OWL F-16 Falcon - 64mm EDF
( Semi Scale Model )
~ LW-PLA Digital Balsa and Foam Series ~

Videos and Pictures

We are really happy to introduce our first model using gyroid infill. With gyroid infill, not only makes the model stronger also still acceptable to fly with its final result total weight. Having bottom and top layers, would make it easier to assemble like playing “lego” blocks.

Initially, we plan to use 50mm EDF for the model but to make sure this infill is good to go with LW-PLA, we chose to start with 64mm EDF. Since the bigger the model, it will have lower WCL eventhough having higher wing loading. It will have more weight tolerance compared to the smaller model with the same wing loading.

This 64mm EDF OWL F-16 Falcon model has been tested with 4s 1500mah and 2200mah (about 180gr and 265gr respectively). If you plan to hand launch it, suggest using less than or about 200gr 4s battery with powerful 64mm EDF such as QX-Motor 64mm 3800kv (make sure your battery is still in good condition and also have high C rating such as 70C for example). With that EDF, the model will have more than 1 thrust ratio. It flies fast even with standard 4s 64mm EDF motors (see recommended EDFs below in this page). With a heavy battery, the model still flies great and fast.

To protect from scratches during landing, you may want to use fiber tape (you can find it in details below in this page).

This model likes to glide when using 1500mAh so that it would be easy to land by letting the model glide itself. If you are not familiar hand  launching an EDF jet, we would suggest you use our Catapult Launcher (it is human free error from throwing the model). During maiden, also suggest using that launcher to get you familiar first with the model. When you have trimmed aileron and elevator control surfaces already, you will have no worry and no need anymore setting the control surfaces at the same time.

In general, this model must be printed with LW-PLA/ePLA-LW/PolyLight 1.0 filament only (you still may want to experiment printing some parts with PLA * for example printing wings with PLA for having extreme maneuver *) and no landing gear (hand launch or catapult launcher type of model)

Please note that G-code files generated from ideaMaker does not compatible to use with Prusa original 3D printers. Please use PrusaSlicer instead if you would like to regenerate the G-code files for your Prusa printers.

Digital Balsa and Foam Series

New Printing Profiles with Gyroid Infill :

As you can see from the pictures below, they illustrate a 3D printed part when using gyroid infill and ribs. You can pick infill percentage to you preferences where the higher you set it will be stronger. To get optimal result, we also still use ribs so that we will achieve parts using optimal gyroid infill percentage. With having gyroid infill, we have tried to use top and bottom layers. The good news is that the AUW is still acceptable for the jet and allow it to use like lego style blocks to assemble.  

We run some research and experiment with some number of setting values for infill percentage. Final values will be used in OWLplane slicer profiles. Feel free to increase or decrease the values including playing with other settings if you feel better than ours (we are happy listening / getting your input/feedback, so keep us posted about your build in our facebook group). 

Unfortunately, we have to let S3D go since it does not have gyroid infill pattern and also has not sent any new update for couple of years. We are not really comfortable to use in upcoming future. At the same time, we welcome PrusaSlicer to add. PrusaSlicer has been updated to be able to slice our single perimeter models and well known for easy to use. Although, our G-code files are sliced with ideaMaker, we also provide the 3MF files so that if you would like to play with the model, all slicer settings are already recorded in the files. In case you do not know, 3MF is another format to represent 3D model with some additional information such as slicer settings. It can be said as rich STL files with some additional information.

Like Playing Lego :

As explained above, here are some pictures after cleaning the parts, they can assemble like playing “lego” blocks. 

Expected Some Stringing but Easy to Clean :

Since active foaming filaments such as LW-PLA is not affected  by retraction, some stringings are expected. The good news is that they are easy to clean compared to printing with standard PLA/PLA+.

Sandpaper Cleaning the Excessive Materials Surrounding Plug-In Blocks :

Sanding parts would make assembling much easier and clean. Excessive materials can be found on the top surfaces. For example, the circle in the picture need to sand so that there is no need to push the part later to fit into the next part.

Sand The Surfaces To Get Smooth Ones :

Comparing surfaces before and after sending it. LW-PLA material let you smoothing surfaces where it would not be applicable with standard PLA or PLA+.

Specification and Some Details

Spar Requirements :

  • 1 x 5mm OD and with 400mm long fiber carbon tube as front fuselage and wing spar.
  • 1 x 5mm OD and with 500mm long fiber carbon tube as back fuselage and wing spar.
  • 2 x 5mm OD and with 145mm long for stabilizer spars.

Locking Belt for Attaching Wings to Fuselage :

Aileron/Wing Control Surfaces Rods:

Elevator/Horizontal Stabilizer Control Surfaces Rods:

Electronic Positions :

Feel free to locate the electronics for getting the correct CoG.

64mm EDF Bracket and Installation :

Left picture is EDF installation with removed leading edge lip (you do not need screws to install but please use hot glue to make EDF well attached to the bracket as seen in the picture) :

Two sets of EDF brackets can be used. The left side on the 1st column is with lip removed where on the right side on the 2nd column is with lip intact.

You can find the bracket STL files under “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.2\F-16 Falcon 64mm EDF BRACKETS\STL and GCODE\withLip” or “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.2\F-16 Falcon 64mm EDF BRACKETS\STL and GCODE\withNoLip”.

Using Nose Antenna or Not :

Two options are available to choose between antenna and no antenna nose parts. When using antenna version, make sure you fly the model safely since the pointing rod can make serious injury when hitting (note : if not careful, when the rod hitting inside the battery , it would be easily for making fire after crashing).

Lid Assembly Suggestion :

3 types of fins are provided from short, medium and long. Although, short fins are less risk to stuck on the ground, it is still better without fins. You may want to use fins whenever to display the model.

Canopy Assembly and Trim :

Center of Gravity (CoG) :

How to Launch OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm EDF Model : 

Two methods are suggested to launch the model. The first one is to use OWLplane Catapult Launcher. Please visit OWLplane Catapult Launcher product page under “PRODUCTS” tab after clicking “ALL PRODUCTS”(you can use your own Catapult Launcher, you may need only to use the adapter). The second one is by hand launching. 

It is recommended to launch the model by utilizing OWLplane Catapult Launcher or your own launcher since it is human error free.

#1 – By Utilizing OWLplane Catapult Launcher.

Watch the following videos how easy it is to launch the rc model with OWLplane Catapult Launcher and human free errors. 

#2 – By Throwing.

Follow the following tips to launch :

– Lean your body backward.

– Put your fingers on designated locations (shown in the following section below).

– Start throwing by also moving your body forward.

Note : Above pictures are illustration only, using 50mm BAE Hawk T1 – 50mm EDF instead.

Printing and Preparing OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm Launcher Adapter :

If you plan to launch the model with your own catapult launcher, please print the parts shown on the right side from  “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT\CATAPULT ADAPTER”. That parts will use the strongest part in the model fuselage/wings and will not destroy your model when employing high pulling force. 

You can find a complete set of them also after downloading  “OWLplane Catapult Launcher” ~ free to download ~  under “OWLplane CL – STL and G-code v1.1\CL-ADAPTER v1.1\F-16 Falcon\64mm” directory.

Two ropes are used to assembly the back fiber carbon tube. The length of the ropes is about 27cm.

Use paper tape to create tabs as shown in the pictures.

More details regarding assembling the adapter can be found from OWLplane Catapult Launcher product page.

Finger Resting for Hand Launching :

If you choose to launch by throwing, please put your fingers as shown in the following pictures. They are designed to be the strongest positions to throw and located couple of mm right before the correct CoG. 

Fiber Tape Protecting OWL F-16 During Belly Landing from Rough Surfaces :

By using fiber tape attached to the belly skin, it will protect a model during landing from rough surfaces. Not only protecting, you may no need to clean the belly after sometime by replacing it to get back clean.

We have tested it and really happy with the result. The model is still in a good condition after landing it on rough surfaces.

Some Note for Slicing STL Files :

Default Value are :

– Retraction : Set enabled only to make “extra restart length = 0.05mm” (PrusaSlicer), “extra restart amount = 0.05mm” (IdeaMaker) or “retraction extra prime amount = 0.5mm^3” (Cura) to compensate loosing materials due to stringing issues.

– Heatbed: 55 degree C.

– Hotend: 245 degree C (you may want to change it between 240 – 250 degree C).

– Extrusion Multiplier : 0.55% (feel free to update this value).

– Extrusion Width: 0.40mm (feel free to find your preference value, but it will be around that value).

– Extrusion Height: 0.25mm (greater is faster but less stronger bonding).

– Printing Speed: 35mm/sec.

– Retraction Speed : 50mm/sec.

Weight and Time Estimation :

Following tables show the weight of printed parts, number of required filament rolls and time required to print. But the number may vary from printer to printer due to:

– Stepper Jerk value.

– Stepper Acceleration value.

– Steps per unit (either calibrated or uncalibrated).

– Extruder quality/condition.

– Nozzle quality/condition.

– Filament quality/condition.

– Etc. 

Here are the summary table (Under Construction) :

Klipper Firmware Does Not Accept “#” / Hash Character

Unfortunately the Klipper firmware does not accept the “#” / hash character when naming the file. More and more 3D printers nowadays and upcoming most likely will use the Klipper firmware where when using previous firmware such as Marlin, Prusa, etc. do not prevent it from processing. 

Since our naming convention for our g-code files utilize the “#” character and already since we started the OWLplane, we still keep them until our new release models dated after July 2024 (after BD OWLjet 70mm 6s EDF). 

No worry, to use our g-code files, just need to remove the “#” character, that is it !

Fore example :

FUSELAGE-1 # P3_H15″ replace the file name with “FUSELAGE-1 P3_H15”

Note : no “#” character is used in the new file name.

How To Extract Our Zip Files 

Somehow when the folder path is too long,  files and directories can not be extracted directly to a destination directory. There is a workaround for this, just follow the guide below. What you need to follow is to double click zip file until you find the directory. From there, double right click to invoke a “copy” command. After that, just paste the directory into your destination directory. That is it ! 

Table of Contents

Update History

Version 1.1 release, dated October 12th, 2022 : Using PrusaSlicer gcode files

  • All ideaMaker LW-PLA generated gcode files are replaced with PrusaSlicer gcode files.
  • IdeaMaker gcode files containing “M221 T0 S55.00” (M221 – set flow percentage command) do not reduce the flow percentage to 55% when using original Prusa 3D printer.
  • It turns out that the command ignored and giving about 2x targeted weight.
  • Instead of using ideaMaker gcode files, we re-generated LW-PLA gcode files using PrusaSlicer.
  • “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – STL, 3MF and G-code ver 1.0” replaced with “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – STL, 3MF and G-code ver 1.1”.
  • “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.0” replaced with  “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.1”.
  • “ReadMe ver 1.0” replaced with “ReadMe ver 1.1”.

Version 1.2 release, dated October 14th, 2022 : (a). Fuselage-4 and 5 improvement/correction, (b). including gcode files sliced w/ ideaMaker (was version 1.0 – during initial release), (c). Adding Pin and Velcro Holder files and (d). EDF Bracket to use with EDF lip (no need to removed).  

a).1. Fuselage-4 and 5 improvement.

Updated files : 

– FUSELAGE-4 # B2T2_GR1 – deprecated to FUSELAGE-4 # B2T2_GR1 v1.2.

– FUSELAGE-5 # B2T2_GR1 – deprecated to FUSELAGE-5 # B2T2_GR1 v1.2. 

 

 

a).2. Fuselage-4 Correction.

Updated files : 

– FUSELAGE-4 # B2T2_GR1 – deprecated to FUSELAGE-4 # B2T2_GR1 v1.2.

 

b). Adding/including sliced gcode files with ideaMaker to gain 8-10% weight saving. The zip file name is “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – STL, 3MF and G-code ver 1.0” under “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – STL, 3MF and G-code ver 1.2”.

  • Pros : it will print about 7%-10% lighter compared with gcode sliced with PrusaSlicer (with the same 3% infill percentage). Best to use for hand launch.
  • Cons: it will not compatible with original Prusa (giving 2x weights, 55% flow rate command ignored). More stringing.
 

c).1. Adding/including missing pin files. We need some pins to assembly FUSELAGE-3 and 4 and also LID-1 and LID-2. The location is under “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.2” directory. It is also available to download from “https://owlplane.com/print-library/” under section “Pin, Washers, Loops and Hooks Handle and Wheels”.

c).2. Adding/including missing velcro handle files (optional to use). The location is under “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.2” directory. It is available also to download from “https://owlplane.com/print-library/” under section “Pin, Washers, Loops and Hooks Handle and Wheels”.

d). Adding a set of bracket that you can use them without removing your 64mm EDF intake lip. Feel free to use which set type of bracket for your EDF. You can find the bracket STL files under “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.2\F-16 Falcon 64mm EDF BRACKETS\STL and GCODE\withLip” or “OWL F-16 Falcon 64mm – SUPPORT ver 1.2\F-16 Falcon 64mm EDF BRACKETS\STL and GCODE\withNoLip”. Note,  Freewing 64mm 12-Blade EDF 4S Power System w/ 2836-3300Kv Motor may be available to use with QX-Motor with lip type of bracket. Just download the bracket zip file above to test if yours will fit into.

Recommended Setup

*) Freewing 64mm 12-Blade EDF 4S Power System w/ 2836-3300Kv Motor may be available to use with QX-Motor with lip bracket. We never test it. Just download the bracket zip file above to test.

Note : we tested 64mm to fly with for both 3500KV and 3800KV and with ESC 60A, we did not see any issue or excessive heat whatsoever. 

Hand Launch Setup Recommendation :

Tools and Materials

Hardware Needed

For Fuselage and Canopy:

For Aileron and Elevator Servos:

*) Illustration only

Setup for Servo Travel/Throw

Suggested setup for medium travel/thrown are depicted below and you may adjust the setup according to your need.

Please pay attention to start and end measurement location. Especially elevator, it needs wider throw than usual model with about the same dimensions.

Assembly Figures

F-16 Falcon 64mm Fuselage Assembly

F-16 Falcon 64mm Wing Assembly

F-16 Falcon 64mm Horizontal Stabilizer Assembly

F-16 Falcon 64mm Vertical Stabilizer Assembly

F-16 Falcon 64mm Canopy Assembly

Watch OWL F-16 Falcon - 64mm
Animation and Assembly Video
Please visit the page for having visual learning