Official Freewing Twin 80mm/90mm A-10 Thunderbolt II Thread

[Legman01]

Got my decals from Callie today and applied the fin flashes and squadron emblems. Looks much better now. Will get some good daylights pics tomorrow.

I did the Dragons of the 357th FS out of Davis-Monthan.

I was the weapons officer in the Dragons in the mid eighties. Great squadron!

[ColtPilot]

I was the weapons officer in the Dragons. Great squadron!

Didn't use to be the Lobos Squadron?

[ColtPilot]

I was the weapons officer in the Dragons in the mid eighties. Great squadron!

My bad Lobos is the 358th. See what happens when you get old. Alsheimers sets in.LOL

[Racer686]

Well, another A-10 maiden in the books. Take-off with half flaps proved challenging since we have a bumpy asphalt runway. The plane jumped after hitting a bump but it was not quite ready to fly, it dropped the right wing, I pulled elevator and added every last ounce of throttle and it flew away. I ended up needing down trim from what I thought was Rcjetdude's elevator position but the jet was flying straight and level by the second circuit. My landing was another adventure, bumpy runway again shot the plane up and I caught it before the second touchdown, then landed on the grass on the next pass.
I ended up with 4 flight for the day and the fourth was filmed as well and as he said "You flew it like you stole it!". I'll link to that flight when he gets it online.
So here are some pix and the maiden flight!

https://youtu.be/5_WIA3ulffA

[dkalwishky]

A big thank you to RCjetdude for sending me his unused Blacksnakes nose decals, I screwed mine up trying to apply them.

I took the fuselage to a buddies today that is far more skilled at this than I am. It took about 30 minutes but he got them on, I think they came out pretty nice. I paid attention to his application technique, I think now if I had to do it I could.

Now that all decals are on the plane (about 7 hours worth of work) I can finally start the assembly process. It's going to be hot (low hundreds) for the next 3 or 4 days in Iowa so I won't be flying by hopefully next weekend I'll get the maiden in.

[ColtPilot]

One more for the books of A-10 graphics for those so inclined. :Cool:

[hellcat716]

I ordered the Red Devil scheme from Callie Graphic's for my A 10. Is there any on line source to get information on the placement for the graphics on the A 10? Also any tricks to applying her graphics without removing the paint? Thanks for any info.

[garlandk]

When I went out to do my maiden the other day this is what I saw on the way to the field :)

[OV10]

I ordered the Red Devil scheme from Callie Graphic's for my A 10. Is there any on line source to get information on the placement for the graphics on the A 10? Also any tricks to applying her graphics without removing the paint? Thanks for any info.

Instructions directly from Callie's website ;)

https://callie-graphics.com/pages/instructions

[crxmanpat]

I ordered the Red Devil scheme from Callie Graphic's for my A 10. Is there any on line source to get information on the placement for the graphics on the A 10? Also any tricks to applying her graphics without removing the paint? Thanks for any info.

For placement, I just looked up a bunch of photos on Google Images. Helped a bunch with my Davis-Monthan 357th FS Dragons scheme.

[crxmanpat]

OK gents, the ordnance decals are ready! See the Modifications thread for ordering details.

[T-CAT]

Maybe I'm not seeing it, but why isn't Motion carrying the Pave Penny Pod as a separate spare part? Any plans to do so?

[ColtPilot]

I ordered the Red Devil scheme from Callie Graphic's for my A 10. Is there any on line source to get information on the placement for the graphics on the A 10? Also any tricks to applying her graphics without removing the paint? Thanks for any info.

Only burnish in the graphic without putting pressure on the tape. This works for me after a lot of trial and error. I've had to reorder graphics because of not being to careful.

Tim T

[ColtPilot]

Maybe I'm not seeing it, but why isn't Motion carrying the Pave Penny Pod as a separate spare part? Any plans to do so?

The A-10C no longer sports the pod. That may be the reason. I cut the pod off and only use the top piece to fill in the indent, sand it to form on the bottom, repaint.

[crxmanpat]

So I almost did a bad thing today. Was going downwind for landing, turned base, and my plane promptly disappeared in the early blue sky (that gray camo works great!). My fault for letting it get too far downwind before turning base. Wound up flying away from me, then got it pointed back in the right direction and landed safely. I was shaking after that landing!

[ColtPilot]

I ordered the Red Devil scheme from Callie Graphic's for my A 10. Is there any on line source to get information on the placement for the graphics on the A 10? Also any tricks to applying her graphics without removing the paint? Thanks for any info.

Here are some pics I took of the full size A-10. Hope this is the one you are going for. The smaller details are the same on the A-10. If there is something specific, PM me.

[ColtPilot]

So I almost did a bad thing today. Was going downwind for landing, turned base, and my plane promptly disappeared in the early blue sky (that gray camo works great!). My fault for letting it get too far downwind before turning base. Wound up flying away from me, then got it pointed back in the right direction and landed safely. I was shaking after that landing!

Close one my friend. Great save though.:Cool:

[Flash Jorden]

This plane flies so well! If you have flown a mid/low wing plane before, you can fly this one. So far she has no bad flight tendencies. I was considering adding a gyro before I flew it, but not any more. I haven't flown her in the wind yet, so that may change my mind, but we'll see. My first two landings were without flaps. My next few landings were with takeoff flaps. I don't have any elevator mix, and she does not pitch up with takeoff flaps, at least not that I notice. You do have to keep some power on and "fly her to the ground" as she will float, and flare just before touchdown. Again keep some power on, jockey the throttle as needed. If you slow down too much, which is easy, again because she floats, she'll stall, pretty flat, without dropping a wing, and just drop to the ground, and bounce you back into the air. It is soooo easy to learn how to grease the landings on this girl. I was a rock-star by my third flight. And that's not because I'm a great pilot. In fact, every flight two of my club members have a running bet on if I'll rip the gear out of my plane during landing at our grass field. Sad to say, they both have been paid multiple times.

The bad? I really don't have any "Bad" remarks about the plane so far, but here are a few observations:
1.) The paint smudges easily. The finish out of the box is excellent! Easily the best foam plane finish I have ever seen. However, you will handle this plane a lot, and I have finger smudges all over her. Maybe use some WBPU (water based polyurethane) on her to keep the finish smudge free.

2.) It's easy to get disorientated with the flat grey paint top and bottom. I did a few rolls, and rolled when coming out of the bottom of a loop, and it was hard to tell top from bottom, right-side up/inverted when flying at a distance, which I tend to do. My advice for early flights, until you are comfortable, stay relatively close during your initial flights.

3.) Oddly enough, she can seem to disappear when you are looking straight on at her, like after your turn to final and you're lining up for a landing. I was/am considering a paint scheme that will help me identify top and bottom in the air. I've been flying without the armament, and one of my other club members SMDUB, suggested to fly with the armament as that will help give her definition in the air.

Additional observations:

1.) The shipping packaging, OMG!!! Again, the packaging was phenominal! One of the best packaging jobs I've seen! I'm and engineer, and I can oly imaginge the effort that went into designing "just" the packaging! Hats off to the Freewing/MotionRC crew (I assume) for knocking that outta the park!

2.) Unless you are speed demon, or looking for maximum efficiency from your power setup, the 80mm fans are wonderful! They have great power, and are quiet (comparatively)! This thing just rocks in the air with the stock setup. No need to change a thing, unless you just happen to be a tinkerer.

3.) I have my timer set at 3 minutes, but it will count up after the 3 minutes have expired. So far I have been able to go 4:40, and still have about 3.78/cell so after a few more flight, I'll probably adjust my flight timer to about 3:45-4 mins and see what happens. That's with mixed throttle, and flying at typically 80% throttle.

4.) She just wants to fly. Nice long take-off climb-outs are so easy. No need to yank her off the ground. From a flight/flying perspective, whomever did the wing design on this plain straight nailed it!!! Cudos!

5.) Both my Gens Ace/Tattoo and Pulse 6s 5000s come down pretty warn. Not hot, but warm. These are the same packs I've used on my HSD Super Viper and F-16, so they have seen some good use. I have some Revolectrix batteries I want to try and see how they do.

What else?!?! I dunno! I can't stop gushing, and wipe this stupid grin off my face! I may have to buy a 2nd one of these A-10's, as I'm probably going to wear this one out!!!

[Lon]

Well, another A-10 maiden in the books. Take-off with half flaps proved challenging since we have a bumpy asphalt runway. The plane jumped after hitting a bump but it was not quite ready to fly, it dropped the right wing, I pulled elevator and added every last ounce of throttle and it flew away. I ended up needing down trim from what I thought was Rcjetdude's elevator position but the jet was flying straight and level by the second circuit. My landing was another adventure, bumpy runway again shot the plane up and I caught it before the second touchdown, then landed on the grass on the next pass.
I ended up with 4 flight for the day and the fourth was filmed as well and as he said "You flew it like you stole it!". I'll link to that flight when he gets it online.
So here are some pix and the maiden flight!

https://youtu.be/5_WIA3ulffA

Great maiden!! I only have 18 flights under my belt now, but from my experience. It appears your letting her touchdown just a little bit too soon. And that's why your getting the bounce. Hold her up a little longer, as long as possible. And you will loose that bounce.

[bcrc]

My Freewing A10 came with two "H" shaped pieces of some matting material. What is it for?