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

[DCORSAIR]

Has anyone found a fix for this part? It has been out of stock forever, not sure if it ever was in stock. But as brittle as these are not sure I want to put another stock one back in...
Anyone know if there is another part like this from another model that may be used to replace it???
Wish I would have bought that little Smithy lathe and mill awhile back, could have made one in 5 minutes and be in the air today,:Angry: might have even been able to sell a couple...:Confused:

Is that part 5mm or what size is it?? I found this place if it's 5mm. Click on the link and type in 5mm in the search window.

http://tinkersphere.com/

[Twowingtj]

Has anyone found a fix for this part? It has been out of stock forever, not sure if it ever was in stock. But as brittle as these are not sure I want to put another stock one back in...
Anyone know if there is another part like this from another model that may be used to replace it???
Wish I would have bought that little Smithy lathe and mill awhile back, could have made one in 5 minutes and be in the air today,:Angry: might have even been able to sell a couple...:Confused:

The nose gear pin for the 80mm Avanti S is the same and no modding required.

[xviper]

Has anyone found a fix for this part? It has been out of stock forever, not sure if it ever was in stock. But as brittle as these are not sure I want to put another stock one back in...
Anyone know if there is another part like this from another model that may be used to replace it???
Wish I would have bought that little Smithy lathe and mill awhile back, could have made one in 5 minutes and be in the air today,:Angry: might have even been able to sell a couple...:Confused:

Mine also broke just like that. I scrounged through my old parts and found another pin of the same diameter but held on with a "C" clip. I cut it to length and used it. I'm not sure what that black metal is but it's very brittle compared to the chrome ones. The Spitfire ones look like the chrome variety so should be a bit less brittle. The one from the Avanti S is the same black metal and may easily break again.
This is the first plane that I've had where that pin has broken, whereas the ones with the chrome pins just bent.

[1horse59]

Has anyone found a fix for this part? It has been out of stock forever, not sure if it ever was in stock. But as brittle as these are not sure I want to put another stock one back in...
Anyone know if there is another part like this from another model that may be used to replace it???
Wish I would have bought that little Smithy lathe and mill awhile back, could have made one in 5 minutes and be in the air today,:Angry: might have even been able to sell a couple...:Confused:

FYI, RC Castle has all the parts for this plane in stock.:Cool:

[themudduck]

Flew my Hog today, at a local warbird event near Cleveland (Cleveland Radio Control Club, CRCC) - beautiful day and lots of warbirds. Lot of MRC warbirds I must say. I enjoyed seeing a friend's A6M Zero with a sound system, he had downloaded a mpeg file of a Japanese warrior screaming "Banzai" into the sound system and it was great to hear that yelling as his plane went by! This was a beautiful short-cut grass field bordered by soybeans. Anyway I had two nice flights on the A10, with very good landings. (I flew other planes as well) In my opinion, the bouncing problem some people have is partially because the model is nose heavy when set up to spec - I've moved my batteries back and I don't have any problem flaring and keeping the nose up for landing. I don't have any bouncing as long as I land with the mains first. During final approach I wait for the flaps to slow the plane down, then when it starts sinking I add throttle and a little elevator to descend with the nose slightly up. Perfect landing! On my second landing, I touched down nicely and then kept pulling back to raise the nose wheel...(I wanted to see if I could hold it up) and the plane surprised me by rising back up into ground effect, hovering about a foot off the ground, and sat there for about 100 feet until it finally touched down a second time when it stalled. It was a little hard, but that great landing gear took care of it. I've not had any problem with the nose gear (yet).

A fellow there named Mark (he'll probably read this) was really into the A10 and he also wants to get the F14. He was amazed with the quality and what you get with this plane. I told him the $599 price and he asked: "does that include the landing gear?" and I said yes and he was amazed! I told him, it comes almost completely built, all you need to do is attach the rear fuselage and attach the motor nacelles and that's it. And he said, "does it comes with servos?" and I told him sure, it comes with the fans, ESCs, servos, landing gear, and ordnance. He was floored. Mouth on the ground.

I guess its a matter of your perspective, to a certain degree. He's into RC jets and is a bit shell-shocked by the cost of big gassers and turbines. Now he knows that for a LOT less money you can get a really cool jet like the MRC A10. I know its still a lot of money, but I really like the way this plane flies.

[The Don]

Has anyone found a fix for this part? It has been out of stock forever, not sure if it ever was in stock. But as brittle as these are not sure I want to put another stock one back in...
Anyone know if there is another part like this from another model that may be used to replace it???
Wish I would have bought that little Smithy lathe and mill awhile back, could have made one in 5 minutes and be in the air today,:Angry: might have even been able to sell a couple...:Confused:

Mine broke as well from a bounced landing. I bought these and they fit right in and are not so brittle and need no modification. They might bend though since they are not so hard. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/retract-...___store=en_us

Don

[TiredIronGRB]

Mine broke as well from a bounced landing. I bought these and they fit right in and are not so brittle and need no modification. They might bend though since they are not so hard. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/retract-...___store=en_us

Don

That's a good deal, I would much rather have the non-hardened pins.

[The Don]

For those with bouncing issues I am copying my findings from my post on RCG. I have solved the issue at least for me. Today I have 5 flights no bounce on any landing included my bad landing on flight #5 that would have in the past bounced and broke the nose gear yet again.

I initially was going to try softer spring but the ones I found were too soft and would not work. So I starting looking at another solution. I put the stock springs back in and sat the plane on my patio table and pushed down on it to see when the wheels would deflect, they only really will deflect if I lowered the nose and or if some of my push down force is going forward. I then raised the nose to what I would call a landing position and pushed down again, no flex at all, gear stays locked as the nose is up and the angle of the strut is low. (see photos) So the only way to get them to flex if for wheel drag back on landing, so that may be why those on grass have less bouncing tendency as more wheel drag to deflect the wheel back, once they go back a little suddenly the "knee" will give and ride on the spring. So that lead me to think that the trailing angle is not enough. So I thought about a shim but the saw that thick spot of aluminum on the strut and decided to drill and tap a M3 thread. To do it you have to take the spring off and I held the wing assembly under my drill press and angled it so I was drilling perpendicular to the surface and then drilled my tap hole . Then threaded it with a hand tap. Then I grabbed a M3 screw and threaded it in then once I felt it bottom out, I cranked two extra full turns to deflect the leg back a little more. Now when I set the model in a nose up landing position and push done on the plane the 'knee" bends and it rides on the springs. I like this as I can adjust the flex and how soon the "knee" bends.

I flew this today and the final adjustment was 1.5 turns instead of 2 turns. I have also posted photos showing my final angle on the leg and an offset value. Now the plane lands like a dream and like all my other planes. The part that makes me mad is this small linkage angle difference made a huge difference in how it lands and absorbs the energy. The nose has been damaged from multiple nose gear failures due to bouncing. The nose gear pin has broken twice and the gear mount as well. I have plastic welded it together several times and the light has torn off and the aft gear door broken off from nosing in when the bouncing happens. On one hand I am glad I have found the solution but annoyed at the amount of damage to the airframe to find the solution. Hopefully others can use this info to keep from damaging their plane.

Don

[themudduck]

Don, that looks like a really excellent idea.

Bring your A10 out to Bill's field, we can fly them in formation!

[Pete Lane]

Ah yes. Mine awaits gear solutions. If their is a contest for late first rounders...my name is in the hat.
Thanks so much for all of the beta testing and R and D from everyone !

Reveresed gear...shocks...just land slowly with power on and hold the flair...adjustable legs...The very helpfull.landing vidio ....grease packing....spring cutting...Hmmm....never have I had to decide...lol.

Motion is making some new gear up as we speak.
Then I can add that to the list since I asked them to do it. One day....Wilber....one day we will fly !

[dahawk]

I'm not sure they are making up new gear. How do you know this ?

[T-CAT]

I'm not sure they are making up new gear. How do you know this ?

Alpha was talking about it on this thread, and from the sounds of it, should be available somewhat soon. I have to find the post to be sure, but I remember reading that a trailing link nose strut will be available, as well as scale oleo main struts. So, we can mix and match for whatever we desire.

[T-CAT]

Update, yesterday I finalized a small production run for oleo main struts and trailing link nose struts, to be sold as separate Options. Y'all can mix and match to your heart's desire. Pricing will be similar to comparably sized struts from Freewing plus a marginal percentage, even though this is a significantly smaller batch than our normal quantities. Production and overseas shipping times as they are, though, these won't arrive for 6-8 weeks, or so.

We'll also be adding different spring sets as Options. Material options are limited in these quantities, but it's at least an alternative option for those of you wanting different rebound or tension values.

More info will be published as we get final photos, pricing, ETA, but for now, you heard it here first.

This was posted about a month ago regarding the aftermarket struts.

[rlcamden]

Tried the wood brace and have discovered it puts too much stress on the foam. Had a bounce during take off, but greased the landing. Think I will remove it before it does anymore damage and wait for the trailing link nose gear.

https://youtu.be/Q6Ul55WeLwc

[Xtraflyr]

I'm trying a little experiment to get my battery temps down a bit. I found some louvered ridge vents from Lowes, for the house that are light and very cheap. They're light grey in color so they don't look too bad as is. I just cut them down with tin snips and glued it over the hole I cut out that located where the stock two little exit holes are. I'll find out tomorrow if it works and let y'all know.

[dahawk]

Thanks for the confirmation on the strut upgrade. Hope they come soon though I'm liking the Don's mod.

[ColtPilot]

Flew my A-10 at the Inaugural AMA Jet Rally today and came away with best EDF Jet plaque. Because of the x-wind, I bounced a little but saved the landing with a little more throttle. The whole flight was great.

[Sonicman]

Awesome! Congrats ColtPilot!

[F106DeltaDart]

Just finished up modding one wing of the A-10 with an oleo strut. Planning on adding doors as well once I finish up the other wing.

[RCjetdude]

Just finished up modding one wing of the A-10 with an oleo strut. Planning on adding doors as well once I finish up the other wing.

Very nice. So it looks like you shifted the whole retract inward towards the fuselage. Which oleo did you end up going with again?