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

[Ron1950]

wow that formation stuff is a lot harder to do than it looks great flying... where did u guys set the cg anyway?

[Petronio]

So I thought I would contribute a bit here after having mounted my A-4 now (nervous for the maiden haha).
As I was mounting the model I found the flap servos were significantly misaligned. After making a search here and rcgroups I found that many ended up trying to mechanically match them or even ended up removing the servo to switch the servo arms.
Here is my approach to match them perfectly with no need to remove the servo:

In the manual you can check which pole of the ribbon cable that goes to the control board corresponds to the flaps. To doublecheck it was right I just removed that pin first and connected the lipo. I then had working ailerons and gear but not flaps..hence I knew that was the flap signal cable. Now solder a connector (either single pole or male servo connector if you have nothing else) and connect that to a spare channel on your radio. (Signal only is enough, they share Voltage and Ground so these are not really required).
In my case (Frsky Taranis) I had originally flaps on channel 6 so I duplicated that channel on channel 7. Now regardless whether the servo arms are not aligned you can program the center point and endpoint so they match perfectly and also the travel will correspond to each other. Lastly I copied the elevator channel and programmed a little mixing too (and also slightly slowed down the deploy of the flaps for a more realistic look).
Hope that is helpful to anyone in the future..

[Petronio]

Had my maiden this afternoon, I had read so much about how well the model flies but you cannot realise until you fly it yourself. Flew beautifully, looks stunning and landed absolutely uneventful, really happy with the model. If I were to crash I would buy another one...

[Hardway]

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!! Very cool!

[RCjetdude]

Shots from NEFI. The one is with Dan Grossman's Bearcat Blue Angel.

[Petronio]

Thanks Hardway!:). Someone recorded my landing:

[RCjetdude]

Beautiful!

[e4dragongunner]

Greaser!!!!

[dahawk]

Awesome landing. Must have a meatball to hone in on. Lol

[Petronio]

Thanks guys,!! Didnt quite get the stuff about the meatball xDdd

[OV10]

Thanks guys,!! Didnt quite get the stuff about the meatball xDdd

It is a slang the Navy pilots used.......Meatball - The glideslope indication light that pilots watch when they're trapping.
“Call the Ball” is what the LSO would radio to inbound on the carrier.

[Petronio]

Ahh I see, got it now xd thanks for the clarification :)

[dahawk]

Petronia,

Here's a couple of links about flying the ball ( Meatball):

https://youtu.be/snL4kUsTDOY

https://youtu.be/kJ_3MuXkDvI

https://youtu.be/vUFqnldTUI8

https://youtu.be/nNjV7WwD1Dg

[Petronio]

:Cool::Cool: will have a look at them :) Thanks a lot!

[rifleman_btx]

Pretty cool stuff, I was waiting for the first camera to become a bug on the windshield

[Chief58D]

Just joined the A-4 club - mine is on order with MRC! :)

Now I just need time to get it built -
Along with my Mig-21, P-38, P-51 rebuild...:Straight-Face:

[DCORSAIR]

Just joined the A-4 club - mine is on order with MRC! :)

Now I just need time to get it built -
Along with my Mig-21, P-38, P-51 rebuild...:Straight-Face:

The A-4 is a keeper once I got it dialed in, you will like it, great flyer, mine got a couple of flights this morning.

[RuthR720]

MotionRC, please consider offering upgraded wheel axles and felt brake pads. I was able to reduce the landing distance to 75 feet by sticking Velcro on the strut. A felt disc would be ideal but I used what I had available today. My flight test was a success. There was only a slight increase in takeoff distance. All that’s required is a threaded axle, nyloc nut, and a felt disc. Braking action can easily be adjusted by tightening or loosening the nut. I posted my test flights on YouTube.https://youtu.be/hpUg-jOeoyc

[rifleman_btx]

Very nice idea!

[Petronio]

Hey guys, 2 questions:
1. Where are the missiles / fuel tanks spare parts?? I have not been able to find them under the spare parts section..

2. Does anyone know where I can get (or what colour code they are) both grey tones the A-4 has (fuselage top and bottom)?

Would like to retouch the slight scratches..

Thanks!

Pet