Big day at the field yesterday with my two favorite Russian park jets...:)
I achieved a significant milestone with my modified FRC Foamies Su35 MK2, achieving 100 flights (101 and counting actually... :)) This equates to 10.5 total hours in the air and since it is less than two months since I first maidened this plane, I have been taking it to the field with me pretty regularly!
Other than a couple dirt smudges on the nose, it has held up amazingly well and I have just a blast flying it. I love it's versatility weight wise -
- if I really want to get some speed and quickness, lots of "thrash and dash, I use a 1600 Mah battery, my weight with it is 550 gr/19.4 oz;
- if it is a really windy day and I want some extra stability and wind penetration, I will use one of my bigger 2200 Mah batteries, my weight with that is 604 gr/21.3 oz; and
- my favorite setup is with a Zippy Compact 2200 battery that I have been testing on this plane as well http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__21346__ZIPPY_Compact_2200mAh_3S_25C_Lipo_Pack.html with this battery my weight is 568 gr/20 oz and unless the wind is over 10-15 mph, this gives my plane an excellent feel and lots of endurance for practicing my aerobatics.
I have yet to give her the paint job she deserves as I have been having so much fun flying it, but I have a paint scheme picked out and the paint is purchased, so after I clean up another project, I will get it painted.
There is still one more mod I want to try on it that I have been really liking on the last three planes I have built and that is to shape and sand the leading edge of the wing and elevons symmetrically to see what difference in speed and smoothness of handling that makes.
I really love how this Su35 MK2 flies with the mods that I have made to it, it really suits my flying preference and flying style, hope to get hundreds more flight with it... :)
I also did some more "dialing in" with my new RC Powers Mig29 V4. I went to the field with the goal of really dialing in my throws and expos to get it to fly the way I like it and I think I have it just about where I want it now.
I will caveat by saying I like to fly this plane in a more scale manner, so being able to do flip loops and rifle bullet rolls is really not that important to me. I am looking for more crisp, precise controls that allow me to fly nice smooth scale turns and aerobatics.
So the travel on my elevons is now set at 2 and 1/4" travel (4.5" total). This is probably about a 1/2" more than I would normally need for any flying, but I like to have that extra bit of emergency travel in the event the ground or a tree suddenly jumps in front of my plane... :)
I dialed the ailerons down some as well, I now have about 5/8" travel (1 and 1/4" total) in the ailerons. I know this does not sound like much, but the new aileron design on the Mig29 V4 working in concert with the new elevons are so efficient and effective, that if I put much more travel than that in the ailerons, I tend to over bank in turns, which is not good, especially in windier conditions. This still gives me very crisp, precise rolls and nice carving turns, without too much over control.
For the sake of smoothness and my old creaky thumbs, I still use about 50% expo in the pitch and 60% in the roll, just helps me fly much more smooth and stable without my plane seeming jerky.
Due to the windy conditions, I didn't get a chance to practice any sustained high alpha, but a few times I was able to just hang it in the wind without any flaps or spoilers with a pretty nose high attitude (about 40 degrees angle of attack) and I was amazed at how stable it was and how effective the rudders are. I found it more stable in this attitude than my Mig29 V3, so I am excited to really try it out on a calm day and explore a good setup with respect to flaps and/or spoilers.
I have my rudder at full throws with 50% expo and will leave it that way for now until I get a chance to really slow it down and do some high alpha and see what adjustments I need to make there.
Having an absolute blast flying both these planes!
Cheers,
Scott
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