A10 Warthog
GWS A10 Thunder Bolt or 'Warthog'
Recently acquired, I will need to get a new Li-po pack for this plane.
The first test flight involved an accident with the 'buddy box' controls and the plane is now being repaired and upgraded to twin GWS brushless using twin GWS ESC15A speed controllers.
Original Specification -
COMPLETE WITH UPGRADES ALL INSTALLED.... 6 BLADE FANS,2 SD SERVO, ,MOTORS,WIRE,AND DIODE,GWS 4/5CHANNEL RX AND XTAL,JAMARU ESC,2 OVERLANDER 1100 KAN PACKS.RUN TIME FLATOUT 7MINS OR ALSO FLOWN ON 1500 11.1 3CELL LI-POLY PACK RETURNS 15MINS+
I have finished the repairs and upgrades, new items fitted are -
GWS 15A brushless speed controllers x2 (GWESC15)
GWS Brushless motors x2 (GWBLM005A now called the GWBLI2028G)
Li-Po battery Rhino 2350 Zippy 20C 11.1v (see BRC Hobbies)
The brushless motors are a smaller diameter than the old ones so I had to make a collar for them that would hold them central in the ducted fan motor mount.
On test the speed controllers were getting too hot when running at full speed so I fitted ducts to get some air flow across them, plus a couple of outlet holes - see pictures.
The Li-Po battery is a special shape, it is very thin (around 18mm) this fits the existing battery cutout and clip. To get the correct balance I had to move the battery forward by about 25mm - see pictures.
Test Flight
Flew great, with more power available from this setup it can be flown at half throttle where you had to stay on full throttle with the old setup. Flies well, easy to control and not tooo fast. 6mins flight used about 1000mAh from battery, no overheating.
Landing Not good, field is long grass with tussocks, landing was level and smooth but we believe it caught a tussock and wrenched the wings round, this had the effect of breaking the back of the plane, back to the workshop for more repairs.
The A10 has had it's last flights, after the repairs I managed two more flights but the second landing broke it's back again and the motor pods came off. It's not worth trying to repair it again, I will move on to my Spitfire or Twister. March 2010