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

[BreakX101]

So call it a happy accident. Flight 26 on my second A-10 with no landing issues at Jet Jam or at home. Stock landing gear other than paint. Nice easy flight, set the ship down and was rolling out fast on the pretty grass and I go and hit the only critter hole within 50 yards, head on. Violent hop right resulting in bent nose gear pin and damaged sidewinder rails. (No surprise on the AIM-9 rails. They splinter if you look at them cross-eyed but I digress.) Motion was out of stock on the gear pins so I went and sprung-ded for a whole new gear unit, thinking I might need some other parts someday. Anyway, I was day dreaming today of Bill Murray-like methods of critter carnage or at minimum, some 30mm combat mix down that rodent's front door when the UPS guy dropped off the new gear. Since my original gear had the standard play/slop in it, I had planned to try out some of the various methods y'all have come up with to combat it, even going so far as to fab a bracket even Sam "Crow" W. would like. LOL However, I am fired up to report that none of that will be necessary. Have a look at the picture, new gear is toward the top. Old gear with the gap between trunion and housing resulting in the play we all know and deal with. New gear has no gap, and is solid as a rock, right out of the box. Have cycled it several times now and it is fantastic. Either Motion's gear supplier and QA team are dialing it in, or I just got very lucky. I will assume the former since I haven't won the lottery yet. :)

Just thought I would throw it out there.


Cheers,
Dan

the F-4 front gear are full metal even the bracket. i wonder if it will work on the a-10....

[xviper]

the F-4 front gear are full metal even the bracket. i wonder if it will work on the a-10....

I'm looking at the F4 front retract and it looks like a plastic housing to me, same as the A-10.

https://www.motionrc.com/products/f-4-phantom-ii-nose-landing-gear

[rifleman_btx]

Probably a metal reinforcement plate like the flightline tigercat

[xviper]

Probably a metal reinforcement plate like the flightline tigercat

That would make sense. One could even make one and glue it on top of the mounting housing for more strengthening.

[rifleman_btx]

Absolutely

[LeftyAce]

You got good eyes, Sam. Must be that bird DNA. LOL Yes, there are definitely some hairline cracks in the old one but it won't be used again. As to the wear over time, I get that for sure and expect it. However, I noticed that the original had the gap/slop/play from the beginning, as did my first. The new replacement just seems to be buttoned up a bit better all around. I am putting the new one in using two plates (benefits of having a donor plane) and filler in the old mounting holes to shore that area up.


@LeftyAce: Welcome! Do you fly at the field near Ft. Collins then?

@DirtyDee: I am feeling ECM inadequate. Ha ha ha.

Gravity Tester, yes I belong to LoveAir RC and our field is just east of Fort Collins. It’s a great place to fly. No obstructions and a 800’x60’ paved runway.

[rifleman_btx]

Well crap ft Collins was one of my stops along my way back home from Oregon. Would have been nice to get a flight in up there. Lol

[sam51401]

Dan and anyone else with cracked flanges on the nose unit, I used a soldering iron and "plastic welded" over the cracks on both sides of each flange, top and bottom. I can say with certainty that my welded unit, with the thicker aluminum plate, did survive a bronco landing and snapped strut pin. The flanges are intact and with a replaced pin, will be reused again.

[Dirty Dee]

crxmanpat janmb either of you guys print those Mavericks yet? Curious to see if any of these exist in the wild besides my own.

[crxmanpat]

I've got one printed up already, and it came out great! Just need to paint it up. I plan to print more, as well as other ordnance. I have all of your files downloaded (thanks again!). I'm out of town for two weeks starting tomorrow, but will get back on it in July.

[Dirty Dee]

Cool. looks very slick in all silver :Smug:

[Shogun]

Hi all

Im going to maiden my A-10 tomorrow at our club field (paved). I feel good about everything so far except cg. Ive heard everything from 76mm to 90mm. I’ll be flying with Roaring Top 6s 5000mah’s and Admiral 6s 4500mah’s (new style) for now. Is there a concensus on cg or should I be ok anywhere between 80-86mm? I heard one guy on here or the other group who balances his A-10 on its tail so it sits there just barely when tipping it back with batteries installed, (like a lot of us did on the 80mm FW F-86), but thats seems wrong to me for this plane.

thanks

(nervous) Jim

[crxmanpat]

83mm is the sweet spot. ;)

[crxmanpat]

Cool. looks very slick in all silver :Smug:

Yeah, that's the PLA that came with the Prusa. Good, quality stuff. I went ahead and purchased other spools of PLA in red, yellow, white, black, and green. I've printed stuff in black, red and green, and this stuff gets a little stringy sometimes, but it's not bad.

[RCjetdude]

83mm is the sweet spot. ;)

I agree with Pat.

[Shogun]

Thanks guys--I'll go with 83mm !

Jim

[Dirty Dee]

Goodluck Jim! Watch your speed on landings, and hopefully you will avoid the bronco

[xviper]

I heard one guy on here or the other group who balances his A-10 on its tail so it sits there just barely when tipping it back with batteries installed

I'm trying to picture this in my mind. You mean to say that you somehow hold the A-10 vertical (nose pointed straight up to the sky) like a circus clown would balance a broomstick by one end? If that's what's he doing, it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard and don't mind insulting the guy. However, if that's not what he's doing, then the explanation and description needs to be more exact..

[Dirty Dee]

I think he means the plane is sitting on the gear, you push down on the tail of the plane so the nose tips up into the sky, and touch the vertical stabs to the ground

[Shogun]

I think he means the plane is sitting on the gear, you push down on the tail of the plane so the nose tips up into the sky, and touch the vertical stabs to the ground

BINGO--that's how we balanced the Freewing F-86. The battery needed to go back further than the manual indicated--most of us dropped the esc lower and slid the battery back. It was balanced when you pushed the tail just so the skid below the nozzle barely touched the ground and just needed the slightest touch to go back on its nose. Obviously the airframe is quite different from the F-86 but I mentioned it because at least one other poster says he is doing it (but no one else, lol)

Tail Sit Test from Hondajet (post 5530)

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...9#post36909946

Jim