A-10 Warthog

Nov 29, 2001

The A-10 is built to a scale of about 1:20 (technic figure scale). It took about a month to build. The A-10 has a wingspan of 35 inches, is 33 inches from nose to tail, and weighs about 5 pounds. It has the following working features:

There are three individually controlled power switches. Each can be operated independently, and are powered by an internally mounted battery pack. All three switches can be on at the same time, to run all the powered features at once.

  • Switch one controls a technic motor that spins the Avenger cannon in the nose
  • Switch two controls a technic motor that runs the pneumatic compressor
  • Switch three does lots of good stuff. It spins the turbines in the engines via a technic motor, and operates the fiber optics in the engines. It lights up the red and green wingtip lights, and also operates a micromotor in the nose that runs the fiberoptic cockpit lights.
  • There are three pneumatic switches as well. They can be operated by the compressor, or can be manually pumped.

The three pneumatic switches control the following features.

  • Switch one, mounted right under the canopy on the port side, actuates a large cylinder that opens the canopy
  • Switch two, also on the port side and just behind the canopy switch, operates three large cylinders that lower and raise the landing gear
  • Switch three, on the starboard side right over the wing, operates a small cylinder that extends the flaps

Finally, there are some manual features.

  • The control stick in the cockpit operates the ailerons on the main wings and the elevator on the tail
  • The rudder pedals in the cockpit operate the rudders on the tail
  • The rudder pedals also steer the nosewheel when the gear is down
  • There is a removable entry ladder that mounts on the port side
  • Finally, and possibly the coolest feature on the entire model, is the functioning ejection seat. The pilot’s seat is pushed down against a pair of suspension springs. A bar latches onto the back of the seat. When that bar is pushed back, the seat shoots about six inches out of the plane.