Freewing A-6 Intruder Modifications, Assembly & Flight Review

This Freewing A-6 Intruder 80mm EDF was a little project for a friend of mine and so thought I'd use it as a chance to talk through the assembly and a couple modifications that I made. The kit has been around a few years now, but still holds up as a design as it's a really nice looking representation of the Intruder. The model I see as kind of a cruiser jet that looks great maneuvering at low level. In the process of assembly, I designed and 3d printed some pylons to receive the E-flite payload release so that I could drop some bombs from it which is a fun feature. Additionally, I added a bit of custom weathering which really helped the model come alive! A drop kit is for the bomb drop is available at www.thercgeek.com/product/Fre...
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▼Links to Everything used on the model below▼
AR8360T 8-Channel Receiver ► bit.ly/SptmAR8360
E-flite Payload Release ► bit.ly/Eflt405
Freewing A-6 Intruder 80mm EDF ► bit.ly/FWA6Int
6s 5000mah Battery ► bit.ly/Sptm6s5000
6s 4000mah Battery ► bit.ly/Sptm6s4000
Spektrum NX Radio ► bit.ly/SpktmTx
36mm Inrunner MultiBurner ► thercgeek.com/centerburner
ERNST Airplane Stand ► amzn.to/3ftOv0w
Bombs Away 00:00
Intro 0:15
Assembly 1:05
3d Printed Droppable Bombs & Pylons 2:15
CG & Radio Setup 2:50
How's it Fly? 4:30
6s 5000 Flight 5:35
What's that Noise? 8:55
Final Thoughts 9:26
The Intruder! 9:50
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[@n64uwls6a]

The ailerons on this model are really speed brakes. Red inside the split and very effective in slowing us down. VA-196 BN

[@n64uwls6a]

Always amazed at the scale flying is so exact to the real ship.

[@6SRC_YT]

Looks and flies great. Love the weathering.

[@Mona8519]

The A6 Intruder is one of my favorite Jets. Thx for sharing :)

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks for watching! 😊

[@kendonnelly3248]

Great video. I just maidened mine with your bomb drops. Absolutely love that setup. I added a bit more aileron. It has a great sound . I also agree someone should make a larger one. I am not a fan of the week gear either. I never noticed the fan stall until you mentioned it.

[@rcf4phantomflyer]

Once again your videos are inspiring man , nice mod on the bombs. I want to get into EDF jets soon especially the A6 or the F14. Finally my extra is 90 percent done. Nice work! Handsom plane bro

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks man!

[@arnoldgines3381]

Wow sounds so real and nice plane

[@sphinx12tt]

"We're going to sam city man" - Flight of the intruder

[@volksyes9477]

That thing sounds awesome....

[@davidsnyder238]

Awesome! Intruder!!!!

[@vulcan106]

Nice. Good job as usual.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks!

[@johnw5734]

I really like the look of the Intruder. The shape and proportion makes it look like a bird. That would make a good first EDF plane for me.

[@Thercgeek]

Yeah, it has really unique lines to it and looks really cool in the air.

[@franklinwills4970]

I want to get one of those. My dad used to work on them when he was in the navy.

[@Thercgeek]

Oh very cool! The A-6 is an icon.

[@1ShopSnipe]

Great review! Not many reviews (if any) cover some of the topics you did. Thanks!

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you! 😊

[@dutchloveRC]

nice !

[@austinhcoe]

Nice, sounds scale once off tarmack.

[@DadsRCHangar]

Love this plane, I made some Bomb clusters for this and installed lights, still not finished Luke most planes in the hangar. Wish I had your weathering skills. Great flight Chris 👍🏻

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks man!

[@KillerKev1961]

Was a seat mech on A-6E's at MCAS E l Toro with VMA(W) 242. The A-6 was a fantastic attack aircraft, and that's why it was utilized for such a long time. Great radars and detection gear, especially with the TRAM system. I really miss seeing them in the air. They carried something like 32 500lb bombs. Thats astonishing! Thanks for the video Chris......

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you for watching and thank you for your service! 😊

[@BelgianDneprGuy2003]

Ordered mine today, can't wait for it! Was it just me or were you able to go really really slow with it, and it still stayed in a nice gliding patern at the landing?

[@Thercgeek]

Nice! The airplane does land well and will slow down nicely.

[@Kraftei]

What a Beauty! Did you publish somwhere, how you made this awesome weathering?

[@Thercgeek]

I’ve done a few vids on the topic on the channel. Most recently though, I actually just published a book on the topic along with a video course. For a limited time, I’m giving the book away for free, I just ask you to cover the shipping and handling. 😊 www.artofscalemodeling.com

[@rogermatheny5512]

3d printed mk82 snake eyes would fantastic

[@ArthurRC]

Awesome flight and beautiful weathering 🥰 I love it ! Is it the 3658-1920Kv inrunner motor with 9-blade fan, 100A ESC and hybrid metal gear servos????

[@Thercgeek]

Yes, this is the latest version with the 3658 motor. It’s definitely a nice performance improvement to the original offering.

[@ArthurRC]

@@Thercgeek awesome I will buy it 🥰 and you didn’t try a further aft CG?

[@terrencejackson4587]

Always wish that it was made in a larger composite. And of course would need a flight of two!

[@Thercgeek]

Agreed! DCU had a kit in two sizes at one time. But those are long unavailable.

[@pucky900]

remember one of our A-6E dropping a 2000 lbs bomb, centerline in Okinawa with VMA-242. Looked like someone dug it out of the ground

[@mikenowland2739]

Geek 👍

[@dougkoprowski7493]

FYI the link for the plane is not correct. Thank you for all you do. I’ve learned so much from you. Stay well. Doug K Anchorage Alaska

[@Thercgeek]

Whoops! Just fixed it. 😊

[@terrencejackson4587]

“That’s because the bombs didn’t release. Nobody would ever expect us to fly through that hell again….”

[@terryperrott9913]

I wish someone would come out with a glass fuselage & foam core wings & flying surface s... Im originaly from Washington State where Whiby Island is, they have a carrier deck painted on a tarmack with three arrester cables so they could practice carrier landings.. It looks & sounds good in the air

[@Thercgeek]

I completely agree with you. There was a kit available at one time from DCU (which was sold to JetMart USA) many years ago, but unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see that kit again. :( DCU made the airplane for the Flight of the Intruder movie.

[@reckemroysrc3764]

Did you intrude on her. Nice work geek 👍😎👊

[@reckemroysrc3764]

I use to watch the a 6. Flying out of whidbey Island naval air base. By far the loudest jets. Now they're running the f 18 growler. Pretty loud also. 👊😎👍

[@n64uwls6a]

Once upon a time…for real.

[@Thercgeek]

Indeed

[@amasat71]

👍👍👍

[@aaronjames2156]

Love you videos man. Had a question. When you say the fan was stalled, what do you mean? You also mention it’s not a clean install. Could you elaborate a little. I wouldn’t bug ya about these things but I just ordered one and obviously want the best chance for success.

[@Thercgeek]

Hey, thanks! Think of the fan blade as a rotating wing essentially, so it being stalled means that there’s separation happening along the top of the blade and it’s not generating much in the way of lift (I.e. thrust). This is purely a result of the installation. The ideal, cleanest install is to have a fully ducted system with minimal changes in area all the way to the face of the fan. The inlets are too small on this model to feed the fan sufficiently so they have an aux air grate on the underside and all of the air coming in just dumps into the fuselage cavity which causes a bunch of turbulence. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, the model does fine as you saw in the video. It’s just far from an ideal fan installation which is the case on most all of the freewing jets.

[@aaronjames2156]

That makes sense. I appreciate the info. Maidening mine this weekend. Very excited. Keep up the good work! I always check your channel for info on any bird I get. Your setups work great for me. Thanks again

[@GibsonAviation]

Where did you get mechniciam in the bomb drop? Thanks Darren

[@Thercgeek]

It's an E-flite payload release (bit.ly/Efl405). There's also a link in the description.

[@lhansenrc9262]

What method do you use for weathering Chris ?

[@Thercgeek]

I use a number of techniques. Since I this was the stock paint, used a thinned acrylic wash for the panel lines and then applied stains and some shading. This is my general approach: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p3KYaJSDr8qrjaM

[@williamlee6668]

hey nice video and what's the name of the ruler which you use to set up the elevator etc.?

[@Thercgeek]

It’s called an accuthrow meter and is an unfortunately discontinued product from great planes. I’m working on my own version, so will be releasing that soon hopefully.

[@williamlee6668]

@@Thercgeek pity as a fan of RC i find it is hard to land a jet . do you have any advice?

[@rgr4475]

Chris. Your video has you sliding the battery all the way back. Motion rc video had it all the way forward. The manual states the CG is slightly back from the center of the wheel cut out. So farther forward than your stating. And it makes a big difference between the 2 spots. I'm confused which one to go with. Thoughts?

[@Thercgeek]

The battery placement should be wherever gets you the proper balance location which is the dimension provided. Different weight/capacity batteries will require a different placement to get the same cg location.

[@giuseppe4909]

I’m guessing the bombs were dropped on a “suspected truck park”…..👍 Nice Job !

[@Thercgeek]

For sure, haha

[@geoffreygaeraths4344]

Did you happen to post your AS3X values for this model? I'm looking at installing an 8360 I'm mine and an am looking for a starting value. Thanks!

[@Thercgeek]

I don’t recall if I was using the gyro. If I was, it was likely just the default settings. I don’t use gyros often, but when I do, I like them to be setup quite passively.

[@rickwentworth6842]

I couldn’t quite tell, how did you attach the receiver? Is there a small cross plate underneath I can’t see?

[@Thercgeek]

I don’t recall where I put it specifically, but I just Velcro the receivers to the interior walls. In this one with the tight space, I placed it to get it out of the way of the battery between the inlets.

[@melvinriverarcjet6544]

Hello bro,how she flies compare to my avanti and L39,is she stable?thanks and cheers from.dubai

[@Thercgeek]

It’s a nice stable flyer 😊

[@jstrat121]

Nice plane......the Real A-6 was powered by 2ea Pratt & Whitney J52 engines which are NONE afterburner.........so,the afterburner LED you installed is not accurate to the real plane.USMC,VMA-242 “Fire Control”, ‘84-‘92 MCAS El Toro , CA

[@Thercgeek]

Yep, you are correct. The AB lights were installed at the request of my friend who I made this for. 😊

[@spiroskatsikas]

I'm sorry but it doesn't look like it's a great flyer, all over the place need consistent correction 😉 😅

[@Thercgeek]

Haha