Uh, King......... Are you having technical difficulties? Is this cat going through the second of it's nine lives? LOL!
WT

The not-so-successful maiden. After a successful taxi test earlier and a fresh battery charge it was time for the maiden. I slowly eased into the throttle and the plane tracked extremely well down the runway. As for any maiden, I made sure I had plenty of ground speed before attempting to rotate. When I did start to pull back on the right stick...it was like..nothing was there. I was on low rates without the vector thrust on and I eventually pulled the stick all the way back and it never lifted off as it should have. It should have been flying easily at this point but, it didn't. The front end broke off the airframe and it also broke the front landing gear. Here's a video of the result.

SU 34 build 011.mov (0 min 54 sec)

OUCH! And how did the second go?

Sorry to hear Craven. Just out of curiosity why didnt you take the jet off on dual rates. I have a buddy that is huge into jets and he recommend that I take them off in dual rates due to the lack of handling at slower speeds. This is something that I have learned to do. I dont know if that is a normal way to take off or not with jets lol.

Originally Posted by topflight36

Sorry to hear Craven. Just out of curiosity why didnt you take the jet off on dual rates. I have a buddy that is huge into jets and he recommend that I take them off in dual rates due to the lack of handling at slower speeds. This is something that I have learned to do. I dont know if that is a normal way to take off or not with jets lol.

The manual had no instructions at all or tips as to what radio set ups to use or recommended take off instructions. I flew this without the knowledge of previous jet flights or instruction from jet pilots...as I would expect most anyone would buying this as their first jet. This later learned knowledge due to trial and error will be one of my "cons" in the final write up.

A second successful hand launch after gluing back the front on with foam safe CA. This time I used the vectored thrust in conjunction with the elevator.

SU 34 build 013.mov (1 min 2 sec)

This thread is not designed for seasoned jet pilots as I do not believe they would be the target market for this plane. I want to point out what myself and several other seasoned pilots observed who do not have turbine waivers. The plane actually flew very well once airborne. I thoroughly enjoyed the flight characteristics flying with the vectored thrust and the capabilities it added to the flight. What I couldn't understand was why it was so easy to hand launch with the exact same set up (minus the vectored thrust) that would not allow it to lift off the asphalt on a "normal" take off. The high rate comment by topflight36 makes a whole lot of sense now.

This video is just after the landing, or so called flat spin landing, after the hand launch flight. While using the vectored thrust, I got the airplane into a flat spin which I could not recover from. While trying to recover, it flat spun all the way to the ground and made a very soft belly landing in the grass with absolutely no damage. It was actually very cool to watch, even though I tried my best to recover from it without success.

SU 34 build 014.mov (0 min 23 sec)

It does look like it flew good. I wonder if someone will have a answer to if my friends recommedation is right or not. I have only dabbled with jets and his recommedations was odd to me at first until I started thinking about it.

With the help of 50%plane and his input since he helped with the radio set up, maiden and did 2 hand launches for me, I will write a final review of this airplane. I need a day to gather my thoughts so I can post some very honest pros and cons. I will do that tomorrow night after I get off work.

Originally Posted by topflight36

It does look like it flew good. I wonder if someone will have a answer to if my friends recommedation is right or not. I have only dabbled with jets and his recommedations was odd to me at first until I started thinking about it.

Threads like this are for everyone and your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

We did a successful second hand launch with a not-so-successful landing. I made a soft belly landing in the grass only to strip out 2 of the 3 vectored thrust servos. The servo arms on 2 of the 3 (the 2 that got stripped out) are way too exposed in the rear of the airframe and they couldn't handle a belly landing.

Whoooo!! She Lives!

Your kid sounds just like my 11-year old... great to have around, but just a little smart-ass sometimes. I don't have a clue where he got that from!

Thanks for sharing the maiden and your experience.... I've thought about an electric jet for a while too... but haven't pulled the trigger.

She lives but, she's not very pretty anymore. I'll post some close up pics later too. I think there are quite a few of us out there who've been debating on whether or not to pull the trigger on these planes. I'm not sponsored by Hobby Lobby so my opinions will be very honest and to the point.

Something tells me that this review won't sound like one of those Banana Hobby "I love this plane" (even though it's a piece of schidt) videos!