Official Freewing 80mm A-4E/F Skyhawk Thread

[Hardway]

Thanks T-CAT... Appreciate you bro! Just glad to be almost done. Looing forward to the weathering.... :Cool:

[T-CAT]

Found a few pics of the bottom... Also sending these pics to Callie to fill in the website pics for the RNZAF A-4 graphics. Checking the A3-L gyro and I am starting to think it was user error :Scared:.. I hope so... More to come after investigation and testing!!

Looks fantastic!

[Hardway]

Found a few pics of the bottom... Also sending these pics to Callie to fill in the website pics for the RNZAF A-4 graphics. Checking the A3-L gyro and I am starting to think it was user error :Scared:.. I hope so... More to come after investigation and testing!!

[T-CAT]

Thanks for offer but I'm in Washington. I would sell it in a heartbeat if I could deliver in person. Flew it some more today and it isjust too gutless! No power......It sucks cause it sure looked to be more impressive looking at videos. Its almst like my power system is faulty. I'm using a thunder power rampage 70c battery also and it as no power. The thunder power batteries are the most powerful best batteries made and it still has very little power. I would say my speed is 60 65 mph at best

As others have already recommended, if not already done so definitely calibrate the throttle to ensure you have the full span of RPM range. After that, it may be worth connecting it to a watt meter to see what type of power it’s making and how the battery or batteries are holding up under load. If your plane is moving at 60-65mph under full throttle then something must be wrong somewhere in the system. Also, Thunderpower can make some fine batteries, but there are a plethora of other excellent and affordable options now available.

[Woodcock]

Thanks for offer but I'm in Washington. I would sell it in a heartbeat if I could deliver in person. Flew it some more today and it isjust too gutless! No power......It sucks cause it sure looked to be more impressive looking at videos. Its almst like my power system is faulty. I'm using a thunder power rampage 70c battery also and it as no power. The thunder power batteries are the most powerful best batteries made and it still has very little power. I would say my speed is 60 65 mph at best

Well now, it always seems that someone thinks a really good plane sucks around here from time to time. I've never owned a Freewing A-4, but I'm a pretty old dog, and have owned (2) Jet Hanger Hobbies A-4's. In those days they really didn't have much power. A Turbax Fan, and a K&B 7.5. It barely could get off the ground, but if you eased it off, and circled it enough, you could dive it. Then is when it came to life, and other than the weed wacker sound it made, was very jet like. We had fun with it. The A-4 is at the top of my short list, I've been flirting with buying one for months, and plan to do so in coming weeks.

So here's the deal man, if your diving that plane and not busting 60mph, I'd say with quite a bit of certainty there's something wrong with your plane. You might consider trying to figure out why your fan is not making power, and not bashing a very celebrated model in the community. Just a thought mate. I've seen em fly, they're a beautiful flying model. But this is not to say that things don't ever go wrong. My friend had a Freewing F-16 and it could barely get off the ground. We traced it back to the motor controller. We didn't even have to change it, we just needed to re-calibrate it. It helped that we had a few more F-16's at our field to compare it too. We knew what a good one should look and fly like. Maybe this is what your missing here is some sort of reference.

Good luck to you mate
Woody

You might check to make sure your battery has the necessary cells for the model. Just a thought.

[e4dragongunner]

Will update on the A3-L after a post flight inspection today.... Wow, back to bed!!!! 0356....

Yes very interested .... as I am adding a Gyro... 20 flights in... and I think she needs one, just to calm down the " twitchy wag" I get....
Special note , Ailerons at 11mm throw :-)

[Hardway]

Thanks for offer but I'm in Washington. I would sell it in a heartbeat if I could deliver in person. Flew it some more today and it isjust too gutless! No power......It sucks cause it sure looked to be more impressive looking at videos. Its almst like my power system is faulty. I'm using a thunder power rampage 70c battery also and it as no power. The thunder power batteries are the most powerful best batteries made and it still has very little power. I would say my speed is 60 65 mph at best

Try the ESC calibration. Unplug your flight battery. Turn on the transmitter and go to full throttle. Plug in the flight battery and you should get two beeps. As soon as that occurs, pull the throttle to low and you should get the other 6 confirmation beeps from the ESC. It should then be calibrated for full throttle range... If you knew that already, sorry!! Just wanting to help you enjoy your Scooter!! :Cool:

[Hardway]

Will update on the A3-L after a post flight inspection today.... Wow, back to bed!!!! 0356....

[Hardway]

Let me try this again..... My computer was so slow this evening I kept trying to double post stuff and just gave up!! The maiden of the RNZAF A-4 went as well as could be expected! It is in one piece, no dents or breaks or major scratches!! LOL Slight cross wind on take off. Climbed out to the left and gained altitude. Needed a little down and some roll correction to the right. Ailerons are touchy as expected, but not too bad. Did an axial roll (3-4) and it is fast!! Love it!! So now at about 300ft AGL and going down wind, I engage the A3-L gyro. All was good for about 1.5 seconds, and then the show started!!! It did all kinds of cool things!!! :Dead: The gyro checked out OK on the bench and the gains were at 11 o'clock like all the other ones I have... The magic smoke must have came out!!! I have flown aerobatics for many years, and I really can't describe what the jet did... :wacky. We will call it a "trick"... So after watching this happen, I had to flip the gyro to the OFF position. Seems easy enough!!! I finally get the switch to center and then gently started adding power and up elevator since I was headed almost straight down! Cleared the fence by 30-40 ft AGL and didn't stall the elevator doing it. :Cool: The rest of the flight was boring!!! ;):Vomit: I was shaking and listening to the telemetry, but decided to climb to altitude again and check the slow speed with full flaps and gear. Since all that was down and working, I declared an emergency and set up for the approach. Had the light cross wind to counter for. Was landing down hill, too!! Came in a little hot but settled her in nose high into ground effect and landed with no bounce. I then taxied back and opened my beer:Drinks:... Packed up and came home!!! First time for me an A3-L has acted that way, but I am thankful the signals to the servos still made it through... I only scratched the tip of the missile pylon when I turned to taxi back.... All in all, a good day!!!

[RCjetdude]

That would be my guess too. Just doesn't sound right.

[crxmanpat]

Thanks for offer but I'm in Washington. I would sell it in a heartbeat if I could deliver in person. Flew it some more today and it isjust too gutless! No power......It sucks cause it sure looked to be more impressive looking at videos. Its almst like my power system is faulty. I'm using a thunder power rampage 70c battery also and it as no power. The thunder power batteries are the most powerful best batteries made and it still has very little power. I would say my speed is 60 65 mph at best

Question. Have you calibrated the ESC to your transmitter throttle? It sounds like you're not seeing full throttle. Mine easily does 90mph using a RoaringTop 6S 6250 35C pack.

[rifleman_btx]

What altitude are you flying at? May need a different fan setup?:Thinking:

[dbirds2]

Thanks for offer but I'm in Washington. I would sell it in a heartbeat if I could deliver in person. Flew it some more today and it isjust too gutless! No power......It sucks cause it sure looked to be more impressive looking at videos. Its almst like my power system is faulty. I'm using a thunder power rampage 70c battery also and it as no power. The thunder power batteries are the most powerful best batteries made and it still has very little power. I would say my speed is 60 65 mph at best

[MOFO1]

dbird2. Hey Mate if you are anywhere near central CA, for the right price I'll be glad to take of your hands. Just trying to help you get rid of the stress of owning it:)

[mongo]

The a4 has got to go. Not impressed at all. The landings i got down now. No need for flaps on this brick. This is the slowest jet ive flown. My 3d foam hottrigger plane has got much more speed than this a4. I thought my su35 was slow but it kicks the crap out of the a4 and it flys much much better. The a4 is just too dense and heavy. This thing is out or take a stab at 12 inch off pavement low passes and of i bury it i dont care. The power sucks on the a4. Probably the weakest power out of any jet ive flown or seen flown. Very dissapointed. Not to mention its the hardest jet to track.

where do you live?
anywhere close to Texas?

[purduephigam]

I just maidened mine this morning with 5000s as far forward is possible. I left the rails on, but no tanks or bullpups. Little down elevator, otherwise flew on rails. Definitely the easiest plane I've landed. Can't wait to go out and do it again. Let us know how it went.

[Hardway]

Thanks to everyone!!! I am going to try to do the maiden today... Should I do the flight with the tanks on? She balances right where Alpha shows on the first posts with the tanks on and an Admiral 5000 in place.... Any last minute suggestions are welcome while my batteries charge!!! Thanks again for the kind words!!!!

[Woodcock]

Anyway, here she is with a loadout.... Looking forward to the maiden, finally!!! :-)

Very Nice!

Woody

[RCjetdude]

Anyway, here she is with a loadout.... Looking forward to the maiden, finally!!! :-)

Jerry, your Aussie Scooter looks killer! Very nice paint up.

[e4dragongunner]

I will post a few more of the drop tanks and missiles in a bit....

Nice livery Brother! well done!