BH SU-34 50mm twin

[19000rpm]

I thought about this one a long time. I've always wanted an SU-34 but I didn't want to spend over $300 for the HL TV version with weak retracts. That means I'd have to add another $100 for some good eflite retracts. My cheapness coming through. ;D

I did see a HL SU-34 with eflite retracts this past weekend. It is a huge and handsome model.

The guy that had it couldn't make it rise before the end of the runway. It wasn't for a lack of power. It was screaming. Those twins make an awesome noise.

For some reason the elevator didn't seem to have any effect. Off the end of the runway it went and into the tall grass; and that was it. The retracts survived, but all three ripped out of the foam.

I ordered the BH SU-34 50mm twin. I've had mixed results with BH planes, but I think this one is going to be one of the positive experiences...I'll keep you posted.

[19000rpm]

The SU 34 showed up last night. No damage in shipping and all the parts were in the kit. That's a good start

The aircraft detail isn't the best I've seen lately but not too bad. Once together I think it will be more than presentable.

The EPO parts fit together nicely. Not the best wing fuse joint I've seen. And, no spar in the wing. I may want to add one. The horizontal stabs need to be cut to work around the servos.

This plane also uses delta mixing, like many of the other Blitz minis, reducing the number of servos to three including a steerable nosewheel.

The first three pics show a neat landing gear system where the gears can be snapped in and out easily. Good thinking for a park flyer where you may not be able to use a gear one time and then you can the next place you fly it.








The battery bay holds up to a 2200. That's a Tenergy 2200 in the pic. The Rx is one of those 6 channels from Target Hobby. I've been using them in the small planes and have had no issues.


The dual 50mm fans are housed under the two hatches. They are the same fan units used in the other mini Blitz. They appear to be set up well from the factory. At least the blades don't touch the housings. The dual 20A ESC's are stacked under the clear plastic. There's plenty of ventilation but I would have chosen to not stack them and, instead, stagger them to ensure optimum cooling.


In addition to the airframe there is a full assortment of bombs and rockets. Not liking them all that much. The molding is kind of crude on some. I'll probably use a few.

Next, I'll test the electronics and check the fans out.

All in all this is a promising little plane. I'm looking forward to the noise and performance of the twin 50's.

[Solitaire]

Hmmm, I haven't seen those blue Rx's. Quite a bit smaller than any of the ones I've received from Target Hobby which look exactly like the Spektrum units. ;D

[19000rpm]

Ray turned me on to those Rx's. They run somewhere between 4-5 bucks depending on when you buy. I think I've got four of them. Rock solid so far.

And the "Blue" Rx's are quite a bit smaller than a AR6110. Not a bad feature for some of the tiny equipment bays like the Blitz mini series.

I just looked and they seem to not be available at the moment.

[19000rpm]

Well as luck will have it I think the Banana Hobby curse has finally caught up to me.

When I did th electronics check the motors didn't function. Got the beeping tones from each that indicate bad wiring or bad ESC's.

I inspected all of the wiring and it appears to be wired right. I'm sure I could take it all apart and fix it but I don't want to void the warranty.

So, I've requested an RMA and am prepared for the long battle. If the worst happens I can always fix it myself, but would rather not have that hassle either.

No matter what happens, I won't be buying anymore RxR's from them in the future. If I order more, I'll stick with the airframe kits and at least I'll know what I getting won't have faulty electronics.

[19000rpm]

Now I just plain feel stupid. There was nothing wrong. I just didn't have the throttle trim all the way down on the model type. I'm so used non computer radios I forgot that some ESC's request a completely trimmed down throttle before they initialize and the fact that you need to do it for each model in the memory as opposed to the non computer type where... Well now we
are back in business with the Su34.

[19000rpm]

A rainy and windy day today so I decided to wrap up putting the Su 34 together.

The assembly was very straight forward except when I went to install the control linkages. The servo arms were reversed 180 degrees and the control rods weren't set up right. After a little bending and fiddling it all went together and checked out on the TX with the proper delta mixing.

I cranked the motors up. We had the windows open. My wife told me to turn it off before somebody called the police. Now that's the noise I'm talking about.




This is the proper servo arm location with a bend in the elevator control rod.






I added most of the missles. I didn't put the largest one on because it was almost certain to get torn off on even a moderately hard landing.

For a pleasant change, the CG in the book appears to be accurate. Can't wait to get this one in the air.

[19000rpm]

The CG was, indeed, correct.

But there were two issues. First the 2200 battery is awful heavy for this little plane. Secondly, one of fan housings appeared to be rubbing the fan. This wasn't the case when I tested it. ;D

As a result the maiden wasn't a fantastic success. The added weight restricted the performance as well as the one fan dragging. It flew well enough, but it was painfully slow. Not what I was hoping for.

I had an extra fan assembly so I replaced the offending fan. I also went down to a 1600mAh battery. Now, the weight of the plane feels more appropriate to its size.

With the new fan the plane feels very strong on the bench and with the lighter weight I'm sure it's going to perform a lot better.

[19000rpm]

It still flies pretty slowly even with the lighter, higher C battery.

The motors sound strong, the thrust feels good. Hmmmmm.

I'm wondering how much more time I'll put into figuring this out. ;D

[akent]

Humm, time for MORE POWER!!!

[19000rpm]

Yes, indeed: More power. It's the answer to 9 out of 10 delimas in the RC flying world.

I'm just not sure where to start. I'd like to up the amps, but I fear the extra weight of a 4 cell and stouter ESC's may cancel out the additional thrust. Lord only knows what the motors are capable of handling. And there's not a lot of room to play with either. I need to thunk on it a bit. ;D

[19000rpm]

Well, here's the first step: There's a small "cheater" opening just in front of each fan in each intake. So, the thinking being; the fans weren't getting enough air so they added the "cheaters" to feed the need.

I took mr. exacto and doubled the size of the opening on each side. I figured as long as they thought it wasn't getting enough air to the fans in stock form then how could letting more air in be a bad thing? ;D

OK. That turned out well. The performance took a nice jump up. It now flies more like a jet and less like a Jenny.

It still isn't fast enough though; at least to my liking.

I don't have any idea how much air can be pushed through these tiny fans. Have I hit the practical limit or are bigger motors and ESC's the answer? There's some space limitations to consider. There ain't much.

The more power the more air required. Will I need to open up the "cheaters" more. Something I'll need to figure out.

[19000rpm]

He, He, bigger cheaters solved the speed issue, that and more break-in on the fans.

Now, this plane is really fun. Pretty quick, reasonable rudderless aerobatics, striking to look at in the air, does nice inverted low & slow passes, with little down stick, and lands like a butterfly. It floats in. I can cut the throttle 100 yards out and it comes in slow and with a slight flare touches down at pratically no speed at all. Not a quality I've found in the average small EDF. Usually they have a tendency to stall unless you have some power on at touchdown. Bouncy, bouncy if you glide in dead stick.

Another thing that surprised is the 1600mAh battery lasts a lot longer than I thought it would driving two motors and two fans. I was thinking 4 mins, or so, and it's good for 6 plus.

I've come to the conclusion the Banana Hobby planes are a mixed bag. Good, bad and ugly. I've had some of each. But, for the most part, if you're a little patient, willing to work a little bit to maximize their potential, most of them can be sorted out. I guess that's the price you pay for lower prices.

[Gabe]

I bet that twin EDF has a wicked cool sound to it.

Glad to hear someone had a positive experience with BH. Mine wasn't terrible, but I got what I paid for.

[19000rpm]

I've got another one of their birds in mind. Just can't decide to roll the dice or not.