I have a Mibo A10 here that has been on the build for about two years now. So no rush!
I think its a Gen 3 Kit. Certainly not G4. I am now looking at fitting it out ready to fly and had some questions for all you Hog experts out there...
I am torn at the moment between putting a pair of 120 SX' s in the back and having plenty of power to spare, or a pair of small merlin 90's. These are small and light and kick out 20-21 lbs of power a piece. I was hoping that with the merlins I could get away without adding too much nose weight thus have a lighter all up weight.
I know a couple of you have flown with P-70s and were not over impressed. Any thoughts??
Any idea what my fuel capacity is on the G3 Kevlar tanks?
Will the dummy engines fit from the pods of the G4 kit into the G3 nacelles? Does anyone have any photos of these turbo fans fitted? Also do they effect the turbine operattion when in use? A photo I saw it looked like the turbine intake was right up against the centre pod of the dummy turbo fan.

I think thats it for now, but if I think of any more I will be sure to post. Thanks for your time!
Regards Al

Hi Ali,
I wouldn"t use anything less than P-120 size turbines, just for the fact of one engine out, the other engine has enough power to fly the Hog until you land, I am using P-160SX in my G4. See you soon Ali.

Joe C!!

Ali,
One of my friends here is flying one of my Hogs, (same size), on a SINGLE P-80. Our field is one mile ASL. It is no speed demon but it can be done.

However, with your flying style I think you need two P-200s!!

Hey Ali,
I think the Kevlar tanks in the G 3 are 83 oz each. I used them as well as added two Dubro 50 oz tanks for a total of 260 oz ( 130oz per motor)
I am using the P120( older ones) The power is great. However, If i were building another one today, I would probably go with something a little bigger.

I don't think the new G4 fans will work in the G3 nacelles without some modification.

Good luck with yours. What paint scheme are you thinking about?

Billy

Hey Joe!
I should think that even with a turbine out 20 lbs of thrust should be enough to keep the hog airbourne. True! You will be able to do a full aero routine with your with just one motor [X(]
One important question... Will it be ready for California jets?
How does that single P-80 set up work out? The main idea of using the smaller turbines was to have a lower overall weight and hopefully a more agile model thats nicer to fly.
From what I have seen of the full size they are far from overpowered!
I did promise my painter that I would not photo graph it till it was all done and sitting with all its war clothes hanging from under the wings, but a quick put it together and see what it looks like session in the workshop tonight provided too much temptation. Sorry Ray[]
As seems normal with my scale planes of late,,, I could not find a scale scheme that floated my boat so it was off through my I photo file of interesting schemes that I pick up on my travels around cyber space to see what I liked the look of.
As with all them it had be semi believable, and as A-10's are operated in and around Alaska it seemed like a feasible scheme. It will look allot better sat on its wheels as my painter has done a great job of detailing the undercarriage and even the tires, and lets not mention all those tools of war that hang from the underside of the wings, oh and of course the pilot and cockpit but here are some for now!

Hey Billy.
Your post came back while I was typing mine. more power than the P-120??? Really! That is a surprise. I thought that 120s would have been to much! Thats changed my mind a little as you are the top Hog pilot and I respect your opinion.
What is your weighing dry? and how much nose weight are you flying with?
As far as my scheme goes... See above, and below! I know its not scale but I hope you like it?

I am not too keen on the number 2 and may get it repainted as a number 5. Its times like this that you realise you need a bigger workshop!

Mine is just under 55lbs dry. I have 6oz of weight in the nose, but could remove that if I move some things forward. A normal level flight is about half throttle and full for the verticals. However it would seem to be more scale if I entered the vertical a little slower then powered through over the top. Trying to mantain a more constant speed rather than getting a running start.

Also I have had about 8 engine out's ( not bad in almost 600 flights). One 120 is fine but you would hope that you don't lose one when you are already too slow. I can't imagine flying around with all the bells and whistles handing under the wings, fully fueled and god forbid a strong head wind with only 20lbs of blow. My opinion is to over power, then if something goes wrong you have the power to continue flying and land when and where you want. The byproduct of overpowering this airframe is you will probably get a longer flight by using less throttle. Same with my P200 powered F16, off the throttle more so I get more flight time.

My flight times on the hog are about 8 min. I usually land with about 30oz left in each tank.
I never half to worry about loosing a motor, because I know it will fly fine on one even directly after take off[8D]

I like your paint scheme.

Billy

Al,

Looks great! I think you should get another coz I know how much Ray enjoyed rubbing that back!!! I guess he probably told you once or twice LOL

Ali, two 120 class turbines will be fine. Michael Wurm has been using P-80's but vertical maneuvers are mushy. As Billy said with proper equipment layout you should not need nose weight. I would not contemplate using the dummy fans for anything other than static. They will affect the intake airflow, and can break loose. have been flying with an extra 2 liter tank which was mounted center between the saddle tanks. This gives around 11 minutes of flight with some go around time. At around 64 lbs wet, there are really no issues with a plane of this size.
Mike

Yea Ali, the static scale fans (picture attached) that you may have seen on my web site: [link]http://jetadic.com/[/link] are only for show and they only fit the G-4 Nacelles.
The mockup spinner, screen, etc. (picture attached) that comes with the G-4 MIBO Kit has no measurable effect on the thrust....also only fits the G-4 Nacelles. Roger

Ok on the advice of you guys I have decide to go back to the original plan of fitting a pair of 120 SX's ( or do I really need to go 160 SX's ) My worry with the 160s is the extra fuel I need.
I would like to try and get away with 120 SX's on the stock fuel tanks supplied. The new 120 SX's Do seem to be really fuel efficient. Do you guys have any photos of your installs, especially the extra tank position, and how you managed to get everything up front so only 6 oz on nose weight was needed!
Roger, thanks for the info.. Thats a shame they dont fit. No way of adapting them to fit is there? What about the scale under cart parts.. Will these fit my G3? I dont suppose there is any chance those fabric intake and exhaust covers would fit mine is there?

Ali,
Jet Tech has made custom tanks for Joe Grice for the larger engines, I am having a set made as well, the tanks are 330 ounces of fuel, there are 3 total tanks. With these tanks, you should be fine for about 9 min flight with the 160"S and a lot more with the 120"s.
Joe C!

Ali,

I'm a little late joining the discussion but since I originally flew my Gen 3 A-10 with P-70's and later switched to P-120 SE's (plus I flew the real A-10), I have a little experience with the questions you are asking. I originally installed the P-70's for the very reasons you mentioned and although the airplane flew OK, there was no "excess" power and would have been marginal in a single engine situation. Ironically, this was how the full scale flew and we always wished we had more power.

With the P-120's, there is plenty of power and I have had 2 or 3 single engine situations and the airplane flies just fine. The issue with power and the A-10 is not so much to go fast or lots of vertical (wouldn't look scale anyway), but it's to maintain speed during maneuvering and being able to pull up into a loop or immelman after a hard turn. The airplane is big, draggy and looses energy fast during high g maneuvers...that's when you need the extra power.

CG is not really a problem since you can put your batteries way up front in the nose and offset most of the weight in the rear. I did mount my UAT's under the cockpit but most everything else is between the cockpit and fuel tanks. I used 24oz Sullivan's for aux tanks and mounted them vertically just in front of the main tanks.

The whole mind set of flying the A-10 is a little different from your go-fast heavy metal jet fighter. It's close in, turning, jinking, straffing, slower speed maneuvering, at least if you want to fly it scale. Actually, I think it fits your flying style and you will enjoy it.

Craig

Hum Ali I don't have a G-3 nose strut so cannot say...please give me a measurement from the trunion block to the top sizzers lug.
The scale strut attachments, with some triming, will fit the G-3Mains.
If you already have the rear doors operational you will have to change a couple hinge points...the hardware to do this is included in the kits.
Oh yea, the cloth nacelle covers fit all generations.

Hi Craig,

Awesome looking model mate! Can hardly tell it's not the real thing!

I would love one of these one day...not with our current exchange rate though! (the aussie dollar has turned into the south east asian peso!)

Regards,

Craig.

Ali,

If I was you (ie. money is no object) I'd definitely go with a pair of fresh 160sx's. You will not need any nose weight and I doubt you'd use any more fuel. Mine is set up the same as Billy's with 120's and the stock tanks plus two 50oz Dubros. The batteries are next to the nosegear. If I want to do any kind of decent vertical maneuver (like a 400' immelman) I've got to be full throttle for a good while before entry so that I can exit the top comfortably. With the 160's you'd be back on the power most of the time and just give it the juice when you needed it (when the nose is pointed up).

Then again I saved a bunch of change using an old pair of 120's and my plane is perfectly matched to my favorite wingman...Billy "Big Guns".

Right guys.. I bow to your knowledge of all things A-10. I had decided to go up to a pair of 120 SX's and added them to my latest Jet Cat order, but after a sleep on it and reading Joe's post I have decided that it will have to be a pair of 160 SX's [X(] This should be fun!
My only concern now is the fuel. I might contact Gary at Jet tech about those tanks. It seems a shame as I have the 2 kevlar ones already fitted. I am also concerned that the G4 fuselage may have changed so these new tanks might not fit my G3.
Also what about trim change? Do you guys not get any issues when you burn off all this fuel in front of the C of G?
Any photos of the install of the extra Dubro tanks?
Regards Al

Hi Ali!

i dont know if you know this link: http://www.wallybi.at/paul/fairchild.htm []

It´s the A-10 Generation 4 which was designed by Michael Wurm from Austria for Mibo-Jets. You can see some Pictures and a great maiden video. He fly´s his A-10 with 2 P-70´s with great succes.

Ali, your A-10 looks bad *****$$

Cheers

Thomas

Ali,

Regarding those Jet Tech tanks. They were made off of plugs created by Joe Grice who had both a Gen 3 and 4 in his possesion at the time. Gary should be able to confirm, but it sounds like they should fit the G4.

Joe