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

[bbolz]

Love the blue camo, I almost went with pink but lost my nerve.

[xviper]

The manual calls for 78mm (3.07") from the wing root LE...Not sure on the MAC...Maybe xviper can weigh in (pun not intended, lol).

Hey! Why ya pickin' on me? :Silly: There's gotta be better A-10 fliers than me. :Sleepy:
To be truthful, I originally set my CG at the recommended 78mm although I'm not that precise about it since I balance it on my fingers and with gear up. Those who do it with gear down and who have giant fingers will have a slightly different CG. I use 3 different weights of batteries in this plane and when I switch batteries, I just estimate where they might go and quite frankly, I think my CG can vary upwards of 10mm or more in either direction and the thing just flies the same with maybe a couple clicks of trims to compensate. This plane is so heavy that a modest variation in CG isn't going to make or break it. THAT, will be dependent upon your thumbs.

[Topshot19]

Finally finished my Triple Ejector Rack design utilizing the Freewing attachment hardware. Anyone with a 3D printer can download the STL files from my cults3d profile:

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/1-10th-scale-bru-42-triple-ejector-rack

I can also 3D print these in ABS for $12 per TER. PM me if interested.

hey dirty. do you have a picture of the load out you have on your a-10?

[thisguy65]

Working on mine a little more, got the decals mostly done.

installed nerf whistles

https://youtu.be/Px9aGRnPni4

[Elbee]

Working on mine a little more, got the decals mostly done.

installed nerf whistles

TG65, Lookin' and soundin' good! :Cool: Best, LB

[Dirty Dee]

hey dirty. do you have a picture of the load out you have on your a-10?

Here you go. I copied mine to match a Gulf War loadout.

I printed myself a pair of TERs and I am moving my 6 CBUs to the TERs and hanging them on stations 4 and 8. If you want more inspiration on loadouts, here are some other real ones.

[Dirty Dee]

Also, this information might be helpful as well. Copied from a modeling forum:

The gray used on ordnance is 36375 (light ghost gray), not 36270.

Mk 20 Mod 4 Rockeye IIs (the kind used by the USAF) were gloss white with a single 3" 13538 yellow band at the front of the cylindrical section. Since only once kind of CBU was carried at a time and NO ONE makes the correct blunt-nosed SUU-30H/B (CBU-52/58/71), I suggest you stick with Rockeyes.

Mavericks had a 3" yellow band at the front of the wings and a 3" 30117 brown band between the wings and fins. AGM-65B EO (Scene Mag) Mavericks were gloss white, while AGM-65D/G IR Mavericks were 34087 olive drab, and had an 1.5" wide unpainted band beginning 7" in front of the wings. Two or three of the B/Ds could be and were loaded on the triple-rail LAU-88s during Desert Storm, but this appears to have happened infrequently. The single rail LAU-117 loading was much more common. In all cases the AGM-65s were only loaded on stations 3/9, just outboard of the landing gear. Loads with Bs on one wing and Ds on the other were normal.

DO NOT load drop tanks. They were used for ferry purposes only--never in combat.

A-10s from the US (EL, LA, MB coded) used long AN/ALQ-119 ECM pods, while Eurpoean-based (AR coded) Hogs used shallow AN/ALQ-131 pods. These pods were always carried on right outboard station 11. I'm going on memory here, but believe the safe bet would be to paint them OD.

The AIM-9s used were AIM-9Ms, not Ls, but they looked the same. The fins were unpainted titanium, the seekers were anodized (I use a mix of OD and steel--the shade varied, so you have some leeway on this color) with a 2" unpainted aluminum band at the nose. I make the seeker dome gloss gray out of the little Testors bottles. Behind the seeker was the unpainted steel fuze. From there on back the missile body and wings were 36375 gray with unpainted steel rollerons on the rear corners of the wings. There was a 3" yellow band at the rear end of the warhead and a 3" brown band about a foot behind the yellow band. The back of the motor was covered with a yellow-orange cap. A pair of AIM-9s always loaded on LAU-105 launchers canted down 12-degrees from horizontal on the 14" w x 54" l x 4.5" h ADU-597 adapter, all of which were painted the darker Euro 1 green. AIM-9s were always loaded on left outboard station 1.

Centerline station 6 was always left empty during Desert Storm.

Inboard stations 5/7 and or next-to-outboard stations 2/10 were sometimes removed during the war. If memory serves, this was unit dependent so check your references for the jet you're building.

There is another store you might want to consider and that's the SUU-25 flare dispenser that was used during night missions. For modeling purposes, use a LAU-10 rocket launcher from the Hasegawa weapons kit, but instead of the rounded fairing on the front of the rocket pod, it had a flattened cone with a rounded front end made of black plastic. At the back end were the four tube openings and the pods were either OD or white, I don't remember off the top of my head.

Given the AIM-9s on the left (1), the ECM pod on the right (2) and the empty centerline (6), here are a couple of suggestions (night configurations only flown by 354 TFS-MB and & 74 TFS-EL):

1) Stations 2/10 & 5/7 removed, a LAU-117 mounted Maverick on Stations 3/9 and two TER-mounted Rockeyes (on the bottom & outboard or inboard & outboard racks) on Stations 4/8.

2) A LAU-117 mounted Maverick on Stations 3/9, two TER-mounted Rockeyes (on the inboard & outboard racks) on Stations 4/8, and single parent-mounted Rockeyes on Stations 2/10 & 5/7.

3) A LAU-117 mounted Maverick on Stations 3/9, three TER-mounted Rockeyes on Stations 4/8, single parent-mounted SUU-25s on Stations 2/10, and Stations 5/7 empty. (night load)

4) Two LAU-88 mounted Mavericks on 3/9 (outboard and bottom rails), three TER-mounted Rockeyes on Stations 4/8, single parent-mounted SUU-25s on Stations 2/10, and Stations 5/7 empty. (night load)

[Dirty Dee]

and another

354th TFW "MB" carried AN/ALQ-131 pods. Some of the pods from 926th TFG "NO" were white with black antennas. There were also 2 or 3 A-10's with "BD" fin flash that deployed with the 926th. They didn't have enough A/C to deploy with so they "borrowed" a couple from Barksdale.

Missions flown at night and in the later stages of the war carried AGM-65D Mavericks only. The night fliers used the D model maverick as a poor mans's FLIR, since the A-10 had no IR capability.

I don't know about any of the other wings, but 23rd TFW "EL" did not remove any stations from their AC.

AIM-9's were mounted either on Station 1 or 11 with the ECM pod on the opposite side, so left or right is correct.

When LAU-88 launchers were used, no missile was mounted on the inboard rail. If a missile was mounted there it tended to burn up the wheel wells when launched.

X - - X
X X



602 TACW A-10's "NF" carried no mavericks. They carried hard bombs and rocket pods. Nail Facs were officially designated as O/A-10. The only difference was the TV monitor for the Mavericks was removed. Their mission was forward air control and SAR.

Another interesting possibility to model would 800186 from 23rd TFW. It breifly flew with NO fin flash after the verticals from a battle damaged NO A-10, 790540 were used to repair damaged it suffered. 790540 was considered a total loss so it was stripped of anything salvegable and buried.

[Aros]

On my flight today I had a healthy head wind which made me rethink my full flaps on approach of course after the fact. She really floated, floated, floated but I manged to get her down without incident thanks to the 1,800ft runway. I am loving these upgraded struts. I can tell they depress any real bounce. Even thought today's landing was good and would have been fine on the stock struts, there's this steady confidence in these upgraded oleos for the mains. At one low pass I couldn't help but smile. Wow, what a presence. Yeah, the dual 6S batts for a 3+ minute flight is not best case scenerio but boy she's worth the short flight.

[thisguy65]

On my flight today I had a healthy head wind which made me rethink my full flaps on approach of course after the fact. She really floated, floated, floated but I manged to get her down without incident thanks to the 1,800ft runway. I am loving these upgraded struts. I can tell they depress any real bounce. Even thought today's landing was good and would have been fine on the stock struts, there's this steady confidence in these upgraded oleos for the mains. At one low pass I couldn't help but smile. Wow, what a presence. Yeah, the dual 6S batts for a 3+ minute flight is not best case scenerio but boy she's worth the short flight.

Are you on upgraded main or nose gear? I like the trail link idea for grass but the small little annoying guy in my head saying "that's not how the real one is" is bugging the heck out of me haha.

[Hardway]

Great info DD! :Cool::Cool::Cool:

[Aros]

Are you on upgraded main or nose gear? I like the trail link idea for grass but the small little annoying guy in my head saying "that's not how the real one is" is bugging the heck out of me haha.

Upgraded on the mains. I hear ya, lol...Much prefer the upgrade oleos...

[thisguy65]

Yea just grass field is not rough but has some random bumps. F-16 have to let it roll out to a stop before giving rudder/steering command or it will drop the wing

[DaleP]

It wouldn't be a bad decision per se, DaleP... ... LOL

The A-10, F4 and F22 are all at the top of the next purchase list! Its just a matter of time, and deciding which one first!

[Aros]

The A-10, F4 and F22 are all at the top of the next purchase list! Its just a matter of time, and deciding which one first!

Well they are all great jets. Just depends on your tastes. All have great flight dynamics and presence. A treat to fly any of them truthfully.

[bbolz]

OK, anyone thats interested I submitted a ticket to Motion about the nose gear door staying open on extension (which I guess you guys tell me was changed intentionally). Motion is sending me a replacement board. So, either it's the old board that allows the door to close on deployment or it's just a replacement of the same thing that leaves the door open. I'll let you know when I get it installed.

Also for the Shockwave 3 system you need to have the software to extends the delay to over 6 seconds with the AR9350 RX as it takes longer than that to initialize. If I had it to do again I would probably buy the MrRC sound board instead but that's what SH Jet Dude uses and he's the A10 man!

I'm obsessed, just pushed the Motion RC button and ordered the Flightline Tigercat. I may have to start flying with my lawyer to save time.

[Grover54]

Hey Pilots, Vendor / Supplier Question - Has anyone out there done business with "General Hobby" http://www.generalhobby.com/ Experience has taught me to always check out a supplier if something they offer looks too good a deal. Also, their Customer Service number is a mobile phone so I see some red flags here. Comments?

[bbolz]

Never heard of them.

[xviper]

Hey Pilots, Vendor / Supplier Question - Has anyone out there done business with "General Hobby" http://www.generalhobby.com/ Experience has taught me to always check out a supplier if something they offer looks too good a deal. Also, their Customer Service number is a mobile phone so I see some red flags here. Comments?

It's really easy to do a Google search. I plugged in "Is generalhobby.com legit?" Give it a try. It's an eye opener.

[Phantom]

Hey Pilots, Vendor / Supplier Question - Has anyone out there done business with "General Hobby" http://www.generalhobby.com/ Experience has taught me to always check out a supplier if something they offer looks too good a deal. Also, their Customer Service number is a mobile phone so I see some red flags here. Comments?

Grover54,

Yes I have done business many times with them. That's where I purchased my Dynam B-26, as well as my LX Phantom, and about 10 other planes. They are legit, and other than sometimes not having a plane in stock and the website not reflecting it out of stock, I've had no issues with them. They carry a satisfaction guarantee which I have tested multiple times. Their prices are usually lower than others, and you don't get screwed when it comes time to pay for shipping. There shipping has always been reasonable.