Well, my Sukhoi went in VERY hard yesterday morning. Stupidity was to blame, I'd been getting a hit at the same spot just over the runway on the first flight. I t would bank right for a split second, then I would have control. Another pilot was having similar problems at the field also, both of us were using JR 7202's. Not sure why that would matter but I found it odd. Anyway, instead of packing her up I went up for a second flight. On the last pass I'd just pushed her up to full throttle when she banked hard right and hit the asphalt runway dead on the nose. Broke the cylinder head off the engine, airframe is a total loss, most of the electronics survived except for the ignition pack. I'd never gotten the slightest glitch on that plane before, I'll be switching to 2.4 before I have another large plane. Anyway, very dissapointing, she was a great flying plane. Not sure if I'll go with another Sukhoi or one of Tom's other offerings, that new 87" Edge looks really nice!

Ouch! I hate when that happens.

When you are considering a new plane, keep in mind that I will be able to get you into a 35% plane for not much more than a 50cc.

The price of the new DZY-100 is under $700 with mufflers, our new 35% planes are $795, that's under $1500. Add to it that the newer 35% planes (Edge 540, Extra 260 and Giles G202) are all designed to work with a single aileron servo on each wing, so you can get outstanding performance with a sub-$500 servo package.

Of course you have to be able to transport the bigger planes, but if you have the resources moving up has never been so cheap.

TF

Thanks Tom, I'll keep that in mind. Don't know if I want to go bigger or not, my Sukhoi fit exactly in the bed of my truck with no room to spare. It willl probably be winter or so before I'm ready, this was my last flying day before football duties start so I've got plenty of time to pick a plane. I know it will be a Wildhare though, I just don't see a better value out there and the "packages" you have put together really make things easy.

messed up the wheel pants and the muffler on the 53 today the engine died(it will do that when your big a__ thumb pulls back the trottle trim when you pull the stick back to idle) had to land in the tall grass. Hey Tom how much for a muffler and pants..

Please contact me by phone or email about parts prices and availability. I try to not conduct business in a public forum.

TF

Finally got my maiden flight in on Wedenday, a few clicks of right trim two up and she was flying hands off. Tom this is one sweet flying plane, you da man.

Notice you do not have the wheel pants on, where did you have to put the batteries to get the CG to be where it should be? I am finding that I need to get the batteries up beside the tank to get it to balance. Having the wheel pants would probably move the batties back quite a bit.

Bruce

Bruce:

My batteries are on the motor box, plan to install wheel pants later.

Hey Robd347
Nice plane mate, I got the same colour, many happy flights to you
Lee

Well, after many annoying questions to Tom, he helped me finally get my Honda Sukhoi in the air. It flew like a dream. I do however, have a mid range burble I have to work out. Initially thought it was the fact I didn't rotate the carb as recommended but it could also be the low speed needle not tuned properly. I will post some pics but I have to size them down first. I guess 10MP is a bit too big.

Hey guys, I have a 6 channel radio and have my choke on a servo. That means I used a "Miracle Y" on my elevators. The Y went bad but I did not lose the plane (it was scary though). Am I right in thinking my only 2 solutions are 1) convert the choke to maual, or 2) buy a new radio (something I'd rather not do). Is there another way?

What type of radio is it?

With all the 2.4 stuff coming out there are literally thousands of 72 mhz. radios on the market. I myself have a 7 channel Hitec Prism and an 8 Channel Futaba 8UAP, plus 2 9C radios, none of which are ever used. Surely if you ask around you can find a good 8 channel radio for next to nothing.

TF

That's something I hadn't thought of. My 6 channel is the Futaba 2.4. I went that way for "safety". I'm new-ish to the hobby and I joined at the time everybody was making the switch. With little experience, I'm not qualified to estimate the over-all risk associated with going to an older 72. I mean, I guess there's a reason folks are selling them. That said, the risk may be no greater than going with the miracle Y, huh. Please confirm your thoughts. I want to eliminate the possible issues that I can. If I crash the coolest, most expensive plane I own so far, sadly I want it to be my fault. Thanks!

Just put the choke on a Manual wire. If your concerned about being able to turn off the engine you can still do it with throttle trim. And as far as starting you only have the choke on for what 10 seconds? one pop. there are a ton of manual choke examples in this thread. You have a decent 2.4 6 channel radio. The manual choke route is free to try before you start spending more money.

Also before I buy any used radio on 72 you have to think about the cost of a check-up with thr respected Mfg. I know I would never fly a used radio without sending it in first for a look over. IMO save your money for a good 9+ channel radio in 2.4

If you want to stay with a 6 channel radio, I would look at replacing the "Miracle Y" with a high end proven unit such as a JR Matchbox or a Smart Fly Equalizer. Both of these have been proven as reliable. Unfortunately if the programming for the 2.4GHz 6ex is the same as the 72/36MHz 6ex it does not provide a dual elevator mix so this is the only way that you can do it.

If you are you using your choke servo as your second form of kill for your gas motor i would NOT remove it. A second reliable form of killing a gas engine that is independent of your throttle servo is a must. (I personally prefer a kill switch and use the Smart Fly Ignition cut off but how you do it is personnel preference)

Cheers
Pupmeister

I had assumed when you said 6 channels it was an older radio. There's nothing really wrong with 72mhz, I flew it for 12 years, was shot down once and never shot anyone else down. But I was pretty careful.

I don't see a problem for 6 channels. Ailerons on a Y, R ele, L ele, thr, ruder, choke. That makes 6. This assumes your radio has at least 1 programmable mix to get 2 elevator channels.

What am I missing?

TF

You are right; not missing a thing. I was using seperate channels for ailerons and one for elevators with a Miracle Y instead of the other way around. It's all plugged into a Power Expander Pro. I've got two 6 volt NiMH batteries for my receiver. I can still swap it around just like you said. But my main concern was the reliability of a Y harness in light of the fact the 1st one went bad quickly.

Of course what Pupmeister said is correct, some form of a reliable kill is a must and as he said I use the smart-fly also.

While the miracle Y is not a great idea, a plain Y cable on the ailerons will work fine, I do it that way all the time.

Ailerons do not need to be reversed from each other like elevators do, so a plain old Y will be fine on ailerons.

TF

Thanks for the input guys. I love this plane! Tom, thanks for making it available!

Congratulations Tom, just received my Nov. 08 issue of FlyRC magazine with a very favorable review of your 50cc Sukhoi. The reviewer found out what the rest us that fly your fine aircraft already know, what a WOW factor.

Well, I dumb thumbed my Sukhoi in a couple weeks ago. I was inverted about 15 to 20 feet off the ground for a slow inverted flyby when my sweaty fingers slipped on the transmitter and hit the optic kill switch. I was to low and to slow. What a bummer, It was a great flying plane.

Now I have to wait til Late September or October for the next shipment of planes and parts to arrive so I can repair it. Luckily everything thing came out without a scratch but the fusealge and right elevator.

I bought a competitors extra to get me by, since Tom was out of 50cc planes at the time. I can say for a fact that nothing compares to a Wildhare for construction quality, price and flying ability.

I'm going thru bunny withdrawl now. Sure do miss flying that Wildhare Sukhoi.

O OH????!!!! Damm, nice plane mate (was), are you goingto build another sukhoi?????
Suppose all planes have a use by date stamped somewhere, Temporary friends
Lee

Yes, I will rebuild it. As soon as Tom gets more in stock.

Funny thing is the dumb thumbs syndrom seems to speed up the experation date.

n57tc, keep us in the loop with the rebuild, always good stuff that rebuilding caper
Lee