Hey everyone! I'm new to RC groups but glad to be here. Let me start off by saying I am a complete noob to RC Airplanes (I have experience with helis)...but I have big dreams. Today (16 July 2012) I have started an A-10 Warthog build. Rome wasn't built in a day and this A-10 wont be either. I plan on finishing it within about a year and a half but I'd like to document my progress and get as much help as I can from all you experts out there! I will be taking any and all advice as to how to build this thing.

While building this thing I will be learning on some flight trainers and maybe a scratch build Cargo plane with a large wingspan. Then learning flight characteristics of the A-10 with a large scale EDF A-10..

This aircraft will be built to scale using two Jetcat P-20 simjet engines. These
engines have a diameter of 2.34" and a max thrust of 5.5lb.

At the moment I am currently drawing up the plans by hand/utilizing A-10 plans I have been searching online although I havent been able to find many good ones.



Anyone have any words of wisdom....or anyone wanna call me a noob and tell me how crazy I am to try this? Either way I'd love to hear some feedback. Thanks and Happy flying to you all!


___________________________

Day 2:

After having my girlfriend crunch some numbers I found that I will have to switch to a Jetcat P20 simjet engine. Making the model scale for this size simjet engine the aircraft will be around 34" in length with a wingspan of just over 37". Hopefully later today I can get my graph paper to office max and have the actual size scale paper printed. Then after that I can buy my bulsa and begin cutting and placing bulkheads!!!


___________________________

Day 3:

Well today I started getting my scale bulkheads drawn up on graph paper for transfer to balsa wood. These things take forever to do and I haven't bought any balsa yet. I need to draw up 25 bulkheads. I think every 5 bulkheads I will transfer them to wood and place them on the Jig so I can see my progress with the bird. I already mocked up a cardboard jig and placed the 3 bulkheads that I have already completed and I think it looks great.

___________________________

Day 4:

Well its day 4, I have been working on my bulkheads and scribbling down some ideas as to how to form the wings in my notebook. Balsa shopping tomorrow and doing some research on the best way to cast molds of the fuselage! More pics to come soon!

If you are new to RC, I suggest you start learning on something a little less ambitious. Building something more like a trainer will teach you heaps about building that will help a lot when you build the Warthog.

Specifically I'm new to RC planes, I've been working with electric heli's for a while now including scale fuselage's for them. I'm a little hard headed but this build is just something ambitious to work towards/fun/motivation to become an expert flyer. I just like relaxing/working with my hands and trying new things. As far as funding the project materials are all within reach, the engines are quite a ways off so I will have plenty of time to level up while I'm building the model. What kind of small trainer would you suggest?

SIG models makes a variety. I've been flying RC planes for just under 5 years now, consider myself an intermediate pilot, I bought a Four Star 40 recently for my first kit. It's a good 2nd trainer for someone new to planes.

I used to build from scratch many years ago when I flew control line as a teenager. Came back into the hobby and first put together a few ARFs and a few scratch built. I learned a lot as I progressed, hence my post to you.

We have a new pilot at our club who got a large / expensive plane for his 2nd plane. A number of us tried to convince him to spend more time first with something not so ambitious at first. Sadly his expensive plane went in the first time he got it up in the air. He's now spent quite some months on cheaper models and has progressed very well as a pilot. He's got a large / expensive replacement but isn't quite ready to put it in the air.

Nice thing about this hobby is there are so many choices. Enjoy!

I fly a cheapish plane I call my "workhorse". If it goes in, it won't bother me. Thankfully it hasn't gone in for quite some time now.

I'm thinking of going with a cheap EDF A-10 to work on the flight characteristics with. I also have a Flight simulator on my old computer that I use to use for Heli's that has a few plane load outs on it. What are the best methods for practicing flight with an RC plane? Should I work on touch and go landings and circles at first or what?

I'd say start with take offs and circuits. You can leave landings alone initially as they are harder.

When I started, I used a cheap / free flight simulator and it gave me a false sense of ability. When I started flying at the local club with someone taking me up on the buddy box, I realized I couldn't fly anywhere near as well as I thought I did, so I purchased one of the commercial flight simulator products (I chose Phoenix for several reasons, 1 - never any charge for upgrades, 2 - you use your actual RC radio so you learn how to trim and use the same switches you will use in the real world).

As it turned out, I sucked at Phoenix the same way I sucked in the real world so it gave me a much better sense of my abilities or lack thereof.

While a good flight simulator is very good and worth spending time on, nothing compares to stick time in the real world.

So I could probably go with a small park flyer with no landing gear that is made out of some tough foam that I can get lots of stick time with. Then move to something with retracts and practice takeoffs with? Friday is payday! I'll be heading into my local hobby shop to place an order. and hopefully by next week I can get outside for an hour or so of flying every day!

There are some good foamie models of the Cub. Can't recall the exact names, Super Cub, Fun Cub? The Multiplex brand cub is a good one.

Also E-flight makes one that several guys I know have learned on called the Apprentice.

Some of the really small park flyers are difficult to fly unless there is absolutely no wind at all.

http://secure.hobbyzone.com/ducted_fan/GWS1055.html What about starting with something like this? Haha still too ambitious? If so I will probably go with one of the Piper Cubs you are suggesting

http://www.nitroplanes.com/60a-dy893...w-rtf-24g.html Or maybe this one instead

High wing planes are typically better for the beginner plank pilot. The cessna also has a larger wingspan which is also better for learning. The cool thing about either of them is they are both not that expensive so if you destroy them on your first flight, it's not catastrophic. Well, unless that was your very last $100 to buy them.

Yeah once I saw the cessna on there it kind of won me over, looks big enough to see, large wingspan, and its not expensive at all. I may even try to build a foam flyer myself while continuing to work on the A-10.

Good stuff. Look forward to hearing how you go. I've built some fun foam flyers, lots of different designs around.

Originally Posted by AirborneRME

http://www.nitroplanes.com/60a-dy893...w-rtf-24g.html Or maybe this one instead

Aye start with that one omg don't build a jet first time flying you will destroy it and i wouldn't fly a jet anywhere but AMA field there too dangerous.

check out some of my vids that's after 267 flights with the same quadcopter and 400+ hours on the simulator.