<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap; "> Currently, I have an A-10 Warthog EDF from Nitroplanes, and I'm having a problem. The instruction manuel is horrible, but I really like the plane itself. The only problem I'm having is that the manual says to test everything, which is right. It says turn on your transmitter and then the plane (which I'm assuming means to plug the battery in). Then the manual says to press down on the safety button, and that's where I'm stuck. I assume the safety button has to do with the throttle, and have NO clue where it is. If anyone has this plane, or seen someone with it, I would really appreciate help. Sincerely, Robert</span>

Robert, by looking at your post #s (2), I take it that you're new to R/C flying. If so, & I'm not being a smart ___. I'm trying to save you some time, money & a nice plane, & tons of frustration. Carefully put the plane back into the box & forget about it for a time.. Buy a trainer, learn how to work on it & fly it. Then, you'll need to go to a low wing & learn how to fly it. Then & only then, will you be getting close to being able to fly the WartHog. If you are lucky enough, no, I mean unlucky enough to get the WartHog in the air, you will enjoy it for less than 10 seconds before it goes in. I know the EDFs are cool looking & the trainers for the most part, are kinda ugly. These things are a LOT harder to fly than it looks. Good Luck

Please as pointed out above, put the hog on the shelf to admire for a while while you learn how to fly. If you do get it in the air, you will get frustrated from the time you spend waiting for the epoxy to cure.

Start with something like this
http://www.nitroplanes.com/newdyicanfl4.html
http://www.nitroplanes.com/new4chdyhask.html


The A-10 has a super col WOW factor the trainers do not have. What would you rather see in pieces on the ground, a cool A-10 or an ugly trainer?

Also need to know the A-10 you have.


Dru.

OK... another newbie on here with an Nitroplanes A10... (#603 RTF)... Not wanting to hijack the thread, but my questions tag along with those here...

I, too, was confused about the "safety" but wasn't going to worry about it yet. ...I also agree the enclosed directions are HORRIBLE!

MY question is about connecting the ESC's to the motors. The motors have black, blue, and red wires, the ESC has all black; which go to which? Another forum said it didn't matter, but as I hooked them up, it started beeping and "jerking" the servo's. ...any help/clarifications I might be able to get regarding that????

Also - if the A10 shouldn't be "flown" by beginners, why does it say good for beginners? ...not being a smart *****, just wondering. ...I was also given the flight simulator for the computer (which...thanks to Microsoft... crashes and just gives me an error message...), but I was also going to start out (in the snow) trying the A10 launched by hand. From these posts, I'm assuming this is a bad idea. ...If I'm a quick learner, what are the likely "problems" I will be faced with? What usually happens with newbies to cause the "crash and burn?"

Thanks for any info!

Chris - Colorado

OK... watched the youtube clip by Dave (NightFlyyer) and caught juuuuuuust a glimpse of the [colored] wires coming out of the esc and was able to connect my motors (like Dave, had to reverse the wiring on one side...). They crank! ...only question now is, why do they "pulse" (albeit very slightly - almost more like a pulsing "harmonic" sound) - is that normal at mid- to high-power ranges? Will it cause problems in flight? Thanks.

Chris<br type="_moz" />

The ESC to motor connections do not really matter. if it spins backwards swap 2 wires. I have seen the good for beginners on a lot of planes that should never be crashed, I mean flown by beginners.

The main reason is they fly faster then the beginner can react to it. They are responsive to control inputs.

Try to start with a high wing trainer type. It will save you pain and suffering.


Dru.

Thanks.

Been on here for the last couple hours looking at the forums. ...until getting this as a gift, I never looked here.

FIrst - I'm a bit disappointed in the (what I believe) "misleading" ad statements of "...for beginners..." as well as others on here; my wife saw that, thought it was suitable for starting out, hence the purchase. Now I've got either some serious learning to do on the simulator (which may or may not help...if I can get it going...), serious time at the local club trying to learn from someone else (and having them check my assembly), or spend more $$ on another "easier" plane. I have 5 wide-open acres (surrounded by more open acres) to practice in, but it sounds like that may not matter... How about practicing over my pond????

Second - wish I hadn't started using the enclosed glue...

Third - question - ...been reading all the comments on the batteries. Mine came with the 20C, 11.1V, 1500mAh Rechargeable Li-poly Battery. Is this going to be enough to get it off the ground, or do I already need an upgrade? Also, my charger shows the battery being "full" (green light); do I still need to run it down several times (via allowing the motors to run until they stop) before attempting flight (by someone else to check my assembly) or is it good to go now?

Thanks.

...wish there was a bit more of this "Beginner Education" on a link on the Nitroplanes homepage my wife could have seen before purchasing. ...knowing her, she would have checked it out and modified her purchase (or NO purchase) based on the material presented.

As stated, start out with a different plane and make sure that you either join a club or get someone with a good amount of RC experience to help you.

There are a lot of nuances to this hobby and a real "Do it yourself" aspect to it, that novices do not understand.

The enclosed glue can be used, but it is not the best. Again this is something that experience teaches RC fliers.

No the LiPo version of the plane has different batteries and brushless motors that increase the amount of available power.

It will have no problems taking off with the included pack and you'll get about 6 minutes of flight with that pack.

Assuming you already know how to fly and trim out a plane.... the latter catches newbies quite often.

The "Running down" and "forming charges" do not apply to LiPo.

If the light goes green, the pack is charged.

The problem is that "beginners" don't bother reading this stuff, nor paying attention to the sage advice given them by seasoned flyers.

Other vendors have such areas, and yet people come to these forums AFTER purchasing the planes that are advised against. The usualy response we get around here is "I just don't like how it looks, so I refuse to get one" when a trainer plane is advised. The Beginners area is repleat with these threads too... and the beginners refuse to take the advice given.

Here is a GREAT piece of advice for you...

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

And read and watch the videos. There are other related upgrade videos.

BTW: another similiar plane may be found here: [link=http://www.nitroplanes.com/new4chdyhask.html]Click me too![/link]

The above planes are great for a "do-it-yourselfer" though you are advised to seek help from a club or an experienced RC flyer for things beyond this.

Thanks for the input and the links.

...will definitely be talking with some local clubs/experienced flyers. ...maybe I can find someone willing to "practice" with one of their beginners with the caveat that "If I break it, I bought it," or purchase a used one for cheap.

In the back of my mind I also wondered if some of the problems with newbies was a result of them building their own planes and not trimming them out properly. I think I have the A10 trimmed out right (several iterations of setting, running, letting things settle to "neutral", checking, and adjusting, then repeat, etc... and understanding flight is really the only way to tell if it is "correct") , but having an experienced person look at it prior to launch is just plain good advice!

Also - since you may know - it seems as though one motor is "more powerful" than the other. While they start relatively at the same time (one does always kick in a fraction of a second before the other), it seems one has noticeably more thrust than the other one. Is this a problem? Any adjustments that can be made to "balance" them?

Thanks!

Chris

The motors should produce about the same amount of thrust.

If they do not, then it is likely that either:

- The ESC's have not been properly calibrated to the throttle.

In effect they each see the throttle positions differently.

You'll want to go through the same initialization sequence for both ESC's... and also try them individually.

You normally have to set the throttle "range" by moving it from FULL to full down, with full trim down just before flight.

- One or more of the blades is hitting the shroud.

You can sand the tips by inserting medium grit sandpaper between the blades and the shroud, and manually turning the blades along the sandpaper to remove a bit of plastic. Do this evenly for the blades.

Thanks much.

None of the blades are rubbing, so I'll try to calibrate the ESC. ...If I understood you correctly,I need to unplug one motor, set the throttle trim and throttle to its lowest position, turn it on, connect the battery, run the throttle/motor from low to full throttle and back again a couple times, and repeat with the other motor, then do the same with both motors?

Correct.

Also restrain the plane and with the throttle all the way up, plug it in to turn it on.

Wait for the first beep.

Some ESC's expect the throttle to be all the way UP, then they look to see the range of the signal from the throttle channel, as the ESC is brought all the way down.

You'll know if your ESC's do this because the motors will NOT start spinning with the throttle all the way up.

Typically the ESC will not arm the motors until it sees the throttle brought all the way back down.

If this is the case, get in the habit of leaving the throttle all the way UP as you hook up the plane.

Different ESC's are used on these planes so results may vary.

Not by any means do I intend to contradict the forum host, in many ways he is CERTAINLY correct about using a trainer first = one that flies slowly enough so that the newbie has a chance to respond appropriately - in most cases, you should be flying high enough that if you get in trouble, you have time and altitude enough to get out of trouble, - in most cases if you just release all the sticks on the transmitter, allowing them to return to their neutral/starting position then the plane should recover to a level and straight attitude - please don't count on these gimmicky sensors that purport to say that they watch the horizon in relation to the ground (or whatever) and save you!

In order to accomplish this, most trainers are a high-wing monoplane (not a biplane or jet) that has a good amount of "dihedral" built into the wing (the angle between the two halves of the wing) to make it fly slowly, more like a glider! A glide ratio is important when you're learning - you don't want your plane dropping like a stone. Don't forget the old adage, "What goes up, MUST come down! and don't forget that the coming down part doesn't necessarily mean "tenderly".

The BEST bet is, if you're at all computer literate and it doesn't really take much to install & use the software, is to buy one of the better RC plane simulators like Great Planes' RealFlight G4 or G4.5 that comes with it's own "Interlink" controller (a simulated transmitter, not a real one but looks like a real one, but with essentially the same feel as a real one) - sometimes, depending on your REAL transmitter if you have already purchased a plane, if it is compatible with the simulator, you can use your own transmitter and thus keep the feel of your real transmitter and only buy just the software and save some money. This simulator software works with most of the common brand-name middle to high end transmitters like Futaba, JR, Hitec, etc. not with "cheap" ones that come with many ready to fly airplanes or don't have a simulator port/connection!

The point with the simulator is that a VIRTUAL crash is better than a REAL crash - a virtual crash (which is simulated very well by the plane breaking into pieces, along with the sound of all this happening) DOES NOT result in your having to perform repairs or buy another airplane depending upon the level of damage. you can do virtual crashes over and over again!

You REALLY should NOT buy an airplane UNTIL you can competently fly a trainer such as the NEXSTAR ON THE SIMULATOR (it comes in either gas or electric) which even in the simulator has basically what are called "air brakes" and "wing droops" to slow the plane down and to stop the plane from stalling! In fact, if you DO buy a Great Planes NEXTSTAR, they come with a "truncated" (shortened) version of the simulator that's called RealFlight Basic = just for the Nextstar and is MUCH cheaper. Top of the line simulators can run close to $200, with or without the controller.

Real Flight is so much closer to the Real Thing with all kinds of physics and stuff used to make the trees and grass blow in the wind, etc. They even have planes that can take off and land from the water with the proper floats attached. One word of caution: I wouldn't try to get by cheaply with "freebies" like "FMS" - they just don't do flying a plane justice

The goal of flying with a simulator: first should be "simply" to take off, circle the field, line up for the landing, and be able to land it properly (read: safely). Once you're comfortable with these basic maneuvers, and some of these simulators can take you step by step in their training modes: take-off's, turns, landing approach, & the actual landing; can go all the way to teaching you how to fly upside down, perform all kinds of aerobatic maneuvers, and even progress to advanced stuff like 3-D where you learn how to hover your plane, perform harriers, high-alfa manuevers, etc. Just about ANYTHING you can do with a real/model sport, areobatic or 3D plane. They also include everything needed to learn to fly a helicopter which is actually harder to learn than flying a plane!

Hope this helps, as usual,

sushi/Dave

I'm talking from experience - I even went two almost $200 Park Flyer Cessna 182 RTF's because they were really underpowered for literally ANYTHING. Now that they're putting brushless motors and lithium polymer (lipo) batteries on these "trainer" planes, you USUALLY have enough power to at least learn the basics. Most trainers don't do aerobatics or 3D - that's NOT what they're designed to do!

Yes to all of the above...

However if you MUST go it alone, a plane such as the Wild Hawk, is far better suited than something like the A-10.

As a starter plane for a beginner it is a pretty good choice, and the price is right!