Anybody know anything about the SU-27 RTF by Hobby Lobby? Intermediate experience, looking to get a jet, and start flying as easy as possible. The Flanker caught my eye, and the price seems reasonable. Thoughts??

I have been looking for a SU-27 Flanker myself and have seen the one by Hobby Lobby. It looks nice, but it's a standard Artech SU-27, which means that it is underpowered.

But, don't worry, if you want to have an upgraded Artech SU-27, you'd better buy this from these guys:
http://www.extremerc.com.au
Their SU-27 flies fantastic.

If you would like to have a jet with retracts, check the SU-37 by X-flight:
http://www.x-flight.hk

I would like to order both, but I'm a sucker for retracts and the SU-37's canards are not bad either

I have had two of the Art-Tech Su-27s and yes they are underpowered but because of the lightweight, high-lift airframe, its not difficult to fly with the stock setup. If you do, decide on one, and this is your first jet, be sure NOT to use the maximum throw on the ailerons. Landing speeds are slow and stall characteristics on this plane are pretty darn forgiving for an EDF as well.

Now, for the bad news. The electronics, fans, and motors that come with this plane are junk. My first Flanker fried its reciever resulting in a crash on the second flight. In keeping up with Hobby-Lobby's outstanding reputation with customer service, they sent me another one within a week. The second plane's reciever has been holding up fine but after about 20 flights, the left motor shredded its bearings due to a fan that was very out of balance. Also the speed controller would cut out briefly when a few times during the first few minutes of flight, nothing serious, just a sputter.

I then took the fans out, balanced the impellers, changed out the bad motor from my first Flanker and changed out the speed controller for a Jeti 30A. I rerouted the antenna from running down the middle of the plane (right next to the speed contoller and between the fans=BAD) and mounted the new speed controller outside the access hatch for better cooling.

Now the plane flies noticably faster but there is not much of a power increase. Still fun to fly though. I'll be upgrading the fans to EDF64's soon, changing out the reciever to one of my Hitecs and making it brushless powered as soon as I can afford it.

Bottom line;
While thier planes DO fly well, I would stay away from Art-Tech products until they can get their electronics issues sorted out unless you plan on changing out the running gear anyway.

Scott

My new reciever and transmitter showed up today for my Flanker. Even here in Japan Towerhobbies still manages to get my orders to me in 5 business days! My GWS EDF64 300H fans should be here on Saturday or Monday.

When they get in, I'm going to start a "Cheap Performance Upgrade Thread" for the plane.

While the Art-Tech website says that the brushed fans put out around 380-400 grams of thrust, I'm guessing its closer to 350 or less. The EDF64 300H's should be putting out about 440-450 grams or 17oz of thrust on 3S Lipo. Since the flying weight of the plane is only 23oz, that should be a noticable performance increase.

Its interesting to note that on Art-Tech's website, they say that the brushless version of the plane has greater than or equal to, 400grams of thrust. Doesn't sound like much to me especially for a brushless setup.

Scott

Just test flew my Art-Tech SU-27 tonight, totally stock.

Flew fine. It is NOT overpowered, however I could climb no problems, just not a very long vertical..so I would say it is not UNDERPOWERED either, scale wise without afterburners!!!

For the $200 I spent I would say it was worth it. Its a cheap foam RTF jet that gets you in the air fast, I did a few touch-n-goes and had a blast taxing teh jet around, the nose wheel steering works fine.

Flew about 10 minutes, loops, FAST rolls, climbed to about 500 feet, slow high alpha flight....all in all not a bad little jet. Just not a screamer with the stock motors...but much more performance than the GWS A-10 in my opinion.....and that with .50 cents might get you a coke!

Hi Guys I have a SU-27 flanker by hobby lobby.I have not flown it yet because of the problems pilots are having with the engines.So can anyone tell me what engines I should get before I burn my flanker? or any other advise you have? Thanks BobG.

I was just checking the Art-Tech website. Looks like they have an SU-27 available with brushless motors! There's some good video clips.

[link]http://www.art-tech.cn/english/ArticleShow.asp?ArticleID=161[/link]

They're in China. Anyone ever order from them?

Jon

I finally recieved my twin GWS EDF-64 300H's from Tower on Saturday.

Changing the fans is a real straight-forward process and the simplicity of the wiring makes the swap very easy. The EDF64's fit nicely in the factory spots with minimal "massaging" for the larger inlet ring.

Sorry I don't have any pics of the process, but I left my camera at work.

Flight Report:
While I feel this jet could really benefit from brushless power, with the EDF64's and 300H's on the stock 11.1v LiPo takeoffs are noticably shorter and climbout is much better. The biggest gains seen the the GWS fans are speed. The jet is MUCH faster than before and the plane flies perfectly fine at 3/4 throttle. Aborted landing are not scary anymore and slow rolls look and feel much better. while she still needs a little nose-down for a loop, you won't need an outright "dive" anymore as long as you don't try to make the loop too big.

In all, for a mere $24, a HUGE bang-for-buck upgrade!

FYI, in my Flanker I'm running this setup and I love it.
Hitec Optic 6 Transmitter
Hitec Micro Reciever
Stock servos
Jeti 30A BEC Speed controller

Post 30 flight note:
After over 30 flights on my Flanker, the only problem I've had is the foam behind the nose gear crushing a little from my bumpy runway. Easy fix.

Did I hear it right?
You spent only $24 to upgrade the kit to brushless?
I assume you replaced both motors and duct fans right?
Where did you buy the upgrade for so cheap.

Thanks.