Official Freewing Twin 80mm EDF A-10 Thunderbolt II Super Scale V2 Thread

[Evan D]

Pretty sure the first ones had 9b’s.

[xviper]

Pretty sure the first ones had 9b’s.

They did. I had one. I let it go to a friend. What was a bit confusing is him saying he "went with the 9-bl", sort of implying he put those fans into the jet rather than the jet coming with them.

I think he may have meant to post in the A-10 V1 thread:

https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc-airplanes/rc-jets/52741-official-freewing-twin-80mm-90mm-a-10-thunderbolt-ii-thread/page575#post429248

[Evan D]

I see what you mean...

[CraigG]

Can the 9 blade/out-runners be replaced with 12 blade/in-runners? Looks like the ESC's and everything else is the same between the two versions.

[Evan D]

All the FreeWing fans have the same mounting pattern. Some have longer or shorter wires and the higher power fans need at least a 100A ESC.

[Alphonso]

Can the 9 blade/out-runners be replaced with 12 blade/in-runners? Looks like the ESC's and everything else is the same between the two versions.

Yes they can, no difference other than fan

[pfcooper]

Sorry guys I didn't proof read my own post. I purchased the 9 bladed V2 but found it under powered on climb out so installed the 12 bladed fans. Sorry about the confusion. Now I'm installing Avain ESC's with a Spektrum ubec.

[xviper]

Sorry guys I didn't proof read my own post. I purchased the 9 bladed V2 but found it under powered on climb out so installed the 12 bladed fans. Sorry about the confusion. Now I'm installing Avain ESC's with a Spektrum ubec.

I think I must apology. I had no idea that the A-10 V2 is also offered with the 9-bl outrunners. Yes, indeed, those make this model quite sluggish and underpowered for most owners. The 12-bl inrunners are the way to go. With the Avian smart ESCs (I don't think you need a UBEC as the Avians have internal BECs), you can do reverse thrust with the ESC programming (not the same as forward programming) via the transmitter as long as you are also using a Spektrum smart RX.

[Alphonso]

I've never heard of anyone posting that the 9 blade V1 is sluggish. Even the stock V1 had the best thrust to weight. I've had the 12 blade 2150 fans in mine for some years now and it is great but the 9 blade was no slouch either.

Regarding the V2, my flying buddy bought the 9 bl outrunner and I bought the 12 bl inrunner. We fly together often, keeping them close at what I feel is slow speed. He always says he is using more throttle to keep up and lands a minute before me. Same SMC lipos, same telemetry sensors and low voltage settings.
I also fly with a friend who uses my old V1 with the 12 blade 2150 fans. His is better at vertical climbs from slow level flight and gets longer flights than my V2 due to being quite a bit lighter.

[Beaver73]

Whelp. I adored this bird. Maiden flight using Spektrum AR10100T, rotated nice and smooth, rolled right and crashed. No aileron authority. Put in supports, repaired nicely. Checked everything, even installed RF chokes. Did a long distance range test. Everything seemed ready. Rotated nicely again, and then this time slow death roll left, no control. Flew other planes earlier, transmitter was fine. Only thing I can come up with is that the receiver was bad? Even had a remote receiver too. It’s beyond repair this time. I will say, the wings are strong, and love the easy connection. Sad

[Hugh Wiedman]

Whelp. I adored this bird. Maiden flight using Spektrum AR10100T, rotated nice and smooth, rolled right and crashed. No aileron authority. Put in supports, repaired nicely. Checked everything, even installed RF chokes. Did a long distance range test. Everything seemed ready. Rotated nicely again, and then this time slow death roll left, no control. Flew other planes earlier, transmitter was fine. Only thing I can come up with is that the receiver was bad? Even had a remote receiver too. It’s beyond repair this time. I will say, the wings are strong, and love the easy connection. Sad

That's a strange one. I use the Spektrum AS3X Plus receivers in all my planes (over 25, and earlier the AS3X predecessors), edf's with remotes as well, and never ever had something like that happen. Could it be one of the aileron servos (or flap servos) being bad? If one flap remains deployed when you go from take off flaps to flaps up, that would cause a slow-quick roll in that direction. Also, if you have a Spektrum TX, you can check the logs after the flight and see if you had any frame losses (0-40 OK) or especially any Holds (really bad, even 1, means it lost signal at some point and put all surfaces in hold). If those look OK, doubt it's the RX. I think you have another issue somewhere, and the only other thought I have is an aileron servo. Did have an aileron servo go bad on my A-10 V1 recently, but this thing is so stable, it only went out of trim, which I thought was odd at the time, and I landed easily and found one aileron servo dead. My money is on a flap servo, which may work OK on the ground, but in the air, with some resistance, isn't working properly. Had that issue on both my F-18's. On the ground, flap servos worked. In the air, 1 didn't retract, or at times, didn't deploy, never the same one, causing the exact issue you described. Replaced them with hitec or ProModeler servos as the stock Freewing servos (9 gr in this case), just didn't have enough guts.

My money is on those flap servos. Next time you fly it, take off without flaps (this bird gets in the air so easy, flaps are not critically necessary). If it flies around fine, go high up and deploy flaps and see what happens, mindful to return to flaps up. Unfortunately, if that is the issue, they may come down initially, then not go up, leaving you with an unbalanced wing. If so, go back to down and see if it stabilizes, then LAND IMMEDIATELY.

Edited: Sorry, forgot you said it was a total loss and there won't be a "next time you fly it". But still doesn't hurt to learn the cause for future reference. The A-10 is a spectacular model and one worth having, so don't give up on it!

[GliderGuy]

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[GliderGuy]

I could not edit or delete the prior post...sorry for the duplication, but added more text.

Also…sorry to hear that.
Question…Did you try switching to rudder for roll control?
Many forget to try this, and it works well. Right rudder application = right roll.

I saved my SR-71 this way when an outer elevon servo failed. The gyro somewhat lost its mind trying to correct for the loss of the servo and it ended up in a left roll and increasing dive pitch.
Application of right rudder got her level and around for a safe landing using rudder for roll control.

Lesson remembered from the days of RC flying when one only had rudder and elevator controls on some planes/gliders.

-GG

[Beaver73]

Thanks Gents,
I’ve had some bad servos in the past, even if it was just one or the other I should have had some opposite authority, everything seemed locked up, no rudder either. I didn’t have any holds showing during or after impact. It does announce that too, I had the volume up since I was the only one there. I’m at a loss. I wanna buy another, but now have concerns. I don’t fly much with gyros anymore, but was even considering the one with a gyro, to magically save it, if it were to happen again. lol wishful thinking. I’m bummed, it’s a beautiful model.

[CraigG]

Yes they can, no difference other than fan

And just to expand on this in case anyone else is considering upgrading from the 9b to the 12b; Purchase the 12 blade "power system" which includes the fan and installed motor. The top half of the engine nacelles lift off after removing 4 screws, located on the under side. Remove the 4 screws that hold in the fan unit and then remove two plastic pieces that secure the ESC and wiring (4 screws each). Disconnect the 3 wires from the old fan and connect the new fan wires. Bolt in the new fan to run a quick test for proper rotation direction and swap two of the wires if it runs backwards. Reinstall the plastic pieces and nacelle top and you are done. Much easier than I thought it would be and no need to mess with the wiring from the nacelle to the battery compartment.

FWIW, I found that the 9b had adequate power but I felt like I was running at a higher throttle setting for most of the flight and maybe it could use a little more punch in vertical maneuvers. Haven't flown the 12b yet but I'm looking forward to the extra thrust.

[Elbee]

CraigG,

Very interesting, Sir.

Looking forward to a post-flight debrief.

Best, LB

[pfcooper]

Hello fellow A10 lovers. So I posted about swapping out the 9bl outrunners for the 12bl inrunners. I put probably 5 or 6 flight on my A10 with the 9bl setup and 7 or 8 with the 12bl setup and there is a noticeable difference in throttle position for the same speed(IMO). With the 9bl I was getting 3min 30sec but with the 12bl 4min 15sec flight time and still landing with the packs above 40%.

[CraigG]

Hello fellow A10 lovers. So I posted about swapping out the 9bl outrunners for the 12bl inrunners. I put probably 5 or 6 flight on my A10 with the 9bl setup and 7 or 8 with the 12bl setup and there is a noticeable difference in throttle position for the same speed(IMO). With the 9bl I was getting 3min 30sec but with the 12bl 4min 15sec flight time and still landing with the packs above 40%.

Pretty much my experience also after switching to the 12bl. I also prefer the sound of the 12bl, which to me, sounds a little more like a real turbine. Really not sure why they even offer the 9bl since there is so little difference in price.

[Flyinrazrback]

For those running the SMC 5100/5900 LiHv packs can you show a picture of your battery placement? Thanks!

[Hugh Wiedman]

For those running the SMC 5100/5900 LiHv packs can you show a picture of your battery placement? Thanks!

I'm using 2 SMC 6S HiV 5900's V2 packs placed as shown below, although this is a V1 with upgraded 3658-1920Kv inrunners instead of the stock outrunners that came in the V1. Shouldn't be that much different than the V2. Please note the photo has 2 Roaring Top 6250's in it from a year ago, but my SMC's are placed approximately the same. You should also note that I'm balanced at least 15-20mm behind the manual recommended CG, which is more neutrally balanced. No extra lead anywhere. Did extend the front foam base under the front battery so it sat level. Also, I do have the 3D cockpit and 1/10 scale JHH pilot which adds a bit of weight to the front. 6-8 minutes Flight time on the SMC's! Perfect battery for the A-10! Stuck that pesky blue box way back on the port wall of the fuselage to make room for the back battery.