Official Freewing MiG-29 Fulcrum Twin 80mm Thread

[Evan D]

I have TVs and no ABs. When I use my 5000's which I normally do I have them in the aft and fore. They are 645g each. When I use my 830g 6000's they are the aft and mid. I have my CG slightly, 10mm aft of the marks.

[ITVader]

OK team, here's an overview. Everywhere I look it seems like everyone is using the back and the middle battery trays. My MIG has the TV installed, RC Geek afterburner lights added and that's it. Just using Spektrum 5000's as test bricks (690g each) they are in the middle and front forward trays just to get in the CG ballpark. Anyone on here using the same placement or did someone put a lead weight in the tail end of my plane embedded in the foam somewhere?

[Evan D]

If you use that middle battery location you'll need to do something.

[Flash Jorden]

Yes!!! I saw the neat installation of moving the blue box to the rear battery bay. I am planning on doing that too.

[Evan D]

The fan tabs when mounted right have the surface on the center line of the unit. If you flip it upside down then the whole unit is offset the thickness of the tab. It sounds like doing so you didn't have to carve under the fan but you may have to carve doubly into the cover.

Wow, what a rats nest. When I built mine I didn't use the interconnection cables and stuffed the MCBe in the rear. I forgot how many wires there were out of the box, stock.

[Flash Jorden]

Getting closer ...
wired in the replacement UBEC, installed the FMS 3665 2000KV fan units, and 3D printed the intake louvers. Fun fact, the EDF mounting tabs are off center, maybe by about 2mm. So it was easier it mount, meaning carve out less foam, with the wires coming out the back of the motor at 12:00 vs 6:00.

TV unit, gyro (didn't have the one I thought), titanium rods, heavy duty ends should be here tomorrow. If all goes well, I should be done by Monday, but current schedule of other stuff may prevent that.

In the mean time, I need to work on my crashed F-22. Transfer equipment to new airframe.

[Flash Jorden]

I have crashed mine twice due to high alpha locks in 200 flights (aprox), and that's despite being a post-stall and high alpha guru... :p

The plane has survived after spending some time in the workshop, but you get the point :)

TV nozzles make the plane safer to fly in that regard.

BTW; I jumped on the FMS 2100kv fans myself so will be testing those now when they arrive :)

I goofed on the fan version. I have the FMS 3665 2000kv fans. Carving out foam to fit as we speak. Will 3D print the larger intakes later today.

[jasmith41]

Guys,
I just posted (in classifieds) my Mig-29 (new, in unopened box) for sale if anyone has any interest. I've lost interest in it and am tired of looking at the box. I have the TV nozzles, new and in their box as well.

Hit me up if interested. Thanks in advance.
j.

[Airguardian]

I have crashed mine twice due to high alpha locks in 200 flights (aprox), and that's despite being a post-stall and high alpha guru... :p

The plane has survived after spending some time in the workshop, but you get the point :)

TV nozzles make the plane safer to fly in that regard.

BTW; I jumped on the FMS 2100kv fans myself so will be testing those now when they arrive :)

[Hugh Wiedman]

Oh wow, I wouldn't have thought those pushrods would still bend. They seemed plenty stiff when I tried flexing them by hand. In any case, Titanium pushrods and heavy duty pushrod ends/swivels are on the way. So for the BEC I have a couple of options. 1.) I have an identical BEC on hand as the stock one. I can add it to the other pair of battery leads to add redundancy to the receiver, like having a dual receiver battery setup, or 2.) I have a 10Amp and an 18Amp BEC on hand, use one of those instead.

Don't get me wrong, the upgraded pushrods MRC sends are way better than anything they've given out before. In fact, I originally used them with the Pro Modeler servos, but before I flew it, I happened to drop a wing bag with wings in it off the rack and a corner struck the elevator. Absolutely no damage to elevator itself, but then noticed the pushrod was severely bent as these Pro Modelers do not move a mm without power, so instead of moving the entire elevator, it held it in place, bending the rod. Immediately changed to the titanium rods just to be safe, although I really doubt I'd have bent it in flight.

[Flash Jorden]

Well……

Just know that without TV, you will crash at some point due to the high alpha lock. After 2 flights or a few hundred or a few thousand.

I couldn’t install TV (not enough channels) and I flew and flew the MiG. A couple of times a gust threw her into a high alpha lock from which I recovered by chopping the throttle.

THEN ONE GUSTY DAY…..you know the rest!!!!! All bad situations came together in a perfect storm. My MiG is no more.

The TV is that little bit of extra safety margin that’s worth adding. Fly without TV at your own risk. How do you feel about crashing a $700+ EDF?

-GG

PS. Are you picking up on what I am strongly hinting?

TV setup is in the cart. I'll like crashing a $700 EDF probably about as much as I liked crashing my $1,300 EDF (HSD Twin 90mm Me-262). It is the risk we take ...

[Flash Jorden]

Two switching BECs should not be used in parallel. Many have used the upgraded pushrods successfully. If you want to get more into the stab setup the screws holding the elevator horns on are very short and it's a good idea to replace them with the same type but slightly longer, glue the horn down while you are at it. I bypassed the MCBe for most flight controls. I also used a 12ch receiver and did separate the rudders and steering (enabled rudder air brakes), separate hor stabs for tailerons, separate ailerons for crow and full span flaps, separate flaps for full span ailerons. Though I have all that programmed I really use the tailerons and crow with rudder air brakes..

There is a lot of info in these threads.

Really look at putting the TVs on it. Even if you don't do it for the performance increase it helps balance the plane and takes some of the work load off the stabs.

Thanks for the feedback. Single BEC it will be then.

[GliderGuy]

Oh man, I wasn't planning on adding TV. I'll try my hand without it. Thanks for the heads up!

Well……

Just know that without TV, you will crash at some point due to the high alpha lock. After 2 flights or a few hundred or a few thousand.

I couldn’t install TV (not enough channels) and I flew and flew the MiG. A couple of times a gust threw her into a high alpha lock from which I recovered by chopping the throttle.

THEN ONE GUSTY DAY…..you know the rest!!!!! All bad situations came together in a perfect storm. My MiG is no more.

The TV is that little bit of extra safety margin that’s worth adding. Fly without TV at your own risk. How do you feel about crashing a $700+ EDF?

-GG

PS. Are you picking up on what I am strongly hinting?

[Evan D]

I don't use gyros typically and don't have one in my MiG. That said many will tell you it makes any plane fly "bigger" or better...

[Flash Jorden]

Don't try to power out of a high alpha situation...just makes it worse. Cut the throttle to idle and if you have enough altitude the nose will fall through and you can then add power and get back to level flight.

If you don't have enough altitude you get this...

Oh I've been reading that, as well as watching numerous SU-4ever/Airguardian videos, including the high alpha crash he had on landing. As well as reading his explanation about the physics of the issue, including it being exacerbated by the thrust line.

I do have 2x FMS 2100 fan units I can install. I wonder if that mitigates the alpha lock in any way.
EDIT: 2x ZFMS 3665 2000

I guess I will look into the TV setup. Is a gyro necessary with TV? I've never used TV before. I have an A3 Super I could use if needed. Oh, and an Aura 8 too.

[Flash Jorden]

Do be very careful if you fly without TVs. The MiG WILL get into alpha lock and it's not easy to get out. Read the threads here and on RCG.

Oh I've been reading and reading on both sites. With a combined 820 pages of posts, it's daunting ... but hey, how do you eat an elephant...? One bite at a time....

[radfordc]

Do be very careful if you fly without TVs. The MiG WILL get into alpha lock and it's not easy to get out. Read the threads here and on RCG.

Don't try to power out of a high alpha situation...just makes it worse. Cut the throttle to idle and if you have enough altitude the nose will fall through and you can then add power and get back to level flight.

If you don't have enough altitude you get this...

[Evan D]

Two switching BECs should not be used in parallel. Many have used the upgraded pushrods successfully. If you want to get more into the stab setup the screws holding the elevator horns on are very short and it's a good idea to replace them with the same type but slightly longer, glue the horn down while you are at it. I bypassed the MCBe for most flight controls. I also used a 12ch receiver and did separate the rudders and steering (enabled rudder air brakes), separate hor stabs for tailerons, separate ailerons for crow and full span flaps, separate flaps for full span ailerons. Though I have all that programmed I really use the tailerons and crow with rudder air brakes..

There is a lot of info in these threads.

Really look at putting the TVs on it. Even if you don't do it for the performance increase it helps balance the plane and takes some of the work load off the stabs.

[Flash Jorden]

I installed the Castle 20 amp BEC pro. Works great! Most left the stock BEC in and haven't heard of any problems though. I used the Pro Modeler servos for the elevators (even though I got the upgraded equipment) and Hangar Nine Titanium pushrods (the upgraded Freewing pushrods still bend-trust me on that, but better than what it comes with) and installed the TV nozzles as well, so wanted to use the 20 amp BEC just to be safe. If you can, locate all electronics under the rear battery tray (including the RX and I used a 10 channel Spektrum AS3X and a Hobby Eagle gyro for the TV nozzles). Then installed the BEC in the raised center, with the 2nd battery all the way in the nose, along with a satellite remote RX. Makes for a nice clean setup and was still able to balance it 15mm behind the book CG with either 2 SMC 5300's or 2 SMC 6200's.

Oh wow, I wouldn't have thought those pushrods would still bend. They seemed plenty stiff when I tried flexing them by hand. In any case, Titanium pushrods and heavy duty pushrod ends/swivels are on the way. So for the BEC I have a couple of options. 1.) I have an identical BEC on hand as the stock one. I can add it to the other pair of battery leads to add redundancy to the receiver, like having a dual receiver battery setup, or 2.) I have a 10Amp and an 18Amp BEC on hand, use one of those instead.

[Evan D]

Do be very careful if you fly without TVs. The MiG WILL get into alpha lock and it's not easy to get out. Read the threads here and on RCG.