Official Freewing MiG-29 Fulcrum Twin 80mm Thread

[kallend]

Is it ok to shorten the battery leads coming from the ESC on this jet?

If you want to understand the WHY, read this thread:

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?952523-too-long-battery-wires-will-kill-ESC-over-time-precautions-solutions-workarounds

[Robert Belluomini]

Is it ok to shorten the battery leads coming from the ESC on this jet?

Absolutely! It is always best to keep the battery to ESC wire length as short as possible.

[skybolt]

Is it ok to shorten the battery leads coming from the ESC on this jet?

[jasmith41]

Piled my beloved EFL Viper 90mm in last weekend. Gathered up all of the popcorn (she fit in the car better...), went home and stripped it down, and then got online and order a new fuselage, port side main wing, and nose cone, and now i patiently wait for the back-ordered parts. I can rebuild her, make her gooder than she was (theme from the Six Million Dollar Man playing in the background...)...

I'm not putting the OEM Rx back in her though - just to make sure that wasn't part of her original issues. I'll put in a new 637T and program it myself. I may not know much at this point, but i know how to do that and if there were any weird things going on in the OEM 637TA, that will eliminate that.

Anyone want to buy a slightly used 637TA...? 🤣🤣🤣

[kallend]

About as long as me! My first RC unit was a Citizenship single channel super regenerative rubber band escapement system. To call it a "control system" would be generous.

My first TX had two vacuum tubes and used a war surplus XTAL. The tubes were 3V4 pentodes IIRC.

[radfordc]

Welcome to a life-long “habit”. ....Been doing it for 60 years as have other posters. Proof positive!

-GG

About as long as me! My first RC unit was a Citizenship single channel super regenerative rubber band escapement system. To call it a "control system" would be generous.

[GliderGuy]

Thanks brother - you don't know how much i appreciate you... you're knowledge and wisdom has been invaluable to me on this journey and i'm having a ball because of you and the rest of the stand-up guys on here.

Refreshing to see your enthusiasm!

Be mentally ready for when a crash happens. If you pick up ALL the pieces, you can generally repair these birds. I’ve gotten some basket cases back in the air.

So allow yourself some time to be upset, but then get back on the RC horse. It’s too much fun of a hobby to walk away from. A wise RC pilot once told me, “Do not start this hobby if crashing will make you mad. You WILL crash!”

LOL - You are already in it, so you don’t have any option but to suck it up and keep going when it happens.

Welcome to a life-long “habit”. It sure beats sitting on a couch watching TV. Good anti-Alzheimer’s brain stimulation, too. Been doing it for 60 years as have other posters. Proof positive!

-GG

[jasmith41]

Hey, don't worry I'll show you mine at the field soon and we'll get you off on the right foot. There are definitely a few important things that you have to look at (4500 posts here, there was a lot of discussion) because we did have problems with this plane at first. Every plane has a few things you need to be made aware of. The A10's pogo-stick landing because it was nose heavy. The Phantom's elevator servo. Since I did the modifications on the Mig29 I've have had no problems at all, not one. Its not hard to fly and handles very well.

Thanks brother - you don't know how much i appreciate you... you're knowledge and wisdom has been invaluable to me on this journey and i'm having a ball because of you and the rest of the stand-up guys on here.

[themudduck]

thanks for scaring the **** out of me now - it's hard enough to fly these confidently when i only started a year ago...🤣🤣🤣

Hey, don't worry I'll show you mine at the field soon and we'll get you off on the right foot. There are definitely a few important things that you have to look at (4500 posts here, there was a lot of discussion) because we did have problems with this plane at first. Every plane has a few things you need to be made aware of. The A10's pogo-stick landing because it was nose heavy. The Phantom's elevator servo. Since I did the modifications on the Mig29 I've have had no problems at all, not one. Its not hard to fly and handles very well.

[Airguardian]

Well, I wouldn't quite describe it as an alpha locked if you are not locked into it...


Most of these fighter-jet airframes will have a tendency to pitch up as they get into high or extreme AoAs depending on CG setting.
The MiG just made it worse with a bad thrustline. A better thrustline and the capability to vector makes away with that. One shouldn't be afraid to enter that condition, one should just practice to learn how to get out safely ;)

With TV, it is easy. Without TV, it's almost mission impossible on this one.

And I agree with GG, TV is the way to go on this one IMO. (Or at least install nozzles with better thrustline after kallend sorts them out).

[Evan D]

I posted over on the other thread. The TVS are great to help you get out of "alpha lock" but they don't prevent it.

I've probably 50 TV'ed flights and it still doesn't feel right.

[GliderGuy]

Thanks for posting.

Oh my gosh! IF ONLY….IF ONLY!!!!

The alpha lock at 0:55 recovery says it all. You have this bird, you need the thrust vector kit.

Wish I had installed it on mine….RIP little MiG that is no more.

-GG

[Airguardian]

Well... finally!

There go my first flights with the VT nozzles. Again, the plane was out of (stab) trim and a bit too nose heavy so you can attribute bad flying behaviors (if you can notice any) to those factors ;)

There are 2 very clear demonstrations of high alpha lock no longer being an issue at minutes 0:55 and 5:00.

[jasmith41]

With a $700 toy a little fear is probably a good thing. It makes you pay attention to what you're doing and not be sloppy. Having a year of experience may be enough (or not) to handle the Mig. I've got 60 years of experience flying RC and the Mig bit me hard a couple of times. The Mig isn't inherently hard to fly...in fact it's relatively easy. But, it's big and heavy and has some quirks and demands to be flown accordingly. Good luck. BTW, the Su-30 is also a great flying jet (with the proper mods) but it's not exactly a "trainer".

Thanks Radford - duly noted...

[radfordc]

thanks for scaring the **** out of me now - it's hard enough to fly these confidently when i only started a year ago...🤣🤣🤣

With a $700 toy a little fear is probably a good thing. It makes you pay attention to what you're doing and not be sloppy. Having a year of experience may be enough (or not) to handle the Mig. I've got 60 years of experience flying RC and the Mig bit me hard a couple of times. The Mig isn't inherently hard to fly...in fact it's relatively easy. But, it's big and heavy and has some quirks and demands to be flown accordingly. Good luck. BTW, the Su-30 is also a great flying jet (with the proper mods) but it's not exactly a "trainer".

[HangarQueen]

Would I buy another MiG-29? Yes…When I decide to buy new radio gear with more channels so I can add VT
-GG

Maybe consider equipment that uses S-bus.
The advantages:
- 16 channels standard. If you have a standard 8-channel receiver, the S-bus output allows you to hook up converters that add 4 channels each, or you could just hook up a 16-channel converter and have all of them available at once (it costs you the huge amount of less than 20 USD: https://nl.aliexpress.com/item/40009...yAdapt=glo2eng)
- stabilizers like the A3SuperIII series accept S-bus input, so connecting just one servo cable to the stabilizer is enough to hook it up.
Now there's even F-bus, with 24 channels, but not many receivers support this yet.

[Hugh Wiedman]

thanks for scaring the **** out of me now ...🤣🤣🤣

Much more fun than taking a laxative. I find that most aircraft have at least 1 or 2 issues to deal with, so for me, the Mig is just like anything else, once you know the issues, fly accordingly. The F4, for all who love it (me included), you need to be careful not to starve the EDF when turning since it doesn't have cheater holes and you need to land slow enough and with the nose up so you don't break the nose pin. The Corsair's issue is while taking off keeping on the rudder & getting off too soon causing a wing stall and landing horizontally scale with power so you don't break the retracts. I could go on with every plane, but no need, you get the picture. If you want something with 0 issues, get a large Extreme Flight 3D plane and fly it like "Grandma", or work on 3D stunts and fill those britches!

[jasmith41]

thanks for scaring the **** out of me now - it's hard enough to fly these confidently when i only started a year ago...🤣🤣🤣

[Airguardian]

Speaking of informed decisions, I still think this MiG-29 rocks (despite obvious design shortcomings that Freewing should have thought better).
There are very few proper modern fighter jets in this size and scale in the market, and this allows the plane to fly like no other, being much more realistic in a number of ways, plus it deals with windy and turbulent conditions much better than most, which is a great plus ;)

[mshagg]

Great... "there's something not quite right..." and I haven't even flown my SU-30 yet or taken this Mig 29 out of the box...
Should I sell the Mig 29...?

Overall is a great jet you just need to understand its limits and fly accordingly.

That said, full disclosure I sold mine before I wrecked it lol.

Yes...most definitely sell it! After all, someone, somewhere on the internet, said something just a little critical of it. You certainly don't want to take into account the thousands of successful flights by many others.

The Mig has two known issues.... dropping flaps at high speed and high alpha lock. Both easily avoided.

A 'little critical'? These are pretty significant issues and it's not for any of us to tell another pilot whether they should accept them or not. At least they can make an informed decision.