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

[Tom Lasko]

Thanks for the kind words Hugh. This was an ARF Plus and I put FMS 2100KV 80mm units in it and have flown it many times...it is faster than a friends 90mm A-10 at our field....so fast it isnt anywheres near scale....I only decided to paint it so it could be different than all the rest after I had it all dialed in....I did convert the gear as I fly off a asphalt runway and didn't like the "frog-hopping" that I saw with the"grass gear"on pavement....Very forgiving and enjoyable aircraft to fly ....I have many Motion RC EDF's and this one is a KEEPER.

[AndrewF]

has anyone had issues with their receivers not getting power? I've double checked all wires are hooked up correctly to the board and the receiver, but when I plug batteries in, the motors just beep and the receiver doesn't power on. I hooked up an external battery to the receiver and everything worked fine.

*update*
after further testing I think it could be a bad BEC. I tried leaving the BEC connected to the receiver, then connected a battery to the receiver, and the BEC lit up. It's almost like the connection going from the main EC5 battery connector to the BEC is the issue.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Tom Lasko the only other modifications I would recommend are 1) installing carbon fiber tubes in the empty channel on each side of the fuselage running the entire length of the battery area, 2) installing RF chokes coming off both ESC's, 3) use trailing like nose gear if on grass, if not, leave the stock nose gear and 4) balance it at more like 90-92mm instead of the recommended 78mm. This is one sweet flying EDF and flies just as well with all the ordinance, so don't send it up without firepower! I know CG is a personal issue, but for me, IMO, at 90mm or more, it still is not tail heavy (actually still closer to nose heavy or nuetral) or pitchy at all and is easier to get into a nose high attitude on landing, thereby helping to avoid a nose first touch down which always results in the dreaded bucking bronco. This is almost a "trainer" EDF, but does anything you ask it and knife edges with easy. You will definitely love this one!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Awesome looking bird.. thanks for your help. Mine is still coming along...

Hogs are Wild!! Outstanding work, I love that scheme. Nice rivet work!

[Tom Lasko]

Awesome looking bird.. thanks for your help. Mine is still coming along...

[Hugh Wiedman]

Thanks Hugh I'll try it for sure. Was wondering if you might just have the codes for the 2nd color grey that is stock on the Freewing A-10 as well?

Sorry, I did an Arctic Thunder scheme and used only one of the greys.

[Tom Lasko]

Thanks Hugh I'll try it for sure. Was wondering if you might just have the codes for the 2nd color grey that is stock on the Freewing A-10 as well?

[Hugh Wiedman]

Does anybody on this forum have the Home Depot Acrylic Paint Codes for the Greys on this A-10 ? Or remember seeing which page it might already be on so I can get some made for touch-up purposes. Thanks in advance guys. Love my A-10 !

This is what I used, can't remember if I got it myself or from someone on the forum. I used an eggshell base, in the event the numbers are not clear in the photo, they are: 22/72/17.

[Tom Lasko]

Does anybody on this forum have the Home Depot Acrylic Paint Codes for the Greys on this A-10 ? Or remember seeing which page it might already be on so I can get some made for touch-up purposes. Thanks in advance guys. Love my A-10 !

[Elbee]

Well boys, I got the PNP version ordered and it should be here on Monday. I’m thinking of painting it like this A-10, because who doesn’t love invasion stripes, right?]

AF, Well, if it means anything, I say 'absolutely'. Great choice of livery and we all know 'Invasion stripes are the new black'. Best, LB

[AndrewF]

Well boys, I got the PNP version ordered and it should be here on Monday. I’m thinking of painting it like this A-10, because who doesn’t love invasion stripes, right?

[AndrewF]

Looks like your still undecided which version to get??
If that's the case just get the ARF and order the 90mm parts, problem solved....

Haha I’m just curious. For the price, I’ll just do the pnp 😂

[DCORSAIR]

Anyone managed to clock a top speed of this on stock set up?

Looks like your still undecided which version to get??
If that's the case just get the ARF and order the 90mm parts, problem solved....

[AndrewF]

Anyone managed to clock a top speed of this on stock set up?

[rlcamden]

Something else in regards to the trailing link nose gear, after installing it, you will notice the wheel will rub the gear door when fully collapsed. It would create a braking effect during my takeoff and landings. I didn't want to trim the gear door, so I tried installing a spacer I made by cutting up a plastic ink pen to limit the travel to to prevent the door rub. I eventually went back to the oleo strut for the nose and just tweaked my CG and a lot of touch and go's until I found the sweet spot for landing this beauty. Been flying it since the first batch came out and no issues. Mainly fly from a grass field.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Thanks for all the information, that will help a ton! The more a read about this plane the more I love it 😂 what size carbon fiber tubes did you use to strengthen the forward area?

Honestly can't remember which size I used, probably a 4-5mm round or square rod. I have a lot of different sizes and whatever fit in the existing channel. Just measured it and it looks like I used a 5mm and epoxied it in. The total length is about 15 inches. Horizon Hobby has a lot of different size tubes if your looking for them.

[AndrewF]

Same as Hugh, RT 6250. I flew several times with the SMC 8000 6s Graphene packs and extended time a full minute. That was on the 80mm fans.

Sounds good. I’ll probably maiden it on my 5,000 packs, then upgrade if I need more flight time

[sam51401]

what batteries were you running on the 80mm setup? How were the flight times. I’ve got a couple 5000mah 35c packs from roaring top that would be nice to use.

Same as Hugh, RT 6250. I flew several times with the SMC 8000 6s Graphene packs and extended time a full minute. That was on the 80mm fans.

[Balsa Bob]

So the upgraded gear are not really an "upgrade" per se. The stock mains are trailing link type, but the nose is scissor type. If you buy the "upgraded" mains, then all your gear will be the scissor link type. If you buy just the "upgraded" nose gear, then all gear will be the trailing link type.

What happened was that originally the plane was to come with all trailing link type gear. But after posting pictures of the forthcoming plane, a lot of the scale nazis complained that the nose gear did not look right, so they went with a scissor link strut instead, but left the mains as trailing link. What many people found out is that the mains would give on landing, but the nose would bounce back up as it was stiffer and would get you into the dreaded bunny hop. So they then offered these "upgrades" so that you could make the gear all of one type.

Thanks Pat, that explains a lot. I think (for now) I will upgrade/replace only the nose strut ...so they are all trailing link type.

Bob

[AndrewF]

I also stuck with the stock 80mm fans (and it does everything it needs to with those) and am using 2 Roaring Top 6250's and get over 5 minutes of flight time. I changed the nose strut to the trailing link, primarily because I fly off of grass. Additionally, I would also suggest that you balance it not at the 78 mm suggested in the manual, but more like mshagg and sam51401 did at 88 to 90 mm. I balanced mine at 90mm (and it is still slightly nose heavy there) and found that it lands and takes off much better there. On landing, you can get the nose up much easier and touch on the mains first thereby avoiding the dreaded bucking bronco. If your nose hits first, or even simultaneous with the mains, especially on a hard surface, you will most likely start the bounce (immediately followed by a call to MRC for some new parts). The RT 6250 weigh in at 798 gr, and had to remove the circuit board and mount in further back on the fuselage wall to get my batteries far enough back. Stacking them as mshagg did is a great idea, but I was able to get it done with one in front of the other. Different strokes, but both work. I'm guessing you'll have no problem with the RT 5000's getting it to balance around 90mm and you should get something like 4 minutes of flight time, based upon my experience with the 6250's. I would also suggest you strengthen the forward section (the entire battery bay area, from back where the foam wall is all the way forward) with some carbon fiber tubes. A channel is already in place to put them in.

Oh, and if you do decide to get this, you will definitely not be disappointed. It's actually, IMO, one of the easiest and smoothest EDF's I've ever flown, including landing (as long as you keep the nose up). Even with the 80mm fans, it takes off of grass quickly, has plenty of vertical, will knife edge at 80% throttle, and will cruise all day at 50% throttle. I was a little nervous with the first flight, but quickly found out it has a "pucker factor" of 0, right there with the Avanti!

Thanks for all the information, that will help a ton! The more a read about this plane the more I love it 😂 what size carbon fiber tubes did you use to strengthen the forward area?