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

[Elbee]

Thanks Pat!

Got a GBU-12 mostly finished too. Last one on the list will be a GBU-38 and some miscellaneous fuzes for the MK82s before I start the test prints prior to uploading to thingiverse.

In this world of mass confusion, you are the rock, brother. Don't let anyone tell you differently. You and your work are the beginnings of legend. Just keep on keepin' on. Love ya, man. Best, LB

[dahawk]

My DD printed nozzles are on the way. Saw them at Jet Jam and had to have. Can’t wait. Any trick to install?

[Elbee]

My DD printed nozzles are on the way. Saw them at Jet Jam and had to have. Can't wait. Any trick to install?

dahawk, No, just take out the screws holding the nacelle halves together, gently though firmly pull upward on the OEM nozzle and wala it's out. The DD nozzle is a 'drop-in' replacement keyed just like the OEM nozzles. I didn't even glue the DD's to the nacelles as the fit is perfect. Best, LB

[Dirty Dee]

Thanks for the kind words Steve!

By the way, if there are any specific ordinance anyone would like to see made and shared just post it and I'll note it.

For reference, on my list of ordinance to still make is:
MK84, GBU-10, GBU-31
LAU-88, LAU-105 (DRA)
BRU-42 (TER)
LAU-131
AN/AAQ-28(V) LITENING Pod
AN/ALQ-131
CBU-87, CBU-103

[RCAV8R]

Okay guys...I just got back from the field and had a revelation of sorts. I don't want to beat the dead horse about landings, but for posterity, I'm ready to share my thoughts.

First, by way of disclaimer, I have been flying RC for 6 years, I only have one other EDF (Stinger 90) that I have had for 3 years, and I fly off asphalt. After discussions here, I had moved my Admiral 5000's aft as far as possible and the CG (as best I could measure) was on par with the 80ish mm that most were using. I just completed flights number 23-26 on the A-10.

Up til now, I was struggling with the Hog. I loved painting it and tricking it out, but something just felt "off" when I was flying (like taking a shower with my socks on). I didn't trust myself, and I was studying video and asking a ton of questions in an attempt to get the right combination. Landings were anything but instinctive and I went through two NG retracts and a main strut due to hard, not just bounced, landings. Finally, after talking with Pilot Ryan, and another pilot in my club, I decided to push my batteries forward. My friend in the club noticed how light the plane was on the NG while taxiing, and Ryan said he just liked the weight forward, without knowing exactly what the CG was.

I cannot believe what a difference it made!!!! The landings were totally instinctive...the elevator control felt more "positive" and the amount of throttle needed was totally predictable. I never had that sinking sensation that at any moment it was going to stall and drop like a rock. I did about 8 landings, and on one where I was bleeding off some last minute speed right before touching, the nose came down a skosh early and just planted onto the runway, decisively, but without a hint of bounce. That would not have been the case before. And, in flight, the plane didn't require any more trim on the elevator, and again, felt solid, predictable, and just more like what I'm used to. In every aspect the handling was better. I'm so stoked! I was second-guessing everything about flying this plane and now I am back in the saddle! IMHO, Rob

[dahawk]

Congrats Rob! She is such a great plane.

[sam51401]

I have to agree with Rob's finding above in that i have had people ask me where my cg is but i really dont know the mm measurement either. I use RT 6250 and place them inline as the stock config suggest. I did move them back somewhat by removing the mix board and it flies great. I still need to meet up with a club member to iron his out and i heard that both batteries are stuffed in the back so i can imagine why he is still having issues.
For the record on mine also, i have experimented with using crow config on approach and it does shorten my landing approaches and rollout greatly. The plane becomes locked in on pitch attitude and settles in to a nice glide path. I work the throttle more in this config and can power out of a approach with no pitching into a steady go around while i retract the aileron crow.
It is setup on a slider and i have flaps set up on a 3P flight mode switch. My "spoilers" are armed in all modes while I still experiment with this option.
I worked on this option while i flew at the Jet Jam and i believe Cpt Mike did get video of one of my passes and landing.
Sam

[crxmanpat]

Got DD's scale nozzles painted and installed this morning. Much better!

[Hardway]

Thanks for the kind words Steve!

By the way, if there are any specific ordinance anyone would like to see made and shared just post it and I'll note it.

For reference, on my list of ordinance to still make is:
MK84, GBU-10, GBU-31
LAU-88, LAU-105 (DRA)
BRU-42 (TER)
LAU-131
AN/AAQ-28(V) LITENING Pod
AN/ALQ-131
CBU-87, CBU-103

Love it! Thanks for all the hard work! I am getting a printer ASAP! :Cool:

[Shogun]

I have finished the build on my A-10--All done except the decals and some panel lines/weathering I want to do. I switched out the front oleo strut with the TL version. We have a paved field but its got some rough patches, so not totally smooth. It was pretty easy to switch out the nose gear. No need to pull out the retract/disconnect the gear steering servo. Just extend the gear, un- screw the nose gear light, removed the light assembly. and then un screwed the two grub screws at the base of the strut, lifted out the oleo strut and replaced it with the TL strut. Replaced the light assembly. 5 minutes, if that.

Jim

[janmb]

Thanks for the kind words Steve!

By the way, if there are any specific ordinance anyone would like to see made and shared just post it and I'll note it.

For reference, on my list of ordinance to still make is:
MK84, GBU-10, GBU-31
LAU-88, LAU-105 (DRA)
BRU-42 (TER)
LAU-131
AN/AAQ-28(V) LITENING Pod
AN/ALQ-131
CBU-87, CBU-103

Seems like a pretty sweet and complete list to me :D

[Keith Stalder]

I just purchased the new trailing link replacement landing gear for my Freewing 80mm A-10 and am looking for a video that walks through replacing the stock gear with new TL gear. I saw one some time ago but can't locate it now. Many thanks in advance for a link to the video or pointing me to a web site that has it.

[downwindleg]

Hey guys. I have finally got limited success with getting my A-10 to initialize. I bypassed the board and used a y connector to plug the throttle wires directly into the receiver. Rebound it and the motors stopped the slow beep and all the controls answer. Woohoo! However, now instead of the motors answering the throttle, they are making allot of chirps in some sort of pattern. Anybody know what that means? Also, great to hear your success Rob.
Brad

[Hardway]

Sounds like they entered programming mode... Lower your trim on the TX all the way down. Then go in the sub trim setting and set the throttle subtrim to its extreme ranges... On a DX-9 that is a value of 150. You can verify that in the monitor screen. Then also check that the throttle is not set to REV, but NORmal. Then bind it again and see how that goes.... If it works, then you have to re calibrate the ESC's... Let me know if that works!

[Hardway]

It sounds like the throttle is reversed on not calibrated correctly, since the ESC will only enter programming mode when the throttle is set to high...… Just trying to help with random thoughts!!! :Cool:So if the channel is reversed for some reason, it sees high throttle and does its two beeps, then goes into programming with the chirps...

[RCAV8R]

You guys know better than me, but it would help Brad to program the throttle range at this point? Then maybe he wouldn't go into the program mode directly? Rob

[Hardway]

After checking the above, mainly throttle direction, programming the ESC throttle range would be prudent. I do each one separately. You can use the BEC, but I use a RX battery and plug that into the receiver directly for calibrating dual ESC's...

[Hardway]

My F-14 kicked my butt until I isolated everything and calibrated one ESC at a time without using the BEC. Just a receiver pack for power. It would just beep from both ESC/motors... I have been doing this for 35 years, and that almost had me starting to switch components on the Tomcat... WHY??? I don't have a clue. But once it was calibrated, it worked fine since then..... Magic I guess.. :Confused:

[xviper]

Throttle calibration won't work if the throttle channel is reversed from what it's supposed to be. When everything is right, what happens when you do the calibration? You start with the throttle at max, connect battery, then after you get the first tones, you move the stick to the bottom. Then you get the beeps to indicate the number of cells of your battery. Now the ESC knows what is lowest throttle and what is highest throttle.
If the throttle is reversed, when you move the stick to the top, the ESC thinks it's at the low point and will try to initialize. If your max throttle end point is not sufficiently low, the ESCs won't initialize. (When throttle is reversed, high and low throttle don't give the same numbers as when it's normal.) Nothing will happen. Take a look at your monitor to see what the throttle does as you move it through the range. That will tell you if things are normal or reversed or if the low point is low enough. If you, like quite a few people, don't move the throttle trim tab as low as it will go (on Spektrum) and you have the correct throttle direction, you will see the monitor tell you that at low throttle, the number starts at -99 (or -100). If you move the trim as low as it will go (as it should be for electric motors), it will read something like -129 (or -130). Incorporating "throttle cut" just ensures it goes to -130. If your throttle is reversed, the monitor will show you +128 with the stick at the bottom and when you move the stick to the top (what you think is full throttle) it actually will show -100. The ESC thinks you are doing something really weird.
Binding can be accomplished with no throttle leads plugged in. The Rx only needs to be powered with the bind plug in. Once bound, the next thing you do is the throttle calibration, but this is assuming that along the way you didn't mess around and somehow reverse the throttle. However, if the throttle is reversed and you try to do the calibration, you are in fact, going into programming mode. Once in programming mode, it is very easy to set something that you didn't want to set. Then you're screwed for the rest of the time until you realize what's happened. At that time, it would be best to just go into the ESCs and set everything back to factory default and start over again.
Sometimes, it only seems like magic but there is always a rhyme and reason to it. The ESCs only sees numbers and they can only do what numbers you feed them. Every switch and every stick position has a number associated with them. All the electronics (the Rx, ESCs, servos) uses these numbers to execute your command. The monitor shows you all these numbers.

[Shogun]

I just purchased the new trailing link replacement landing gear for my Freewing 80mm A-10 and am looking for a video that walks through replacing the stock gear with new TL gear. I saw one some time ago but can't locate it now. Many thanks in advance for a link to the video or pointing me to a web site that has it.

i just did the swap this morning. Very easy. I think the only video out there is for changing the struts on the mains.
The steps I did

1. Extend the gear (you need to have the model leave front gear door open—). and then unplug batteries/turn off tx
2. Flip the model on its back—
3. Un screw the two screws holding the nose light assembly to the strut and the spring attached to the rear nose door, ththen unsnap the light assembly from the strut.
4. Remove the two grub screws at the base of the strut (one faces forward, one faces the tail). The forward one you can reach with a straight hex driver and the rear you will need a 90 degree one to reach.
5. Slip the old nose strut off
6. Slip the new TL strut on (be sure it is facing the right way so wheel “collapses” towards the tail when strut is compressed)
7. Replace the two grub screws (use blue loctite) and tighten.
8. Re attach (snap on) nose light mount to the new strut and re-secure with the two screws (also reattach rear nose door spring to the starboard side screw)

you are done!

if you need more room to maneuver with “fat fingers” you can remove the front nose gear cover, or just have it left open after the gear drops.

Hope this helps

Jim