Official Freewing MiG-29 Fulcrum Twin 80mm Thread

[JetFun]

First flights today.
Very mixed feelings.

I had to trim the flaps and ailerons up quite a bit. But that's OK.
Flew 6s SLS 5000mAH and 4000mAh. The 5000mAH are 690grams each. The 4000mAh are 605grams each.

Ended up three times stuck in High-Alpha. First time when I really slowed down and then wanted to accelerate out of a turn. Lost quite some height hovering coming down vertically - like hovering /harrier a 3d aeroplane. Stopped engines - nose down - but when accelerating out obviously pulled to much and ended in another High Alpha. Lost like 20 meters of height. Anyway the vectors did the trick. Luckily I had installed the Vector Thrust and did a full pull flip to get out of it. Same thing happended again when I slowed down to check stalling characteristics. This time used VT right away.
First flight, stuck twice in High-Alpha.
First time I was level, full power and pulled - then got stuck in High Alpha.

And then again while playing aroud a bit. Nose down and level full power saved it. Luckily it does not stall over a wingtip but rather dips the nose.

That is a very nasty characteristic to not get out of High Alpha. The Mig-29 is simply underpowered. It is what it is. I wish those things would be shown official videos. Think I need other EDFs. Could get nasty if you come in landing, see there is not enough space and need a go-around. That plane has virtually no chance of survival if it is stuck in High Alpha. Even VT would just get the nose up during landing and then not be able to accelerate upwards.

Happy I did not try the first flight on the very heavy CNHL 6000 mAh 6s.

Just think it needs to be said. If I would not have had VT I don't think I would have saved the plane the first time. The grey color in the evening was an extra handycap. Simply did not expect the aeroplane to get stuck when trying to accelerate upward from slow speed.

Otherwise it's lighter than two Avanti but has two of those powerplants. If at speed the EDFs get a nice grip of the air and verticals are pretty OK. If at speed the powerplant is enough to have fun. Would not expect that kind of "stuck-in-High-Alpha" with the power it has accelerating from half power to full power. The EDFs just don't grip enough at low speed. The same powerplant grips nicely in the Avanti at low speed. Not sure why but I guess the Avanti is just more aerodynamic.

Guess most of you know this MIG-29-High-Alpha thing. But I simply have not read too much about the MIG-29. Just looked nice on the videos. The vertical harrier was really beautiful. Very nice for a jet. Just not when you are trying to save the plane not knowing what went wrong. First thought was if I had somehow programmed some switch by mistake, then hit it and the VT were going into full up mode. Lost a lot of height because of wrong thinking.

Beautiful aeroplane though. High Alpha looks beautiful during landing.

Has anyone tried the FMS 80mm EDFs? Will the 100 Amp ESC be enough? My amperemeter stops at 100AMPs.

[Airguardian]

I typically use a Freewing Su-35 packaging foam as a 'stand' for all my jets when I'm working on them at home. :)

[skybolt]

I only use the blue box for the flaps, lights, and undercarriage.

[JetFun]

Ok, went for the fast option. Just two servo cables (aileron and flaps) out of the wing past the plug with door servo and light. Might solder a better solution when time available.

[JetFun]

Sorry, double posted.

[JetFun]

Thanks for that feedback on your stands!

Just figured out that the ailerons are on just one channel out of the blue box. Would have liked to put the ailerons, elevators and flaps on separate channels on a Hott GR-32 receiver. Seems that's not possible without reconnecting thoses wires to servo connectors and skipping the blue box. Especially for trimming it would be helpful to have all on separate channels. Added the Thrust vectoring. Having snapflap on ailerons aswell would be helpful when doing tight TV stuff.

I am fine with the gears running via blue box although the doors and gears take a lot of time.

How did you solve this or did you just go with the stock setup? Not sure if it's worth all that effort.

[Hugh Wiedman]

The Harbor Freight stand is nice cause in folds flat for transport and can be adjusted to any width. Also, it's at the right height to work on an aircraft without bending over. Also works for my Beast BiPlane, the F-18's and F-4's and the B-24's, anything with a flat bottom. I also have a couple Robart stands, but they break too easy and are more for smaller planes. Extreme Flight makes a great stand (pictured below) but it's pricy and doesn't travel well. The other great stand I have I made out of PVC (also pictured below). It comes apart for easy transport and is great for the Corsair, Spitfire, FW-`90, P-51, F-16, Stinger 90 and the Avanti, as well as the F-4 inverted. Easy to make and the price is right! I usually take the Harbor Freight and homemade stand to the field and both pretty much handle everything I've got.

[Hugh Wiedman]

Just got my Mig-29 today and was wondering what kind of stand you guys use to attach the wings on the airfield. Turning the aeroplane upside down - which stand works nicely?

I use a stand from Harbor Freight, cost $21, that holds up to 200 pounds. Actually works great for my SU-30, A-10 and a bunch of others. The only problem is that when I take it to the field, my buddy who also has a Mig and many others, he's always hogging my stand!

[xviper]

Just got my Mig-29 today and was wondering what kind of stand you guys use to attach the wings on the airfield. Turning the aeroplane upside down - which stand works nicely?

I don't use a stand or turn the plane upside down to install the wings. I put the plane right side up on the set up table with one side at the edge of the table - install the wing on that side and turn the screws from below. Turn the plane around so the other side overhangs the table and install that wing - put the screws in from below. Sometimes, simple is the best way.

[JetFun]

Just got my Mig-29 today and was wondering what kind of stand you guys use to attach the wings on the airfield. Turning the aeroplane upside down - which stand works nicely?

[GliderGuy]

Ditto - No nose gear mounting issues. Replaced a faulty nose gear servo is all.

Although I didn’t operate on grass before I lost her. Problems with the main wheels only due to the softening of the foam in the mount areas and one eventual main gear plastic mount replacement when a crack developed.

Only this problem area as she pushed way, way beyond 200 flights. I wore out a few main gear servos. They would eventually stop retracting fully.

-GG

[Evan D]

Same here, no problems with nose or mains with mine. But also, with all the landings I've done I have only tipped mine and scrapped a wing tip once with all the flights, also close to 200, I've done. I still think the big MiG is the most stable landing plane I have. Even cross winds have little effect.

[Airguardian]

It's funny.... everyone complains about nose gear problems but I haven't had a single nose gear issue in over 200 flights... hard landings and crashes included.
All my landing gear problems have been related to the main LGs' mounts (or rather, the weak foam that they mount on to).

[skybolt]

Thanks, I did see that one. Looks like a decent mod if you do have nose gear issues. I've made no mod to mains or nose on mine but I fly off pavement and the MiG lands very smooth.

Our runway has very short grass, Mig it is all ready to go, I will see how it lands before doing any mod to the undercarriage.

[Evan D]

Thanks, I did see that one. Looks like a decent mod if you do have nose gear issues. I've made no mod to mains or nose on mine but I fly off pavement and the MiG lands very smooth.

[skybolt]

Link?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoiykDdaSXQ

[Evan D]

Link?

[skybolt]

Has anyone tried the nose wheel fix that's on the youtube video?

[radfordc]

My gear fix wasn’t to my satisfaction so the MiG is down awaiting a new nose gear servo assembly. That put the F-4 in the line up for this mornings flight. Beautiful morning which yielded 3 L-39 flights and 2 F-4 flights.

Rich

I broke a couple of nose gears on my first Mig just doing "normal" landings on a grass field. Haven't broken the gear on my second Mig (yet), but have only flown it a half dozen or so flights.

[jetpltrich]

My gear fix wasn’t to my satisfaction so the MiG is down awaiting a new nose gear servo assembly. That put the F-4 in the line up for this mornings flight. Beautiful morning which yielded 3 L-39 flights and 2 F-4 flights.

Rich