LX A4 SkyHawk PNP vs. Lx A4 SkyHawk KIT with Freewing electronics

[Evoman]

All this talk about the Skyhawk reminded me of this great tale I read that actually happened.

The Tale Of When A Marine Mechanic Stole An A-4 Skyhawk For A Joyride Over California

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/the-tale-of-when-a-marine-mechanic-stole-an-a-4-skyhawk-1745015819

[Angelo r]

I have a freewing f22 64 mm 60 amp speed control and 3500 motor I just got the admiral 2500 50c battry do I just shove it in where the 2200 goes or do I move it back or forward?

[DCORSAIR]

Thought I better update. I now have 10 flights and the only problems has been the retracts, they work great but the screws and cylinders keep coming loose, I think I have loctited just about every part on them and we will see what happens now, one had a wire come loose right at the motor connection, resoldered and it works great, two of the long metal cylinders that the electric motor slips into, they are made up of three parts and screw together, they look like Robart retract air cylinders, I didn't even know they came apart until I seen a gap show up, so I put a little blue loctite on them too, so far every failure has been in the locked down position, thank goodness for no belly landings. Everything else has been working great with no issues, flies really good too.

[DCORSAIR]

Well, here it is, first ever from me a video of the LX A-4 Skyhawk. Thanks to my son and his new Go Pro Hero5

[Prowler901]

Nice flying! She has enough power for me. :Cool:

[DCORSAIR]

I know it looks like I'm flying far away but it's really in close, were still trying to figure out the Go Pro, we set it for the close up video so I think that is as good as it's going to get for now.

[racerx600rr]

DCORSAIR, are those the stock landing gear?

[DCORSAIR]

It's all stock right out of the box ugly wheels and all. I did have problems with the gear at first, they cycle great, it was the screws that kept coming loose, so I loctited ever screw and even the motor cylinders unscrewed so I loctited those as well, one wire came unsoldered but that might have been my fault when I was pulling the retracts out. What you see in the video is what you get in the ARF version. Here is a pic of the retract motor cylinders that unscrew in three sections.

[Evoman]

Wouldn't the 3048-2300Kv Brushless Outrunner used in the 6S 12 blade 70mm F16 V2 have been a better power plant choice and better sounding?

[racerx600rr]

It's all stock right out of the box ugly wheels and all. I did have problems with the gear at first, they cycle great, it was the screws that kept coming loose, so I loctited ever screw and even the motor cylinders unscrewed so I loctited those as well, one wire came unsoldered but that might have been my fault when I was pulling the retracts out. What you see in the video is what you get in the ARF version. Here is a pic of the retract motor cylinders that unscrew in three sections.

Wow, that's a lot of Loctite to keep it from coming apart on its own. Thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to do that when I get to working on it!:Cool:

[DCORSAIR]

Just an update on the LX A-4, I pulled the fan out and have a FW 70mm fan and motor on the way so we shall see how it works out. I like the way it flies so much I was willing to spend the money to make it sound better....:)

[DCORSAIR]

Okay, got an update if you haven't been reading over on RCG. I did pull the 5 blade fan and motor out, installed a FW 12 blade fan 3048-2150kv unit and it is very quiet and flies good, I also tried a FW 3048-2300 12 blade, it has a slight whine to it, more than the 3048-2150kv but nothing bad as the stock 5 blade. For more speed, go with the 3048-2300kv but a little less flight time, if you want more scale sound and less whine of the motor go with the 3048-2150kv, little slower but longer flight times and sounds good. Here is the only mod I had to do, cut one little slot for the fan mounting tab for it to slide into the hatch cover.

[Mikkelb]

Seeing this thread I just had to get one. Growing up in New Zealand and on military bases I always loved the Skyhawk! So when the opportunity came up to acquire an A4 I jumped at the chance. I too have made upgrades to mine, Hope to maiden this week. Only finished the paint and decals yesterday.
So took out the 9-12 gram servos (My one is pre-production, so there were some flaws I needed to rectify along the way) and replaced with Freewing 17g Metal gear digitals. Had to carve out a bit of foam, but nothing too drastic.

Next was the EDF unit. Seeing that the FMS Yak-130 has good speed, and about the same weight, I decided to go with the FMS 12blade 6s edf assembly. The stock motor is well.....not great lets just say.
I'm not sure what the production models are like, but mine only had foam hinges, yeah not good for a jet. So I cut them out and replaced with some Freewing Type "C" hinges.

Removed all the paint with Acetone and assembled the new edf unit, servos, hinges and then assembled the aircraft (goes together reasonably easy) I did find big gaps where the tail glues to the fuse and avionics hub glues to the fuse as well, also the intakes. So after gluing these down i filled in all the gaps with Hobbico Hobbylite balsa filler..Magic stuff, light and sands really nicely.

After filling it all in and sanding down, I then varnished it with a water base varnish. about 6 coats, now with this I went with a different way to apply, normally the foam brushes are used, and that works well. However I like my airbrushes. I recently went to Japan and stocked up on my equipment and brought several airbrushes, one of which is a Tamiya 5mm brush which has a wide spray and is perfect for this. No thinning just straight on spray. This allowed the varnish to dry quickly and get a even coat with less likelihood of runs.

After the 6 coats its on to Primer, I primed, sanded and then primed again. Just before going to paint I wet sanded with 180grit to get a smooth finish.

The paint i used was Tamiya paint in the small 10ml pots. I had about 4 of the Dark green which was perfect for the RNZAF A4 I was replicating. Again using the airbrush (3mm brush) I thinned it down a little (10ml paint to 10ml of window cleaner - I find this works best as it dries quickly) Two coats applied and then I come back with the matte clear to finish it off.

I think later I will replace the landing gear, and make gear doors with servo sequencer. The stock are "ok" but I want to add lights (White strobe (top of the fuse), 2 red beacons (top and bottom of fuse) and one landing light (inside right gear door) and think a scale sequencer would look great.

Anyway, pictures of my finished product. This is my first start to finish re-vamp of a aircraft...so after reading so much on here and watching countless videos I was definitely not short of tips and tricks and found some things that works for me. My next project is LX-Model B25 Overhaul on power system and a Russian Scheme. Seeing as its such a big plane its going to be a fun challenge.

[DCORSAIR]

Wow, looks great. Make sure you loctite all the screws on the landing gear, they do come loose and the retract motor cylinders come apart in three sections, mine needed loctite to keep them together, no problems since with 22 flights.

[Mikkelb]

Wow, looks great. Make sure you loctite all the screws on the landing gear, they do come loose and the motor cylinders come apart in three sections, mine needed loctite to keep them together, no problems since with 22 flights.

Yes Definitely. I'll be doing this tonight afterwork. Thank you for that heads up! I would hate to get a good maiden only for the wheels to malfunction on landing. I really like what you have done with yours. Good job!

[DCORSAIR]

Mikkelb, did you maiden your A-4??
Now up to 24 flights on mine, the new 3048-2300kv motor with a 12 blade fan works great, found some better tires for it, still not right for scale but better than the stock ones, haven't flown with them yet, will update how it ground handles when I get a chance.

[TiredIronGRB]

I love this jet, I'm really hoping that Motion will do this one soon.

[DCORSAIR]

TiredIronGRB, do you have one that your flying?

Just asking to see how many people have one they are flying.

[TiredIronGRB]

TiredIronGRB, do you have one that your flying?

Just asking to see how many people have one they are flying.

No, I'm hoping Freewing will make a 90mm ;)

[DCORSAIR]

Ok, I think I'm alone on this one, was hoping you had one flying. I heard there may be one in the works from FW also, couldn't wait so I bought the LX one. Love it, thinking about getting another one and trying a different fan/motor just for fun......:)