Official Freewing MiG-29 Fulcrum Twin 80mm Thread

[Reaper911]

Using a Spectrum 9 channel Rx with gyro. AR 9350 has AS3X no safe mode. What I'm putting in mine.

I used an AR7350 with AS3X with 2 modes. Mode 1 - 30% gain on yaw, roll and pitch and 150% priority and Mode 2 - 50% gain on yaw, roll and pitch and 150% priority. No heading hold. I did a split S and high speed pass on Mode 2 and had no oscillation. I will leave it on 50% gain now for all flying. To be honest it really doesn't need a gyro but will be beneficial on windy, blustery days.

[ColtPilot]

I used an AR7350 with AS3X with 2 modes. Mode 1 - 30% gain on yaw, roll and pitch and 150% priority and Mode 2 - 50% gain on yaw, roll and pitch and 150% priority. No heading hold. I did a split S and high speed pass on Mode 2 and had no oscillation. I will leave it on 50% gain now for all flying. To be honest it really doesn't need a gyro but will be beneficial on windy days.

That's the only reason I'm putting AS3X on mine for the breezy days.

[IFlyAtlanta]

Thanks!

[Jdcrow]

A quick grass ops taxi testing during our clubs Big Bird Fun Fly. Morning after getting the service bulletin. i hadnt adjusted the nose wheel and she was steering trimmed a lot to the right. Servos on track to arrive Tuesday.

[JohnVH]

I have a lemonrx in mine, I put one in every edf, links in my video description, you cant beat them for $35!

[mshagg]

but there is a reason they are doing it

Yes, to paraphrase Alpha in a recent twitch stream - because the internet can change the narrative before facts set in, and they wanted to take control of the narrative.

[RudyD54]

Just got my mine delivered... I am looking for recommendations for a top-quality receiver for the plane. I have a new Spektrum DX9 transmitter.

I’m using the Spektrum AR637T in pretty much all my planes. Absolutely love it. Gyro can be adjusted on all three axis independently while in the air if you’ve got enough transmitter channels. It’s only got 6 servo outputs but in fact is really something like an 18-20 channel receiver from what I understand. Rclightsystems.com sells a serial channel expander that you can plug into the SRXL2 port and gives you an additional 4 servo outputs which I’ll be using for the TV add-on once that’s available.

[Dan B]

I received my new elevator servos today, just wanted to mention a couple things I ran into while switching them out:

1) Yes, physically they are a perfect match and fit into the existing opening.

2) It took more than a couple minutes to remove the old ones, the existing servo wires and connectors were jammed up with the rudder wiring so I had to remove both rudders to untangle them. No biggie, just a little extra time.

3) This one was a surprise - the new servos must have a different gear ratio that also reduces the travel. After I installed them and re-checked the throws on the elevator they were around 10mm less than the old servos when I set them up initially according to the manual. I had to bump up the D/R rates on my DX9 A LOT to get them back. I think I bumped up the High Rate from 90% to 110% or so. (Yes, I used the correct middle hole on the arm) :>)

I don't recall reading anything about the different travel rates on the new servos, and I'm sure it's obvious to everybody to re-check their radio settings.

DB

[ColtPilot]

I received my new elevator servos today, just wanted to mention a couple things I ran into while switching them out:

1) Yes, physically they are a perfect match and fit into the existing opening.

2) It took more than a couple minutes to remove the old ones, the existing servo wires and connectors were jammed up with the rudder wiring so I had to remove both rudders to untangle them. No biggie, just a little extra time.

3) This one was a surprise - the new servos must have a different gear ratio that also reduces the travel. After I installed them and re-checked the throws on the elevator they were around 10mm less than the old servos when I set them up initially according to the manual. I had to bump up the D/R rates A LOT to get them back. I think I bumped up the High Rate from 90% to 110% or so. (Yes, I used the correct middle hole on the arm) :>)

I don't recall reading anything about the different travel rates on the new servos, and I'm sure it's obvious to everybody to re-check their transmitter settings.

DB

Thanks for the heads up. My servos arrive tomorrow. They shipped out on Saturday. Then I'll start the build process. In the meantime I just finished the FW F-18 HP and maidened it yesterday. Blue Angels.

[mshagg]

I received my new elevator servos today, just wanted to mention a couple things I ran into while switching them out:

1) Yes, physically they are a perfect match and fit into the existing opening.

2) It took more than a couple minutes to remove the old ones, the existing servo wires and connectors were jammed up with the rudder wiring so I had to remove both rudders to untangle them. No biggie, just a little extra time.

3) This one was a surprise - the new servos must have a different gear ratio that also reduces the travel. After I installed them and re-checked the throws on the elevator they were around 10mm less than the old servos when I set them up initially according to the manual. I had to bump up the D/R rates on my DX9 A LOT to get them back. I think I bumped up the High Rate from 90% to 110% or so. (Yes, I used the correct middle hole on the arm) :>)

I don't recall reading anything about the different travel rates on the new servos, and I'm sure it's obvious to everybody to re-check their radio settings.

DB

I noticed when putting my own servos in - having the servo arm perpendicular to the fuselage at neutral position, as indicated in the video/instructions on the website, results in assymetrical elevator throws due to the angle of the pushrod relative to the fuselage. More up (back stick) travel than down (forward stick). So, just double check that you have even travel up/down, or more importantly, that you're not exceeding 39mm of throw in either direction on your high rate.

You can counter this by moving the servo horn by one tooth on the servo output gear, and adjusing the rod length as appropriate, although Motion may well have their own reason for recommending it be 90 degrees out from the fuselage, so I would go with their instructions :)

[fredmills]

Received my new elevator servos today from MRC (Big Thank You!!) and it took about 5 minutes to change out. Can't wait to maiden my Mig this weekend!

[Evan D]

I got my replacement servos and put them in today. I did a quick non scientific check of force to stall them and got about 300g on the old ones and 400g on the new.

[umalife82]

Cant fit my 6000mah battery under the canopy, anyone having same issue?

[crxmanpat]

I'm running RoaringTop 6250's in mine, middle and rear trays. But they are typically skinnier than other packs.

[umalife82]

Hmmm... then how did they fit admiral 6000?

[GliderGuy]

UM82, I use two of the Admiral 6000 packs. The middle bay is a snug fit. I ended up painting the corners of the middle battery with some non drying eye shadow (courtesy of my daughter in law) and then carving on the foam on the lid where contact was shown to be made. It didn’t require much foam removal....but the small amount I removed made the lid fit.

-GG

[GliderGuy]

Had some time on my hands and thought I’d dress up the gun port. Several of you have said you are doing a 3D printing of this area. I thought I’d try some aluminum metal duct repair tape.

Not perfect by any means, but standing back a few feet...it adds to the MiG IMHO. Don’t zoom in too closely. 😃

Added some smoke effects and rivets/screw heads, too.
-GG

[Lcacing]

GliderGuy looks pretty good to me!!! I was actually messing around with some HVAC tape today doing the same thing. I was using it on a scrap piece of foam, also thinking of using some fine sand paper to dull up the tape before applying it.

[JLambCWU]

Sunset flight tonight. Went live on FB after Jeremy got some of these great shot of my jet.
Rocking the RC Geek centerburners.

[janmb]

First off, glad you were able to recover the jet.
This was one of my cautions from my maiden flight report on Motion’s Mig-29, and Alpha later spoke to this on a live Twitch stream as well.

When exploited, this makes for some BEAUTIFUL power tail slides on the model, but invariably terra’firma will claim some as well for people that don’t give themselves a lot of altitude when performing them.

It is why I also cautioned people to fly the model at a more forward CG when trying this. (Yes that can mean on the marked CG markings) Keep working the CG further and further back until you find the limit. The limit happens to be around 3/4 of an inch aft of the marked CG for those who are wondering when flying light batteries. When you get aft of that, she will generally flip over on her back, usually dramatically, and then have elevator authority again from the increased airflow.

I said generally, not always. I got mine to almost an inch aft of the marked CG with light 4400mah RTs while doing some testing, and out of a nose high power stall she proceeded to do a rapid double back flip before settling back into her tail slide. Power to idle and a hard roll to the wing, and she dropped the nose and flew away. Power to idle alone would not recover the jet this far aft, you have to roll off on a wing. The pitch which was fine before when closer to being on the CG marks, was obviously hyper sensitive at this aft CG and required mid elevator rates (usually flying the jet on high) from take off to touchdown, and a very gentle thumb even on 30% expo to fly her back down in one piece. The double backflip and recovery took close to 200ft of altitude, so user beware.

I might also mention that mine has almost 30 flights on it now, and the stock 17g elevator servos have performed great when set up per the manual. This includes unscale rapid G onsets, negative and positive, from low to high speed. It also includes power dives with intentional pull outs 10-20ft over the runway, as well as falling leaf full deflection slams.

For those wondering. You can get her to CG 1/2” aft of the CG markings with 4400mah Roaring Tops right here, using the middle and aft bays. My jet has a sound system just slightly forward of the CG and RC Geek centerburners well aft of it. Moving the middle position battery aft allowed me to fly it with a CG around 1” aft of the markings.

Good info.

Regarding servos, please give up already. We have far from enough data to know how well the marginal stock servos hold up, nor is it particularly important, since everyone with a shred of sense ought to replace them anyway.

As for the CG/backflip/funny behaviours, that does indeed sound extreme. Better have a bit of caution until vectoring installed (which kinda trumps all those issues anyway).

You cannot depend upon being able to roll out of it either. Aileron authority (even with tailerons) is normally the first to reach zero when in a post stalled state with any aircraft. Which is also why you never use ailerons to exit a spin for example - despite roll might intuitively be what you feel is required.

The jet becoming more responsive to flight surfaces when properly balanced is one of the main reasons for doing so in the first place. This is exclusively a Good Thing (tm).

Based on your batteries vs CGs, seems I have some carving to do...


Brilliant sunset pics!