JC's Planes and Projects

Model-Tech Sukhoi Su-29 ARC

My current plan for this plane is too improve my trimming skills until it is flying on rails. "Out of the box" this plane has not tracked as well as my CAP or EZ Sport.

Builders Notes: Throw away all hardware that comes with the kit, except the aluminum landing gear. Bend the landing gear with a little "pre-load" to prevent it "splaying" out under the weight of the airplane, or have TNT Landing gear make you up a more durable gear. Replace discarded hardware with quality products from Great Planes, Sullivan, or Dubro. You can save a pound of weight by making the changes detailed in my full review on R/C Flight Unlimited.

11/09/00 - Added a Perry oscillating pump to the Saito. Purchased the pump from a swap-shop for $10.00. I just could not pass that one up! The tank position is a little high inside the fuselage and this results in a rich idle at take off and a lean (better) idle on landing when fuel level has dropped. CG was moved back, via a repositioning of the battery, resulting in a CG that is now 3.75" from the leading edge. I am trying to trim the plane for straighter verticals - it has a tendency to pitch positively on the up-lines.

11/11/00 - Flew three times today. The pump was tested and works great at all power settings. Idle is better but not great - I think I may have a "cold" plug and need to replace it. CG change and slight raising of ailerons resulted in much improved vertical lines - but still not straight. Decalage tesing (power-off vertical dive) showed a slight tendency to pitch positively. I will move the CG back a little more and resume testing. The Saito is really pumping out the power! I have about 5 gallons through it and vertical is now nearly unlimited.

12/2/00 - Froze my fingers off, but I tested my new mods. I removed the 16-oz tank and replaced it with a 12-oz model. The 16-ouncer was overkill for the Saito and I was toting around an extra 1/4 pound of unused fuel for nothing. The plane performed very well. After take-off I was pleased to see that I needed several clicks of down elevator. Conditions were far from calm, but verticals appeared to be straight and inverted flight required just a slight push on the stick. Changing the CG screwed-up my mixes - for the better! My fingers were too cold to do any radio programming, but I will need less mixing of elevator for knife-edge. I think I have the Sukhoi nearly dialed-in!

12/2/00 - I am still having trouble with the Saito's idle. I put in a new OS F plug with no change in performance. It will settle into a high idle after being "goosed". It will then slowly degrade into a rough idle. Adding glow heat improves the idle which would lead me to believe that I have a rich low-end needle. However, efforts to lean the idle have resulted in the engine just quitting due to fuel starvation. This behavior was apparent with and without the Perry pump.

3/4/01 - Took the Sukhoi out for the first flight of the year. I did manage to get a lower idle out of the Saito by leaning the low-end. The plane still floats too much on landing. You would think an 8-lb plane would want to come down but the plane is clean and has a thick airfoil. I will go to a 14x6 APC prop. This should give the plane better braking during aerobatics and landing. The plane is tracking very well due to the changes made in December.

3/11/01 - Got a good offer on the Sukhoi and sold it. It flew fine, but the Great Planes Giles and CAP have greater performance potential and I wanted to be able to concentrate on them. I will keep this page in place for those interested in this kit.