A-10 twins

Tonero311

Well-known member
Well, after taking a little break due to Christmas rush and exhaustion, I'm back.
This time I'm taking on a big project. I'm going to build 2 A-10's. 1 will be prop on wing normal FT design. 2nd will be EDF'ed with 2 70mm FMS V2's.
So first job before to go any further is to get the engine pod plates done. If these can't be done thrn this project is dead in the water. Cashed in the Birthday and Christmas vouchers and got a dremel kit.
I have 3 sheets of plywood double sided taped together with the FT paper template on top. Hoping to get 3 sets of good plates in one go this way. Theres a circle cutter in the dremel kit and router attachment, so hopefully this goes well.
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
So my edf's arrived today. Got the FMS V2 6s with the upgraded predator 3060 1900kv inrunner. Should be capable of 5.2-5.4kg of thrust in ideal conditions. Things are bigger in person and I love the look of those 12 blade fans. Thank goodness both will be front and centre on the A-10. Throw photos up tomorrow.
Not got much further with the support plates yet. Hoping between tomorrow and friday night to get them finished.
Does anybody have any idea in regards to thrust tube dimensions and what to make it from? Need to get that down before I can design plates to hold it together.
Happy building and flying everyone.
 

CarolineTyler

Legendary member
So my edf's arrived today. Got the FMS V2 6s with the upgraded predator 3060 1900kv inrunner. Should be capable of 5.2-5.4kg of thrust in ideal conditions. Things are bigger in person and I love the look of those 12 blade fans. Thank goodness both will be front and centre on the A-10. Throw photos up tomorrow.
Not got much further with the support plates yet. Hoping between tomorrow and friday night to get them finished.
Does anybody have any idea in regards to thrust tube dimensions and what to make it from? Need to get that down before I can design plates to hold it together.
Happy building and flying everyone.
Same EDF as the one in my FT X-29 and the power and sound is awesome!!!! Your A-10 will jump off the runway (assuming you are doing undercarriage)
 

jfaleo1

Junior Member
Thrust tube material I use is poster board. Dimension for aft opening is usually 80% or so of fan swept area (FSA). FSA is the area of the fan disk minus the area of the spinner. Tube length is more subjective and depends on nacelle. But 4 times fan diameter is what gets thrown around a lot. As always advice is worth the paper it is written on and you should get some good advice here beyond mine I hope. Good luck!
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
Same EDF as the one in my FT X-29 and the power and sound is awesome!!!! Your A-10 will jump off the runway (assuming you are doing undercarriage)

Undercarriage will definitely be needed. Can't see me hand launching this on my own and don't have anybody who could for me. Either version of it, though edf is gonna be quite a bit heavier I would say. On that note, I need to find a runway too😂.

Thrust tube material I use is poster board. Dimension for aft opening is usually 80% or so of fan swept area (FSA). FSA is the area of the fan disk minus the area of the spinner. Tube length is more subjective and depends on nacelle. But 4 times fan diameter is what gets thrown around a lot. As always advice is worth the paper it is written on and you should get some good advice here beyond mine I hope. Good luck!

Thank you. 80% FSA was exactly the figure I was after. I'll see how much length I have to work with in the nacelles. Need to get cracked on building the fuse for that part. Have a feeling a 280mm thrust tube isn't going to fit😂.

At 2 minds which motors to put on the prop version. 2 Emax GT2218/09 1180kv's or 2 Sunnysky x2216-7 1400kv's. As of yet I can't decide.
 

L Edge

Master member
I would suggest that you keep the exit area of the EDF at about 95% or so. Reason being, when you choke the exit area, you do increase the exit velocity some, but you give up static thrust. Reason-higher static pressure inside seeps out the front between blades and the gap between the blades and wall. Rule for EDF's-- increase the exit speed by choking will end up with less static thrust for takeoff.
I have purchased different Thrust Vectoring gimbal nozzles for different size fans and in each case, the exit area is 95+% of the fan dia.
Also did some pitot studies of exit flow and length and in most purchased jets do not exceed approx 6 times the dia of the fan.

If you think the model is going to be heavy(4000-6000 size battery) suggest you stay large with the exhaust.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
Bit of progress and promised pics. So far got the main part of the plates cut out. Now time for the touch ups and get the internals out.
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
So laminating 3 layers of plywood together worked perfectly. Decided to strip the rear layers out and save these for the edf's now before cutting out the internal pieces. This way I can cut a 70mm exact hole in the centre and use as little balsa or bass wood bracing as possible. Maybe even make the thrust tube out of FTFB and make it a structural item as well.
The dremel tool kit makes this so easy and particularly the circle cutter on this project. Getting 3 sets of plates this far(90%+) has taken me about an hour and half. By hand I can't even imagine(nightmare).
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
So...165 A4 pages trimmed and tiled together, 6 tubes of super glue, 3 rolls of 2" packing tape, 10 sheets of WRFB, 1 accidental finger stabbing, 1 accidental finger slice, the guts of 2 weeks and FINALLY I'm ready to start cutting out the pieces for the first plane.
Picked up some cheap matt black and matt silver(looks more grey😁) spray paint. So this is going to be my first painted bird too.
Wow, the work it's taken to get here. A CNC machine is looking really tempting now this has turned into the most demanding bird in my life😜. Definitely a labour of love and this is only the first one. 2nd will be the modded EDF version though I'm going to have to restock on foam board for that.
That's all for now. Hopefully I can crack the glues out soon and get assembling. Dying to see this come along and taking shape.
 

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The Hangar

Fly harder!
Mentor
So...165 A4 pages trimmed and tiled together, 6 tubes of super glue, 3 rolls of 2" packing tape, 10 sheets of WRFB, 1 accidental finger stabbing, 1 accidental finger slice, the guts of 2 weeks and FINALLY I'm ready to start cutting out the pieces for the first plane.
Picked up some cheap matt black and matt silver(looks more grey😁) spray paint. So this is going to be my first painted bird too.
Wow, the work it's taken to get here. A CNC machine is looking really tempting now this has turned into the most demanding bird in my life😜. Definitely a labour of love and this is only the first one. 2nd will be the modded EDF version though I'm going to have to restock on foam board for that.
That's all for now. Hopefully I can crack the glues out soon and get assembling. Dying to see this come along and taking shape.
Wow, that would be a ton of work! I do want an A-10 sometime though...
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
Wow, that would be a ton of work! I do want an A-10 sometime though...

It was. The hard work will be worth it in the end though. The A-10 is an itch I had ever since I saw that airsoft/tank video. It was getting built anyway and why not make it twin EDF as well. See how I can add my own touches to this one and see how it flies.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
Got most of the plates cut out and started assembly. Wing sections went together great, need to join the 3 together.
Not happy with fuselage build so far. First internal structure went great, outer is wonky for some reason. Not square enough to satisfy my engineering OCD. Maybe I slipped with the knife. Post pics tomorrow after work.
Ah well, onwards and upwards. This one is the prop driven crash test dummy prototype anyway😜. The EDF version I'll throw even more attention to detail into.
Can anybody tell me what size wheels flite test uses for the landing gear? Need to get them ordered soon as well as battery straps, esc's, components for wiring loom and a few other pieces not coming to mind just yet. Also, what gauge of silicone wire should I use for the loom too? It'll probably be running on 4s if that helps. Thanks in advance to whomever can provide the answers I seek.
Happy flying everyone.
 

Tonero311

Well-known member
Update time again. Got the promised pics up showing what I was talking about before. Next sections of the fuselage will be going together here today and so will the wings.
I think for the edf version I'm going to make some plywood spars for the wing dihedral, Same sort of style as in Master Series Corsair, with carbon fibre tube for centre wing section.
As can be seen from 3rd and 4th pic. I'm not completely satisfied with the shape of the fuselage. So I've ordered 2 pairs of 1-2-3 engineers blocks for the next build. Next one will be built using PVA, Gorilla Glue and 15min epoxy and clamped square for overnight curing. I've had great success using this method before and gives extra time to make sure everything is sitting good.
Have cable ties in place of battery straps at the minute whilst I wait on more being delivered. I can crack on with the build and while they arrive, I'll tape them to the end of the cable tie and pull them through when I get them.
Got another 10 Emax es08maii servos on the way for the control surfaces. Checked stock and I only has one left.
So that's it for now. Fingers crossed I can make more progress today. Happy building and flying everyone.
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
Success. Its beginning to look like an A-10 now😁.
The front fuselage section went together very well with the use of copious amounts of tape. It has straightened up the front section brilliantly. Very pleased with the joints, nice neat and tidy. Helps I have finally got the hang of placing fine hot glue beads with a new gun I got a while back too. Still doing next one with anything other than hot glue if it can be helped.
So need to cut out the last 2 sheets of parts. At a stall now with the rear fuse pieces, bottom plate, servo doubler and dihedral gauge on them. Can't even finish the wings yet.
That's it for now. Enjoy your weekend.
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
The fuse is finished and awaiting the tail feathers.
I went a completely different way from what Josh done in the build video. I made and shaped the nose first, before joinng it to the main fuse. Unfortunately first dry fit looked like a joke, so I give every edge a slight bevel inside. Literally just breaking off 1-2mm of paper off each edge. That got everything to line up perfectly. I had an ulterior motive for going this way as well, retracts. Be easier to fit a nose after they are installed🤔.
The rear section I went all OCD on. After matching panels/corners of the fuse up, I tacked and clamped all 6 corners available with 5 minute epoxy. With heavy tape pulling everything together while that set.they opened up the joins slightly with a skewer and pumped hot glue in. I let each joint fully harden before measuring and checking everything is square again.
So next job is the tail feathers. Out with the iron for most of them. Adds brilliant strengthen for no cost. Great tip learned from @BATTLEAXE in my last build. Pics to follow once on a bit more.
 

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Tonero311

Well-known member
So most of the parts are prepared now for final build.
The horizontal stabilizer's hinge has been hot ironed as well as the vertical stabilizer's outer edges ironed. I love the strength this adds to the plane.
Working on the wing nacelles now with my new 123 blocks(adult lego🤣) and the gorilla glue. Going together brilliant. Will be using these to join my motors and build the fuse for the next one.
2 GT2218/09 motors have been ordered, putting in 30a opto esc's and a 6a seperate ubec. Just got to build 2 firewalls now, put the wheels in and I can seal them up ready to be attached to the wing.
Next job is the one I have been itching to get at the whole time😁😜. The entire reason I started these projects. The Engine Nacelles. First one will be empty standard FT style. This will be used to get my measurements off. Then I'll use the same airframe to build together the second set with edf's and esc's fitted. Just have it ready to drop straight into/onto the next airframe. Will get more/better pics of progress up later when I get a bit of time.
 

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