icepilot

I finally maidened my Grumania SU 27 Flanker Saturday at the Rena Jet Meet here in Norway! I had been waitng all day for calm weather. As this little beauty weighs in at just over 4 kg wet (almost 9 pounds), I did not want to fly it for the first time in the relatively heavy crosswind that we were having during the day. At approx 7 pm the wind died, and I fired up the tiny Simjet 700 and taxied out. The Sukhoi tracked nicely down the runway and jumped in the air after 100 meters. It was immediately clear that my throws were far to much, and she was very sensitive. Then, out of nowhere, came a storm that blew over chairs and bottles along the flightline, and suddenly, I was flying this little thing in VERY HEAVY wind!![X(]

After 5 veeeeery long minutes, I came in for a landing which the SU handled very nicely, and I put her in the hangar waiting for the next morning calm - and went for a nice, cold beer!!

The next morning I adjusted the throws to about 50% of where I started out, the weather was perfect, and I took off again. What a difference! What a gem of a plane!! The Simjet is more than enough power for her, and she's very smooth in the air, I tried all kinds of maneuvers (except the Cobra!) - and everything was pure joy!!

I put 5 flights on the Flanker on Sunday, and I just love it! All the thrills of jet flying with all the ease of a gentle jet trainer - thanks to Harald Huf and Ilja Grum for constructing this great model!!

I am one happy pilot!

BTW - the Grumania SU27 Flanker won "Best in Show" at the prestigious Ahlhorn Jet Meet in Germany last week - the pictures show Ilja and Harald with the Gold Cup - CONGRATULATIONS, GUYS!!

Video of my second flight can be downloaded from www.av-art.no/filer/modellfly

Thanks, Tor/Norway

SJN

Looks great Tor, and congratulatons !

icepilot

Thank you, Sonnich! It's always great to have a new plane and find out that it flies better than you even hoped!!

Tor

SAP_2000

Great little airplane, Tor!
It handled great and it felt like I was flying a much bigger plane.
Wing loading seemed very low too...

Can't wait to get my little L-39, so we can do some formation flying (or at least try to) together.

tommyboy1229

What retracts and other onboard equipment are you using? Brakes, Rudders? Under 9 lbs wet! That's impressive. Looks like it flies well,congrats.

yeahbaby

My Feedback: (21)

looks good amigo. that thing looked like it was haulin' the chili!!!

congrats

buck

icepilot

I know, Staale - it's a great little plane - and it feels big and is even very distinct and visible far away!

Thanks, Buck - it's a fast little thing!

The retracts are Grumanias own design, looks like the SpringAir kind - air up, spring down. A good thing because this little plane would propably not feel good about a belly landing!! Brakes were also supplied (as an option) with the kit, not sure what they are, but the legs, wheels and brakes are really sturdy and should have no problems with operation off grass!! By the way, you get the tanks, air system, retracts, wheels, brakes, horns, even the servo cables included in the kit, so the 850 euro price is not bad at all!

The turbine is tiny, the Fadec is tiny - everything but the servos has been kept to a minimum - see the thread about Grumania Flanker for Wren 44 - there are pictures and descriptions there

It's just a joy!

Thanks,

Tor

siclick33

Is that true? The website shows the retracts as 220 euros extra. If it is all included then that is a bargain!

icepilot

Sorry - that's the basic kit price, of course - retracts, wheels and brakes are extra! But it's worth every penny!!

Yann

Hey, SAP_2000 !
Your L39 looks just like mine
Except mine is finished...
You're gonna love it.

SAP_2000

Want to swap planes when I get mine?

Yann

No way, I love mine too much...
Build yours and let's meet and fly at the savex meeting...

icepilot

Hey Yann! Did you buy a Flanker? Btw - I am getting the same L-39 as Staale - same colorscheme, same setup!

Tor

Yann

Tor,

No, I did not get it yet, I'm saving up for my next project, don't know which one yet...
My F16 keeps me busy in the meanwhile.
Looks like there will be a lot of L39 with camouflage... could be fun !!!
hum, we really need to set up this Savex meet...

Yann

PS: Good choice for your L39's color scheme

icepilot

Did you see the video of the Flanker? It's just great! I think I will be moving the Simjet from the Flanker to the L-39 and back!!

Per Strommen

Hei Tor
Really a nice model! Best novelty I have seen for quite a while. Sorry I missed Rena this year, but LaxÄ should be good also. (2-4 sep) Hope to see y'all there.

Yann

Yes I saw it... pretty cool.
I want to fly my F16 before choosing my next project... the flanker is on the short list (with four other models) !!!
Here is a pic of what you'll see soon as you'll come in for landing

specialFX

Tor, very nice!! Seems to be a great combo with the Simjet 700. This size of planes opens the envelope of possibilities into a very interesting manner. No hustle with big elephants, perfect for every day when the big ones are too much action! And for flying fields with some airspace restrictions, smaller fields, ...

Congrats and best regards
Thomas

HotelSierra

My Feedback: (9)

Congratulations on the maiden flight and a great build job. The plane looks and flys great! Thanks for sharing the video.

wsmalley

My Feedback: (6)

Great video, looks like it's on rails. You ordered a nice sky 'backdrop' for your video -looks like the full size. Prompts me to get back to work on Su. Bill S.

icepilot

Hei Per!

Rena was great - although we were fewer than last year - but then we had more flying time per pilot!

I would love to take the Flanker to LaxÄ, but now there's the Bergen Airshow this weekend and Notodden the weekend after LaxÄ...[&o]

Gotta try to have a family after the season is over, too!!

Are you going to Bergen? Frecce Tricolore, A-10, F-16's, Hawker Hunter, Vampire....
Sounds pretty good!

Yes, Bill - a direct connection to the weather gods - after all, my name is THOR - so I know these guys...!

siclick33

Can anyone tell me how the supplied mesh is supposed to work?

It looks like it can be used on manual start engines. Is that true? If so, how do you get the starter to the engine?

icepilot

The supplied mesh is supposed to be attached with some sort of hinge mechanism and hooks or rubber band for keeping it in place, and you will be able to lift it up and reach the engine with the starter wand. It is only designed for manual start engines. For a autostart engine, I have used this solution:

Tor

icepilot

Just heard a rumour that I had crashed my Flanker... [X(]

which is, of course, not true!! - it's very much alive and kicking and is getting some detailing like decals, weathering and nose wheel landing light added at the moment..

Thanks,

Tor

H.Dale

My Feedback: (3)

If anyone decides they don't want their Flanker I will trade a 14lb Wren MW54 for one.

I have another Wren 44 and would like to put it on a SU27.

Hal