Vector control works well

The Su-34 is undeniably a kick in the head to fly. Surprisingly easy takeoffs, awesome maneuverability in the air, and fairly easy to land. But that nose gear is a piece of crap! I've got about 20 flights on mine and I'm getting ready to install the third nose gear. It takes very little to tweak it and I strongly recommend to anyone buying this plane to go ahead and order at least one extra set of gear - you WILL need it. I'm looking at ways to re-engineer mine to see if I can overcome the problem.

Also, the included battery is pretty low quality. If I exceed 3 minutes of flight time with mine, I'm probably looking at a dead stick or low power landing. Other batteries are available with much better performance. Guess I got lucky with mine because I have no motor or ESC issues to report.

If the plane weren't soooo much fun to fly, the nose gear problem would turn me off. But for its relatively low initial cost, I still think it's worth the investment. Get yourself a better battery and a fist full of nose gears and you'll have a great time with this plane.

no problem putting it together, flight times are short 3-4 minutes with throttle management. thrust programming was not difficult.

My main complaint is the retracts!! I knew the retracts wouldn't last very long and was I right.. 5 flights of gentle touchdowns and the nosegear retract folded. very disappointing for the price I paid. Birds of this size need metal retracts!!!
other than the cheap disappointing retracts its a great flying jet.

this jet its almost perfect, the only issue is the landing gear that is very weak.

This jet is absolutely awesome in the air but needs some work to keep it there. The stock battery just isn't strong enough for this jet,,,the first battery died after two flights. I got a Turnigy 3600mAh 4S 30C battery that fit perfect and brings this jet alive. Speaking of battery,,,,this jet could have easily accommodated a battery under the canopy,,,,installing it in the belly is a pain with the two verticle fins.

The ESCs require programming about every other flight.

The retractable nose gear is WAY too weak,,,if you fly off of grass,,it won't last at all. After three sets of gear,,I finally gave up and turned mine into a hand-launch/belly landing jet. I just used fiber-glass tape to beef up the naccelles and nose for grass landings,,,,works great and flies better.

One of the fans blew out and one motor went bad. There is no access to the motors other than cutting away the naccelle and re-gluing,,,how many times can that be done?

This jet takes more work and upgrades than any of my other EDFs,,,but it is worth it when you get it in the air. It's BIG,,,it's FAST and it is MEAN!! I love flying it,,,,,working on it---not so much!!

This aircraft is AMAZING in the air. It's fast and extremely maneuverable. Two weaknesses: 1) The ESC's don't last. I did maybe five flight before they both failed. 2) The nose landing gear is too thin. I'm on set four, none from hard landings. If you hit ANYTHING, say, a bump or a tiny piece of gravel on the pavement, it WILL fold. Then it's $35 for a new set (you can't get the nose gear by itself). Other than that, though, the airplane is a blast to fly and it looks awesome. When this one wears out I'll be buying another.

It took awhile to getting around to building it. but so far it looks great. I have not had the chance to fire it up yet, but i am looking forward to it. For the size of the plane the 64mm fans seems small.
My only disappointment was that there was repairs made to the kit during construction that were obvious.
Other than that it looks great, I can't wait to fly it, and you know I'm going to set those canards up to work.

Wow. this is the best Jet in the series so far from Hobby Lobby! I would suggest Hobby Lobby do is upgrade the battery..to a true 20c or better yet 25c battery. The included battery just can't handle the 950 watts / 68 amps of output required by both fan units.

Hobby Lobby graciously re-placed my first battery when it puffed after only 6 flights. I even purchased an extra stock battery..But I have found out the (green 20c 3000ma 4cell) battery just won't deliver the required output for more than a few flights!

NOTE: I have tried a Rhino 3700ma 20c 4cell battery it seems to deliverer what the SU-34 requires. After 4 1/2 minutes the Rhino battery did not get hot and still had plenty of reserve for landing.
NOTE: # 2 Being very critical now I would suggest the size of the main power lead wire about 6 inches in length coming from the two control units be about double in size. Whatever size wire each controller has is OK... but the wire that carries the load from the battery to both controllers is just a little small for the load. It gets very hot during a normal flight..Larger would be better!

That's it everything else about the SU-34 Full Back is more than anyone could expect for the money!! Great Job Hobby Lobby....keep up the good work. I have placed an order for my second SU-34...and would order more when they come up with different color schemes.
Lee H. DeMary
AMA 36099
Waiver # 8000

Awesome

I finally got to do the maiden flights on my SU-34 yesterday. The plane itself is great and fun to fly. The battery that came with it swelled up and malfunctioned on the second flight causing erratic power and erratic control but it was landed safely. The plane is surprisingly easy to land.

I get the kit after waiting for a few months to get it in. I was so excited to have a vectored thrust foamie. I opened the package and pulled it out, checked to make sure everything was in the box, and mocked it up. The epoxy that comes with it cures really fast, so I chose to use Gorilla Glue 5 minute epoxy. As I started to build the plane (which was easy by the way), I began charging the battery. After completion of a super easy build, I let the epoxy cure overnight.

I followed the step by step instructions on how to set up the transmitter. Very easy to follow, and very easy to accomplish. I took the plane out to the field, gave the engines a test run at full power, taxied a few times to trim the nose wheel steering, check the flight control surfaces.........it was time to fly this plane.

Taxied to the runway, slowly added throttle and and then gave it full power. The take off roll was a little longer than I had anticipated, but the plane smoothly left the runway and took to the skies. The first flight on anything is a trim flight, so that's what I did. I could take my hands of the stick at half throttle, and the plane flew a very stable flight.

Now time for some touch and goes. This plane required a little more speed in the landings than I was accustomed to, so it took me a few times to get the glide slope right. But once I was in the groove, I kept the power settings steady, and she came right in. By this point, I was really wishing I had a rudder, because the plane landed at an angle to the runway (slight crosswind) and could not straighten out and went into the grass. Bent the forward landing gear back a bit, but otherwise, unharmed.

I went and got the 2nd battery, put it in, and proceeded to put the plane through it's paces. This thing can flat spin 180 degrees, add full power and resume level flight. It executes the Cobra maneuver easily, and flips are a blast with the vectored thrust activated. Landings were getting a bit easier, but still, I was wishing that I had a rudder. This plane was awesome to fly, I was the envy of my fellow club members at the field for sure!

Went to put a third battery in the plane, fire up the engines, and only one ran. Uh-oh. So I called Hobby-Lobby and asked Customer Service to help me diagnose the problem. I was given an abbreviated ESC programming refresher, and tried to reprogram the ESC. No Dice.

If I had to base my evaluation of this plane on it's flight characteristics, I would give it an A+ and 5 stars. But I spent $300 and waited several months to see my awesome vectored thrust twin jet sit in my garage during some of the most beautiful flying days I have ever seen. All because the manufacturer skimped on adding any type of trouble shooting guide to the instructions. So with the lack of a rudder, and no programming instructions for the ESC's, I give this plane a very poor rating despite the efforts of the great staff at Hobby-Lobby.

Now I could cut up the foam, put in my own ESC's and reprogram, but I would be spending twice the money on something I shouldn't have to do in the first place. Overall, I am disappointed in this particular product.

Unfortunately, I cant rate the plane secondary to a bad motor on arrival. It seemed like it had a bad bearing at first but now I think it was a bad winding. It ran but growled loudly and got very, very hot quickly.

However, I can rate Hobby Lobby's customer service. I called up, filled out a form and had it taken care of pretty much that day. Rachel took real interest in my satisfaction and that really counts!

Overall, an awesome Jet - especially for the price! The kit goes together very quickly and easily. The only reason I don't give it Five Stars is because of a few minor defects in the kit I received:

The paint is a little thin in a few areas.
The Vertical Stabs must have been bagged before the paint completely dried. They were stuck together in one spot and the paint pulled off where they were stuck together.
A couple areas on the airframe looked like they had been repaired and touched up. These areas are less noticeable after I applied a Clear Flat Enamel finish to the entire plane.
The main gear retract actuator wire is a little thin and will be replaced with heavier gauge wire.
The instruction Manual is a little lacking but not too bad for an experienced modeler.

The jet looks awesome - pictures don't do it justice! I have not maidened mine yet but from everything I have read, I don't expect to be disappointed. I can't wait to see it in the air! The only thing that concerns me is that I have read that the nose gear is a little lacking - just need to nail my landings.

This is a great plane, have had 5 flights and I just love it. Has a nice power band and nice slow speed. Its all they said it would be.. My only complaint is the front landing gear is a little weak,, we can't all grease all the landings. Looking forward to many flights and stunts........
Good job boys..........

great a must have

The SU-34 is a blast to fly. I got to fly the first one in the country. This thing is big and looks awesome with the camo paint scheme and rockets hanging under the wings. It's twin 64mm fans provide tons of thrust on the included 4S lipo battery. Due to it's large size, it's very stable at fast and slow speeds. The retractable landing gear are a big plus as well. Landings can be made under power with a nose high angle at slow speeds, nice! The best part... the thrust vectored nozzles. These things allow you to do insane tight loops and turns. You can even mimic a full scale Sukhoi with the Cobra maneuver. The quality of the finish and the flight characteristics earn a 5 star rating from me.

Jason Cole
Hobby Lobby Pilot