General Information

The Sukhoi SU-31 is a single engine aerobatic aircraft that is very popular in airshows. It is a lighter and more powerful version of the Sukhoi SU-26. The Sukhoi SU-31 is the most agile and powerful aerobatic aircraft in production today, and once other manufacturers add performance to their flagships, Sukhoi usually has already raised the bar with new design features or more power. The full size aircraft is almost an all composite aircraft just like our model, since everything behind and outside the cockpit is composite instead of tubular steel, spars and ribs.
 
CARF-Models has looked at the SU-31 for quite some time, especially since our Yak-55 SP has been so popular in all sizes. A new “round cowl” airplane was needed, and we just didn’t want to jump on the Yak-54 hype, doing another one of these, as non-scale (thus not quite pretty) as all the others out there.
 
CARF-Models has gone a different route. We looked at the SU-31’s lines and came to the conclusion that with a slight stretch and a slight increase of side area behind the canopy, some repositioning of wing and stab, this plane could become even a better example of a perfect large scale aerobatic creation - maybe the best one out there after all.
 
The result is that the CARF SU-31 is still very scale, even though quite some modifications from the full size aircraft have been done. But we kept the characteristic details, the large round cowl on the slightly boxy rear part of the fuselage, the louvres, the large wing fillets... Just to make this airplane stand out from the masses. The CARF Models SU-31 is a real flagship aerobatic plane. It is an airplane of high individual value. So we do not stock too many of them in our warehouses. Most of our customers appreciate the fact that they can order custom schemes exactly to their liking, or simple Color swaps of existing stock schemes to their favourite colors. So, stocking standard schemes has proven to be not always very efficient. Please ask your Rep about the many options you have to order your very personalized CARF SU-31 today.
 

Fuselage

The fuselage itself is huge. A massive 41 cm (16") diameter in the front, a huge opening to work in, covered by a canopy frame with a long deck and a clear canopy, the canopy mounting tabs are factory installed. It's almost 3 Meter (115") long with a matching spinner. Behind the canopy and inside the vertical fin there are crucial formers installed, to stiffen the rear part of the fuselage for torsional loads. The wide rudder base also makes the tail area very strong. The gear mount is made from aircraft grade plywood with layers of carbon, holding strong even on uneven grass fields. A tank tray is included as a separate piece, so that you can decide if, or how, to use it. It will be removable for easy access anyway. Of course, the large fuselage will provide room for any kind of silencers, even if you decide to go with a 4-cyl engine and 4 independent full length pipes. A pair of removable wing fillets complete the beautiful scale looks of the plane. 

Cowling

The large, round cowl comes in two-pieces, which makes installing and baffeling engines very easy. The motor dome is made so that one of the most polular 200 cc 4-cyl. engines would fit without moving the firewall, but if a 150- 170 cc 2-cyl. engine is to be installed, the included carbon fibre dome extension will be used to accommodate these precisely, too. Additionally, the cowl gives room for 250 - 300 cc Four stroke Radial engines. The louvres are strong composite parts, made in press molds, fully functional and painted following the scheme of the plane. By coincidence, the large carbon spinner of our P-51 Mustang fits this airplane perfectly well.

Wings

he wing uses sour well proven air foil, which have already been used at our line of Extras. In comparison with the full scale plane, geometry is slightly adjusted to what we know works best. The huge ailerons are CENTER hinged, a new feature which we have introduced with this CARF 3m aerobatic plane. Deflections of 40 degrees and more are possible. 3 different combinations of aileron servo installation are left for your choice. A word about the wing span: The CARF SU-31 is a huge airplane. Even though the wing span seems rather short, the gigantic fuselage makes for almost square span/length dimensions and gives the plane the unbelievable tracking characteristics, which makes the plane stand out from the pack. So, if you look at the CARF-Models SU-31 as a 118“ 3m airplane, think twice, the overall volume of the plane rivals rather with a 124“ Extra, if anything.

Tail

The stabs and elevators use the proven design techniques of the Yaks, with center hinged elevators allowing a deflection of over 50 degrees. A second elevator servo per side can be installed, even though at today's high torque servos it is not necessary. The SU-31 is not as CG sensitive as the Extras with the shorter noses. The massive rudder is also center hinged and prepared for pull/pull or direct drive servo setup. Twin control horns are factory installed.

Flying Characteristics

Mainly due to its huge fuselage, the CARF Models SU-31 3m features the same impressive appearance in the air as it has on the ground. This is perfectly underlined by the Sukhoi’s low airspeed. CARF has optimized the plane’s geometry to be perfectly prepared for high ranking competitions without dropping the characteristic attributes of the full scale SU-31. In particular, the short tail of the original has been stretched to optimize the flying characteristics. The final design features the same legendary neutral knife-edge performance, the same flawless roll behavior and the same intense lift of the enormous fuselage as our Yak 55 SP designs and combines it with the advantages of the new wing generation, featuring a new airfoil and pocket hinged ailerons. This makes the Sukhoi perfectly suited for all modern IMAC sequences but also a very agile freestyle plane which can absolutely compete with the very popular Extra 330SC. CARF Models has optimized the surface areas based on longtime experience to enable roll rates at the limit of every pilot and crowd-cheering 3D maneuvers, but still using a moderate servo equipment of two high performance digital servos per aileron and one per elevator. Last but not least this is a merit of the optimized airfoil of wing and stab. Due to the superb rigidity and torsional stiffness of the ailerons, it is no longer necessary to place one servo close to the wing tips where it has a significant effect on unwanted inertia.

Celebrate your challenging sequences with your CARF Models SU-31! The low minimal airspeed combined with perfectly neutral flying characteristics and enormous lift in knife-edge position will underline the Sukhoi’s very unique appearance. Every kind of roll combination integrated in a circle or loop will be significantly eased because of minimal necessary rudder input. The snap performance has been improved again due to the new airfoil and the position of the aileron servos close to the center axis.

The Sukhoi’s unique appearance is also emphasized while performing your freestyle flights. The low airspeed has no negative influence on the agility of the plane. Roll rates at the limit of every pilot are as well possible as all kinds of modern 3D maneuvers. The characteristic appearance is responsible for a very harmonic flying style where the spectator can follow every maneuver with ease.