got my a4 directions today and they say that the jet will take off in 150'? is that with the scale wings? mine has the sport wings, will it take off sooner? our runway is only 225' long. was hoping to be able to fly it there since my f16 needs way more room than that. this is also the older version that has never been completed. i will be the first to fly her. yehawww. also got a magazine with the dir. april of 89, it has a good article of the yellow a4. thanks any help will be much appreciated. thanks, doug

Hey Doug, I think that your plane will make it off in that distance as long as you keep her light, a good set of firm wheels will also shorten the take off roll, it makes a big difference! Also make sure that the nose is sitting high to help with rotation, will keep it from leaping off the ground. The plane is rather nose heavy at takeoff due to the fuel sitting on top of the nose gear, my A-4 had a CG shift of 7/8'' from a full tank to empty. A big thing to remember is to keep the speed up in the turns and don't pull hard or it will snap out and then you are in for a tumble to its death!

Chris

Why did you put the fuel tank in the nose rather than using saddle tanks on the CG?

Daren

There was no room in mine. I think the newer version was able to do this due to the motor being more forward . I had very little experience with this plane so some one may have done it.

Chris

The old kits were designed this way and lacked room. The newer redesigned A-4 used saddle tanks. Mine was a blast to fly. Take Chris' advice and you will have a long lasting plane.

Another tip....this model is kinda squirrely on the ground. (At least mine was) On takeoff, advance the throttle slowly to get the model moving straight ahead. Once rolling, nail the throttle and off she goes! If you try to advance the throttle full bore from a dead stop the model will try to swap ends. Was mine the only one that exhibited this behavior???? Once I learned how to manage the takeoff, this wasn't an issue any more.

Kevin

Hello

Mine hasn't tried to swap ends on take off yet,but make sure to get speed up on take off. It is a blast to fly!

Kevin

Kevin,

Interesting that you got yours to do anything at all right at spoolup. Mine wouldn't move until I got up to about half throttle, and I always figured it was due to the small inlets. I never had ground handling issues on takeoff, but I use a little toe-in on the mains. Based on my own experience, I would think you'd need more than 150' for takeoff. Then again, mine have always been laden with extra stuff. The P-80 powered one I'm building now will probably not need a lot of runway for takeoff, though. Hehe.

My bud George DelMoral had the arf A4 w/sport wing, and it would rotate in about 150 ft or so if it had a fair head wind..you may want to give yourself 200ft to be safe.

Joey.

Shaun,

Mine had brakes on it----Hold the brakes...Rev it up...Release the brakes....Watch it try to swap ends. We ended up not using the brakes except to stop the model during the taxi, landing, etc...

Don't get me wrong---I LOVED this plane!!! It was my "just throw it in the car and go fly" plane. Very short takeoffs. We lost the model due to interference. This was the older kit. We bought another (New and improved version) and flew the snot out of it until my buddy had a dead stick with it. He tried to stretch the glide---Stall, snap, spin, crash. Just keep the speed up and you'll be fine!

Kevin

Yep,

The old 'stretch the glide' trick with the A-4......The stretched glide is the drum roll, and the sudden snap into nose-down inverted is the cymbal clash! Been there--done that. The high-speed stall is something to see also. I learned, don't pull too hard in really high speed turns and don't try to turn corners on landings. Other than that, it's my favorite to fly!

Yep, Shaun---these planes are keepers!!! I hate to use the term the "ugly stick of jets" 'cause this plane is not ugly at all. I only experienced a high speed stall one time at the bottom of a loop that was a little tight. Luckily, there was enough altitude to recover. The best thing to do in case of the high speed stall is to just release the sticks. There is usually enough speed for the plane to start flying straight again.....However, the plane could be flying straight but who knows what attitude it will be in!!! The only problem is if you run out of altitude or loose orientation to totally recover.

Are you insane?!?!?! A P-80 in a Heinelman (sp?) Hotrod??? She ought to go like a bat outta you-know-where!!! I hope the wing loading doesn't get too high. You don't have an MW-54 size engine to put in her???

Kevin

Kevin



Alas, no smaller engine for the Skyhawk. I'm not too worried, though. I've flown some very heavy ones on fan power, and the P-80 is a very light engine for its size. My only issue was fuel, but I have enough for some short sorties. I modified an F-16 centerline tank to hold 46 ounces, then I've got another 20 ounces on board. At 11 pounds of thrust, that ought to be enough for a 5 minute flight with a go around built in.

hmmm, just wanted to know if it could take off an a 225' strip. got mor than i asked for. thanks guys.

shaune. how long before you a-4 p-80 is ready to fly??

I had a few, love them

Never took more than 150ft with an OS91 and Dynamax and scale wing to get off the ground.

Probably back in April 2003, the date of this thread...........

hi anybody know were the cg for the a4 Ihave the scale vercion