in there. And it deploys really nice with that packing system. I tried other ways, but it just didn't seem as good as this way. Fold it in half and then tightly roll it. I tried other ways, but it just kept getting stuck as you saw. So I just tightly rolled it and then shoved it in there like that. Put this over, bang, and close. All right, so this is going to be a speed test. We got the watch in there. My guess is around 110, maybe 115, something like that. So it is an SR-71, so she is made to go fast. Pouring in the coals right over the mountains, coming in full speed. Oh, I love that sound. All right, coming in. We're going to climb again. So this is from a dive. This is maximum speed, 6S, 6,000 at altitude. So we're about a mile up, so it's a little thinner up here. But nonetheless, we can rip EDFs as well. Coming in another full throttle pass. Wow, I love that howl. All right, we're going to do one more and then I would say we got to bring it in for a landing. We'll bring it in nice and wide here. Sorry if you guys can't see, it's a bit of an odd airframe to film. Coming in, pouring in the coals. Wow, amazing. All right, so now we're coming up on the timer. Gear's coming out. I wrapped up the drag chute differently this time, so hopefully it will not get caught. Taking a nice wide approach, backing down the power. All right, easing off that throttle, settling in for landing approach, getting that nose in the air. Wow, excellent. Guys, so we got the speed reading done and the top speed was 119 miles an hour. So there you go, guys. The top speed for the Freewing SR-71 at altitude. Pretty impressive. 119 miles an hour, as you can see. Pretty impressed with this big bird. All right, guys, as for setup, my timer is at 2 minutes and 30 seconds and there's not too much setup in here. So it's really, honestly, just what my rates are. So my rates for aileron are 80 and 25% expo. Elevator is at 130 and then rudder is at 100 and 0. Other than that, there is not too much setup in the transmitter because I am just running stock gyros. So those are my rates if you want to copy those. It felt really good, very controlled, not too twitchy, not too damp. That's what I like to fly with. And my timer is at 230 just because I like to do fast passes almost every time. So not getting the best one. All right, guys, there you go. That is the full review of the Twin 70mm SR-71 from Freewing. I'm really excited that this model turned out really well. It flies true, it tracks true. I'm sorry I haven't been posting lately. The weather here in Colorado has just been snowy or cold or windy. But now that it's warming up and it's getting nice outside, I will be able to come out with more videos on all these jets. I have a lot more jets to get through, so stay tuned for those. And I will see you guys in the next one. I hope you enjoy and have a maiden year SR-71. Or if you're thinking about getting one and you're a little skeptical, do it. I know it's a big price tag, but honestly, in my opinion, it's well worth it for such a unique and cool airframe to begin with. So yeah, guys, I will see you in the next video. I hope you enjoyed.