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

[Jimrc73]

Hi 1horse59:

Thank you SO MUCH for posting the picture of the updated TL Nose Gear. I can't wait to get mine on order (once they come back into stock at Motion RC). Very much appreciated!!

Regards,
Jim

[downwindleg]

Completely agreed Brad.

The only motivation behind focusing on pilot habits is to see as many as possible succeed and enjoy this great model. Not at all to berate anyone.

And yes, we should obviously also do what we can to make the model as good and forgiving as possible. But at the same time it is important to have realistic expectations as to how much can be solved by just improving the model.

I'm down with that.....nicely said,
Brad

[1horse59]

Hi 1horse59:

Thank you SO MUCH for posting the picture of the updated TL Nose Gear. I can't wait to get mine on order (once they come back into stock at Motion RC). Very much appreciated!!

Regards,
Jim

You're welcome Jim,
Billy

[crxmanpat]

Some video of formation flying with 4 A-10s at the recent Arizona Electric Festival. That's me in the blue shirt at the beginning. The amazing thing is xplaneguy is flying Alpha's original prototype. Glad to see that one still going strong!

[janmb]

Some video of formation flying with 4 A-10s at the recent Arizona Electric Festival. That's me in the blue shirt at the beginning. The amazing thing is xplaneguy is flying Alpha's original prototype. Glad to see that one still going strong!

Awesome video.

Really miss flying this bird - this reminds me to hate the winter even more lol

[Justwingit]

Thanks for posting this over here Pat!!!

I have another video floating around with the FIVE SHIP flight....I have to find it among the 40+ videos I shot!

Blue Skies my friend!

[Pete Lane]

Roger...that's affirmative...Send in the Mighty A 10
to ROCK and roll.

https://youtu.be/coOKvrsmQiI

[crxmanpat]

So I pulled the pins out of my EC5 in order to de-solder the stock UBEC from it and add the CC20, and my pins were pretty black. I always plug this connector in first to get power to the plane, then plug in the other connector. I'm wondering now if I was getting intermittent power connection to the UBEC side that was causing me to lose power to the RX?

I have more EC5 male pins, so I'm going to put brand new ones on.

[MikeT]

So I pulled the pins out of my EC5 in order to de-solder the stock UBEC from it and add the CC20, and my pins were pretty black. I always plug this connector in first to get power to the plane, then plug in the other connector. I'm wondering now if I was getting intermittent power connection to the UBEC side that was causing me to lose power to the RX?

I have more EC5 male pins, so I'm going to put brand new ones on.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to watch for that.

Mike

[Jimrc73]

So I pulled the pins out of my EC5 in order to de-solder the stock UBEC from it and add the CC20, and my pins were pretty black. I always plug this connector in first to get power to the plane, then plug in the other connector. I'm wondering now if I was getting intermittent power connection to the UBEC side that was causing me to lose power to the RX?

I have more EC5 male pins, so I'm going to put brand new ones on.

Pat:
Thank you for sharing the information on the EC5 pins. My A-10 is now complete and ready for her maiden soon! Pat, I am definitely one of the rookies when it comes to electric (I have two other electrics), but coming up to speed quickly with the help of fellow modelers like you and the rest of the team on this thread - you are all awesome! On my A-10, I have obviously connected and tested my servos, flight controls, retracts, and motors - and all seem good! After reading your post, I noticed that I also connect the EC5 to the UBEC side first as a matter of practice. Based on what you wrote, do you recommend me connecting the other battery first and then connect the battery to the UBEC side? I'm genuinely trying to learn from the best! Thank you Pat.

Regards,
Jim

[janmb]

So I pulled the pins out of my EC5 in order to de-solder the stock UBEC from it and add the CC20, and my pins were pretty black. I always plug this connector in first to get power to the plane, then plug in the other connector. I'm wondering now if I was getting intermittent power connection to the UBEC side that was causing me to lose power to the RX?

I have more EC5 male pins, so I'm going to put brand new ones on.

Mine were pretty black as well - then again I have 158 flights on it, so some wear and tear is to be expected I guess.

Definitely a good call to replace them. (kinda moot point for me since I'm converting to turbine soon anyway)

[crxmanpat]

I'm not saying they are definitely the culprit here, but it's one of the best possibilities I've seen during my investigation. I'll put the new plugs on and reuse the stock UBEC and save the CC20 for my F-4 project (got the Kit+ of that and am using a JF90 with a HET 700-68-1680 motor). Will report back if I have any further issues with the new plane.

[Dirty Dee]

What size Allen wrench is needed for the grub screws holding the wheel pins in the struts? My metric and imperial sets don't seem to have a size that fit right. 5/64 and 2mm are both a tad loose.

[OV10]

What size Allen wrench is needed for the grub screws holding the wheel pins in the struts? My metric and imperial sets don't seem to have a size that fit right. 5/64 and 2mm are both a tad loose.

You have the correct size metric wrench DD. There is not a metric wrench size in between a 2mm and a 2.5mm.
The Chinese use metric fasteners and the reason your wrenches are sloppy fitting is because the grub screws are the cheapo strip out variety.
The 5/64 wrench equates to a 1.98mm. I would try a 3/32 which equates to 2.38mm and force that in.
Be sure to use the solder Iron tip trick to heat the grub screw before jamming in the hex/allen wrench.

[Hardway]

I'm not saying they are definitely the culprit here, but it's one of the best possibilities I've seen during my investigation. I'll put the new plugs on and reuse the stock UBEC and save the CC20 for my F-4 project (got the Kit+ of that and am using a JF90 with a HET 700-68-1680 motor). Will report back if I have any further issues with the new plane.

Pat, I will give you one of my CC20's, but DON"T use the old 8amp BEC in your new bird.... Hell, I will buy you a gift card to use, but going with the old one is asking for another crash... I never use the stock BEC, and I have had zero issues. All have 10amp on the 3-4S, and the 6S have the 20amp. Lost one to a brown out from the stock BEC, and from there on have used CC for every other plane. I have 87 flying now, all on Spektrum and a DX9 and no radio issues at all..... For what it is worth!!

[janmb]

Pat, I will give you one of my CC20's, but DON"T use the old 8amp BEC in your new bird.... Hell, I will buy you a gift card to use, but going with the old one is asking for another crash... I never use the stock BEC, and I have had zero issues. All have 10amp on the 3-4S, and the 6S have the 20amp. Lost one to a brown out from the stock BEC, and from there on have used CC for every other plane. I have 87 flying now, all on Spektrum and a DX9 and no radio issues at all..... For what it is worth!!

Big +1 on that one. CC20 is by far my preferred choice too.

[crxmanpat]

OK, you guys have convinced me. I'll stick the CC20 in this, and then get another one for the F-4 project.

[Dirty Dee]

Thanks for the pointer OV10! I thought I was going crazy with the loose fit, but your explanation makes sense now. this is my second FW bird with bad grub screw fitment, and the second time my allen keys have slipped and rounded it just enough to require an extractor tool. I'll try out the soldering iron trick before I use the extractor on this one.

[dkalwishky]

CC20, is that the Castle Creations 2 BEC?

http://www.castlecreations.com/en/cc-bec-2-0-010-0154-00

[crxmanpat]

Dave,

No, it's the Castle Pro 20A UBEC:

https://www.motionrc.com/collections/battery-eliminator-circuits/products/castle-creations-20a-bec-pro