New FMS/Eflite Su-30 coming soon

[xviper]

It's discontinued. It's already very large and was quite pricey for a foamie jet. Ask why it got discontinued. I would guess that it barely sold and when warehouse stock was gone, that was it. If they were to bring it back as an even bigger plane, it would have to be a twin 80 or 90mm since the stock 70mm was just adequate to push it through the air for a short 2.5 to 3 minutes. Modifications were needed to make it fly better and longer. A bigger, more powerful, longer flying new one would be so expensive, it likely wouldn't sell at all. Horizon isn't likely to make an even "bigger" mistake. I don't think they'd be that dumb. They got away with the first one selling what they made and went away wiping the sweat off their brow and a big sigh of relief, knowing that many hobby shops still have some units wasting away on their shelves and NOT Horizon's warehouse.
I like mine. It's just the right size, but it needed work - more powerful 70's and the addition of a second battery (yet to come) to make it nearly "perfect".

[edwardyn]

It looks cool, but it would be even better if it was a little bigger.

[Lateral-G]

Even tho mine is box stock i love it. I managed to snag one of the last ones from Graves. I think they were the only online store that had one. I also repainted the hot section to improve the look.

[jasmith41]

If anyone is interested, i know where there's a brand new EFL SU-30 bnf in the box on the shelf is...
I finally maidened mine a couple of weeks ago after looking at it on the rack for the last 15 months. I don't know why i waited so long to fly it - what a fun bird... got 3 flights on it with 0 damage... :)

[xviper]

2:25 to 2:45 on the video

I kept doing a retake of that over and over, thinking that is insane, with a full load of missiles no less.

[Hugh Wiedman]

I know, I know. I envy you guys who have the dual battery set up but I really hate to lose that speedbrake. Maybe over the winter, I may say "To heck with the speedbrake" and go for the dually.

I said the same thing for way too long. Your comment of "It could do loops far easier from a level start whereas before, I had to dive it to start the loop", was oh so true for me as well, but the FMS fans and dual batteries made that a thing of the past. Just go to 2:25 to 2:45 on the video I posted where I'm able to take off of rough high grass of over 1" (our runway has gone to hell over the last year, mostly weeds, bumps and tall grass-gone are the days of 1/2" and smooth surface thanks to our outstanding Board of Directors) and immediately going vertical. With the current state of our runway, before the fans and dual batteries, I would have never even attempted taking off on these current conditions, let alone immediately going vertical. And this video was using the heavier 5300's instead of the 4500's, which added an extra 200 gr. Packs came down barely luke warm.

And radfordc , what do you mean the "dark side". You've shown me "The Light"

[xviper]

Sounds like a good battery. But, it also sounds like you're not up to the level of the dual battery setup. Hot batteries and hot connectors mean you are using electrons to make heat instead of making thrust. If you're not getting 500+ ft diameter loops you need to come to the "dark side" and go dual battery.

I know, I know. I envy you guys who have the dual battery set up but I really hate to lose that speedbrake. Maybe over the winter, I may say "To heck with the speedbrake" and go for the dually.

[radfordc]

Tested out my Coddar HV 6000mah 80C LiPos in the SU-30 yesterday. I do have the upgraded fans in there from FMS. I flew it hard on purpose, with the timer set as before when flown with the regular LiPos. Came down with only a bit more left in the battery than usual, BUT the battery was hot although not any hotter than with the regular LiPos. The increase in take off punch was noticeable and (IMO) significant. It could do loops far easier from a level start whereas before, I had to dive it to start the loop. With the battery weighing so little compared to the CHL 5000s, it had to be placed as far forward as possible but then the wires wouldn't reach so I had to move it back and flew it more tail heavy than usual. The plane didn't seem to care and with a little UP trim, it flew just fine. When I need more batteries, I'll get the Coddar HV 7000mah, 120C ones. They are expensive but may be worth it and they weigh about the same as the CHL 5000s.
Perhaps when SMC starts selling their HV bats, they'll be priced a bit more reasonably.

Sounds like a good battery. But, it also sounds like you're not up to the level of the dual battery setup. Hot batteries and hot connectors mean you are using electrons to make heat instead of making thrust. If you're not getting 500+ ft diameter loops you need to come to the "dark side" and go dual battery.

[xviper]

Tested out my Coddar HV 6000mah 80C LiPos in the SU-30 yesterday. I do have the upgraded fans in there from FMS. I flew it hard on purpose, with the timer set as before when flown with the regular LiPos. Came down with only a bit more left in the battery than usual, BUT the battery was hot although not any hotter than with the regular LiPos. The increase in take off punch was noticeable and (IMO) significant. It could do loops far easier from a level start whereas before, I had to dive it to start the loop. With the battery weighing so little compared to the CHL 5000s, it had to be placed as far forward as possible but then the wires wouldn't reach so I had to move it back and flew it more tail heavy than usual. The plane didn't seem to care and with a little UP trim, it flew just fine. When I need more batteries, I'll get the Coddar HV 7000mah, 120C ones. They are expensive but may be worth it and they weigh about the same as the CHL 5000s.
Perhaps when SMC starts selling their HV bats, they'll be priced a bit more reasonably.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Finally put the video together on the maiden flight with the dual batteries. After 2 years of fighting with this thing, it's finally worth flying. The FMS fans are a must, but equally important is converting to dual batteries. I'm able to fit either 2 SMC 5300's (each at 684gr) or 2 SMC 4500's (each 588gr). The only difference I found, other than longer flight times, was that with the 5300's it was a bit "heavy" when landing. Oddly enough, take-off distance and vertical was nearly identical. So obviously I need to do some more testing (at least that's the excuse I've given my CO)!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Doesn't this a/c already come with FMS fans?

As xviper stated, the E-Flight version sold by HH had the anemic E-Flight fans in it (2860-1850 Kv 9 blade inrunners), but they forgot to include the gerbils to make them go any faster. 🤣 The version sold in Europe by FMS had their fans in it (12 blade 3060-1900 Kv inrunners), a significant upgrade over the HH version.

By my estimation, the FMS fans provided as much as 30% more thrust, making it a day/night difference. With the old fans, barely got off grass and labored going vertical. FMS fans cut take off distance in half and gave very good vertical performance. The stock HH version was a pig.

[nuts-n-volts]

I do agree with that. I think they came with the 70mm v1s like what was in the original Yak-130.

[xviper]

Some say it came (discontinued now) with FMS fans as many Eflite EDFs did, BUT they were the more anemic ones. Many owners very quicky went with the "hi perf" inrunner FMS units to liven this plane up considerably.

[nuts-n-volts]

Doesn't this a/c already come with FMS fans?

[Hugh Wiedman]

Finally got around to finishing the double battery mod and put some rare earth magnets and an X-Acto blade with the sharp end ground down as the hatch closer. I was also able to balance it at 150mm using either 2 SMC 4500's or 2 SMC 5300's, so we'll see which combo works best. Hopefully the weather will improve and I can give it a shot sometime next week.

But no matter what, I'm done modifying this thing. So far changed to the FMS fans, swapped out 2 RC Geek burners to use his latest slimmer ones, reinforced the nose gear and the base of the nose gear strut with carbon fiber square tubes, changed the nose wheel to a Hangar Nine 2 1/2" Pro-Lite wheel to help on grass and imbedded carbon tubes on each side of the fuse in the front battery bay because for some reason, they terminated over the nose wheel and I was getting some initial cracks at the beginning of the battery bay. For now I'll fly it as I did before with flaperons, but put each elevator servo on a separate channel to ultimately go to tailerons. That's going to require some funky mixing to keep the AR8360T gyro working correctly so I'll deal with that at a later date.

[Evan D]

I'll do it on a rare occasion too. I currently have a spare in the box FW Grippen, 70mm F-16hp, 70mm Yak130 and Arrows MiG29 among others... I figure even IF, big IF, I don't crash the value will only go up on a great flying plane.

[xviper]

It's just that they have such nice planes (Su-30 and Viper 90 for example). We just need to be able to buy 2-3 planes each when they're available!

I used to do that with cheap HobbyKing planes but those things are many hundreds of bucks each. If this were the auto industry, they would never get away with bad parts availability. With hobby parts, anything goes.

[radfordc]

And your quote above is probably why I will never buy another aircraft from HH. They just don't stay around long enough and I'm always in desperate need of spare parts!

It's just that they have such nice planes (Su-30 and Viper 90 for example). We just need to be able to buy 2-3 planes each when they're available!

[Hugh Wiedman]

Luckily the repairs were relatively minor as there aren't any spare parts easily available anymore.

Thanks again for all your help and steering me in the right direction. It will probably be a couple weeks before I get it out as I'm heading out of town tomorrow for a bit. In any case, I'll definitely let you know how it performs.

And your quote above is probably why I will never buy another aircraft from HH. They just don't stay around long enough and I'm always in desperate need of spare parts!

[radfordc]

Hugh, I'm looking forward to your flight report soon. Hope you like how it performs. BTW, I nearly killed my Su-30 last weekend. I started doing fast multiple rolls on a low pass and lost orientation. Though I was right side up and pulled hard on the elevator. The plane did 99% of a split ESS maneuver before it hit the ground. One foot more altitude and I would have made it! Luckily the repairs were relatively minor as there aren't any spare parts easily available anymore. I will hate it when this one is gone.