Official Roban 120mm A-10 Warthog V2 EDF Jet Thread

[Reeper38]

Su-26mm done and ready for maiden

[jinkrat4791]

Wow, that thing is a beast. Knew it was a large model but that pic really puts it into perspective. Hope everyone is well, not had any time to pursue my own projects. Currently in CDL school. Finally mustered up the courage to pass my ceramic tile business on to my little brother and make a career change. Scary stuff at my age, but it was time. Already have a good job waiting. Soon as I get settled in I intend to get this A 10 flying. I now have everything I need to complete it, including one set of flight packs. Although with one exception. I still havent decided if I'm going to go with a Powerbox or if I'm going to try the Smootflite 16. On another note, if I'm able to acquire it, I've found my next project. A complete, Byron Originals F 15 fuse and verticals. No wings or horizontal stabs, but otherwise untouched new in the box. Thats how current owner acquired it. Owner hasn't flown for many years but is reluctant 'understandably ' to let it go. I'll wear him down eventually. He's actually an old friend I grew up flying with that I haven't seen in 20 years. We happened to bump into each other on the dog food isle at the grocery store.

[Reeper38]

Well the su26 is amazing 👏 I new the runway was gunna be long enough to take off but I wasn't thinking about how much speed it would carry on landing and over shot and broke the prop ..but I have 2 more cf ones haha it's kinda nerve racking flying such a big plane ..as for the a-10 I got the gear back from the machine shop and will be installing them this week so im just waiting on the new jetfan pros and it will be take 2 for the roban in a week or 2...I will keep everyone posted with the maiden vid

[jinkrat4791]

Can't wait for the A10 maiden, was wondering who was going to get there first, you or flyboy1. Good luck but I think u got it covered this time. About the sukhoi, the first larger model I had like that was a 100cc pilot extra and it seemed like it moving slower on landing than it actually was. The size kinda makes it deceptive, seems the bigger they are the slower they look. More weight carries more inertia, for me it seemed a little more manageable to keep the nose up and bring it in with slightly more power. I know it has to fly great, my largest models were always the most enjoyable to fly

[Skytrakvideo]

3D printed parts slowly emerging!

[Skytrakvideo]

If you've not tried 3D printing yet.... download Ultimaker Cura (free) great software easy to use.... look through the list of supported printers and buy one of those (many makes/models supported) you will soon be printing all sorts of RC aircraft goodies!
Don't buy one with a very small build area....1/8th scale missiles are quite long!

[jinkrat4791]

Those look sweet Trak, how much do they weigh? I had planned to make mine from balsa, foam and some really thin glass cloth and try to keep them as light as possible. I'm not super crazy about the loaded out with ordinance look but an a10 just doesn't look right without the pylons.

[jinkrat4791]

The deeper I get into this airframe the more I find that makes me uncomfortable. I'm going to add another former above the mounting plate for the wing bolts and tie it into some actual structure. I just don't see a ply plate glued to thin glass being strong enough to keep the wing from pulling off. If it won't hold up to my style of flying I don't want it. I didn't want it to be a flying brick either but if it breaks in the air its not doing me any good. I'm just going to do what I have to do to be comfortable with the integrity and if it ends up being a flying brick so be it. I haven't opened up the bottom of the wing yet but I have a feeling that I'm not going to be happy with the two little pins that hold the leading edge on either so I'm already anticipating adding two bolts to the front as well. You guys that have already opened it up, how did it look to you?

[jinkrat4791]

remember those two guys that posted pics of their A10's earlier on in this thread? One built and one bought ready to fly if i remember right. They never posted again and I've been curious how things turned out for them so I went back through and found their posts and sent each a PM. Maybe they will answer and have good news., I need to hear something positive because I'm losing my motivation on this build. Hopefully Reaper or Flyboy1 will have a successful maiden soon. I met one guy in the RCgroups forum about a year and a half ago and he actually built and flew two of these successfully with no or very few structural mods. He built the second because he wanted a different color and wanted to do some things differently from the first. I spoke to him not too long ago and he is still flying the second one. He sent me a pic of it in flight. And there's several vids of one in the peanut scheme on YouTube and it seems to fly well. He even puts it through some scale like aerobatics and it held up. I've seen these built and for sale a few times and some say they had successful flights already but you never seem to hear much from people that have completed this airframe.

[Dan McKeag]

I am about 2 weeks out from flying mine. It’s been a fun build.

[jinkrat4791]

I am about 2 weeks out from flying mine. It’s been a fun build.

Hi Dan, glad to see another one nearing completion. I'm just curious, did you end up doing any structural mods? When you get your maiden done could you please post the CG location you used and let us know how things go. Best of luck to you and looking forward to seeing another one of these get in the air

[Reeper38]

Sky and jink I'm only waiting on the fans to come in stock at efflux..unless someone has another idea ..I don't want to change my escs and the jetfans with the hets only draw 96amp at wot with 18lbs of thrust each ..I have castle 120hvs and can't seem to find another setup comp.to the jetfan pros

[Dan McKeag]

Hi Dan, glad to see another one nearing completion. I'm just curious, did you end up doing any structural mods? When you get your maiden done could you please post the CG location you used and let us know how things go. Best of luck to you and looking forward to seeing another one of these get in the air

I added an aluminum spar a some plywood formers to the center section, some structural epoxy to the ribs and formers as well as a small amount of glass cloth and resin.

[jinkrat4791]

I added an aluminum spar a some plywood formers to the center section, some structural epoxy to the ribs and formers as well as a small amount of glass cloth and resin.

That looks like it should do the trick, the center section is without a doubt the weakest link in the airframe. I just bought my carbon rods and cloth to do my mods, soon as I get a little time off work im going to get back on mine. The jetfans are in my opinion the best choice as far as power to weight go. I'm using two of the Het 120 Zuess esc's in mine. The cost and weight were both appealing. I've tried to cut every ounce possible to make up for all the structural mods im doing. Have you checked with Matt at Jetfans USA to see if he has the fans in stock?

[Dan McKeag]

The only fans I could find were JP Hobby. Those are installed now. Hooked up to a pair of 160 Castle escs.

[jinkrat4791]

The only fans I could find were JP Hobby. Those are installed now. Hooked up to a pair of 160 Castle escs.

I've heard those are good fans, they look nice for sure. Is it just the housing thats aluminum or are the fans metal as well. My only concern would be the weight but thats just an assumption because I have no idea what they actually weigh. This is actually my first edf so everything I know is based on others experience or info I've read. I've done a lot of large scale warbirds in my time but until recently haven't flown a jet since the nitro DF days. We don't have a club in our town anymore but I have a friend that owns a farm and he has a nice runway, he just taken interest in edfs but doesn't have much flight experience. I've had the nerve racking pleasure of putting the first few flights on his 3 new jets.

[Dan McKeag]

They are an all metal fan. This A10 will be heavy just need to be careful not to slow it down too much on landing.

[jinkrat4791]

They are an all metal fan. This A10 will be heavy just need to be careful not to slow it down too much on landing.

The ones that actually fly on YouTube and don't explode into confetti seem to land fairly docile. The vid of the green camo one that lands on what looks to be a city street with lamp posts down one side is someone I met in the RCgroups forum named TJ. He has it slowed down to what I'd call a crawl compared to smaller heavy nitro jets I've flown in the past. His came in at 32lbs auw with Shubeler fans. I have a friend thats an A&P mechanic at the small local airport and I have permission to do my initial flights on the main runway so I plan to keep the speed up until I learn the stall characteristics at a safe altitude but I'm hoping that the big wing will allow it to slow down enough for me to fly it at the farm. Otherwise ill have built an airplane that ill have to take out of town to fly

[jinkrat4791]

Sky and jink I'm only waiting on the fans to come in stock at efflux..unless someone has another idea ..I don't want to change my escs and the jetfans with the hets only draw 96amp at wot with 18lbs of thrust each ..I have castle 120hvs and can't seem to find another setup comp.to the jetfan pros

Reaper, I just checked the fanjets usa website and they say jetfan 120 pro's in stocks. I've dealt with Matt there and he's great to do business with

[Reeper38]

I dont know but I'm feeling confident with Dan's reinforcements..looks good should be strong as hell ..im racing ya to be the first to maiden..I should have my fans any day and will throw them in and be ready...good luck to all hopefully with all this shared experience and past failures we have this one cracked...im anxious to get this thing on the xicoy and see how much weight I added in carbon and resin .I know one thing this is probably the stiffest roban a-10 ever I carbon clothed the whole fuse damn near ...good luck everyone and let's hope round 2 goes in my favor ..I really want to show it off at first in flight next month...