dont feel bad about not liking MK... I cant get used to ultracoat....everyone has a different style. The repairs look great! I cant see any diff on the landing gear of mine so reversing em should be fine. Still waitin on see'n the spinners tho.

Originally Posted by avionics12

OK, the repair, she is done. 2 days ago I was pretty bummed out as this was my first repair and I wasn't looking forward to it. Especially the Monokote part; I detest Monokote.....

One thing is for sure I admire the folks who do RC aircraft covering for a living; that's tough work. I don't like Monokote. I know, I know. Quit yer gripin' and buy a Comp-Arf.....

Anyway a few pics of the Sukhoi back on her legs. Just for grins I swapped the gear; The second pic shows the battle damage when it was mounted on the left side. These are reversible right?

If I had a prop I'd get back out today.

Thanks to all of the folks who helped along the way. Now I know a bit about the rigors of repairs and STILL don't like Monokote....Peace out.

I'll tell you this, if it was a composite airframe, reparing it would have been a whole other story!

Nice job on the repair

I got to hang out with my old Sukhoi today, but something was a little different about it.

It was electric!!

It had an Electrifly Rimfire 80-85-160kv (the 65cc version!), running four 6S 3300mah packs! It flew for about 5 minutes with 25% left in the packs. Performance was awesome!

Originally Posted by JohnBer

dont feel bad about not liking MK... I cant get used to ultracoat....everyone has a different style. The repairs look great! I cant see any diff on the landing gear of mine so reversing em should be fine. Still waitin on see'n the spinners tho.

Funny you should mention the spinners. I went to the hobby shop for the repair stuff. This hobby shop is big into car stuff (they are hosting this years Carpet Nats) so I was sure I could get the spinners. The counter dude got a puzzled look on his face when I asked about them.

He said they received a rush phone order from a Mr S. Pea in Va. Go figure

I'm waiting on the backorder.

Originally Posted by CSpaced

I got to hang out with my old Sukhoi today, but something was a little different about it.

It was electric!!

It had an Electrifly Rimfire 80-85-160kv (the 65cc version!), running four 6S 3300mah packs! It flew for about 5 minutes with 25% left in the packs. Performance was awesome!

I thought about going electric but the lure of the DA60 kept me away. Nice to see old friends isn't it?

Originally Posted by avionics12

Funny you should mention the spinners. I went to the hobby shop for the repair stuff. This hobby shop is big into car stuff (they are hosting this years Carpet Nats) so I was sure I could get the spinners. The counter dude got a puzzled look on his face when I asked about them.

He said they received a rush phone order from a Mr S. Pea in Va. Go figure

I'm waiting on the backorder.

Maybe on my next plane....my Su-26 remains as close to Scale as I could get it for an ARF.

That was funny though.

Originally Posted by avionics12

One thing I did notice today. I always do a post run check to see if anything shifts or breaks loose on a new build. The batteries shifted a bit so I'll work on that. In addition, both canopy tabs broke loose. Has this happened to anyone else?

Mine came loose after the first couple flights also. I glued them back but didn't get the height quite right so now the rear of the canopy sits a hair too high. Oh well, I'll fix it one day.

I suspect my landing was the one you were referencing. That was probably one of the worst ones I've had but I haven't seen any evidence of failure from the fuse.

Originally Posted by sweetpea

Maybe on my next plane....my Su-26 remains as close to Scale as I could get it for an ARF.

That was funny though.

Glad you have a sense of humor! It was all in fun and I can say that it is a pleasure to be counted among such a good group of helpful guys. This is one of the reasons I got back into flying, ours is a great sport.

Originally Posted by Cobra99

Mine came loose after the first couple flights also. I glued them back but didn't get the height quite right so now the rear of the canopy sits a hair too high. Oh well, I'll fix it one day.

I suspect my landing was the one you were referencing. That was probably one of the worst ones I've had but I haven't seen any evidence of failure from the fuse.

No two ways about it; I'm busted. I can say that I watched that landing several times, not to diss you, but to examine impact points, rate of descent, anything that would give me a clue where I went wrong. Right now I am left with Pilot Error with no explanation.. I can accept Pilot Error. That's where I learn the best lessons, however without knowing why I may repeat it and not come out as good as the last time. Thanks for being a good sport about it.

A correct setup helps. I believe I know what happened on my landing escapade. I double checked the surface throws and didn't see anything. I also didn't have my glasses on.

I checked the 10C setup and discovered that I had 70% positive expo on all of the low rate surfaces.

I put my glasses on and looked at the surface throws again. This has convinced me that this is a probable reason for a good looking landing gone bad as I do remember nudging the elevator at the second before touchdown. I believe 70% expo drove her home so to speak.

I'm putting myself in time out now.....

Generally these airplanes like to be landed nose-high and tracking straight. A hard landing on one wheel can stress the gear plate, and a side load (such as getting blown in a crosswind as you mentioned) can put severe stress on the gear, especially when landing on a paved surface where the rubber tires get their best traction.

On my setup on low rates, I'm running 10-20% on all surfaces. 3D rates get more expo, and I almost never land on 3D rates.

Hey Cobra,

Your landing is nothing I think most of us don't do every once in a while. I know I do and have done with this plane.

Only thing I can think of for avionics is maybe resistance in where he landed or maybe the plywood plate was just bad from the get go. I have seen some of these Chinese plywood pieces being less then perfect. It sometimes doesn't have all the glue it should. And not to forget I think the landing gear overall setup could be improved with either some aluminum "L" stock or some heavier plywood that spans some more space to distribute the load.

The land gear legs are very long and at the plate where it mounts would get a lot of stress if you were to touch down in lets say dirt or some loose sand.

In all fairness they have done a great job at keeping the overall airframe extremely light and very very scale like. I did do a pretty good bounce on one of my landings and were surprised at just how well it absorbed the energy of it all. I know had I done that on my 110" Yak-54 with its carbon fiber LG it would have broken or de-laminated. (done it before)!

By the way, avionics great job on the repair. It looks like new.

Thanks T. I know wayyy back when I was flying a 2.6 Comp Arf Yak I bounced it so hard it assumed we were flying again. I know that airplane went at least 2 feet in the air again. I stoked the throttle and did a go-around; maybe touch, bounce, and go is a better term for it.

I went through the entire set up routine twice last night and got everything set to go. Just need a prop and a non rain day to give it a go again.

Hey Avionics,

Here are the pictures of the cowling and baffle.

First picture is just a paper print of the decal overlaid on the baffle plate.

Second picture is the painted silver 1/8" lite ply. Its approx 1/2" bigger then the opening.

Third picture is of the baffle plate installed with the decal. I just used some clear silicone on the inside of the cowling. I rested the baffle plate on top of two paint cans and then set the cowling down over and onto the baffle.

Last picture is of another option I did. If you ever take a picture of one of these planes hovering you will notice that the cowling is vibrating on the front firewall plate or canopy. Cutting a little rib like this will help to stop this.

Good luck,
Thomas :-)

Thanks T. The pictures made this quite simple. For some reason i was over-thinking this thing. Now it will be a snap. Looks like the weather will remain the same- no fly. Gives me time to play with the baffle and try another mod!