I am thinking about the A-10 but am fairly new and no jet experience. Any advice? (Please say buy one, please)

I just bought the A-10 and am getting it finished i have pics of the finished model. Can't wait to fly it. Was hoping someone had some ideas on how to hop it up.

A 10 - ok here is the deal. The plane is good but not for beginners .Why? It is very pitch sencesitive . If you decide to build this plane here is my suggestions.
One forget the steering servo on the front wheel.If you can take off from 25 ft of paved runway you will be fine and this will lighten the plane . Besides the steering servo is virtually ineffecive . Simply glue the wheel straight and you may have one or two roll outs that go astray but for the most part mine rolled staright and true . Second buy a 8 cell 830mah battery . This gives much better clime .

even with these changes the plane is a hand full , I still cant figure out the pitch sencitivity . If anyone has suggestons let me know, I am balanceing according to plans

Thank you.
These planes look so awesome I think I'll buy one now just in case they get discontinued. I think I will wait a while before I actually fly it though. Then again it would be awfully tempting. Oh well, what's a little tempation?

The pitch sensativity is from being balanced to far back. Read the article from the new issue of quiet flight( july issue).

I agree with Hover259 - make sure you check the balance; sounds alittle tail heavy (mine exhibited the same behavior until I rebalanced it).

Also, I wanted more authority while flying so I increased the 7 cell 720 mah (Nmh) to 8 cells. At first the motors ran great - then, 45 seconds later - I fried one of the motors. Yikes!!!! I have spoken to several others who have tried the same by going to an 8 cell (9.6 volt) and had the same problem. I went back to the 7 cell and it works fine. Also, I built it witout the landing gear in order to save weight and for a more realistic flight. Good luck flying it - it really turns the heads at the field with the low flybys and sweeping turns. It is a very fun plane to just cruise around with!

Realflight.......is it a hard plane to hand launch....i to built mine without the landing gear....just wondering if it has any bad tendencies at the hand launch. Thanks
Hover259

Nope - it just takes a easy toss and she's airborne.

Another thing about the balance issue that I didn't really spell out... I balanced mine to be just a bit nose down from level and it fly ok but seemed to appear tail heavy. So I added just a bit of the provided clay in the nose and it flew even better. Actually, the plane is my 10 year old son's plane. He loves doing low levels from a dive to about a foot off the deck for a low fly by and then do a A-10 climbing turn - very cool! You'll have ball with it.

I bought him the gray scheme. So far, he has had several flights on it. My intentions are to lightly sand the gray finish, and all of those drag-inducing bumps on the wing, and airbrush it to a close replica of one of the AirForce A10s. I will use the Model Masters Acryl paints. This is a water-based paint that will not add weight to the plane - I will simply mist very light coats to get the coverage and pattern I want. I'll post pics as soon as it's done. Good luck.

Who made this kit? Whats their webpage?
Thanks

You can find more information at www.horizonhobby.com
Here's the link to take you directly to the A-10

http://horizon.hobbyshopnow.com/prod...p?prod=GWS1055

Also, check out the August 2003 edition of Model Airplane News (p 70) for a review on the plane.

HERE ARE SOME HONEST THOUGHTS ON THE PLANE-
LOOK AND SCALE APPEARANCE- 1 TO 10 8 LOOKS GREAT
QUALITY OF FINISH 9
QUALITY OF MOTORS 5 COULD BE STRONGER
QUALITY OF HARDWARE 6 FLEX ON CONTROL HORNS
ABILATY TO INCREASE POWER VIA BATTERY 6-ITS A SCIENCE-TOO MUCH AND YOU FRY THE MOTORS -TOO LITTLE AND YOU HAVE GAINED NOTHING
FLIGHT 7-REGARDLESS OF BALANCE-UNTIL YOU REALLY FIND THE MAGIC SPOT IT WILL BE PITCH SENSITIVE. GOLDEN RULE IN ELECTRIC-IF YOU ADD WEIGHT MAKE IT WORK FOR YOU .SO COMMON SENSE IS ADD BATTERY WEIGHT CAPACITY BUT REMEMBER THE ABOVE STATEMENT

OVERALL-7 I WOULD BUY THIS PLANE AGAIN BUT ADD BETTER MOTORS WITH MODIFACATION, POSSIBLY WATT AGE. MAKE MY OWN MOTOR HOUSEING AND GO LIGHT UP THE SKY

i would really like more information for the proper balance of this airplane.

Well, well, well.. I've got one too.

I'm waiting on a new receiver since I burned out the old one. But mine is almost ready now except for the final balancing. I did go ahead and installed the steering servo and one of those 3 3/4" inch tall G.I. Joe action figures for a pilot. can't stand to see a scale bird without a pilot in the right spot.

Hope to have it flying before the 4th Annual T-38 Jet rally here in Lubbock come August 14 - 17, 2003.

I just flew mine for the 1st time tonight and all went well...balance was good and she was very stable. I put the 730 mha 7 cell battery in mine and i had to use alittle of the ballast clay that came with the model on the botom of the nose. The plane wasn't fast but it moves right along. Sounds great in flight!
Hope you guys all have a great time with yours.

I have about 12 flights on mine. First flight the battery was moving around inside . When the battery would move aft it flew great , when it moved forward it would hardly climb. I am using a 7 cell 720 battery pk. moved (back) so that only about a inch is showing in the battery compartment. It loops and rolls very good the first part of the flight , later I have to dive to loop and roll. I have hit the nose very hard and crushed it , a quick repair with a 8 oz. coffee cup and it had a real HOG nose and flew just as well. Most craft stores have foam safe spray paint for floral arangements that are just right for camo . I also left the wheels off. Once trimed it launches straight out and climbs good . I am at about 4500 ft in Utah. GET one

I love this little plane. Finished mine up last week and just flew it over the weekend. Yes, it is slow, but it is darn manuverable. Very, very tight turns like the real thing. Great rolls. Doesnt have alot of excess power but it hand lauched and climed right out. I have a NICAD 350 Ma pack and ballanced per plans. No wheels, but put a nose hook on it. Like my T33, when I am alone I like to bungee lauch with about a 6 foot piece of surgical tubing. Works flawlessly! Cant wait to try it in the gymnasium over the winter. It has a very light wing loading and flies like a slow flyer!

How do you guys get to fly in the gymnasium, do you have to call ahead or something

Have any of you guys tried the 8cell 700mha pack? I've got one but was afraid it would burn the motors up...any ideas or suggestions.
Thanks!

Hover259,

Check out my earlier posts on my experience with using the 8 cell pack. Although I fried one of my motors, like many others, I have heard guys using 10 cell packs with success! I don't know how/why it worked but they claimed that it did. I'm sticking with the 7 cell pack with the stock motors - they work great. BTW, I also spoke to someone who highly recommends using a 2 cell Lithium pack - lighter weight made all the world of difference with him A10. He also claims 25 minute flights - easy! I may try them sometime but in the meantime, I'll stick with the 7 Cell 720 NiMh pack. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

Realflight.......could you tel much difference in the power....i mean till she blew a motor? Thanks

Both motors "ripped" (for about 45 seconds) with the extra cell - just wish it would work. The plane is designed to be a "park flyer" so i can't expect it to be a screamer; I just wanted a little more speed for the passes. One other thing I thought about trying: GWS makes a 5-blade EDF-50 that would produce more thrust. I have heard of others using this unit with great results. They stated that it didn't fly faster but with more authority. The only problem is that I can't find anyone who sells them. Everyone I have tried is out of stock. I also have heard that GWS makes a 50H version of the fan unit that handles 10.8 volts instead of the 7.2 volts with the stock unit. I can't seemed to find these either. Have you even compared the stats of these motors and fan units from the box and the GWS web site? The numbers don't match - very frustrating to make a decision with conflicting data.

I have had a GWS A-10 for a couple of months. It looks really good in the air and I always get compliments on it. However it is a bit underpowered on 6 cells. I just built a 7 cell pack and will try it this weekend. There are lots of threads about this plane on ezone. Many people have hopped up the EDF-50 sith speed 300 motors with good results. I have a pair of Graupner 6V Speed 300's waiting for the stock motors to fail.

There site with the info is right here: http://www.gws.com.tw/english/produc...system/edf.htm

If ya figure anything out please let me know. Thanks!

Where can I get a hold of those speed 300 motors? I have burnt out a total of 4 motors using just 7 cells on mine.

I started out with and am using a 7 cell 730Mha pack, i have a 8 cell 700Mha pack waiting but can't get up the guts to ruin my EDF's motors.