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

[RCAV8R]

Hey Guys...I'm just starting to assemble and already I'm stumped...there are two strobe leads, one from the tail and one from the top...but I only see one plug on the board. Is there supposed to be a "Y" connector or am I missing something (wouldn't be the first time)? Thanks! for the help! Rob

[T-CAT]

Hey Guys...I'm just starting to assemble and already I'm stumped...there are two strobe leads, one from the tail and one from the top...but I only see one plug on the board. Is there supposed to be a "Y" connector or am I missing something (wouldn't be the first time)? Thanks! for the help! Rob

Hi Rob,

The main control board has three servo lead slots for the lights. The top two slots are for the strobes, one for the top middle fuselage strobe and the other for the tail strobe. The third slot down just below those two slots is the nose gear landing light. The LED slots on the board are the ones that have two prongs instead of three. All the rest of the lights (NAV on the wings) are already wired appropriately to activate on the wing via one piece wing harness.

[T-CAT]

Nice job on the weathering Pat :Cool:.

[RCAV8R]

Hi Rob,

The main control board has three servo lead slots for the lights. The top two slots are for the strobes, one for the top middle fuselage strobe and the other for the tail strobe. The third slot down just below those two slots is the nose gear landing light. The LED slots on the board are the ones that have two prongs instead of three. All the rest of the lights (NAV on the wings) are already wired appropriately to activate on the wing via one piece wing harness.

Thanks T-Cat! My pins at the top of the board were bent back so it looked some kind of pace holder or something. When you confirmed what it was supposed to be I looked closer, went in with needle nose and bend the pins up. Hopefully everything will fire up okay! Much Appreciated!!Rob

[T-CAT]

Not a problem at all! Those pins bend incredibly easily, and I would have loved to see each slot be spaced a bit further apart, but it is what it is. Ha-ha. Thankfully those pins are pretty resilient. If a pin is bent slightly on one of the LED slots, I wouldn't mind that at all and chances are it'll work. However, if it was a pin(s) that was bent on one of the slots for one of the main control surfaces, I would forgo using it and just use a Y-harness directly to the receiver slot (such as both rudders, or both elevator servos Y'd, etc.). A person could also forgo the board, as well as Y-harness for some surfaces and use a separate channel for each servo and mix as necessary in the radio, but that would start to take up quite a bit of channels. Ha-ha

[RCAV8R]

Good to know..and you're right...in retrospect, it could have been much more critical! Onward... Rob

[ColtPilot]

E-Jets International all 3 A-10's flew great together. Great time, good folks and food.

[Pogo]

I haven't owned an airplane with tricycle landing gear in years, maybe 20 or so. Today, after I got the "Flying Razorback" ready to fly, batteries installed and hatch mounted, I set it on the ground. Damn thing set there on its main gear and twin tails, had to push down on the nose to get it on all 3's. I'm flying an all stock setup, Admiral 5000's mounted on their respective trays. Maybe it is normal to have a trike sitting on the mains and tail at rest if you put it there, just seemed strange to me.

Kurtzz

No, that's a long way from normal, it's extremely tail heavy for some reason. Have you checked the CG?
Tom

[MikeT]

I cannot say enough good stuff about this A-10. I can't remember when I've enjoyed flying a air-frame so much. If your on the fence on it just do it. I'm getting 5 minutes with the HRB 6000 50C batteries. She doesn't mind the extra weight one bit. I'm hooked.

Mike

[themudduck]

E-Jets International all 3 A-10's flew great together. Great time, good folks and food.

Great flying with you guys!

[TiredIronGRB]

Should have! Tried another option. Live and learn I suppose!

What option did you try?

[ParaCanary]

I haven't owned an airplane with tricycle landing gear in years, maybe 20 or so. Today, after I got the "Flying Razorback" ready to fly, batteries installed and hatch mounted, I set it on the ground. Damn thing set there on its main gear and twin tails, had to push down on the nose to get it on all 3's. I'm flying an all stock setup, Admiral 5000's mounted on their respective trays. Maybe it is normal to have a trike sitting on the mains and tail at rest if you put it there, just seemed strange to me.

Kurtzz

Mine is the same way. put the tail on the ground and it says there. Give a little power and it pops back up. Mine flies great that way. Has good elevator control at 35 mph (gps). Even lost the canopy once and still flew good. Very little down pressure for inverted. Now do the "The don" modification on rcgroups for the trailing links and it will not do it any more because the main wheels are moved slightly back.

[bcrc]

REPLACEMENT NOSE GEAR PIN:
For those of you who have a broken nose gear pin and don't want to wait to get one from Castle in Hong Kong, I found this at a local hobby shop that specializes in RC cars. You just cut one in half at the little grove in the middle. One half is ready to go, the other half would require you to cut off some the hex area. The hex area acts as the cap to keep it from falling through the trunnion. Cut it to length and file your flats and you are ready to go. And now you can break 3 more - or give the others to your friends with broken nose gear pins!

[Pogo]

Good one, and I really like your rig for making the flats! Sure beats filing by hand... I flew today with a pin made from a 5x60 mm, grade 12.9 bolt from a local industrial supply store. It held up well on our grass field.
Tom

[Pogo]

Finally got some video (7th flight) and took photos of the nearly finished paint, weathering and (sigh) rivets- from the nacelles back hasn't been done yet. I think on the landing I forgot to get off the elevator and the bumpy field didn't help but the modified gear seemed to cope with it ok.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyDAny37jG4&feature=youtu.be

Tom

[Pete Lane]

Mine is the same way. put the tail on the ground and it says there. Give a little power and it pops back up. Mine flies great that way. Has good elevator control at 35 mph (gps). Even lost the canopy once and still flew good. Very little down pressure for inverted. Now do the "The don" modification on rcgroups for the trailing links and it will not do it any more because the main wheels are moved slightly back.

Most viper jets have the mains on the spar and do the same thing.

Pete

[TiredIronGRB]

I see many getting discouraged about this plane over the bouncing and nose wheel issues caused by it but if you do these simple fixes you can fly her on grass, pavement or textile without bouncing and you will have a solid, straight nose wheel.

I know I have some naysayers but I have over 30 bounce free flights with this setup and several others are having success with this setup as well.

1: Reverse the freaking struts, to do this you need to take the plastic covers off of the main gear retracts (throw them in the trash so you can tighten the struts when they get loose), then remove the strut from the retract and move it to the other side with the wheel facing the wingtip. You may need to clearance the strut and plate like the pictures below, some haven't had to do it but some have.

2: Make a new retract plate using the old one as a template but make the slot where the trunion rotates less shallow (see picture below) so it will stop the trunion travel and keep the strut from bending back. Put the original plate back on top of the new one for extra support.

3: Cut about 3/8" off the nose wheel strut spring (sorry no picture).

4: To give the retract a little more strength you can drill a hole through the battery tray and run a zip tie around the long end of the retract (again, see picture below).

*Bonus* If you have already broken the nose gear strut pin and are having trouble getting a new one the Freewing 1600mm Spitfire axles work great if you cut down the flange a little and cut a second flat on them.

This will be the last I post about this fix, use it or not but if you want a really great taking off, flying and landing A-10 this will do it.

[T-CAT]

Finally got some video (7th flight) and took photos of the nearly finished paint, weathering and (sigh) rivets- from the nacelles back hasn't been done yet. I think on the landing I forgot to get off the elevator and the bumpy field didn't help but the modified gear seemed to cope with it ok.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyDAny37jG4&feature=youtu.be

Tom

Tom, awesome flight and incredible looking A-10!

[Hardway]

2: Make a new retract plate using the old one as a template but make the slot where the trunion rotates less shallow (see picture below) so it will stop the trunion travel and keep the strut from bending back. Put the original plate back on top of the new one for extra support.





Is this new plate for the nose gear retract? The original is only 12-13mm, so I am assuming this is for the nose!! Thanks in advance!!!

[TiredIronGRB]

2: Make a new retract plate using the old one as a template but make the slot where the trunion rotates less shallow (see picture below) so it will stop the trunion travel and keep the strut from bending back. Put the original plate back on top of the new one for extra support.





Is this new plate for the nose gear retract? The original is only 12-13mm, so I am assuming this is for the nose!! Thanks in advance!!!

Yes, this is for the nose.