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

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

Does anyone have any tips for removing the struts? the screws feel like they are glued in and i have already stripped a hex key trying to undo them

[crxmanpat]

Take a fine tip soldering iron and heat up the grub screws before trying to remove them. They use thread locker on them now and the heat helps to loosen it up.

[Topshot19]

hey guys check out my functional tail hook mod.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyCOVs_OOCM

It wasnt a very difficult process. i first removed the cover to the edf and cut out the plastic that holds the tail hook. I attached a piano hinge hinge into it also with some balsa, after that i put a small hole through the foam. on the other side there is a nice area for a servo. the hardest part was treading the wire to the front of the plane.

[AceMigKiller]

Cooool!

[spec450]

That's awesome. Good speed too.

[RCjetdude]

It has taken me way too long to get back to this but I have some new wind in my sails as I have some MER's coming from Chris Wolfe (The RC Geek) to secure the Mk.82's I got from Jet Hangar Hobbies to my VMA-121 Green Knights A-4. He 3D printed them for me and it looks like they turned out great.



As a result I started working on the LAU-10/A 5" Zuni rocket pods to go on the outboard pylons.





I hope to get this wrapped up soon.

[RCjetdude]

hey guys check out my functional tail hook mod.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyCOVs_OOCM

It wasnt a very difficult process. i first removed the cover to the edf and cut out the plastic that holds the tail hook. I attached a piano hinge hinge into it also with some balsa, after that i put a small hole through the foam. on the other side there is a nice area for a servo. the hardest part was treading the wire to the front of the plane.

Nice job Topshot.

[AkumaZeto]

Looking at picking this up.My only edf experience is with the fw 80mm f86. I can fly that like a boss. Hows this one in comparison.

[RCjetdude]

The A-4 flies very comparable to the F-86 in my opinion. With the stock throws it is very sensitive on the ailerons. Set some low rates to try if it is too much for your flying style. I felt the stock CG was too tail heavy on mine. It feels great to me at 180mm from the reference point in the manual. If you are flying the F-86 well, you will feel right at home with the A-4.

[MOFO1]

Has anyone tried the power plant out of the FW f-86 in this airframe. I have a complete unit(ESC,motor/fan) that I want to put to use.

[e4dragongunner]

Looking at picking this up.My only edf experience is with the fw 80mm f86. I can fly that like a boss. Hows this one in comparison.

I have both! You will love the Scooter! 11mm on aileron throw seems just right! any more and it will roll like a drill. :-)

[RCjetdude]

Has anyone tried the power plant out of the FW f-86 in this airframe. I have a complete unit(ESC,motor/fan) that I want to put to use.

I have not tried it but based on the difference in kV of the stock motors from each aircraft I think the 100kV penalty would fly it but it would be borderline under-powered.

[Chief58D]

I do believe this A-4 is now on the "next plane" short list!!

A couple of questions (apologies if I missed the discussion somewhere in the previous 80 pages...;)) -

First -
I'll be operating primarily off a grass runway. I was wondering if anyone else operating off of grass strips has found a need to support the landing gear struts when they're down, and if so, do you by chance have a sketch or 3D print file for a support plate?

Second -
I do want to add a bit of addtional scaling, and am a firm believer in adding some lights (helps the aging eyes keep up, along with looking cool!!)
Has anyone found any online documentation that shows the placement of the various lights used on the actual A-4?

Thanks in advance!

Randy

PS -
I know I've seen some posts describing operating tail hook mods, but the forum search feature seems to be uncooperative at the moment.
Anyone know of specific posts that discuss this mod?

Thanks!!

[Jimbobtheflimbob]

I fly from pretty unkempt, wet grass and the gear holds up just fine. the struts do a great job of absorbing the shocks and the gear are very solidly mounted so you dont need any reinforcement. the photo shows the best condition the grass has ever been when ive ever flown the a-4 and it took off easily in about 30m. Since then ive flown from far worse.

[RCjetdude]

I do believe this A-4 is now on the "next plane" short list!!

A couple of questions (apologies if I missed the discussion somewhere in the previous 80 pages...;)) -

First -
I'll be operating primarily off a grass runway. I was wondering if anyone else operating off of grass strips has found a need to support the landing gear struts when they're down, and if so, do you by chance have a sketch or 3D print file for a support plate?

Second -
I do want to add a bit of addtional scaling, and am a firm believer in adding some lights (helps the aging eyes keep up, along with looking cool!!)
Has anyone found any online documentation that shows the placement of the various lights used on the actual A-4?

Thanks in advance!

Randy

PS -
I know I've seen some posts describing operating tail hook mods, but the forum search feature seems to be uncooperative at the moment.
Anyone know of specific posts that discuss this mod?

Thanks!!

Randy, you might be able to find some useful information on my Blue Angels build thread here. https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...els-conversion and if you have specific questions, ask away. As JBTFB said, the Scooter flies well off of grass with no modifications but it certainly couldn't hurt to support the nose strut if desired. I am assuming you mean similar to how some have modified the Avanti?

Steve

[seaviper]

My scoot is approaching the 100 mission mark. Good bird.

[RCjetdude]

My scoot is approaching the 100 mission mark. Good bird.

That is quite the testimony to it's gear.

[Topshot19]

I do believe this A-4 is now on the "next plane" short list!!

A couple of questions (apologies if I missed the discussion somewhere in the previous 80 pages...;)) -

First -
I'll be operating primarily off a grass runway. I was wondering if anyone else operating off of grass strips has found a need to support the landing gear struts when they're down, and if so, do you by chance have a sketch or 3D print file for a support plate?

Second -
I do want to add a bit of addtional scaling, and am a firm believer in adding some lights (helps the aging eyes keep up, along with looking cool!!)
Has anyone found any online documentation that shows the placement of the various lights used on the actual A-4?

Thanks in advance!

Randy

PS -
I know I've seen some posts describing operating tail hook mods, but the forum search feature seems to be uncooperative at the moment.
Anyone know of specific posts that discuss this mod?

Thanks!!

I show how I did my functioning tail hook on post 1583. It’s a fun mod to do !

[seaviper]

Chief58d... I fly off the roughest hay field I have seen. I have almost 100 missions on the A-4 (almost 5 hours TTOA now) and no gear issues. I always keep an extra nose gear pin in the box just in case. It's pretty easy to bend the nose gear pin on a hard landing or if you run off into the high grass.
But she flies off grass no problem.

[Chief58D]

Randy, you might be able to find some useful information on my Blue Angels build thread here. https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...els-conversion and if you have specific questions, ask away. As JBTFB said, the Scooter flies well off of grass with no modifications but it certainly couldn't hurt to support the nose strut if desired. I am assuming you mean similar to how some have modified the Avanti?

Steve

TONS of good info in your conversion thread - thanks Steve!
And yes, it was the Avanti thread I was thinking of concerning the gear reinforcement plate.

Glad to hear the A-4 probably won't need it -
after a horrible experience with the landing gear on my Freewing 80mm Scorpion, I'm a bit gun shy!!