Freewing Su-35 Twin 70mm 12 blade

[seaviper]

Wife made me a pitot cover since I have an actual pitot system in the bird. With the Cg changes made yesterday, she is finally signed off. Good luck to any of you flying today gentlemen.
Post your videos.

[seaviper]

I just flew with the lighter admiral all the way forward, elevators at about 11.5mm, cg about 165. I like it. Turnigy HD rides about an inch back.
Two flights. The bird took off better and flew better. I really like the new CG. Now I feel like the bird is tamed. The further aft CG may have caused me some top speed though. But she handles so much better.

And reference my previous video. I took off once today with TV on. Good. Did another with TV off, but 1/2 flaps. Also good if not better. She can make a much steeper approach with flaps out. But she lands smoother with no flaps.
I guess it just depends on what you need to do.

Here is my placement for the two different types of batteries. The red tape marks the 1" space for the Turnigy.


Here is some data from today's flights


Here is my CG. I calculate it's right at 165mm from the point in the book. It's right on that wire channel at the opening.

[seaviper]

Well I am set up at 165mm. Elevators at 11mm. Lightweight Admiral up against bulkhead. Turnigy 1" back. Based on what Capt Mike told me the other night during the podcast, I think you can go even further. He didn't give a number for CG, but he did say how far back he places his batteries. And it's further back than mine. Planning on flying today.

Here are some data from yesterday



The low cell values were in flight. On the ground the cells climbed back to about 3.73 approximately. Temps are for the ESC's and show the reading on the ground which is higher than in the air. Ias is indicated airspeed from the pitot sensor.

[xviper]

Regarding the CG ......................... FYI, my SebArt MiG-29 was designed to hover. It's CG is quite far back specifically for the purpose of hovering. The MiG does have a similar design configuration as the SU-35, BUT it also has these weird dual incident ailerons to help it pitch up easily for the hover and stand on its tail, so what the MiG does may not be directly applicable to the SU. The MiG flies in level flight, under power, just like any other standard jet. The big difference comes when you cut power. The plane immediately goes nose up, prepping for a hover. It was so abrupt that I've moved the battery forward about 2". It still pitches up but not as bad. It still flies well and makes the landings more predictable. I don't think moving the CG back on the SU will do it harm but be prepared to do lots of manual inputs getting up there and coming down. Do the experimenting up high. It might be one of those planes that don't fly well when it's tail heavy.

[seaviper]

Got in some flying yesterday on the Su-35. I was working on takeoffs with and without thrust vectoring, flaps, tailerons, etc. I ended up using no thrust vector & 1/2 flaps for takeoff. For landing, full flaps, tailerons engaged and ailerons disabled automatically with flap switch. Worked nicely. I landed both with and without TV on. Still experimenting.

Xviper I forgot to test the hover thing. If I go today I will see if she hovers on the Turnigy HD 5000 (838g). I might try the Admiral 5000 which is lighter. But I have to reconfigure for that one.

Actually, I may change the CG. I am at the back of the book range, 155mm. The Turnigy's ride all the way forward. Elevator at 14mm. I wonder if I can go back far enough to allow the flying of those light weight Admiral 5000's?
I'm thinking 165mm? That would bring my elevator up to 12 or 13mm probably and back in the range for sure. If she flies good, that would give me more battery options and a longer flying day before charging.

Today's flight card....CG tests. oh boy..

10 flights in rough grass. Mains are holding up well. Nose wheel still intact after re-gluing at 3 flights.

Flap test video

[C17loadmaster]

I fly off the golf course in my local community and sometimes people will be waiting there for me. So I feel like I owe them an airshow or something. I killed 1 fuselages and 1 complete plane showing off. I also perform TV maneuvers at high altitude now. I didn’t leave enough room to recover and lost both in the trees. The one completely exploded haha

[xviper]

xviper...I almost augered on flight 3 because I did not leave enough room for recovery. Also I was slow to get back in the power. Amazing what this thing can do with the vectored thrust.

:Whew: Careful, man.

[seaviper]

Does anyone need a power system? Motors and ESCs. I have 2 spares. I know I should post in the classified section but I thought I’d ask here first

Not right now. Thanks for the offer though.

I will try to film some flights this week if the weather permits. Hopefully my wife can make it out to film. I am learning the plane; and she is learning how to film jets. It's fun.

xviper...I almost augered on flight 3 because I did not leave enough room for recovery. Also I was slow to get back in the power. Amazing what this thing can do with the vectored thrust.

[C17loadmaster]

Gosh no. That's too risky. I meant when you're up high, see if you can come to a stop in the vertical and then try to accelerate straight up from there. Leave lots of recovery room in case it goes sideways. That's how I practice my hovering with my MiG 29. Near the ground, I only have enough courage to do slow, high alpha passes, where only the vector nozzles control the plane.

I’ll try it next time I fly it. Right now the stock power system is in it. I need to install the Inrunners and do a comparison on video

[xviper]

At takeoff?

Gosh no. That's too risky. I meant when you're up high, see if you can come to a stop in the vertical and then try to accelerate straight up from there. Leave lots of recovery room in case it goes sideways. That's how I practice my hovering with my MiG 29. Near the ground, I only have enough courage to do slow, high alpha passes, where only the vector nozzles control the plane.

[C17loadmaster]

Does anyone need a power system? Motors and ESCs. I have 2 spares. I know I should post in the classified section but I thought I’d ask here first

[C17loadmaster]

I agree a bigger battery is good in this bird. I can land with 25-30%, but the flight is like 3 mins max on my 5000's. Looking into clear coats. I think I will try the minwax.

Trust me... do not try clear coat sprays. Use the miniwax pictured. You need to apply more than one coat depending on what you’re looking for. I have a wrecked fuse that I text everything on. Most anything eats the foam

[C17loadmaster]

I'd be interested to know if you think it has enough thrust to go vertical from a stop. Please don't risk anything just to find the answer.

At takeoff?

[xviper]

I'd be interested to know if you think it has enough thrust to go vertical from a stop. Please don't risk anything just to find the answer.

[seaviper]

I hovered mine with a 5000...at least I think I did. More flying on Friday if the weather permits.

[xviper]

However, if there's a chance that this plane can hover, weight reduction may be necessary. I'll try a 4000mah to see if that makes it light enough to hold its own in a vertical attitude. I'll get used to flying it again with a 5000mah and I might even try the new Admiral carbon that's another 100g heavier for duration.

[seaviper]

I agree a bigger battery is good in this bird. I can land with 25-30%, but the flight is like 3 mins max on my 5000's. Looking into clear coats. I think I will try the minwax.

[C17loadmaster]

I glanced through this thread quickly. When you were talking about clear coat, I used mini wax painted on with a brush. It turned out great being as the plane is not supposed to be flat colors. Spray clear coat and most spray paint will destroy the plane. I used balsa strips on the side gaps of the battery bay. I also filled the area between the battery bay and nose gear with foam insulation filler. It doesn’t hurt the foam and made it much stronger with less weight.

Also, I use 6000mah batteries. They land at 40% remaining using the same timer I use for 5000s. The 5000s land with 14% left if I push it. I also think the added nose weight helps. It doesn’t affect aerobics

[seaviper]

One final mod to the battery tray. Opened up a couple holes so I could have easier access to the strap. I can strap the battery in now with just moderate pressure.
No more stressing the battery bay. I may go ahead and strengthen the inner fuselage area up front. We'll see.

[seaviper]

In my case, all I used was a small drop. But I can see where spreading it out over a large area would help the solvent escape. Lesson learned.

As for me, I will use other glues on EPS from now on. Epoxy works great. For the flexible stuff like removable covers, battery tray liners, etc I will use Tacky Glue. It holds good and peels up when you need to get in there.