just purchased the thunderbolt from nitro planes,and like a dumbass I did not read the reviews until after the fact. I have not recieved the plane yet, but it is due on the 14th. I have read the bad reviews and it seems like Nitro planes knowingly is selling bad products and does not want to make things right with thier customers. so with that said can any one tell me how to make this thing fly and what parts to buy and were to obtain the parts with the best prices.</p>

include a link to the plane to better help prospective helpers oh and I really would forget about the seemingly great deal you get from them and shop over at maybe hobby-lobby for those kinds of planes.. more money but better service and quality too.. as far as i know anyway.

Thanks for the feedback.. The only link I have is to the nitroplanes.com web site. The 4 channel A-10 thunderbolt II. Model # GL603-2. I thought I was getting a great deal @ 79.00. but like the old saying goes " YOUGETWHATYOUPAYFOR ". Does any one have any feedback on EDFplanes. I still need Some info on getting this peace of CRAP of the ground. And Has anyone had any luck talking to anyone @ nitroplanes?

How can you call something a "piece of crap" when you haven't even recieved it yet?? By looking at your post count (2) ,are you a newbie? Or did you just join RCU? If you're fairly new to this hobby,the plane you're talking about is NOT a plane for a pilot with little or NO experience. Believe me, if you aren't an experienced pilot,"if" you do get it in the air, you WILL crash shortly after. That would not be the fault of the plane, that would just be inexperience. Please keep in mind, these are NOT TOYS. Something that travels at 60- 70 MPH or more can do VERY SERIOUS damage if control is lost. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to "rain on your Parade". You'll be doing yourself & others a favor by choosing the correct plane for your level of experience. Good Luck !!

You're not raining on my parade, this is just constructive advise. I'm new to RCU.A friend turned me on to this. As far as the A-10 is concerned; The discription of the plane Clearly said for beginers, and at no time was it mentioned in any review I read here on RCU that the plane in question was capable of going 60-70 mph. It is adverstised as a slow and low flyer perfect for beginers. Now with that in mind; The reviews gave it a 2 out 5 stars because of the design issues.

I have been flying these 3 channel beginer planes for 8-9 months now and I want something in a 4 channel for beginers, that is why I purchased the A-10. Now due to my lack of experience and not reading the reviews before hand is a lesson learned. When this plane arrives I will have someone with years of experience fly it first. Even the local hobby store had suggested this as a beginer 4 channel, I will be in touch with them when this thing arrives to go over the design isses and find remedies for them.


What would YOU suggest for a beginner 4 channel that is not going to break my bank account. I love thses foam planes due to the fact that a little 15 min apoxy and your back in the air.

I wasn't really directing all that to you. It's just I've seen sooo many "newbies" get into that type of plane thinking how cool they look,& how easy they'll fly. Most all of these planes ARE NOT easy to fly. I'd probably want to stick with the foamies. Easy to fix & fly. Oh, & cheap! Good Luck

no harm here man. I agree on the issues of beginers trying something that out classes their abilities. But when you new and are not properly informed on these types of planes they are rather inticeing.   That's why RCU is here; to get better information on these products and help for the newbies. If this thing does fly with no modifications it will hang from the ceiling until I get better @ flying  before I even attempt to take this one on by myself. I believe the reciever is buddy cable compatable, this will help.</p>

Next question: can I find a A 10 thunderbolt for my FMS on line ? So far I have not been able to locate one.
If so where?

Now  I have read that Nitroplanes is natoriuos for shipping damaged and /or broken planes. And there is noway to contact them and they will not try to fix the issues. Have you had any issues with this or have you heard of anyone being successfull at getting thier product replaced or a refund? The local Hobby store said they have tried to contact Nitro and got no help what so ever.  Please advise.</p>

Hi
I've only ordered from nitroplanes once. It was for a hacker motor and when i did get it, it turned out not to be a hacker, I called them up and they informed me that what I infact got was a motor that is a hacker style made from the same company making hacker off the same assembly line same specs etc but because it looks different they don't/can't call it a hacker. something along the lines of making the same product with a different name sold cheaper just to maximize sales since hackers are rather expensive due to the brand name....even though it's somewhat believe able I say WHAAAAATEEEEVER MAAAN. I kept the motor and it works fine. I don't know if that helps you any with nitro planes.... Now about that plane.. it looks just like the GWS version on tower hobbies. it could simply be a knock off who knows you'll have to check the dimentions. Chances are if its a foamy and it ships damaged you can fix it with epoxy or CA so don't trash it if they wont replace it! I've crashed my micro jet a few times one time the plane went into three pieces and I've always managed to humpty dumpty back together again (working with foam is lovely especially if you have micro bubbles, which i don't lol)

If the planes parts are of poor quality you can always swap them out for the good stuff! like servos plastic parts etc. Frankly I can't see a reason why it wouldn't fly unless the foam is super weak and not at all reinforced with say carbon fiber anywhere. I've made all kinds of crap fly so get lots of advice from the other pros and think it through before you make any mods... Personally i've never bothered with the idea of "not for beginners" My first real plane was a horizon hobby F27 stryker defnintely NOT for the noob I did rather good if i do say so myself :P but I can't talk since i've been interested in flight long before i got into modeling and been at sims for quite a while it was a very smooth transition for me. You mentioned you have fms so even better for you! there are A10 models for fms but you're going to have to google around.

Anyway I'm sure you can get your bird up in the air so go for it

I'd look into getting better fans/ motors/ servos/ maybe even brushless motors and using proper radio equippment! that makes all the difference trust me!

Good luck!

Thanks for the info!

Once i see the plane I'll feel better about the overall issues. The local hobby store said they will help me look it over and make any modifications if needed (good for them, bad for my wallet). I'll keep you posted on the progress

Personally, I've got 3 of their planes. They were shipped in a timely fashion. When I recieved them ,they were all in great shape, no damage, covering was nice & tight, etc. However, the instuctions, although, better than they used to be, are VERY vauge to say the least. The hardware package is about 50% usable. (We can't have everything at those prices!) If you've not built 3 or 4 planes, I would think you would have a heck of a time building one of their planes. Their planes build very light,but so far, they have had quite a bit of abuse from me, & held up !! As with ANY ARF, always go through all glue joints & stress areas & beef up if at all possible. I checked out their Nitro Plane Support thread & have seen that "John" is their "go to guy" for problems. I've seen him take a lot of abuse & fix a lot of problems. NP's telephone support apparently is either totolly undermaned or they just don't care, ( either way, it sure is NOT good business). You hear of problems they have.( It seems like a couple of new ones a week.) If they sell 10 planes a week, then that is a BIG problem. If they sell a 1,000 planes a week, then that is a pretty low rate. We always hear about the problems, but not too often do we hear from the satisfied customers. Please remember,ARFs are ALMOST READY to FLY !!!! One point ( I feel) that is definitly in Nitro's favor IS the Support thread !!! If they are willing to let us see their "bad side" then that makes me feel like they are really trying to take careof their customers. That's my honest opinion on that deal.. That's about all I can tell you.. Good luck !!

Ok  so now I'm looking @ the P-51  mustang 4 channel electric foam 35" wing  16.9 oz, 370 carbon brushed, 20a esc. By lan-yu. what can you guys tell me about this? is this a good plane for a newbie. It is apparent that the A-10 thunderbolt will take some time on the FMS before I'm ready to take this one on.So with that in mind I'm I am looking for something more sutable for my level of expeirence. I'm wanting to transition from 3-ch to a 4-ch plane. should I look for the brushless motors for this plane if available on this model? Please advise.

A P-51 ( except for the H9 PTS P-51 package ) is about the LAST plane you would want for a beginner!!!

If you want something;

- Inexpensive
- Easy to repair
- Durable
- Easy to upgrade and hop up.
- Likely to keep your attention.
- Will even work as a camera platform for small RC vidcams.
- Larger than most other foam alternatives.

etc. etc. etc.

Check this out and watch ALL of the videos on that site about this plane...

[link=http://www.********.com/airplanes/wildhawkplane-about.htm]Click me![/link]

Thanks for link ,I ckecked out the vids and was very impressed. I wish I would have known about the wild hawk before I bought my Hobby Zone Cub,although I really like the cub. It was very hard to fly at first but I got the hang of it. I've been flying it now for 8-9 months and getting pretty bored with it , but every now and then it still gives me butterflies; especialy in high wind. I did get the FMS about a month ago and I can tell the difference with my flying skills on the cub after I downloaded the cub. So at this point I think I'll take the advise and learn to fly the planes I want on the sim for 2-3 months  before I purchase them. Like the video said learn to over qualify yourself before flying the real thing.

So I got the A-10 opened the box for a look. was not damaged,and was rather pleaseing to look at. however ; when I took this thing to the hobby store they agreed that with the stock set it would not fly. so if one was ready to invest $300 it would be flight worthy. so I pawned it off on a craigslist victum. I purchase the wing tiger from Art Tech. 49.8 " trainer. Beter plane for the beginner and better quality. it is due at my door this week. very excited to put this in the air. I will do a review from the eyes of a beginner and post the vid.Advise is wanted from the pro's and others that have flown this plane. it got great reviews. feedback welcom

And as far as nitro planes is concerned: No responce to my calls or e-mails. just goes to show that they do not care about customer satisfaction,and willing to rip off the public. I have made a formal complaint to the B.B.B. Those guys are idiots

E-mails and phone calls are not the way to handle issues.

Instead follow the instructions on their support forum about sending a PM to Nitrostaff1.

The A-10 flies just fine as it comes out of the box, in spite of what your LHS said to sell you more parts...

You DO need to cycle the batteries to get maximum output, and you are advised to use new larger capacity packs as well.

 Ok  so I purchased an AT-6 Texas from Banana Hobby. It came packaged very well. Was simple to put together, and all the electronics work.. But I have not had a chance to fly it yet ...(too windy). So The wing Tiger  from Art-Tech came in today so I'm looking for ward to putting that thing together. It got great reviews. Much better quality than any other manufacturer. . Any tips on these two planes?

That plane uses a brushed motor with a LiPo battery.

For longevity you want to break in the brushes.

Charge the battery and run the motor at about 50% until the battery runs to cut-off.

Repeat.

Then do it again, incrementing the throttle about 15% for each run until you get to 100% ( however only run the plane at 90-100% for less than 30 seconds at a time on the ground... ).

This should wear the brushes in approprately.

Remember to get it trimmed out by an experienced flyer.

Yo rusted send the a 10 back dude the thing is crap!!!! I got mine and it wouldnt even leave the runway. I upgraded to a lipo like they say on the web sight then the motors blew up now Nitro is doing everything they can to NOT fix the issue. This is the 2nd plane I got from them that was crap........ John from nitro planes is the only one that isnt retarded so if you must talk to any one talk to him on here.....

Thanks man...I pawned it off on a dude that ripped me off a while back so it's his problem now ...Paybacks are a *****... got my money back and then some. Nitro planes and banana hobby are two places not to get stuff from... both sites do not want to fix their problems or refund money for the crap thay sell..... check out the B.B.B web site for rateings on these two companies..both have a F rateing... Blits RC is also owned by Nitro Planes so beware, best thing I found to get planes is your local hobby shop or look on craigs list you can find good used planes for the same price or less that the crap sold on Nitro Planes or Banana hobby. I've bought 2 Nitro 40 trainer planes that are in mint condition for under $100 each.Anyway good luck and remember if you crash it you can rebuild it. kinda like the six million dollor man....I bet with today's inflation he cost 40 million haha...

Here are a few videos of the A-10 with a stock brushless motor & LiPo packs as suggested.

Note the takeoff distance...

My brushed version flies the same way with LiPo's.

The brushless versions have greater thrust and take off in about 3/4 the distance required by the brushed versions, but the brushed plane performance is never-the-less pretty good.


[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMl-4eW7lcc&feature=youtube_gdata]Brushed Plane - One - Click me![/link]

[link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeUNFb04C4w&feature=youtube_gdata]Brushed Plane - Two - Click me![/link]

The caveat with the brushed motors, is that you'll probably need to replace them after a few seasons once the brushes wear down. However brushed motors are inexpensive to replace.

hahaha yeah I hear you on that...Yo nitro planes we dont want to see your fabricated videos on how the plane SHOULD fly I want to see MY plane fly...

One has to wonder just how long you have been flying and working with RC models madtown. I am not an oldtimer by any means but I purchased the same plane you are having issues with. Assembly was straight forward with a little research and reading on the forums. I had a number of "small" issues with mine (ailerons attachment was less than workable but easily fixed with clear packing tape) but still nothing that an experienced modeler would not be able to handle.
As far as your brushed motors go.......... did you in fact break them in? I will run both of mine using a D cell battery in order to properly seat the brushes. This is not brain surgery but also it is not something a new model owner would be aware of. I found that by "breaking in" my brushed motors on my heli's that the motor ran more smoothly and lasted longer than my first motor did with no break in. The main problem with the supplied brushed motors with the A-10 is that there is no way to remove the impellors without destroying them. If anyone has found a way to safely remove them I would be grateful to see the process.
Lets face it............. a RTF model for around $100 shipped to your door is not going to be the same as buying a top of the line ARF or RTF for easily 3 times the price. These are low end "fun flying" models with cheap hardware, servos, motors and ESC's. I don't believe the videos linked on this thread are fabricated, I believe the person who flew the model just did his homework and set his plane up properly and took the right steps to ensure a successful first (and more importantly) subsequent flights.
Tossing insults and whining on an internet forum are about as useful as using a sock to drink coffee from. You should take opjose's advice and PM Nitrostaff1 with your issues and let him try and resolve them. If he does in fact send you new motors (brushed) take the time to break them in and also make sure you ask for new impellers. They are NOT reusable. Do what it takes to make YOUR plane fly......... they are not going to come to your house and fix it for you.


__________________________________________________ ___________________________________


Of all the things I ever lost....................................... I miss my mind the most!

Interesting response.

I assumed that something posted by the manufacturer would receive distain, so I specifically posted links to USER created videos on YouTube, of people flying the plane you were disparaging.

As you can see on the videos it does a pretty good job.

I've already mentioned how to best handle what you are asking for, namely PM John.

However replacing the hardware is not a guarantee that your plane will fly sucessfully. Experience and practice take care of the latter.

I did brake the motors in like everyone says to do, no matter who says what about my pissing and moaning I still got a hunk of crap that wont fly I would be less iritaited if nitro planes would fix the problem, sence it was crap when I got it!!!!! BY the way I did say the plane was a nice model ,and that it was just the motors I was having issues with.