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

[Dirty Dee]

Nice job!

Surprising results on the CG aspect, but whatever works works!

She should drag the tail a little during high bank turns (in which case manual rudder input should be considered mandatory - just like it is for fullsize aircraft), but she should certainly not sag the tail in level flight - even when low speed. She shouldn't drop the nose neither for that matter.

Yea, the CG results were strange, as my maiden last fall was at 86mm and flew fine. For some reason it was dragging the tail in level flight, as very dramatically when it had tailwind. I want to test moving the CG back slightly after I get some more flight/familiarity with the jet.

[Sky Wolf]

Great seeing your videos again. Your channel was one of the reasons I committed to the hobby last year!

What a very humbling thing to read! Thanks so much, and I’m glad we’re in the band of Brothers.

[Sky Wolf]

Nice video, as always Sky Wolf! It's not just a video, it's a production! Rob

Thanks Rob!

Will Work to get more “Production” in progress.

[Elbee]

Hey Ya'all, I am prepped to begin painting colors this week on the personalized Peanut A-10 and I had a thought. I will be using Callie Graphics pressure sensitive decals and some of the OEM waterslide decals, so my thought is to paint with gloss Home Depot matched paints as I cannot find all the FS #s in locally available Hobby Master acrylics and finish with a matte clear coat. Am I on the right track here? Best, Elbee

[janmb]

A few minutes with a rotary tool will see that fixed. A largish ball shaped grinding stone works well for foam removal.
Tom

I was intending to use the dremel, but looking at how little material there is to work with, I decided against power tools on this one. Worried about poking through.

Did some manual sanding using a spare wheel instead. Didn't dare going deep enough to have free rotating wheel, but really not necessary either. At least now the retract unit sounds happy - which is the important part.

[janmb]

Yea, the CG results were strange, as my maiden last fall was at 86mm and flew fine. For some reason it was dragging the tail in level flight, as very dramatically when it had tailwind. I want to test moving the CG back slightly after I get some more flight/familiarity with the jet.

Very tempting to say there must be some kind of inaccuracy in the measurement one way or the other, but could be other factors as well I guess. Could external payload (drag) possibly affect this so much? Tempted to think not, but hard to say I guess. Clearly something going on.

[Dirty Dee]

I believe it was the balancer. I think that the vertical rods may not have been parallel, or the hinges might have had some misalignment that caused inaccurate readings when I was measuring for the 86mm. This is something I need to stay observant with whenever balancing, and it might have slipped my mind this past Saturday.

[RCAV8R]

Hey Ya'all, I am prepped to begin painting colors this week on the personalized Peanut A-10 and I had a thought. I will be using Callie Graphics pressure sensitive decals and some of the OEM waterslide decals, so my thought is to paint with gloss Home Depot matched paints as I cannot find all the FS #s in locally available Hobby Master acrylics and finish with a matte clear coat. Am I on the right track here? Best, Elbee

Here's my thoughts, but I took a different path than others. I used Home Depot paint to color match samples of the exact FS numbers (Testor's). I didn't enjoy using house paint in my airbrush but I got it done. I was covering undercoats of darker shades to give a 3-D effect...a technique I had never done before but learned about from Alpha. The net result was I was too generous on the application of the color coat, and lost a lot of the potential benefit from the shading underneath. Also, the FS shades of light and dark ghost were too similar and I wasn't happy with the differentiation. I took many photos while at the Reno Air Show (see pic) and in real life, it appeared there was a lot more difference.

So I'm now re-doing the under-shading and have custom mixed my own colors. I'll finish with a wash to give some more dirt and will airbrush grease prints. Here are some shots from my first effort and where I'm at now. Rob

[RCjetdude]

My two index fingers have not missed so far. Just sayin'... :)

[Dirty Dee]

My two index fingers have not missed so far. Just sayin'... :)

As fat as my fingers are, I still worry about putting dings into the foam from the pressure pointsLOL. Though I probably will use the ole' finger balance method to compare against the balancer

[RCjetdude]

I balance on the hard plastic wing roots... no denting.

[Dirty Dee]

boy, do I feel stupid right now, haha.

[Elbee]

Here's my thoughts, but I took a different path than others. I used Home Depot paint to color match samples of the exact FS numbers (Testor's). I didn't enjoy using house paint in my airbrush but I got it done. I was covering undercoats of darker shades to give a 3-D effect...a technique I had never done before but learned about from Alpha. The net result was I was too generous on the application of the color coat, and lost a lot of the potential benefit from the shading underneath. Also, the FS shades of light and dark ghost were too similar and I wasn't happy with the differentiation. I took many photos while at the Reno Air Show (see pic) and in real life, it appeared there was a lot more difference.

So I'm now re-doing the under-shading and have custom mixed my own colors. I'll finish with a wash to give some more dirt and will airbrush grease prints. Here are some shots from my first effort and where I'm at now. Rob

I see where you're headed. Looks good and I will learn from your work. Thanks. Best, LB

[janmb]

I believe it was the balancer. I think that the vertical rods may not have been parallel, or the hinges might have had some misalignment that caused inaccurate readings when I was measuring for the 86mm. This is something I need to stay observant with whenever balancing, and it might have slipped my mind this past Saturday.

That would indeed explain a few things :D

I really need to make a balancer similar to yours myself - far more accurate and convenient than fingers.

[RAPHAEL_CINTRA]

Good day gents,
Ater 1 1/2 months without flying, i´m finally returning this weekend.
How about the performance of the upgraded main´s please?
After 20 successfull flights (short grass rwy) i faced a bounce and need to fix my A-10...now i´m coming back once again but this time, i cutted some coils from the nose gear and i´m planning ot invert the main´s...just to prevent another possible bounce.
If the upgraded main´s work well i´ll try to purchase a set for me (if i solve thi shipping issue to my country).
Cheers and safe flights to all

[Shirty]

G'day Raphael, according to everything I've read the upgraded mains is working well for reducing bounce, though cutting the coils and doing TI's reversal seems just as good. Good luck.

[RAPHAEL_CINTRA]

G'day Raphael, according to everything I've read the upgraded mains is working well for reducing bounce, though cutting the coils and doing TI's reversal seems just as good. Good luck.

Hey there mate!

Thank´s for your attention and reply.

For the time being i´ll reverse the TI´s for the return flights to feel the difference...in the grass the TI´s make a good work to absorb the weight but in other hand if you try to land too slow + full flaps (windy days)...bad things happend.

Cheers

[ColtPilot]

Using brass 1/8" tubing for the GAU-30 barrels. They can be seen through the heat exchanging holes and the business end looks to be about right. Finished in flat black.

[rifleman_btx]

Get it like this one!

[RCAV8R]

Finished the paint today on version 2.0 of my Hog! Now I will clear coat gloss, put on a wash, and then clear coat dull. Thanks again to Alpha for the tips on how to do under coats! My objective this go around was to 1) leave more under shading showing through when I put on the color coat, and 2) have more distinction between the two shades. I learned I really hate acrylics, and mixing custom colors was a bear, but I think it's going to be what I hoped for!! (the shadows left some weird shades in this photo, but you get the idea). Rob