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

[Helmsman52]

Hi I'm finally getting around to building my A-10 and wondering if anyone is using the Heavy Duty Turnigy 5000 60c batteries.
Was there any foam removal from the underside of the canopy or did anyone stack the batteries in the aft for a 89-90 cg?
Thanks,
Paul

[downwindleg]

A post-Reno Air Races update. I met Brad (Downwingleg) who is also an amazing photographer. A-10's were on full display along with their pilots. They say the Hog is really easy to fly, and their comfort level is at 1,000 ft.! When asked about sighting the GAU-80, they said that it calculates wind, terrain, air speed, ground speed, you name it, and when the cross hairs are on the target, you will not miss! What an amazing plane! Rob

Hey Rob, nice pics, I was noticing in the shot of the two of us you can, see right behind and above us, where the pave penny pod was removed and the four bolt caps that were put over the attachment points. Also, your progress shots are awesome. Soon........veeeeeeery.....soon. Brad

[Xtraflyr]

The A10 bounce seems common on all A10s! Watch the landing!!

https://youtu.be/2h1T_tXEfK4

[Xtraflyr]

Hi I'm finally getting around to building my A-10 and wondering if anyone is using the Heavy Duty Turnigy 5000 60c batteries.
Was there any foam removal from the underside of the canopy or did anyone stack the batteries in the aft for a 89-90 cg?
Thanks,
Paul

I have a 6s 4000 60c turnigy hd. Just test fitting,you’ll definitely have to trim under the canopy in the front position for your 5000 60C.

[Xtraflyr]

Well eff me!! My one main retract burnt up.!;-(

[bill34207]

The A10 bounce seems common on all A10s! Watch the landing!!
https://youtu.be/2h1T_tXEfK4

As hot as he was coming in, it's not much wonder.

[T-CAT]

That was a heck of a fast approach speed.

[Shirty]

Hi I'm finally getting around to building my A-10 and wondering if anyone is using the Heavy Duty Turnigy 5000 60c batteries.
Was there any foam removal from the underside of the canopy or did anyone stack the batteries in the aft for a 89-90 cg?
Thanks,
Paul

See the rcg post. ;)

[downwindleg]

The A10 bounce seems common on all A10s! Watch the landing!!
https://youtu.be/2h1T_tXEfK4

I think your jumping to a conclusion based on one landing ............I've seen hundreds of landings by many brands of A-10s and none of them bounce like what we have going on and it certainly didn't destroy the plane like mine.....just saying, and I'm not looking for an arguement....just an observation. Brad

[themudduck]

I think your jumping to a conclusion based on one landing ............I've seen hundreds of landings by many brands of A-10s and none of them bounce like what we have going on and it certainly didn't destroy the plane like mine.....just saying, and I'm not looking for an arguement....just an observation. Brad

And I'll repeat what I've posted before (and some others have commented as well) - I have not had the dreaded "bunny hop" problem and my feeling is that its because I slow the model down with full flaps and land with the nose up in the air. Downwindleg had a good point a few posts back.

The only time I had a bounce was when the model was nose-heavy (balanced per the manual) and I couldn't flare. Pushing the batteries back fixed it. I fly from grass and pavement.
(I have not done the TI mod. to the main gear. I'm glad that the TI mod has solved the problem for others!)

[RCAV8R]

What CG are you at Mudduck? Rob

[RCAV8R]

On another note...a couple of questions: How did the application of the sticker over the front of the canopy go for everybody? I dread a big bubble! Callie recommends putting water down first, so as to push out air bubbles and it works. But I don't know if these have enough adhesive to do that or not.

And for those who put a clear coat on after decals, how did the big stickers on the tips of the vertical stab do? Did you mask them off? Did they take the clear coat okay?

Thanks for the advice! Rob

[crxmanpat]

Rob,

The front windscreen decal is just the orange outline, the decal itself does not cover the entire windscreen, so there are no worries about air bubbles.

For the rest of the decals, I used a combination of the water slide decals provided with the kit, and the special vinyl decals I got from Callie for the DM markings, which are similar to the squadron decals included in the kit. Everything took the clear coat very well, and the Testors Dullcote I used really knocked the shine off the decals.

[themudduck]

What CG are you at Mudduck? Rob

You know, actually I have not measured it. I use my fingers to balance my planes and this bird is too heavy for me to lift with two fingers! :)

I have the rear (bottom) battery all the way back against the board. The front battery is back to the rear edge of the top plywood tray.
I have used Admiral 5000s and also the RT 6250's (from www.rcjetwerx.com) in the same position.
I'm using full flaps for landing, with no elevator trim.

By the way I increased the amount of "down flaps' by trimming the back of the nacelle (the flaps were hitting the nacelle). So I'm floating in at low speed.... at about 1/4 throttle or so, everything hanging out, nose in the air.

I had the batteries in the center of the trays for the first few flights and I did have very hard time getting the nose up for landing... and I did experienced a bounce or two but fortunately didn't go into the pogo-stick situation. (I am glad it hasn't happened to me!) Since I moved the batteries back, as long as I land with the nose up it does not bounce.

I do wonder about what Downwindleg said - maybe some of these birds are different, who knows.

[RCAV8R]

Thanks Guys!

[Itgordon00]

If anyone doubted how tough this A-10 was, have a look at this.
My A-10 was brutally attacked by an enemy tree during a very low altitude sortie.....

[T-CAT]

If anyone doubted how tough this A-10 was, have a look at this.
My A-10 was brutally attacked by an enemy tree during a very low altitude sortie.....

Wow! Now that’s amazing. Great job on the rebuild too!

[seaviper]

Amazing! Nice job getting her back safely and repaired. Well done!

[gravityworks]

You know, actually I have not measured it. I use my fingers to balance my planes and this bird is too heavy for me to lift with two fingers! :)

I have the rear (bottom) battery all the way back against the board. The front battery is back to the rear edge of the top plywood tray.
I have used Admiral 5000s and also the RT 6250's (from www.rcjetwerx.com) in the same position.
I'm using full flaps for landing, with no elevator trim.

By the way I increased the amount of "down flaps' by trimming the back of the nacelle (the flaps were hitting the nacelle). So I'm floating in at low speed.... at about 1/4 throttle or so, everything hanging out, nose in the air.

I had the batteries in the center of the trays for the first few flights and I did have very hard time getting the nose up for landing... and I did experienced a bounce or two but fortunately didn't go into the pogo-stick situation. (I am glad it hasn't happened to me!) Since I moved the batteries back, as long as I land with the nose up it does not bounce.

I do wonder about what Downwindleg said - maybe some of these birds are different, who knows.

hey Mudduck do you have a pic of your 6250 stacked ?? would like to set up mine that way too and was curious what your looks like.

[themudduck]

hey Mudduck do you have a pic of your 6250 stacked ?? would like to set up mine that way too and was curious what your looks like.

I'll be glad to do that, I'll send a pic to you via private message. It may take a few days because I may be out of town - things are happening today that may require that I leave this afternoon. We'll see.
But... I didn't stack the 6250's. I just loaded them in in the same spot as the 5000's, one in the front tray and one in the rear tray, both as far back as I could go.

So far I only had one flight with the 6250's.
They performed well and seemed to provide about the same flight time (5min), but I was pushing them harder than usual because I wanted to see how they would do. They were at around 3.8 per cell after my flight and were not hot. I will try them again and fly "normally" - my feeling is that they should provide at least another minute, all things being equal. After all there's 25% more mah in the tank. (12500 vs 10000)