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

[RCAV8R]

For anybody that is 3-D printer illiterate (like me) Alpha has a poll going on which planes we would like to see 3-D after-market cockpits offered for. If you're interested in casting a vote, here's a shortcut:https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...l-upgrade-sets The A-10 is currently leading.:Cool:

Rob

[Porkster]

Yep :Cool: I voted for the A10. Looking forward to the release of these.

[john2kx]

That's an interesting report on your experience with the new NG. I'm curious if anyone else will have the same result of the compression being so sensitive and how far down it travels?

I made a plastic bushing using a old ink pen (8 mm OD), 13.5 mm long with a vertical slit to clip over strut vs having to deal with cir clip removal. Bench testing looked good with no expansion of slit at full compression. And, I have almost 3mm of clearance between tire and rear door.

[RCAV8R]

Nice fix John! I'll be grounded for a while longer with weather but will be interested to hear about results after flight testing. Also, whether you would recommend this, with the fix, over staying put with the existing NG. Rob

[john2kx]

Nice fix John! I'll be grounded for a while longer with weather but will be interested to hear about results after flight testing. Also, whether you would recommend this, with the fix, over staying put with the existing NG. Rob

I had one bad bounce the first day out with just three flights. After switching to TL strut, I performed 15-20 landings without any sign of bouncing. I actually tried to induce bounce by changing speed at landing and glide slope without issue. For a grass flyer, I believe the TL nose gear is a better choice over the oleo design.

On another note, I have noticed a lot of oil and debri on the shaft of TL strut, this was evident after just one flight. This tells me I’m losing some of the dampening shock fluid. If this continues over time, the dampening effect will change. I guess time will tell if this becomes a issue or not.

[Phatbob]

Putting Callie decals on mine. Anyone know where these go?
One is a square box with "ARMAMENT.
The other is:

CANOPY CONTROL, INTERCOM
AND LADDER RELEASE

[Sky Wolf]

I made a plastic bushing using a old ink pen (8 mm OD), 13.5 mm long with a vertical slit to clip over strut vs having to deal with cir clip removal. Bench testing looked good with no expansion of slit at full compression. And, I have almost 3mm of clearance between tire and rear door.

Mine just arrived this morning.

[RCAV8R]

I had one bad bounce the first day out with just three flights. After switching to TL strut, I performed 15-20 landings without any sign of bouncing. I actually tried to induce bounce by changing speed at landing and glide slope without issue. For a grass flyer, I believe the TL nose gear is a better choice over the oleo design.

On another note, I have noticed a lot of oil and debri on the shaft of TL strut, this was evident after just one flight. This tells me I’m losing some of the dampening shock fluid. If this continues over time, the dampening effect will change. I guess time will tell if this becomes a issue or not.

Were the 15-20 landings with, or without your bushing mod John? Rob

[john2kx]

Were the 15-20 landings with, or without your bushing mod John? Rob

Those 15-20 good landings were without bushing but lead to discovery of tire to rear gear door contact. I’m hoping to have same rebound performance with bushing installed but won’t know until I fly again.

John

[Phatbob]

First attempt at panel lines for me. What do ya think?:Thinking:

[RCAV8R]

Beautiful! You even weathered the wheels! What was your technique? Rob

[RCjetdude]

First attempt at panel lines for me. What do ya think?:Thinking:

Very nicely done sir. :Cool:

[petefoss]

What's the part number for the nose gear retract unit only? I need a new one to either go with an existing strut or the new trailing link version.

Thanks,
Pete

[MikeT]

First attempt at panel lines for me. What do ya think?:Thinking:

Nice.

Mike

[Sky Wolf]

I made a plastic bushing using a old ink pen (8 mm OD), 13.5 mm long with a vertical slit to clip over strut vs having to deal with cir clip removal. Bench testing looked good with no expansion of slit at full compression. And, I have almost 3mm of clearance between tire and rear door.

Hey there John, thanks again for sharing your experience thus far with the new nose gear.

I received my gear yesterday, and am quite pleased at the look of them. I played around with the Nose Gear by pressing down on it to see what kind of tension it had. I must say that it is quite impressive and really hard to compress down as far as yours seems to be going. I'm wondering too if yours was defective somehow.

You mentioned seeing oil on the strut early on, which is not uncommon, (and quite annoying; my F-86 has that issue) but quite possible that it may be not as tight as it should be. As soon as I get the chance, whenever that is, I'll install mine to see how it performs. If yours is noticeably compressing that far down even on taxiing there's definitely something wrong.

Has anyone else experienced the same issue?

I'll report what I find after testing it out.

Happy Flying!

[Phatbob]

Beautiful! You even weathered the wheels! What was your technique? Rob

Thanks Rob!
I used Latex thinned with Windex for the camo using a single action airbrush. After a few days of curing, I shot a Black Acrylic wash which I thinned further with acrylic thinner for the shading. I did the taping method where you lay the tape next to the panel line and shoot on the tape. This lets the over spray do the shading. I use 3M low tack tape, de-tacking further by sticking it on my shirt or pants a few times. I then applied the decals and shot the entire plane with Kyrlon flat clear. When I thought I was finished, the wheels were way to white. I gave them a good spin and shot them with the same wash.

I have the upgrade TL nose gear and the upgraded mains will be here tomorrow. They're all getting a flat white paint job before install.

[Sky Wolf]

First attempt at panel lines for me. What do ya think?:Thinking:

Wow, nice job! You have patience,determination, and drive my friend!

[john2kx]

Hey there John, thanks again for sharing your experience thus far with the new nose gear.

I received my gear yesterday, and am quite pleased at the look of them. I played around with the Nose Gear by pressing down on it to see what kind of tension it had. I must say that it is quite impressive and really hard to compress down as far as yours seems to be going. I'm wondering too if yours was defective somehow.

You mentioned seeing oil on the strut early on, which is not uncommon, (and quite annoying; my F-86 has that issue) but quite possible that it may be not as tight as it should be. As soon as I get the chance, whenever that is, I'll install mine to see how it performs. If yours is noticeably compressing that far down even on taxiing there's definitely something wrong.

Has anyone else experienced the same issue?

I'll report what I find after testing it out.

Happy Flying!

I tested the amount of force of the new TL gear just like you did initially and was also surprised at the amount of force required to fully compress. Even now, after 15-20 landings, the amount of force required feels the same. On the pic I attached with gear/bushing installed in aircraft, it was all I could do to fully compress gear with one hand while holding camera with my other.

I may not have explained well enough when I experienced tire to door contact. 90% of those times it was during my take off roll. With the original oleo strut, I made it a habit to apply power from idle to full throttle in about 3-4 seconds. Using this same method of spoolup with the TL strut is where I experienced the nose gear compressing and contacting tire. Increasing the spool up time by a few more seconds seemed to eliminate the problem. Keep in mind I fly from grass, cut fairly short but with a mix of hard dirt. Not sure if full up elevator was helping during spool up but I added that touch as well to help save the rear door.

My description of experiencing tire contact while taxiing should have read “while taxiing back from a landing”. Just guessing, I estimate that to be 5 mph. I had no issue leaving or approaching pit area, which is at a slower than 5 mph.

Woke up this morning to rain with a 60% chance of precipitation the remainder of the day. If I find a window of opportunity, I’ll head to the field and give the bushing mod a try.

If I still have issues, I’ll order another nose strut and give that a try.

John

[janmb]

Does anybody have suggestions for a suitable replacement nose gear retract that fits?

The FW A-10 retract has, as most here will know by now, massive play, both when down and retracted. I know some have sorted the issue when wheels down by adjusting the metal reinforcement plate to deny aft travel. Unfortunately, I need to solve the other end of the issue: Wheel is resting on the door when retracted - with the potential for burning a door servo - which in turn has the potential of bringing down the plane.

Has anyone tried any replacements? The retracts I have in most other models seem nice and tight. No idea why the one in the A-10 is so sloppy.

Video example: https://www.facebook.com/FreewingA10...6823494475359/

[Twowingtj]

First attempt at panel lines for me. What do ya think?:Thinking:

Excellent work! I think that's the first I've seen with the Syracuse livery. Looking forward to seeing it in June.