Flite Test A-10 Warthog Electric Airplane Kit (1537mm)

The A-10 was my second FT kit (did a Bloody Baron previously)and have done several others using free plans. The wing and fuse went together easily, though the nose and canopy require a bit of care to get everything to line up. As another review noted the Eflite motors supplied in PowerPack C don't work when you reverse them because the non-removable shaft extends through the firewall and touches the wheels, making them inoperable. I exchanged these for the Flite Test Radial motors (FT 2218B 1050Kv). For the maiden flight I used a 4S 3000 MAh but the FT2218B motors drew too much current and the 30A ESCs went into shutdown mode after about 30-60 seconds. Customer support suggested using a 3S battery since the motors were more powerful than those supplied with Powerpack C. I tried using a 3S 5000 MAh battery; there was less power and again the ESCs began to lag after 3-4 minutes. The motors were quite warm to the touch so I'm assuming that the ESCs were as well and that they sagged due to thermal protection kicking in. The A-10 flies great right up to the point where the sag begins. My all up weight came in at 59 oz, but that includes the 5000 MAh battery which weights 12 oz. I also painted mine with flat gray Rustoleum (took 1 can) so that added a bit of weight.

I fly from a desert area (no grass, just hard pack sand) so I added a skid made of foamboard to the tail. Its covered with packing tape and keeps the vertical fins from dragging during landing. I plan to try to replace the 30A ESCs with something larger so that I can use a 4S battery. I am concerned that the ESCs are buried in the wing with little airflow and that even larger ESCs may be prone to over-heating.

UPDATE (5/1/2019)
Since my original review I added 40A ESCs and have experienced no lagging of the motors when flying with a 4S lipo (~6 minutes with a 3000 mAh battery). The batteries have been warm after six minutes of moderate flying, so I suspect that the ESCs are as well. Today I suffered loss of control which caused my A-10 to crash with significant damage to the fuselage (probably not repairable). Upon inspection it appeared that the elevator control horn pulled out of the elevator causing loss of control. Although I followed the video instructions for gluing the horn and added extra hot glue around it, it pull partly out of the foam board. Anyone building this kit may want to use a more secure type of horn to accommodate the increased forces on this large model.

The craft itself is wonderful to build and to fly, only once you work the kinks out of it. Such problems forced me to give this aircraft kit less than 5 stars:
1. Two of the 11 foam laser cut sheets were burned and cut all the way through. Lots of tape was needed to remedy the parts that had holes. Minus one star for poor quality control.
2. The kit did not take into account that the non-Flite test motors are reversed and then mounted, leaving the back end propeller shaft jabbing into the wheels. My own improvements helped remedy the problem, as opposed to damaging the motors and the wheels. Minus 1 star for the kit being prematurely released without the correct power pack being sold. If you can remove the keyed shaft at the “back” end of the motors, please disregard this comment.

Other than that, the kit is worth nearly every dollar. If you want to purchase this kit and use full rudder controls and not the standard differential thrust, purchase some y-leads (one or two) for connecting the motors and the ailerons in parallel instead of programming each motor individually. Don’t be afraid to improvise on these foam craft. Happy flying.

This was a challenging but very fun build. I had no problems with my motors, (bought the suggested power pack) used the included adapter and swapped the ends of the motor for the other style prop adapter.
You do need to plan ahead. I wished I had devised a landing gear setup to connect into the nacelles before I built them but I have a few ideas. There are supplied reinforcements for the nose gear, and it is off-set just like on the actual plane.
I had no issues with the quality of my kit. Only on the rudders did I notice a slight burn through where you dig out the foam, but they were only pin holes.
Follow Josh's build video and you should have no problems. A few spots I had to watch the video several times to make sure what I was doing. Test fit your parts often BEFORE glueing.
Only problem I had is the tail cone, it has many irregular shapes/facets and requires many bevel cuts. I found it easier to get it lined up flush with the tail of the plane, and then glue it together as I attached to the rear.
Plan on doing mine up in some sort of camo design, have not chosen colors yet, but figure light gray for the bottom, possible light gray/brown/green for the top?
Since I had a spare XR8 (frsky) receiver laying around, figured I may rig up flaperons even though it does not need flaps.

If I could change anything, it would be to include or offer a landing gear kit. I may install a steerable nose gear in mine.
Should also include a fake gun barrel. What is an A-10 without the gun.

This is a BIG plane, and I am impressed

UP-date.....
I got hold of some Eflite retracts and installed them. Looks much better and they retract forward. I went to 3 blade 9" props to get me a bit more ground clearance. Just wish I had built in the retracts before I built the plane. Hope to maiden this week end if the weather cooperates. Check out the Flitetest Facebook page, several of us building this beast on there. Many pictures and ideas being shared.

The kit was packed with the usual quality. Assembly was in the Flitetest style, expect more attention to detail. Following the video was essential. Josh was clear and precise, however my parts didn’t fit together, he just put them together, while I work at it. The finished A-10 is impressive and was a hit at the field. No one could believe it was foam board in its camo paint. It flew like it was on a rail with the 2200 mAh battery. In all it was a project that produced an awesome A-10.

Although it lists as out of stock online, I ordered one the other day and it just got delivered. Packaged well.

This plane is great, Maiden went easy and had a great landing.
I used flaperons for the landing and it just makes the approach so much slower and smoother. I started this project in January and had to wait 5months for the plywood flite test sent to arrive (borders shut covid-19) but in the end I completed it.
Running off a 4s 2200mah battery this just flies so easy with a 4min 30s flight time and can do whatever you want it too. 10/10 would recommend if you are a intermediate pilot for a great model to build and fly.

About half way finished with this and its massive. Had to bring the project to a halt because one of my foam part wasn't cut properly. But the customer service was amazing we called them and they sent me not just a new part but an entire new kit of foam. As this being my second flight test plane after being a fan for year with my original plane being the Flight Test Mighty Mini Tiny Trainer this a great experience and overall a great plane. And highly recommend for anyone that has the time to do it.

HI i do watch your videos but something came to mind to ask if you guys can do a video on making a big foam F-4-E Phantom with a Airsoft gun and have a dogfight battle with the A-10 Warthog and one more thing how much would it be to put everything in the A-10 WARTHOG for people to buy.

I intended to build this A-10 with 2-64mm EDF's, but once I started to build the plane, I changed my mind and went with the stock set-up. This plane is not too difficult to build if you pay close attention to John's video, and take your time. This is a LARGE plane, and very attention getting at the field. I made the first 3 flights today and it flies great. Very stable, but aerobatic. A lot of fun. I've seen the video of the EDF version. His was a lot more work, and the end result flies about the same. This plane is not terribly fast, but definitely worth building, and flies with authority. It's easy for me to hand launch and flies right off my hand.
UPDATE 12/21/19
After several great flights, I broke-out one motor on landing. Repaired and flew a few more good flights. This week I landed and broke- out both motors. I either needed to add landing gear, move the motors higher, or go to EDF's. I have two 12 blade 64mm EDF's I salvaged from a Freewing A-10, so I mounted those in the existing rear nacelles using the existing 2700(4S) battery. I moved the battery forward to move the C/G forward. I hand launched the A-10, it bounced off the grass and was airborne. The plane flew good, but was way under-powered. Replaced the 64 EDF's with two Freewing 12 blade 70mm EDF's and changed to an 1800(6S) battery. Two attempts to launch went into the grass(Too Heavy). I think the 70 EDF's would have worked, but I would need some kind of high-start launcher to get the plane up to flying speed. My advice is stick to the original prop set-up and be careful how you land.
GOOD LUCK.

Building this with my son as a winter project. Kit is well made and YouTube video is very accurate and if you follow it, you should have no issues. Foam is of good quality and components are simple and straightforward. Can’t wait to finish this project and get it in the air!

I followed along with your video and was just a dream to build and fly. I had to much fun and destroyed it so now its time to buy the packs and not print my own. I gotta have another one. A Must to have as an option to fly . Just makes You smile. The cones were really easy to mold to. Took shape perfectly just have to take your time. Thanks Bixler and Flite Test Fam. Make The BIX 200 or Some plane with you name on it Josh. LOL

This kit turned into the biggest disappointment for me. I bought it and the Power Pack C with the plan to enjoy both building it and flying it.

While the build video is fairly straight forward, you'll find that it lacks any details for the nose landing gear, and doesn't have any options for a 'wheels down' configuration for the rear gear. You'll have to figure that out yourself. Furthermore once you are done building you will find extra plywood pieces left over that aren't mentioned in the video at all. What are they for? Why are they included??

Once the build is complete, you'll quickly find on your maiden flight (as I did) that on 3S batteries the power pack C can barely keep this plane in the air. The entire flight I had to keep my throttle pegged at 100% and I didn't dare trying a roll. I bought this kit because they show it doing rolls, loops, etc. I figured ok, they mention it flies better on 4S so let me give it a shot...

Unfortunately this is where the Power Pack C falls flat on it's face. The motor is only rated for 2-3S voltage. Running it on 4S pulls ~480 watts per motor when it is only rated for ~250 watt bursts!! The motors get hot quickly, even when using only 50% throttle.

The build video shows them using Flite Test Radial motors. Reading the specs for them is incredibly frustrating! They vaguely state: "Incredible Thrust Output (Over 1Kg/motor on 4s and most prop choices)". How many amps is that? How many watts? What prop sizes are recommend? So many questions and so few answers.

I've resorted to swapping to RC Timer 3530/10 motors with 40A ESC's purchased elsewhere. That required redesigning the nacelles to fit the bigger motors, which I didn't expect to have to do when I bought the full kit AND the recommended power pack! I have yet to remaiden, but I've now got over $250 spent on this plane. For that kind of money the Dynam A-10 or the Freewing 64mm A-10 can be bought and flown right away with none of the above hassle.

Stay away until they update the power packs, add landing gear instructions, and turn this into a more 'polished' product.

Overall I can only rate this kit as 2/5. One star for the physical design, and another for well cut parts.

My second FT build. Overall the build went well. There was a lot of wrinkles on the nose section which was in the middle of the bundle. Not sure how the surrounding pieces were not wrinkled? Also, nothing in the build vid about the tricycle landing gear. I don't want to risk breaking props every time I land. I'm using the new ft radial motors with the ft 35A escs. They are really tiny, I hope they can handle the heat. I would have liked if the premium power packs were out already because I purchased mine separately. Anyways, I'm gonna be flying a 4s 5100 from rmrc that usually is in my stratosurfer. It balances out well so it should be a fun time.

This is a very nice item ,and the customer service was great ,that helped me with a small problem.Im ordering all of the WW1 mini planes this week just to have them in my collection. Thanks guys keep up the good work you all are awesome.

Hey Josh and fellas, me and my sons have been watching yall vids and learned a lot from the vids. we wanna thank you guys for helping the less fortunate, and building the hobby in such a unique way that almost anyone can do it. although some items are still just out of reach but we will get there eventually. still, big ups for the time and effort you guys put into these plans and the build videos. I look forward to purchase my warthog with the power pack C and the DX 6. well, Blessings and go for gold. Tony and crew

I want to buy this plane.
I am waiting for you to make big airplanes