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

[T-CAT]

I'm sorry hear that Dan. The good thing is that you're back in the A-10 game with a new one on the way! Your positive attitude about the loss of the A-10 is very respectable too. :Cool:

Also, it may be worth keep some of the spare parts just in case it's needed for the new A-10. I've gotten rid of some spare parts in the past, and some of it I realized could have been nice to have around when needed, especially instead of purchasing it again if you do ever need the parts.

[downwindleg]

Well, it finally got me too after a little over 20 flights...
I had a bounce last evening on third flight. Two greasers, and then on third flight, I don't know if I ran over a depression on touch down, but it bounced back up maybe a foot high and when it touched down again the nose gear snapped like it was made of plastic. The gear plate and servo is not even the slightest bit loose and nothing even slightly bent, to me that shows it was not a hard landing, or has had any hard landings. The mounting plate should come out before the metal pin snaps. We are talking plywood glued to foam, and it is stronger than steel the gear is made of???
Come on guys, it is time for a fix for this obvious flaw in this nose gear!!!
I had minimal damage to the cannon which is a 4$ part. I had hardly any forward momentum when the gear snapped, didn't even pull the landing light wires out...
I would like to know when there is going to be a fix to this problem...
I was lucky that I didn't have any serious damage, but I know there are a lot of you guys that are tearing your planes up pretty bad because of this. It is a shame that such a great flying and great looking plane is practically unflyable because of this.
I have an extra gear but am reluctant to put it in the air with it because it is made of the same cheap brittle metal...
Any info as to when a fix for this obviously defective part will be available...
Pics below. Anyone with any metallurgy knowledge please zoom in on where it snapped and tell me what you guys think...
I didn't mention that I fly off a really good grass strip. Never been on a paved runway.
Thanks
Tom

Alpha has stated that new gear are coming that are the regular oleo type struts for those that have fields that are paved or short grass. I basically damaged my plane to the point of replacement due to the dreaded bounce so I hear you. In fairness, I have to say that it's got to be hard to please everybody all the time so I am grateful that Alpha and MRC have come up with an alternate gear that should be arriving in another few weeks. You don't see that kind of service with other companies, that's for sure. Meanwhile I am flying the Spit and other cool planes 'til the gear arrive. Brad

[TiredIronGRB]

I'll let you guys in on a little secret....the new 1600mm Spitfire axles are a good replacement for the hardened pin, you just have to cut the flange down a little so it will fit in the trunion.

[dahawk]

I'm using the Roaring Top 6250/35Cs in mine. Rear battery pushed back to the control board, front battery pushed up against the rear battery. I little on the nose heavy side, but still flies great. Getting 5+ minute scale flights. You don't need high C rated batteries for the A-10, so swap the weight of a higher C battery for more mah with the RT 6250s...sold by rcjetwerx.com .

Sean

P.S. Praying for Noah.

+1 on the RT 6250's Flew with Andy today. 5 min sure does raise the bar for flight time. Not yet sure what will be the ideal setup for the A4. Thinking 5500 45C.

[dahawk]

Well, it finally got me too after a little over 20 flights...
I had a bounce last evening on third flight. Two greasers, and then on third flight, I don't know if I ran over a depression on touch down, but it bounced back up maybe a foot high and when it touched down again the nose gear snapped like it was made of plastic. The gear plate and servo is not even the slightest bit loose and nothing even slightly bent, to me that shows it was not a hard landing, or has had any hard landings. The mounting plate should come out before the metal pin snaps. We are talking plywood glued to foam, and it is stronger than steel the gear is made of???
Come on guys, it is time for a fix for this obvious flaw in this nose gear!!!
I had minimal damage to the cannon which is a 4$ part. I had hardly any forward momentum when the gear snapped, didn't even pull the landing light wires out...
I would like to know when there is going to be a fix to this problem...
I was lucky that I didn't have any serious damage, but I know there are a lot of you guys that are tearing your planes up pretty bad because of this. It is a shame that such a great flying and great looking plane is practically unflyable because of this.
I have an extra gear but am reluctant to put it in the air with it because it is made of the same cheap brittle metal...
Any info as to when a fix for this obviously defective part will be available...
Pics below. Anyone with any metallurgy knowledge please zoom in on where it snapped and tell me what you guys think...
I didn't mention that I fly off a really good grass strip. Never been on a paved runway.
Thanks
Tom

With you. But I don't see the actual pin. Mine fractured at the base plus I did pull out a wire for the light. Looking closely, it doesn't look to be 303 stainless, just mild steel with a lot of carbon. Glad it acted like a shear pin.

[rlcamden]

Unfortunately, I got the dreaded bounce of death today. Not to much damage, bent the nose gear metal mounting plate, snapped the front mounting tabs of the servo, and pulled out the landing light wires. The retract mounting tub looks intact, along with the rest of the gear strut. So, the A-10 is grounded until parts are available. Time to dust off some of my other planes and get them back in the air. Miss flying this thing already...lol.

[gravity tester]

I'm sorry hear that Dan. The good thing is that you're back in the A-10 game with a new one on the way! Your positive attitude about the loss of the A-10 is very respectable too. :Cool:

Hey Tom,
Appreciate the condolences. I would be lying out my tailpipe if I said I wasn't sad but at the end the day, all I got here are "uptown problems" when you put it all in perspective. Nothing a little lasagna and some 12 oz. arm curls can't fix. I am grateful for the opportunity to be upright and walking and goofing off with my toys in the first place and know there are plenty of others with much greater concerns on their mind. Besides, the hardest part about crashing airplanes is telling my better half about it when I get home. She is generally pretty good about my hobby but I also know that when she looks at one of my airplanes, all she sees are some new clothes or curtains in the form of $$ signs.
LOL

Dan

[porkpilot]

I wonder if the trailing link would be interchangeable?

from what they were saying about making some up it sounded like they would be.

[porkpilot]

Hey Alpha!

Just wanted to say THANK YOU again for designing such a great aircraft with Freewing!

As you know from these posts about "the bounce" and related gear issues, you can't please everyone with the final production release. I personally have no issues with this aircraft, however, I know you're working hard to resolve the aforementioned issues others have come across.

Therefore, I just wanted to THANK YOU again for your hard work and dedication to bring us these outstanding model aircraft; and your efforts to make them even better.

Please keep up the great work!

Sean

the a10 is fantastic the mains are great the nose gear is great for a paved surface. they should have not bothered listening to the make the nose gear more scale club and kept it a trailing link as way more people have to fly from grass or dirt then paved runways. this is a great model and when l kill it i'll buy another one without hesitation. i will be buying a mix of the trailing links and springs as well when they are released. the a10 is a winner.

[DCORSAIR]

These are my final production run drop tanks from the FW 90mm F-16.:) I flew with them this morning and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as far as flying, added a couple beeps of up trim and you do notice maybe a little drag from them, sorry no video, only these pics......:Cool:

[Xtraflyr]

Really adds to the already awesome look! Will you be making any for you to sell?

[T-CAT]

Those tanks look awesome guys. Amazing work :Cool:.

[EDFjetpilot]

Just flew a 7 minute, half throttle, scale flight on the RT 6250/35Cs. Batteries down at average 3.72v. Total time 8:20 taxi out to taxi back on grass.

Gotta find something to do with the extra 2 minutes.LOL

Sean

[RCjetdude]

These are my final production run drop tanks, flew with them this morning and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as far as flying, added a couple beeps of up trim and you do notice maybe a little drag from them, sorry no video, only these pics......:Cool:

Those are the 90mm F-16 tanks modified with sliding brackets instead of the magnetic mounts right?

[WAY BAD]

These are my final production run drop tanks, flew with them this morning and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary as far as flying, added a couple beeps of up trim and you do notice maybe a little drag from them, sorry no video, only these pics......:Cool:

Those tanks look amazing! Nice work.

[DCORSAIR]

Well, thank you guys for the kind words, I wasn't sure if the tanks would look right or not, or maybe just mount one down the middle, I seen someone else doing the middle drop tank so I thought I would be different. Yes, all the parts I used are from the FW 90mm F-16, I only run the sidewinders on my F-16 and I had all the parts laying around doing nothing so I thought, why not. All I did was slice off one of the plastic sliding mounts from the AGM-88 mounts, then I shaved off the top of the magnetic mounts for the drop tanks, glued the sliding mount in place of the two foam tabs that go into the F-16 wing, slice those off then just cut the foam from the top of the magnetic mount down until the plastic sliding mount fits even, glued everything with five minute epoxy, now I can slide the whole thing on or off or just leave the slider mounts on and take off the tanks, which are held on with the magnets.

[T-CAT]

Hey Tom,
Appreciate the condolences. I would be lying out my tailpipe if I said I wasn't sad but at the end the day, all I got here are "uptown problems" when you put it all in perspective. Nothing a little lasagna and some 12 oz. arm curls can't fix. I am grateful for the opportunity to be upright and walking and goofing off with my toys in the first place and know there are plenty of others with much greater concerns on their mind. Besides, the hardest part about crashing airplanes is telling my better half about it when I get home. She is generally pretty good about my hobby but I also know that when she looks at one of my airplanes, all she sees are some new clothes or curtains in the form of $$ signs.
LOL

Dan

Ha-ha, that's so very true, as it truly is such a small problem when looking at the big picture. I died laughing at the Lasagna and 12oz arm curl comment LOL. Now THAT'S funny! Can't wait to hear about you getting your new A-10 and get it up flying again. Woohoo! a10:a10

[Thomas W]

Hey, it flies. Did my 1st flight with my A-10 this afternoon. Being my 1st EDF I guess I should have given it a little more throttle on take off. Nearly ran out of room. Then on the 1st turn I lost my canopy. Not sure why, but did find it after the flight out in the corn. I think it affected its dynamics as it wanted to descend while flying. And here I was more worried about landing distance rather than take off distance LOL. Just did a simple flight to check things out. Anyway, it came home in one piece so it was a good day.

[50mph]

Had a successful Maiden on 12 Aug. I didn't mix in the needed down elevator so I didn't use flaps. Still landed without any problems, maybe next time I will use flaps. I used 2 NanoTechs 5000 6C 45-90C. A little heavier then most, worked great. I did have one problem with build, the Control Box Elevators are bad and I had to use a Y Harness. After looking at the setup it does seem like there is some un-needed stress after connecting all the connectors from the servos, everything seems to bend to the right. I disconnected the 2 2 elevator servos from the control board and everything looks good without any stress. II don't like the Control Board Setup seeing that much stress on the connectors. I was offered a $11.00 store credit for the bad board......
So a successful Maiden, I am very happy and enjoy how this fly's. Can't wait to fly more.
I setup everything by the manual, Batteries are installed, is a bit nose heavy but fly's great so I will mess with the CG.

[T-CAT]

Congrats on the maiden flights guys!