Official FlightLine OV-10 Bronco Discussion Thread

[Mr D]

Anyone for a little sting self defense capability? Modified FreeWing A-4 pylons.

[sam51401]

I just inquired about pylons a couple post back. I could go with Zuni’s, fuel tanks our the winders. Let’s see some more pics please?

[themudduck]

Maiden today! I flew it three times, things went fairly well. Its not as fast as I thought it would be - it was slower than what I expected after seeing the videos. I didn't have much vertical on full power, but it will loop without a problem. The model was well behaved and was very east to fly and land. Most of my flying was at medium power settings. First flight was 5 minutes with my 3700 batteries. 70% left. So I made a second 4-minute flight with the same batteries, then I had 45% left. That's outstanding! For me, I think 10-minute flights will be normal. I also have a set of 4000's and those may last 15!

After the first flight, I adjusted the flap trim to match what I was doing manually in flight and found I needed 15% down elevator trim - 1/2 flaps makes this bird slow down like it has brakes. I needed 25% down elevator trim to stop it from ballooning (at low speed) with full flaps. But it flies and lands extremely well with the flaps, once the elevator is adjusted. Just a beautiful flier and very easy to handle.

We have trees near our field. Towards the end of my third flight coming in with 1/2 flaps and LG out, I managed to fly too close and went right through a tree at medium speed! It knocked the canopy off and the plane did a horizontal 360 from hitting a tree branch... and then.... holy smokes it was still flying! This happened on the turn to final, so I just came in and made a perfect landing and my buddies retrieved the canopy. There is one ding on the LE of the right wing panel, and I broke one of the plastic wing bolting mounts. (the wing was still attached with one bolt and the CF spar) Other than that... no damage to any other part of the airframe. That was incredible. I had leaves stuck in the weapon pods!

Well time to order a few parts now. But I am a happy camper.

[EA-6B Geek]

Maiden today! I flew it three times, things went fairly well. Its not as fast as I thought it would be - it was slower than what I expected after seeing the videos. I didn't have much vertical on full power, but it will loop without a problem. The model was well behaved and was very east to fly and land. Most of my flying was at medium power settings. First flight was 5 minutes with my 3700 batteries. 70% left. So I made a second 4-minute flight with the same batteries, then I had 45% left. That's outstanding! For me, I think 10-minute flights will be normal. I also have a set of 4000's and those may last 15!

After the first flight, I adjusted the flap trim to match what I was doing manually in flight and found I needed 15% down elevator trim - 1/2 flaps makes this bird slow down like it has brakes. I needed 25% down elevator trim to stop it from ballooning (at low speed) with full flaps. But it flies and lands extremely well with the flaps, once the elevator is adjusted. Just a beautiful flier and very easy to handle.

We have trees near our field. Towards the end of my third flight coming in with 1/2 flaps and LG out, I managed to fly too close and went right through a tree at medium speed! It knocked the canopy off and the plane did a horizontal 360 from hitting a tree branch... and then it was still flying! This happened on the turn to final, so I just came in and made a perfect landing and my buddies retrieved the canopy. There is one ding on the LE of the right panel, and I broke one of the plastic wing bolting mounts. Other than that... no damage. That was incredible. I had leaves stuck in the weapon pods.

Well time to order a few parts now. But I am a happy camper.

That sounds like one crazy flight! Hope you’ll bring it with you to the E-Jets event in September.

[RCGuy83]

Fairly honkin' along!
What cell count is it running on?
All stock?

Yup, she's all stock. I am using 2X CNHL 4000's. Once you unload the plane keeping the throttle pegged she will open up more on the top end. I hit 80mph today in some not-so-favorable wind conditions. I agree with others that it's a 3/4-FULL throttle plane when you want to stunt it around the sky. It's a very FUN plane to fly!

[Gilatrout]

Roughed in the removed ordinance wings for the Cal Fire repaint. Used a microplane. Works fantastic and doesn't tear up the foam cells. Just don't tell your SO what happened to the cheese grater. Also do it outside or you will have more to explain than just what happened to the grater.

[Gilatrout]

Well it worked better than I even thought it would. The inside is hollow with a nice platform area ready to use. Lots of room! Cut through 1/2 inch of remaining foam firewall, and access to the blue box area is achieved. 4 1/4 inches Of usable room in addition to another 5 inches in the rear section itself.

Don

Did you use a band saw? That's a nice looking cut.

[Dkurtzid]

Just used a fine tooth 6in razor saw, sides first then top and bottom. Since it is only 1/2 in thick on each side it cut easy and fast. Marked cut lines first on the sides with a sharpie. Once the outer skin was cut through all the way around, a Long utility blade took care of the inside foam piece, slipped in from both sides. Hope this helps.

Don

[Mwhite1911]

All built. Maiden set for Monday morning. Followed the build video from MotionRC. That helped. Blue box set up was not the easiest. Bypassed then blue box in a couple areas. Syncing the ESC was not well described. Seems like they got out of sync. Then one prop had the brake and other spun freely at throttle cutoff. But managed to get it back in sync. Will maiden on 4s 3700mah 50c. Car is packed up. Managed to get it on without disassembling.

EDIT: Successfully Maiden. I was the only one at the field at 6am so no footage. 🤣

With 4s 3700 pushed all the way forward, still needed quite a bit of down trim. Easy flyer, much like a Trainer. Agree that book flap to elevator mix is reverse. Plane does balloon up with flaps deployed. Slows down well. Good slow flight characteristics. Lands WELL. Good purchase.

Last pic is where my elevator is positioned for level flight with battery full forward.

[Merry Boozer RC]

Hello Squawkers we had a chance to get the maiden flight on the OV-10 this weekend all of you looking for more flying of this bird she has officially flown. It really is a trainer plane. But that being said it’s still different than anything I’ve flown before. Very easy to make a great landing with this one. Anyway let the video do the talking.

[desertdrifter7]

MB, I agree. This was a great plane to fly. I made my maiden this morning. I don't know which flies easier, my Bronco or my Tigercat. My only regret was that I was at the airfield by myself so no chance for a video. But here she is resting after her maiden. I was sad I left my drop tank at home.

[Mr D]

MB, I agree. This was a great plane to fly. I made my maiden this morning. I don't know which flies easier, my Bronco or my Tigercat. My only regret was that I was at the airfield by myself so no chance for a video. But here she is resting after her maiden. I was sad I left my drop tank at home.

Funny you should mention TigerCat. My pair for flying this morning.

[James]

Hey guys, I made a 5 page diagram for you all to download (PDF in attachments) on how to wire your OV-10A Bronco and a video that goes over it in detail.

[68Strat]

Man this plane is cool! Just mocked up a 4s4p Li-ion pack consisting of 21700 cells. Seems like it'll fit and balance perfectly, and give me 16.8Ah on tap. Off to do some spot welding.

[CFIT rob]

To achieve the throws recommended in the manual i had to move the linkage in a hole on the servo arms (i did that rather than reduce travel in radio.) Has everyone been going with recommended throws? Everyone needed to reduce travels?

[AussieHoppy]

Man this plane is cool! Just mocked up a 4s4p Li-ion pack consisting of 21700 cells. Seems like it'll fit and balance perfectly, and give me 16.8Ah on tap. Off to do some spot welding.

Wowser! That's a serious collection of electrons! It'll be just as interesting how she performs weight/speed, as will flight duration... 😁

[Mr D]

To achieve the throws recommended in the manual i had to move the linkage in a hole on the servo arms (i did that rather than reduce travel in radio.) Has everyone been going with recommended throws? Everyone needed to reduce travels?

Flown 6 times using the recommended servo arm holes. Flies perfectly well (scale like handling) using mid rates for all three axes. If you are looking for aggressive non scale flight you could definitely diverge from the manual, but then why fly a warbird?

[vduniec]

I’m in need of some wing pylons for the desert storm load out. Any ideas? I have the keyed adapters from some spare a10 parts so got those parts covered. Plane is sanded to remove all vent tits and ready for a base coat of primer white.

I don’t have the wing pylons made yet. Hoping to design and print them at some point. If you’re going to do a Desert Storm bird, you may want to add this. It is the ALQ-144 IRCM “Disco light” jammer. It goes on the bulge on the top at the back of the fuselage.

Here’s the link on Thingiverse: https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q...&sort=relevant

[xviper]

but then why fly a warbird?

[Ric]

Looking for some help reprogramming ESC's. Mine are set to "Brake On". Need to reprogram to "Brake Off".