Hey guys...name is Dan...and I thought i'd post about this plane i just got. Very quick background..i've been a foamie parket builder and flyer for the past 7 months..have 7 planes i've built and flown really well..from a Mig-29 to a F-22 to a B-2 Stealth (all 3 RCPowers plans) to a SeaDart - a SR-71 and others. I've had a ton of fun building and flying these planes..and in the same time period i have also been upping my Heli skills..starting with a co-ax - then a FP - and now a CP heli that i've been flying and crashing and fixing etc So wouldn't call myself a Novice really anymore..more of an "advanced beginner" lol!

been into R/C for over 26 years..but i was a ground pounder for most of that time...the revolution in LiPo technology and foam for aircraft has been great and i jumped into it hardcore and been having a blast ever since.

Which brings me to this plane..i had loved A-10's ever since i saw them on TV and at airshows...and had been looking for a while for some sort of profile A-10 that i could build..but never wanted a "prop" A-10 because it wouldn't look right to me..so a little while ago i started looking at EDF stuff..and this model from NitroPlanes caught my eye....this is the new version with twin brushless motors and had a killer paint scheme i couldn't stop looking at...so 2 weeks ago i jumped in and ordered one.

here is the link:
http://www.nitroplanes.com/gl603-6-a...srtf-camo.html

I had planned from the outset to pull out the stock 72mz radio and use my Futaba 6EX 2.4 Ghz system to give myself more flexability in radio setup and in just plain safety over a glitch possible older FM system.

Well i got the plane last week and pulled it out of the box...and liked what i saw...some buiding required but not much. I had watched the video that they had on the Nitroplanes website and had learned from my building of the parkjets to test stuff before it was installed to make sure stuff worked (easier to pack up and send back if there was a problem then after glued together) - and this is where my situation went bad.

I hooked up my 6EX system...took the motor pods out and plugged them into the plane as per the instructions...but did not mount them on the plane...just had them sitting on my bed....when i hooked up everything and plugged in a battery....the motors started beeping and playing songs to me - BUT..they would not spin up....over the next about 10 minutes i reversed the "throttle" servo direction on the radio...changed the wires between the plane and the motors..did everything...and nothing worked...one last time i changed the servo reverse...changed wires around..and then plugged in a bettery....the motors stopped their song and as i turned around to grab the radio..one of the motors lit off under full power! it then proceeded to suck something into it as it lifted off the bed and detonated! Literally the pod destroyed itself...fan and motor mount and half of the Pod destroyed in 2 seconds.

Needless to say i was upset and pissed. No idea what went wrong. Being a saturday afternoon....no one was goign to get back to me from Nitroplanes anytime soon that day. So I put everything back in the box and left the room knowing i had killed my chances if flying this good looking model anytime soon.

Sunday i was back in there..and still upset...but determined to figure out what happened...i took the remaining EDF and proceeded to mount it to the plane and glue it on. Feeling that if i had a repeat of the earlier incident that if at least attached on the plane it wouldn't zoom off and kill itself... (I should have done this in the 1st place..but oh well )

Connected a LiPo...and got the beeping i had heard before...but no power...thinking about my heli's i thought about how all my RTF helis had come from their factories with their throttle set all the way down AND their throttle trims set all the way down. And wondered if the same applied for the plane???..i took my 6EX and then pulled back on the throttle trim till i got to about -60 on the display and the motor beeped by itself....i then slowly advanced the throttle and the motor spun up like it should! AH HAH!!! Now it worked well and spun up from idle to full power as i wanted. I kinda smacked myself in the head and realized that the other motor for some reason didn't go into a fail safe or whatever and basicially it hit 1/2 throttle when i connected it and it then nuked itself. The mysetery solved I e-mailed Nitroplanes to see if i could get a new pod..believing I wouldn't be able to....

they got back to me over e-mail pretty fast and copied me on an e-mail to Raidentech (the distributor i guess) asking about getting me a new pod. A phone # was attached and i decided to call on monday just to see what they could do.

A really nice guy answered the phone...and asked for my original order # and once i gave it to him he said they had already gotten the order and were going to send me out parts! I asked what they ordered and unfortunately they weren't thinking i needed the pod..so he just had a motor and a fan unit setup - i said i needed the whole thing and he went and checked and said they had a whole pod but not the right color..i said no problem that i just wanted to fly the plane..and he said he had the label in hand and would fix the order. I asked how much and could i pay for it and he said NO...it was being sent out FREE!!

Couldn't believe how good i felt..i thanked him a few times and hung up. SO yesterday i come home to find a box on my coffee table..and open it up and what do I find? but the EXACT right full motor pod in the right color for my plane! WAY TO GO NITROPLANES AND RAIDENTECH! I was happy as hell...

mounted the motor on last night...wired it up..and BINGO...2 working EDFS and the plane ready to fly with a -60 throttle trim.

Can't say enough about these companies... THUMBUP!

I'm hoping to get a flight in this wekeend..and i'll report back on how it fly's...it needed some tweeks to suit me..a better secured elevator pushrod, some bracing on the standoff for the elevator wire tube..and some other stuff...but my previous build experience helped and it is setup with a lot of control deflection for some good manuvers.

here are some pics of my "repaired" plane..







I'm thankful these companies have such good customer service..and i'm looking forward to flying it!

So just a word of advice if you pick one of these up and change out the radio system 1st..glue the motors on 1st, and set the throttle and trim all the way down and you will avoid my mistakes!

I will post a 1st flight report when i get it flying and hope to have video as well!

I'll asnwer any questions that people have as long as they are not about how it fly's yet! lol!

Dan

Did you fly this yet? I have the same one and am thinking it needs more power.