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

[themudduck]

What size drill bit did you use?

I used a 3/32 bit. But first I carefully centered the original hole with a diamond-tip cone however, because I found that the original barrel holes were off center.

This doesn't compare to what TiredIron GRB did. That rotating lighted barrel makes me :Crying:

[TomPatton]

Tom your pvc stand is awesome. Would love to copyit. In this configuration does it allow to invert fuse for wing installation?

Catvman,

Yes, I did not include that picture. I will transport it inverted as in this picture...
Makes field assembly and transport so much easier...
Got any more questions I am glad to help...
I would like to add that the assembly could be up to 4 inches less in width and even less without the armament attached and still get wings inside. I thought wider would be more stable for the long haul...
Tom

[bcrc]

BCRC, as TI says it goes under the batteries to hold them in place, Foam-Tac them into place. As for paint, a lot of us use water based latex that you can get in sample cans from any of the big box stores or from places like Ace. A sample can runs anywhere from $3-5 so its an excellent deal. Also, I use the small tubes you can get in the crafts section in Wally World as well as Ace, for mixing small amounts of paint. If you have a sample of the color you want to use, they can scan it and match it. If you take a piece of your airplane to match, tell them what it is and that you don't want it damaged. Some employees are better than others, I usually take a spare piece if I have one. They're pretty good. In the case of my Tigercat, there was no sample color so I got them to mix it as close to what I wanted and then adjusted the color when I got home by using the small tubes.
I applied the base coat and the second coat with a very soft brush artist quality brush, blending it smooth with light strikes, then sprayed 6 coats of pearl, then three coats of Spar Varathane by hand.

Grossman56

Are you saying that I should use a water based paint in order to not have problems with the foam? Do you sand the existing grey paint before applying the latex? Can I spray latex? I'm scared that if I brush it, the brush strokes will show! I would much prefer to spray. Any options for spraying with a water based paint?

[ckankel]

2nd flight. Need to straighten the nose wheel steering and it will be perfect!

[EDFjetpilot]

Just got back from maiden +4 off my grass field. Really don't have much more to say that hasn't been said already...a great flying, well engineered plane!

I dialed down the aileron throws to better suit my scale flying style...even factory low rate is too high for me.

Never pushed it to full throttle...didn't ever need it.

Landing sequence reminds me of the FW T-45.

Good luck to all of you that have yet to maiden and another HUGE THANKS to MotionRC for bringing us the best foamie to date!

Sean

[crxmanpat]

Some pics from my third flight today.

So the guy taking the pics was standing across the runway. I did a slow pass with full flaps, and wound up flying right over his head. When I went to throttle up, I was too slow getting the flaps back up and she dipped slightly on me. The last pic is one of the plane flying over a tree. That's how close I came to hitting it! :eek:

[T-CAT]

Although I've already mentioned that the 76cm Hobbyking wing bags fit the A-10 wings nicely, I did some more testing today to simulate packing and unpacking from and to the field. A couple things to note:

- Two bags are needed, one for each wing
- The wing bags fit the wing WITH the ordnance pylons installed, but not the actual ordnance on (as expected)
- The ordnance fits in each large pocket (one wing side ordnance per bag pocket)
- The carbon wing tubes go in the nice wing spar pockets of the bags (one fits perfectly, while the one tube is longer than the bag so it sticks out a tad of the pocket, so just Velcro around it
- The wing fits in the bag properly and fully seated as long you keep it oriented correctly with the lines of the bag. The zipper fully closes and the velcro secures it.
- There is plenty of pocket space left for the screws, and other components you want to store

Below is a picture of my wings stored in the wing bags with the pylons on and the ordnance in the large pockets

[Racer686]

Here is my 4th flight on the A-10. She is a keeper!

[RCjetdude]

Are you saying that I should use a water based paint in order to not have problems with the foam? Do you sand the existing grey paint before applying the latex? Can I spray latex? I'm scared that if I brush it, the brush strokes will show! I would much prefer to spray. Any options for spraying with a water based paint?

You can spray the latex sample paints with an airbrush. I did it for the first time on my A-10 and it turned out great! I thinned it with some Createx brand reducer about 1 part reducer to 3 parts paint and ran it through a 0.3mm tip on my airbrush. Others have thinned it with Windex. I have also brushed the same and by the time it dries there are very few brush marks visible if at all.

[redandblue450]

So, my 5000mah batteries wouldn't allow the canopy to shut properly and had to trim quite a bit off the bottom, removed the magnets, etc. You have to love foam for this reason, easy customization. I had to fix my pilot figure and the way it sits to make room for the batteries, but it actually turned out to be a good thing as it allowed me to move it further back against the seat and at a little better height.

Hey T-Cat where did you get that pilot? It looks really good. Also how hard was it taking the canopy off without messing up the paint?

[T-CAT]

Hey T-Cat where did you get that pilot? It looks really good. Also how hard was it taking the canopy off without messing up the paint?

Thanks redandblue. These were from Hobbyking long ago when they sold some amazing pilot figures for a very reasonable price. Although it already came painted, it didn't look quite right and the mask was completely opposite of what it should be, so I repainted that mark and the accenting of the helmet. Unfortunately, I don't believe Hobbyking sells these pilots any longer, and would like to see a vendor carry these again (Motion....Motion.....Motion, calling to Motion, ha-ha). If they can find the molds or see if the original manufacturer is willing to reproduce these or someone else reproduce these, I'd love to see that.

Instead of taking off the canopy (I won't do that until I detail the whole cockpit), I trimmed the foam surrounding the bottom to fit my large LiPo's, kept a lip on the bottom following the contours of the original found at the beginning of the canopy foam. Once I cut out seat portion of the cockpit, I used the same foam and the wood block to secure my pilot to via the screw, and glue back in. This was a quick and easy mod to have a new pilot, and make room for my batteries, so that was a win-win.

[ColtPilot]

I just got the nerf vortes footballs and got the three whistles out and they are covered with foam. They seem to be glued in! so far it has taken me an hour. This is down right silly.
Hey MOTION. Why don't you buy a lot of a thousand from China for less than I paid for my two footballs--$50.00-- and throw them in the jet kits. So charge and extra buck.
Still can't get rid of the foam.
HELP!

Went to K-Mart and picked up six whistles for 10 bucks. They were in rubber band launched rockets. 3 rockets in each pack.

[DrDeath]

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.

Flash Jorden's was the other Hawg, the one without makeup yesterday. Between the two of us, we put 6 flights on our A-10s. He let me mooch off of his generator as I brought mine with NO GAS. And yes, he has been known to drop a gear or two on landings. But, he GREASED all of his landings yesterday. As Jorden said, fly it to the ground and don't stall it or you will kangaroo hop it.

[ColtPilot]

You can spray the latex sample paints with an airbrush. I did it for the first time on my A-10 and it turned out great! I thinned it with come Createx brand reducer about 1 part reducer to 3 parts paint and ran it through a 0.3mm tip on my airbrush. Others have thinned it with Windex. I have also brushed the same and by the time it dries there are very few brush marks visible if at all.

I've used a foam brush with latex paint with no brush marks visible at all. I don't have an air brush. The only issue is the paint going on this way is thick adding weight. Air brushing not so much. I'll borrow my brothers air brush.

[DrDeath]

Checking with Callie Graphics to see how soon I can get the graphics for the Maryland Air National Guard 104th Fighter Squadron A-10s. I know it's a boring scheme, but it's my state!!!!

[ColtPilot]

Got the 5th flight on the FMS A-10 today. The canopy flew off right at take off causing the jet to bear right hitting the ground breaking off the pitot tube and broke off the gun barrel. Had minor damage to the wing tip. Still flew it with rubber bands holding down the canopy. Had smoothest landing ever on grass yet the left main gear came out. The day was hot causing the type of glue used to become soft. I'm going to reglue all the gear with foam tack. Will have to get a new gun barrel or manufacture my own. The front landing gear door broke off also. Only hard surface for this jet from now on. :Scared: On to working on the FW A-10. Won't be ready for Jet Jam.

[RCjetdude]

Hey T-Cat where did you get that pilot? It looks really good. Also how hard was it taking the canopy off without messing up the paint?

Popping the canopy off is not that difficult. I used a metal spatula about 1-1/4" wide. Once you get it started it comes right off. I did end up lifting the paint from the dash in the process but for me it was no big deal as I was going to sheet it with styrene anyway.

[vduniec]

This is a transportation/storage holder I had made for the plane. It allows all of the wing pylons to remain in place. I pinch the pitot tube between one of the battery velcro straps and place the wing tubes in the cockpit area. I also screw the wing mounting screws back into the wings for storage. The plane is entirely self contained for easy storage and transport, sans the armament.

The cords with the carabiners, act as a carrying handle and also as a mounting point to suspend the plane from the ceiling.

[ColtPilot]

Checking with Callie Graphics to see how soon I can get the graphics for the Maryland Air National Guard 104th Fighter Squadron A-10s. I know it's a boring scheme, but it's my state!!!!

Callie is going to be busy with this one.

[dkalwishky]

Went to K-Mart and picked up six whistles for 10 bucks. They were in rubber band launched rockets. 3 rockets in each pack.

They may not be the same as what comes with the Vortex footballs, there are three different sizes in the footballs, the long and medium length ones are what are used. Could you post a few pictures of the whistles you got? I'd like to see if they are the same.