CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

I have received my A-10 kit produced by Chris Graham aka CGRCJets (although mine was supplied via Lowell Wexler at RCJetsDirect) and here is the build.

As there is no manual yet, I hope to get some help from Chris and publish it here so that everyone can get some information. My kit was expertly packed and arrived in the UK, having travelled via Luxembourg, completely unscathed. Below are some pictures which show you just how much you get for $1295. There is obviously a fuselage and canopy too but I haven't photographed that yet as I don't have room! I can't quite identify all the parts yet so hopefully this can be the first bit where Chris can help out.

Pic 1: Wing, Flaps, Aileron and Gear Fairing.
Pic 2: Tailplane and Elevators.
Pic 3: Fins and Rudders.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

My favourite part, the engine pod (and covers).

Shown with Wren 44 Gold for size comparison:D

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Formers and wood parts. I can obviously see that some are fuselage formers and some are nosegear former parts but will have to ID all these bits later.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Loads of detail parts.

Pic 1: Moulded and vac formed parts. Not sure where all these go yet.
Pic 2: Servo covers/horns etc.
Pic 3: Close up of parts I can't ID. Some look like control horns but I haven't worked out where they go yet.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Looks good, mouldings are crisp - have fun ;)

marcs

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

those 44s are gonna work great. congrats on the kit. I saw one in Southern California when they were trying to determine best shipping method. perhaps it was this kit. I thought all the parts were beautifully molded.
I'm looking forward to watching this thread grow.

cheers
buck

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

plenty of room for the 44's in there....hmmm couple of merlin 90's might fit..:D
seems much bigger than i originally thought.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Darren, let us know what you need. We are more than happy to help.
Buck, that is the one you saw at the shop.
We have several kits available now for sale in stock if any one wants one.
Thanks,
Lowell

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

OK,

I am going to start with something easy and work on the fins/rudders.

First questions:

I can see where I should put the rudder servos but there is no 'hole'. Do I need to cut a servo hatch into the skin?

Is there a block in the rudders for the horn and, if so, where? Is one of the horns in the kit for the rudders?

Did the prototypes have the fins glued to the tailplane or were they bolted on? Was any reinforcement employed at the joint?

Thanks

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Got mine yesterday. Looks real nice. Looking foreward to this build thread as no manual included. Looks like the flap hinging procedure will definately need to be addressed.
Wayne McCosker STL

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Hello Sic
Here is a pic that might help you. The servo actually drops down in the hole. And you can see that there is a small spot that needs to be cut out for the servo leads to go through. The servo bolts to the cover and then you drop the whole thing in the hole. There is some shim material in one of the packets that is the same color as the cover. This will be used to shim the servo 1/32" away from the cover and allow you to countersink the holes. I will take some better pics today that will show this a little better.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

If you guys want you can start out with something more simple like the detail on the fuselodge. Their are a few good sights that you can go on, including warthog territory, A10 walkarounds and airliners.net. These are the sights that i have found to be the most useful. Here are a few of my pics of the detail that i put on. There are some square outline detail on fuse. These will be cut out to glue in the vacuum formed avionics cooling vent. The outer vents will just be glued on.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

This is the rudder servo cover/mount and scrap shim material.

I am not sure if john and lowell supplied the screws for the kits. If not you will need:

4- #2 x 1/4" panhead screws for mounting this plate to verticle stab.
2- #3 x 1/2" countersink wood screws for mounting the servo to this plate.
2- #6 x 1/2" self tapping panhead screws to mount the vertical stab. to horizontal stab.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

The scrap material will be used to shim the servo back from the mounting plate and allow you to countersink for the screws that bolt the servo to the plate. These will need to be countersunk so the linkage cover blisters fit flush on the plate when the whole thing is complete. As you can see, i cut the scrap material to about 3/16" square and used black permanent marker on them so they stand out. These will be squared up on one side of the plate over the two inner servo mounting holes and Ca them in place. As with everything, a good sanding or scuffing will allow for a better bond. I am sure most of you already know this but some people may not. Resins dont bond well to one another especially when using a resin to bond them. The good word is sand it before you bond it unless you want some kind of failure. I even do it with CA. I use the thick CA for plastic and wood. Later you will see, the void where the shim is will also be used to sandwhich the extra lip of the recess where the servo plate sits. When the hole is cut out for the servo you will want to leave a little bit of this lip.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

This picture shows how the plate sits when it is in the recess and the holes that will need to be cut for the servo and servo leads. The servo hole is about 2- 1/4" wide from left to right in this pic. It will start from the back of stab , in about 1- 1/2" and from the front part of the recess that the plate mounts, in 5/8". Go slow when you cut this out and be sure to leave some of that lip on the recess. Leave a little lip inside where the hard point is and dont cut through the hardpoint. Slowly trim it out until the servo fits down into the hole while it is loosely attached to the plate. I used a 1/16" router bit in the dremel after i marked everything out and finished it up with file. The mounting procedure would be to drop servo in the hole with plate loosely attached, push plate into recess, Screw plate to stab, (4- #2 x 1/4" screws)and then finish tightening the (2- #3x 1/2") countersink servo screws so that the recess lip is sandwhiched between servo and servo cover. This locks the servo in place. I used some good ply on the back side of these servos when mounting them to the plate. Some of the kits have the rear hardpoint to attach the plate to the stab but recently i have not been putting these in because the builder can add them after the fact. All the hardpoints for the front part of servo plate are installed. You will then need to cut out a small hole for servo leads to run through. The hole will be between the (2- #6 x 1/2"self tapping panhead) screws that mount the vertical stab. to horizontal stab.

I just noticed that i cut to much of that lip off on this pic. Dont do that. Make sure you leave more. This is one of the first verticle stabs i set up and made a mistake.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Looks very nice. I can't even fly one of these yet and I'm having a hard time keeping my check book in my pocket looking at the pictures.
Have fun.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

You might be able to check one out at Fresno jets. John and Lowell are always at the rallies and maybe they will have one flying there. I may also show up. I am only about 2 hours away.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

I plan on being there so I'll look for them.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

The servos that we use for rudders are Hi Tec HS-82MG. The demo plane flew with a Hi Tec servo that from what i hear has been discontinued. The Hi Tec HS-82MG i guess is what replaced it. The old servo came with optional side mounts which are needed but when I recieved the Hi Tec HS-82MG it did not include these side mounts. John had to send me these mounts separately. I am sure Hi Tec still makes these mounts because i have seen them in different packages. I will have to check in on that.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Answer:

There are no blocks in the rudders. There is a ply stretch that the hinges mount into and you will use these for hard point. The rudder control horns are the smallest besides the flaps. You will be able to tell these apart because the rudders only have 2 horns and the flaps have 4. You will cut out a slot big enough for the horn to fit in behind the ply. That goes for all horns besides flaps. This ply acts like a hardpoint and when glued to it in the inside and also to the outside skin, this will give it, its strength. The posts on the horns will go straight through the control surface and be glued to the inside of the opposing side. The posts may need some small trimming on the ends until the control horn fits all the way in and still hits the inside of the opposing side. Scuff the control horn up and apply thick ca glue on the whole post to where it is about to drip off. If you need to you can even drop some ca into the slot you had cut out just to make sure you are getting enough coverage and a good bond. Remember that the horn will need to be glued to the ply also. Drop the horn in and throw a beed of ca on the outside flange and kick it. Remember to scuff the outside skin as well where the horn goes in. It also may be easier to drill out the holes for the clevis to fit into before gluing the horns in place. I will try ang get some diagrams drawn up and post them. I put all my control horns in last after everything was hinged.

The rear verticle stabs just bolt on with 2 self tapping #6x1/2" screws. These will screw into the pre drilled holes that are in the side of the rear wing. I need to make up a template so it makes lining those holes up with the holes that need to be drilled into the verticle stab easier. You can trace the rear wing profile along with the holes and drop it into the wing recess on the verticle stab. to line these up. No other renforcements are needed.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Keep going Chris. I have one of these on the way and this is a huge help.
Tommy

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Chris, Dou have a web site or can you tell me where to go to get more information on this A-10?
Ed

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

i do allot of building for others and just happened to use some HS-82 and HS-85 servos the other week, both included the mounts (which i didn't use) and they list them by part #56306, you should be able to get them with that #.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

No problem Tommy. I will help out as much as i can.

Hello Ed
There is no web site up yet and i am not exactly sure when. Siclick33 started the first thread on the A10. I am not sure if you followed that thread but thats where you would find the most info on the A10.

Thanks alot for the info on those side mounts. Thats a great help.

thanks
chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Ok, I have started!!

Chris, your instructions here are invaluable.

I have cut out a hole in one of the vertical stabs for the servo. I was hoping to use JR3301 but they are a bit bigger than the Hitecs and even they are a reasonably tight fit. The 3301s could probably be used but significant modification would have to occur.

As it happens, I had a couple of brand new Hitec HS85MGs which I believe are ballraced HS82MGs. They certainly fit the holes drilled in the servo plate. I don't have the scrap material as far as I can tell so I will get a bit of epoxy sheet from somewhere. From what I understand only the top part of the mounts that come with the servo are used and the mounts themselves weren't helping with getting the servo in the hole. Cutting the bottom half off as in the photo makes it a lot easier.

You mentioned using ply on the back of the servos when mounting to the plate. Could you expand on this?

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

I wish my shop was that convenient. I dont have any of these servos in my shop at the moment and i cannot remember if i had cut the bottom half of those mounts off. Something tells me that i didnt. I will have to try that next time and see how much easier it fits. Two minds are better than one. As far as the scrap shim material, just make sure it is the same thickness as the cover which is 1/32".

The ply was tacked in with CA on the backside of those mounts, so the 2 countersink screws have something to bite into. I tried using bolts with nuts but it is hard to tighten it up when you cant put a wrench on the backside. Especially using the lock nuts. The thing is, is that the whole setup cannot be completely bolted down and needs to be slightly loose for it to fit in right. I used ply but you can use anything you want as long as you can tighten them. Let us know if you have any other good ideas.

thanks
chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Chris,

Could you give me an idea where all the wooden formers should go?

Thanks

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Here are a few pics for reference on the finished verticle stab.


chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Hey sic

Sorry for taking awhile to get back with you. I have been out of town on some family business.

Here are some pics of the nosegear area formers. All these formers fit together like tongue and groove and will be tacked with CA into place. Before doing this, do a dry run to see where you need to scuff the inside of the fuse. Tack them in place and when you get your retracts in and working properly ,you can glue them in. I used west sysem mixed with colloidal silica and some 1/8" chopped glass but you can use what you feel is best.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Here are some pics of the rear wing mounting area formers. You will tack everything together but the rear former. Its hard to see in the pic. but the long skinny formers that cradle the rear wing are sitting on top of the former that is used for the bolting of the rear wing. You will be able to tell when you tack this all together because they are notched for one another. Scuff the area up and put your glue on the inside of the rear lip where this former goes and put it in place. You will take and put some glue on the opposing lip and slide the other part of the structure in through the engine nacelle area and put it in place. Tack it with CA to the rear former after you get it in place. You can then proceed with using the former glue and finish gluing it in. You will also want to throw some of this glue in the void between the fuse and the skinny wing cradles on the inside. This will need to be filleted to fill this void in. There will be a slight modification in, incodence to this area but i will need to get some more photos to show you.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Here are the fuse/engine area formers. Tack the 2 ends on 90 degrees with main former and slide them up under and behind the lips after putting your glue behind these lips. You can put a small tack of CA from the smaller 2 formers to the outer lips or flange to hold it in place. Put the engine nacelle in place and make sure both long stretch of lips on the left and right side fit flush with it. You can pull the engine nacelle off while holding these longer lips in place, mark them on the former and put some spring clamps along the stretch of these lips to hold the lips against the former. You will probably want to put this section in after the rear wing section.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

There are 3 other fuse formers but i was unable to get pics to show you where these go. I will try and do that tomorrow and post them for you.

thanks
chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Few other pics for reference.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

!/4" doublers on inside of engine nacelle former with blind nut for mounting nacelle to fuse. We drilled 4 small holes in the bottom of the fuse, 2 in the back area and 2 in the front area of the nacelle section for these bolts to be accessed. They will go through the fuse former and up into the nacelle former. The same type of holes were used to mount the back part of the wheel nacelle and the rear wing. The rear wing has 2 bolts and a dowel at the leading edge.

chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Here is a link to a video of the working flaps. Hopefully it works. I had taken this with my camera phone and was trying to figure out a way to convert it. I wasted my time with the converters and tried to download it on you tube. Sorry fo the quality.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH0GJ...eature=channel


chris

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

This former goes on the inside flange at the back of the canopy area. Their are some notches cut out for the avionics vents and needs to be put in accordingly. You will want to put these vents in before putting this former in.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

This former sits inside on the front side of the fuselodge hatch flange. You will need to watch the angle on these because the wing pins slide through the fuse in this are. You can tell where these pins go through by looking at the outside of the fuselodge wing area. You have a pin, 1" wingtube and another pin that need to be drilled out. I believe the pins were 5/16" k&s aluminum tubing. I used the dremel with a small router bit to cut out most of the area where the 1" wingtube slides through. There is a sandwiched piece of wood ply in the wing area with a 1" hole cut into it. When you get most of this are cut out, slowly trim it out just up until you hit the ply. When you are done you should have a 1" hole that the wingtube slides into.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

This former also goes in the fuse hatch area but on the opposite part of the opening. There will be a pin that goes through this area also.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

Here are a few pics of the wing tube and pin area along with where they slide into the wing.

Note: The 1" wingtube socket is glued into the the wing as well as the fuse for the aluminum wing tube to slide through. The socket in the wing will be pulled out flush with the wingskin that butts to fuse , not flush with the root wing former. So in other words, the socket will be sticking out about a 1/16" past the wing former.

RE: CGRCJets A-10 Build Thread
 

The canopy areas have a marked outline to guide you when cutting for the vacuum form canopy. You will leave an extra 1/16" on the back canopy, so dont cut all the way to the line. You will leave the same amount on the front part of the canopy but just in the area where the 2 canopies meet. When i put these lines in, i went off photos of the real plane and did not allow for the layup thickness. If you want a little extra flange for the clear canopy to be glued to then this would be a good idea. Sorry for jumping around but i thought i should get to this before someone cuts this out wrong.