New FMS/Eflite Su-30 coming soon

[radfordc]

Hugh, thanks for your input. I haven't flown mine yet but have modified the nose gear like you did. I will fly it on batts that weight 760 g at first.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Got out today and got another 5 flights on 4 different aircraft. I'm now using a lighter 5000 mah battery in the SU-30 and I think I've found it's sweet spot. That's now the permanent power source for mine. It was just too sluggish on a RT 5500 or an HRB 6000 but the lighter 5000 really helped it's flight characteristics, although it still takes a good 150 or more feet to lift off of grass. And I still get about 3:20 of flight time, the same as I got with the 5500 and the 6000, as it needs a bit less throttle to achieve the same flight maneuvers. Unfortunately since this is such a heavy jet and IMO underpowered, any little extra weight just destroys it, so the lighter the battery, at least for me, the better. I've been trying all sorts of batteries to get better flight time, but it just isn't happening, so might as well go lite and at least it flies better (not great, just better and barely acceptable). If it didn't look so good in the air, I probably would fly it maybe once a year.

[Wild Man]

Anyone run into a gear and airbrake issues? My last flight was about a month ago and all went well, than put the girl away. Today I went and powered her up and my gear wont come down. The landing light comes on, doors open but no sound from gear. No mains, or nose gear. Also my airbrake wont go up. Tried testing with servo tester but no dice.

Sounds like a bad receiver. One other think to check, Have you tried to rebind it ? I have not had any problems with mine

[Rcfiddy1]

Anyone run into a gear and airbrake issues? My last flight was about a month ago and all went well, than put the girl away. Today I went and powered her up and my gear wont come down. The landing light comes on, doors open but no sound from gear. No mains, or nose gear. Also my airbrake wont go up. Tried testing with servo tester but no dice.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Hugh. I agree with every thing you have said about this E-flite SU-30 It is a heavy pig that needs power on the landings. One other thing I noticed is. You have to stay ahead of the power curve two or three seconds before you need more power you better have it in already it is very slow coming up on the power. They should have made this one a Twin 80mm EDF. You are correct in saying it is an impressive plane in the Air and on the ground, but it will keep you on your toes while in flight. I should have waited on one of the new Free Wing SU-29's. My SU-30 is up for Sale

With you Wild Man, I was going to "Moth Ball" mine, but with a lighter battery and lower mah, I'm now having 2nd thoughts as it really seemed to come alive, with no actual loss in flight time. The actual tested C of that 5000 mah was higher than the RT 5500 70C or the HRB 6000 50 C and that added another 200 watts and 3 Ah of power which certainly made a difference. I think it also helped getting it to balance back at 150mm. Wish I could get it back a little more, maybe to 155 but that would require even more tail weight. I've got it on probation for now and will give it another 10 flights or so with this set up before I make a final determination. For the first time in some 50 flights it was actually a pleasure to fly. I know weight in these foam EDF's is not your friend, but this aircraft is severely affected by the slightest extra weight. By contrast, the 12 blade inrunner I put in my FW 90 mm F-16 could care less about any extra weight. I squeezed the 800 g Hobbystar 8000 mah 100C battery in it and it actually flew better and gave me an extra 2 minutes of flight time over the HRB 6000, so now I'm getting over 5 minutes in total.

[Wild Man]

Hugh. I agree with every thing you have said about this E-flite SU-30 It is a heavy pig that needs power on the landings. One other thing I noticed is. You have to stay ahead of the power curve two or three seconds before you need more power you better have it in already it is very slow coming up on the power. They should have made this one a Twin 80mm EDF. You are correct in saying it is an impressive plane in the Air and on the ground, but it will keep you on your toes while in flight. I should have waited on one of the new Free Wing SU-29's. My SU-30 is up for Sale

[Hugh Wiedman]

After over 50 flights with this aircraft, I was fairly disappointed in it's performance and was ready to send it "Down to the Minors". I always felt is was underpowered, way too heavy and flew like a pig. Flight times are nothing to write home about in 3-3:30 range. I tried a RT 5500 70C (and it flew OK on that), an HRB 6000 50C (flew about the same but not much difference in flight time as this battery is about 30 g heavier), and even tried a Hobbystar 8000 100C (about 70 g heavier) but with that battery it had almost no vertical and flew like a Winnebago. It needs power on landings and definitely does not float in like the Mig, in fact it will drop like a rock if you get the power too low.

Today I gave it one more chance, this time with a lighter GreyPower 5000 50C (a test battery that is not yet available to the public but is an outstanding battery if/when some company we all know decides to release it). Well I have to say, it certainly got a stay of execution and in fact got a full pardon. All of a sudden, it flies completely different. Take off on grass was much crisper and shorter, had more than adequate vertical and just flew like a different aircraft. Still needed some power on landing, but at least it doesn't land like the space shuttle any more. And guess what, I now get the same (even more) flight time then I used to get on the HRB 6000. I do have a much larger nose wheel (2 1/4" Hanger 9 Pro-Light) than the stock 1 3/4" and programmed flaperons, both to help get off of grass. But the beast really livened up with the slightly lighter battery (about 750g). Oh, and I'm flying it balanced as far back as I can get it at 150mm (added 3 ounces in the tail to even get it there). Manual calls for 115-150. At 115 it flies like a nuclear sub and buries it's nose in the grass on take-off and leaves a trench you could plant corn in, all without getting airborne.

It's now earned on spot on the bench at least (still definitely not a first stringer though), but I have to admit, it looks great on the ground and in the air, is cool with that speed brake and with twin afterburners it has a certain presence. Like Fernando Lamas used to say, "Better to Looook Gooood, than to Fly Gooood). Or maybe that was Billy Crystal imitating Fernando.

[Builda]

Finally got one💪 Now i just need to get it together-might sit in storage with Rafale and a bunch of others until next summer though as i have too many aircraft so need to get my moneys worth out of a few then sell to make room! Lucky my wife is tolerant of my addiction i have a dozen still in boxes dotted around the house😂

[bandetx]

Next up I need to wait a while for the oil paints to dry.. i'll do polycrylic satin coat over it, and then do the panel lines with an oil paint wash.

[bandetx]

Su-30 detail up project part 2.

1. I painted the pitot tubes silver
2. Painted the upper level engine sections. I used a steel colored oil paint, and then you blend the paint to make a fade effect.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Oh, forgot. I also fiberglassed the interior of the battery compartments on the side up near the front of the battery to help support the weight.

Good thought, the carbon fiber tubes in the fuselage end about 3" behind the battery compartment, leaving the entire nose with the battery weight just being supported by foam, very sketchy. I also reinforced the battery compartment by adding carbon fiber tubes starting 3" behind the existing tubes and going forward down at a slight angle about 2" beyond the battery and also added some marine plywood on both sides of the battery compartment. I flew it for a while on a heavy 8000 mah battery (which it performed like with since it was barely able to go vertical) and noticed after several not too bad landings that the foam was starting to crack in the nose section where the foam curves around the nose gear and where the battery sits at the aft end. Hated to add more nose weight of any kind, but no choice at that point.

[bandetx]

Oh, forgot. I also fiberglassed the interior of the battery compartments on the side up near the front of the battery to help support the weight.

[bandetx]

Su-30 detail up project part 1.

So far what I did:
1. Cover many of the foam slots in the airplane with scotch tape to reduce drag (these are those little slots that are made by the foam mold that holds the carbon fiber rods inside the foam in place while the foam is filled around it) They serve no purpose after the foam is molded except to create drag. Doing all of it around the plane adds up.
2.Mask the canopy & Spray the entire plane in Minwax Polycrylic Satin.
3. Add Cyclone power centerburners
4. Add foil tape to inside nozzles to reflect the AB
5. Paint alternating turkey feathers silver, and paint a silver section on the bottom. (haven't done any sections on the top yet)

[bandetx]

All problems were with the receiver, it had no issues after I changed the Admiral RX to a Spektrum RX.

Now that I got it flying, I can be bothered to doing some weathering on it.

[bandetx]

Whilst I was in there working, I put some fiberglass cloth + epoxy on the sides of the battery bay for more support.

[bandetx]

Nice forensic work!! I would also recommend you do a "simulated" flight on the bench, starting out with 7-10 seconds of full throttle (like on take-off), reducing it to maybe 60-70% for a while, and simulate a couple of climbs at full throttle, all lasting about 3 minutes, with a final full throttle burst simulating a go around. This will give you some confidence in the ESC, batteries, connections, etc. The only thing it won't simulate is the signal strength, but at least you'll have everything else ruled out.

I didn't think of testing it before replacing, but I was thinking the motor stuttering might be caused by the receiver signal loss too. It could be that it was giving some funky input to throttle after losing connection, like it was to elevator.

Anyways, seems I got lucky AF. Works for me.

[Hugh Wiedman]

It is the receiver.

On the bench, when connected, if I turn off the TX one of the elevators would pitch which would cause a roll. Every time.

Replaced Admiral receiver with a Spektrum 9ch receiver I had laying around.

Nice forensic work!! I would also recommend you do a "simulated" flight on the bench, starting out with 7-10 seconds of full throttle (like on take-off), reducing it to maybe 60-70% for a while, and simulate a couple of climbs at full throttle, all lasting about 3 minutes, with a final full throttle burst simulating a go around. This will give you some confidence in the ESC, batteries, connections, etc. The only thing it won't simulate is the signal strength, but at least you'll have everything else ruled out.

[bandetx]

It is the receiver.

On the bench, when connected, if I turn off the TX one of the elevators would pitch which would cause a roll. Every time.

Replaced Admiral receiver with a Spektrum 9ch receiver I had laying around.

[Hugh Wiedman]

To be clear, I never lost power. The motors started stuttering and I thought I lost power, but I didn't. After backing off the throttle it worked fine which indicated a calibration issue to me.

I did consider the signal from the receiver. Using an admiral 10ch with remote sat.

You may be right, but if it is a calibration issue, it should also happen on the bench when you go to full throttle. The RF interference is highest from the ESC's at full throttle, but on the bench your TX and RX are too close for a signal loss. In the air is where that loss would be more noticeable. I suggest you test the throttle extensively on the bench before concluding it is a calibration issue.

[xviper]

OK, so what kind of gyro are you using? Settings? How is it attached? Also, Admiral 10-ch RXs have been, on the most part, good, but there have been reports of the occasional one having glitches. Are you using the matching diversity satellite or some other type of satellite? It also depends on how you've places the RX and its satellite. A momentary motor stutter can also be an indication of momentary loss of signal, where the throttle tries to go to zero.