THE MiG-29 IS BACK!! ✈️ Get Ready for Some Thrust Vectoring Fun!!
45My Freewing MiG-29 is back from retirement, so now I'll (hopefully) be able to finally put the thrust vectoring nozzles to the test!
Quick recap: right about the same time I installed the thrust vectored nozzles upgrade on my Freewing twin 80mm EDF MiG-29, my landing gear started collapsing regularly during take-offs and landings, after roughly 200 flights, including a few hard landings and some crashes.
I tried fixing it several times but it wouldn't last. On top of that, the jet started behaving badly in the air, so I never got to truly test the thrust vectoring mod because I was busy trying to keep the plane together and fixing problems. After a 2 year hiatus (more or less) I finally managed to pull some more lasting repairs where I removed the toe out on the main landing gear wheels and so far, looks like that has made all the difference!
As for the flight problems, I now attribute it mostly to dying lightweight batteries, struggling to deliver the power demanded by the EDFs. In that sense I've temporarily given up on my light packs for this jet and I am flying it now on 830g packs (CNHL 70C G+ 6S 5Ah), which pack a much better punch, so the issues with asymmetric thrust and EDFs shutting down mid flight seem to be gone now.
With that out of the way, it's high time to get reacquainted with my dear Fulcrum and finally start exploiting the full potential of the vectored nozzles!
Also, I have new FMS EDFs that I will soon install to improve thrust and I also plan to mode this jet for FPV, so keep tuned, fun stuff to come! :D
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These were Anežka's flights 217th and 218th.
MiG-29 pilot: RC4ever
Ground video: Ernest Tuckie
Airfield: Club Aeromodelisme Els Cards
Music: Haken
0:00 - A bit of context
1:10 - First flight (after a loooong time!)
4:40 - A message for Freewing
5:43 - Second flight
8:53 - Post-flight comment
9:37 - Music edit (slowmo)
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Regarding my MiG-29 setup:
*QUICK LIST OF MODS*
- CG 15mm behind factory marks on the wings.
- Reflex trailing edge by 3mm flaps, 5mm ailerons (aprox).
- Reinforced stab assemblies to torsion (Epoxy - thick glass fiber laminate).
- Reinforced stabs to prevent deformation (WBPU - thin glass fiber laminate, 18g/m2).
- Replaced stab servos by Corona DS-238MG.
- Replaced stab linkages by 4-40 threaded rod with heavy duty Du-Bro ball links.
- Removed stock BEC.
- Installed separate 20A UBEC that runs from a standalone receiver battery (2S 610mAh).
- Installed ferrite chokes on ESC-Rx leads (next to ESC) and on the stab servo leads (next to servo).
- I am using the old FrSky Redundancy Bus for everything except landing gear, lights, and everything that goes through the ribbon cables (ailerons, flaps, gear doors), as these need to go through the BB.
- Shortened some of the wires, as I installed the RBus in the aft battery compartment.
- Removed the toe out on the main landing gear struts by filing the chamfer on the axle pin that connects strut with retract.
I was concerned about the structural integrity of the stabs, and stab assembly so I did reinforce them with glass fiber cloth, which is part of the reason why it took me so long to get the jet ready. I'm not a fan of working with composite materials so I procrastinated a bit, lol. After my reinforcement mods, the stabs seem to be much more solid now. 💕
I took many of the 'well-known' ideas and good practices about this model recommended by other pilot-owners on forums such as RCGroups and HobbySquawk including adding reflex to the flaps and ailerons to maximize top speed and reduce trim drag (unloading the stabs in the process quite a bit) and I replaced the taileron servos by tougher ones, and the taileron linkages by 4-40 pushrods, and FWIW, also installed ferrite chokes on the ESCs leads to the rx as well as the taileron servo leads (to mention a few of the changes).
I also made my own 'quite personal' installation of the electronics and basically rewired the whole thing, changed the placement of the components, added a 20A UBEC, redundancy bus, 2x X8R receivers, the list goes on.
*GEAR DESCRIPTION*
Airplane: Freewing MiG-29 dual 80mm EDF + Vectored Nozzles Upgrade Set
Motors: 2x Freewing 3658-1920kV brushless inrunners
EDFs: 2x Freewing 80mm (9 blades)
ESCs: 2x Freewing 100A
Servos: Freewing 17g
Taileron servos: Replaced by Corona DS-238MG
Receivers: 2x FrSky X8R working in D16 mode, one with telemetry
Redundancy bus: FrSky RB16
UBEC: YEP 20A
Rx Battery: Rhino 2S 610mAh
Main Batteries:
- CNHL G+ 6S 5000mAh 70C
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