New FMS/Eflite Su-30 coming soon

[bandetx]

I installed the fms fans and the v3 cyclone power afterburners

https://www.rc-castle.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=8885&search=centerburner

Performance is much better! The added weight to the tail helps the natural nose heaviness of the plane. It rotated off the runway in about half the time and the pitch is a lot more responsive in the air.

For the moment I don't plan on doing the 2x battery mod because I don't want to buy 2 more batteries...

[radfordc]

Several more fun flights with the Su-30 on dual batteries.

First flight was 4 minutes of speed and acro... https://youtu.be/0_DAgNnEFyM

Second flight was 6 minutes of straight and level cruising.... https://youtu.be/Qg-xC-gNxwk

[Hugh Wiedman]

radfordc, Outstanding Charles, looks like you have the ideal setup now. 4 1/2 to 6 minutes on this bird is really special. Kudos to you for rigging it the way it should have come from the beginning! I seem to remember you said that you are at 125% on the ailerons, correct? Looks like your roll rate is very quick, the way it should be. You've got it flying like that airframe was intended to perform! Great videos as well, all around looks like it was a beautiful day.

[radfordc]

Hugh, I'm not using ailerons...tailerons only. The surfaces on the wing are flaps only.
only.

[Rcfiddy1]

Ok, so after I mothballed this plane last year for being a slug I decided to upgrade to fms motors and 2 battery setup. Running 2-4000 mah batteries with front battery all the way forward I still needed to add a bit of weight up front to get CoG at 130. But what a world of difference. I think might be one of my favorites now. Short hat cam.

https://youtu.be/3za624-qRfI

[Hugh Wiedman]

Ok, so after I mothballed this plane last year for being a slug I decided to upgrade to fms motors and 2 battery setup. Running 2-4000 mah batteries with front battery all the way forward I still needed to add a bit of weight up front to get CoG at 130. But what a world of difference. I think might be one of my favorites now. Short hat cam.
https://youtu.be/3za624-qRfI

Outstanding, I'm with you on the fan upgrade. Although I'm still using 1 SMC 5300, getting only 3:10, and tried an SMC 6200 and upped it to 3:40. Just a thought, but for me I like the way it flies at the aft end of the CG range, at 150 to 155 mm. Seems to get the nose up easily for landing there, so you may want to try it with less nose weight.

[radfordc]

Ok, so after I mothballed this plane last year for being a slug I decided to upgrade to fms motors and 2 battery setup. Running 2-4000 mah batteries with front battery all the way forward I still needed to add a bit of weight up front to get CoG at 130. But what a world of difference. I think might be one of my favorites now. Short hat cam.
https://youtu.be/3za624-qRfI

I'm with Hugh...get the CG back to 145-155 and you will enjoy the plane more. I put the front battery as far back in the battery compartment as possible and that gives about 145mm for CG.

[radfordc]

To use the vernacular...with dual batteries and FMS fans she flies like a striped a** ape!

[Rcfiddy1]

After looking at marks i was at 150mm for CoG….Probably why I liked it so much.

[radfordc]

After looking at marks i was at 150mm for CoG….Probably why I loked it so much.

You had your battery all the way forward and added some more weight? Doesn't compute!

[radfordc]

My CG is here with batt all the way to the rear.

[Rcfiddy1]

You had your battery all the way forward and added some more weight? Doesn't compute!

I still have foil tape in exhaust tube when I had afterburners but since removed them. Plus my zeee 4000mah batteries weight 599g. I needed to add weight along front fuse to get CoG at 150. Are you running the fms fans also?

[Tabdy]

The SU30 should have flaps, canard and thrust vectoring to be true to scale. I therefore consider it very overpriced. Its a shame the manufacturers seem to be constantly catering towards the beginner with beginner equipment. Some, or maybe many, of us will upgrade when necessary and prefer the larger and more sophisticated aircraft with all the benefits which go with them.

[KevinMar]

The SU30 should have flaps, canard and thrust vectoring to be true to scale.

Not all versions of the SU-30 have thrust vectoring and/ or canards. In fact, the only versions that have thrust vectoring and canards are the new MKI and SM family of models. The whole Flanker family is a complicated clusterfudge of different variants that are nearly impossible to keep track of.

[Tabdy]

Thanks. Despite some brief reading in Wikapedia I hadn't realised that. All the same I hope new models aren't being restricted by a need to remain within a 6 channel limit.

[xviper]

My FMS "Pro" fans arrived today and they were so easy to just drop in. Will test them out in a couple of days. The Pro fan is supposed to put out ~2500g of static thrust. Does anyone know what the static thrust of the stock fan is? I'm wondering if they'll be of any benefit to drop them into my FW SU-35.

[Hugh Wiedman]

My FMS "Pro" fans arrived today and they were so easy to just drop in. Will test them out in a couple of days. The Pro fan is supposed to put out ~2500g of static thrust. Does anyone know what the static thrust of the stock fan is? I'm wondering if they'll be of any benefit to drop them into my FW SU-35.

I could never find any stats on the E-Flite Fans to compare with. What I can tell you is those stock fans together drew maximum about 118.7 Amps and 2810 Watts. The FMS Pro fans drew (using the same battery) 148.4 Amps and 3640 Watts, which is about 28% more. The difference in take-off distance on grass and it's vertical performance was so dramatic, that it seems like even more than 28% increase in thrust, but would like to learn what the real numbers are.

[xviper]

I tried to find an FMS equivalent to the 1850kv EDF but none is listed.

[mshagg]

My FMS "Pro" fans arrived today and they were so easy to just drop in. Will test them out in a couple of days. The Pro fan is supposed to put out ~2500g of static thrust. Does anyone know what the static thrust of the stock fan is? I'm wondering if they'll be of any benefit to drop them into my FW SU-35.

The pro fans in the SU35 are a beastly combination, but thirsty. On auto ESC timing measured 4.4kg installed thrust but north of 150A. On low timing they pull 138A but still make 3.85kg installed in the flanker.

The FMS 1850kv, which eflite use, is good for 2.2kg on a test stand:

https://youtu.be/cosUPf7WEF0

Bit of a shame horizon tend to cheap out on this stuff at their price point e.g. the new 90mm viper is using the older FMS 36mm inrunner when they have a 40mm inrunner in the portfolio that carries a 20USD premium.

[xviper]

The pro fans in the SU35 are a beastly combination, but thirsty. On auto ESC timing measured 4.4kg installed thrust but north of 150A. On low timing they pull 138A but still make 3.85kg installed in the flanker.

The FMS 1850kv, which eflite use, is good for 2.2kg on a test stand:

https://youtu.be/cosUPf7WEF0

Bit of a shame horizon tend to cheap out on this stuff at their price point e.g. the new 90mm viper is using the older FMS 36mm inrunner when they have a 40mm inrunner in the portfolio that carries a 20USD premium.

A good bit of information gathering. Thanks. I'm now reluctant to put the stock SU-30 fans into the SU-35. I get a very good flying experience as is. Fast enough and long enough. I'm not sure I'm willing to sacrifice flight time for any thrust gains (maybe 1/2kg more?) on the 35. I have the 12bl 2150kv outrunners in my SU-35. Also, FMS to FW or FW to FMS EDF swaps are not quite drop in. One seems to always be just slightly bigger (by a couple mm) than the other.