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

[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]

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

[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!

[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!

[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.

[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.

[Hugh Wiedman]

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.

Well said on all fronts! Different is almost always better, and yours looks great, excellent choice of livery and it's a really fine looking Hog! I can only imagine (with a bit of jealousy) that those FMS fans really make her sing!

[Hugh Wiedman]

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.

Could be a bad/cold solder joint, but definitely sounds like a BEC issue. If it's new, have MRC replace it. If not, to be on the safe side, I would suggest installing a new BEC.

[AndrewF]

Could be a bad/cold solder joint, but definitely sounds like a BEC issue. If it's new, have MRC replace it. If not, to be on the safe side, I would suggest installing a new BEC.

It’s brand new, but yeah I played it safe and just ordered a new BEC. They aren’t expensive compared to buying a new plane if the other one fails.

[Miroslav Cerny]

About the tenth landing. I left the original chassis. I have never experienced such a jumper. Normal landing, but a little higher speed. Hop, hop, hop and the end ....

[xviper]

About the tenth landing. I left the original chassis. I have never experienced such a jumper. Normal landing, but a little higher speed. Hop, hop, hop and the end ....

Been there, done that. Repaired and it flies again. That was fairly typical (bouncy landings) when this plane first came out, but it still happens.

[AndrewF]

Just about done with paint and decals. Hopefully will maiden this weekend. I’ve got the CG set at 90mm and struts installed on the mains to help avoid the dreaded bounce.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just about done with paint and decals. Hopefully will maiden this weekend. I’ve got the CG set at 90mm and struts installed on the mains to help avoid the dreaded bounce.

Good luck with the maiden. It's not necessarily the struts that help avoid the dreaded bounce. It's more landing with too much speed and letting the nose wheel touch first. This one needs to land with the nose up on the mains first.

[AndrewF]

Good luck with the maiden. It's not necessarily the struts that help avoid the dreaded bounce. It's more landing with too much speed and letting the nose wheel touch first. This one needs to land with the nose up on the mains first.

thanks for the tip. Luckily I’ve got a long runway where I fly so there’s not a ton of pressure to get it on the ground as fast as possible.

[DCORSAIR]

thanks for the tip. Luckily I’ve got a long runway where I fly so there’s not a ton of pressure to get it on the ground as fast as possible.

Take your time and you won't have any trouble, I flew mine all stock and after many many flights it was fine, I never had the bucking bronco thing happen to me so I don't have any experience there, just don't get it to slow and plop it down, it will come in nice and slow but when you flare add in throttle while holding the nose up, it will grease the runway nicely on the mains everytime.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Take your time and you won't have any trouble, I flew mine all stock and after many many flights it was fine, I never had the bucking bronco thing happen to me so I don't have any experience there, just don't get it to slow and plop it down, it will come in nice and slow but when you flare add in throttle while holding the nose up, it will grease the runway nicely on the mains everytime.

Well said, adding a touch of throttle with the flare is key, almost counter intuitive, but really gets the job done on virtually all jet landings. I have to force my brain to remember that everything time, but still not consistent with it. All the "top" jet pilots I speak to tell me the same thing, but like they say, "You can lead a horse to water, you just can't force him to drink".

[AndrewF]

Take your time and you won't have any trouble, I flew mine all stock and after many many flights it was fine, I never had the bucking bronco thing happen to me so I don't have any experience there, just don't get it to slow and plop it down, it will come in nice and slow but when you flare add in throttle while holding the nose up, it will grease the runway nicely on the mains everytime.

I’m definitely excited, it looks like a stable plane on approach in all the videos I’ve seen.

[AndrewF]

Well said, adding a touch of throttle with the flare is key, almost counter intuitive, but really gets the job done on virtually all jet landings. I have to force my brain to remember that everything time, but still not consistent with it. All the "top" jet pilots I speak to tell me the same thing, but like they say, "You can lead a horse to water, you just can't force him to drink".

Agreed. My first EDF was the Eflite 70mm viper and I couldn’t grease the landings until I learned to keep maybe 20% power in when flaring then slowly letting it come down.

[sam51401]

This one goes against all foam paint practices but I’m going for it. Will build out my backup A10 with this Cenntinial 100 year ING scheme and twin 90mm fan upgrade.

[AndrewF]

Had a successful maiden today! Did you guys need a lot of up elevator trim to keep the nose up?