Sunday, March 09, 2008

Nitroplanes Guanli A-10 Warthog



Construction quality and paintwork from the factory is excellent, no problems at all.  It took me about 20 minutes to put it together using five minute epoxy.  I left the landing gear off, I prefer to hand launch.  Be sure ot put some tape on the bottom for protection.

The plane flies fine on the stock NIMH pack and brushed motors, in spite of all the internet "Experts" saying it would not.  It will loop and roll, no problem, but it's modestly powered with the stock setup, and flight times are maybe five minutes, tops.
Swapping out the 650NIMH pack for a three cell 1300 lipo made a whole new airplane out of it.  Now it is fast and vividly aerobatic, and flight times are long.  I set a timer at eight minutes to make sure I do not overdrain the lipo and ruin it.  No reason why you could not put in a 2200 pack, either.
Beware of one thing, though...the way it is set up from the factory, there is way too much elevator throw, and you may kill it on the first flight attempt.  Move the control horn to the innermost hole on the elevator servo horn, and the outermost one on the horn on the elevator, and everything will be fine.
I am still using the included 27mhz radio.  It will occasionally glitch if I point the TX antenna right at the airplane, otherwise, it has been working fine.
I have put a dozen flights in using the 11v lipo and the stock brushed motors, and the motors and ESC are still going strong, so consider that before buying a brushless converson for it.  Power is a non-issue with the stock motors and a lipo batt.
The plane is stable and easy to fly, yet very aerobatic.  I like flying it in low and close, like the real thing.  
All I can say is the plane is better than expected in all respects, much better than the similar GWS offering, and it is well built and a super value for the money.  Great plane to keep in the back of the car and toss around whenever you see an open space.

12 comments:

elsberry said...

Did you replace with 7.4v 1320 or 11v? My plane same stock with 7.4v NIMH. Very anemic, won't even leave the ground. Wondering if I should replace with 7.4v or 11v lipo. Looking at a 2200 mah LIPO for replacement.

rcpilot said...

I did fly it with the stock 8.4v NIMH. I hand launched it, did not try a takeoff. It did indeed fly, but it was no powerhouse, that's for sure. But fly it did.
I used a 1320 3 cell lipo. I think a 2200 would be fine, too. I did not try two cells, I think it would fly just like the NIMH pack, so I did not bother.
Like I said, with the three cell pack, performance is excellent.

elsberry said...

Did you have any balance problems with the new battery pack having a different weight than the NIMH? Also, any issues with the landing gear, or did you not mount the gear. They seem to be very soft.

rcpilot said...

I put the 1320 all the way forward in the nose, balance is fine.
I did not use the LG, on a plane this size, I'd rather hand launch it, and I would agree that the LG legs are soft and weak, too. If I felt like using it, I would maybe bend up some new maingear.

elsberry said...

Thanks! I have ordered the LIPO and in the mean time I am bending some new main gears. I don't like to hand launch, not that coordinated yet. Kinda like walking and chewing gum at the same time!

Unknown said...

rcpilot is full of it. The Gunli A-10 is a DUD with the stock battery (or even a Li-PO batt at twice the mAh and engines can't get out of their own way if you threw them off a bridge .... the 27Mhz Radio is a joke.

Go check the very long string at rcuniverse.com starting here: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_7077307/mpage_1/key_/tm.htm#

The TRUTH is at your finger tips - mouse.

Anonymous said...

No, it does indeed fly stock. I've done it. It's no great shakes with the nickel metal hydride battery, but it does fly. I got too mutch glitching wiht th 27 radio, so I swapped that out for spectrum radio, but the plane flew okay. I swapped out for a lipo, and the plane flew great.
I read the string on RCuniverse, and concludid those people had no idea of what they were talking aout, and at least one guy was just there to do nothing but bash nitroplane. Don't beleive everyting you read on the internet.

Unknown said...

"Anonymous said..." obviously works for nitroplanes. Pretty clear here when a dozen people on that one forum comes to the SAME conclusion .. the Guanli A-10 can't fly stock. Yeah, I have one and I've had to spend another $120 to upgrade it enough to fly!

The people you SHOULDN'T believe are one here that say any of the Gunali plane can fly stock out of the box.

Anonymous said...

Like I said, it does fly. All of the Guanli planes I have tried did. And I have seen others fly, too.
I'm sorry, but you are mistaken. And I have seen the RCuniverse thread, too, and would have to agree that it's full of people who really don't know what they are doing.

Anonymous said...

Here is a VIDEO of the plane you say won't fly, flying!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w8MWDT_gKE

Unknown said...

I don't know who this "rcpilot" guy is, but clearly his idea of quality is different from mine. The stock brushed version from nitroplanes / banannahobby / raidentech / whatever other name these jokers go by is garbage. I actually bought one based on what this guy has had to say here and guess what?? It wouldn't even get off the ground. Sure, a hand launch into a moderate headwind will get it into the air if you are exceptionally lucky, but don't expect much more than a simple circut or two before the battery dies and it drops like a stone. Oh well, seeing as that almost everything on those sites has been "sold out" for months, it looks like they're going out of business anyway. The lesson here kids is that RC flying is an expensive hobby, there's just no way around that. If you want to get into it, expect to pay quite a bit. Alternatively, you can scratchbuild on the cheap as long as you are willing to pay good money for quality electronics and components. As for this A10, its not too bad if you want to mod it with brushless motors, but don't expect any level of quality from a $99 RTF box.

Unknown said...

I just bought the A-10 brushed version during the Black Friday Sale, just to prove that it does indeed fly stock. The plane arrived the friday after i bought it. Very easy assembly, I was able to get it ready fly within the hour. When the battery was charged, I brought it outside and guess what, I FLEW IT. It does fly stock, and it can be enjoyed stock if you like to just buzz around. There are so many elitists out there that think you have to buy the most expensive item to enjoy the hobby that they are blinded by the budget products. Just because something is on the cheap side does not mean it is crap.