MIG 29

[JohnPearson]

Hi All
Just flew my Mig 29 last night of the slopes at Moneymore mountains. The model is an EDF jet from the Fly Fly Hobbies range, all foam, very light and pre painted. The model is designed for two 90mm fan units, however I decided to give it a try on the slopes to see how it would handle as a PSS.
I give the model a few throws of the lower slope where we fly, with a wind blowing approx. 15mph. The lift at this spot was fair and the model flew well close to the hill, but dropped badly further out form the slope, (a long walk to the bottom of the slope).
Richard (my co-pilot and super photographer) and I, drove up onto the highest point of the second slope to see if we could get better lift. This spot is very rocky behind the slope compared with the lower slope, however we decided to give it a try, so a good throw and the Mig was away. This time the lift was better as we had hoped and the model climbed away nicely, however in the turns the Mig lost a lot of high and was very hard to control in the down wind leg. The second flight, again started of well with a good climb out away from the slope, however, again the model would not turn well and as it got further out from the slope, the climb rate was very poor and I could not get her back. ( another walk down the slope).

Overall the performance was fair, however I am not sure what the problems are, or how to solve them.

Could it be the wing section, the large open air intakes, control surfaces to small, no rubbers, mybe you guys could give me a few ideas to try before the next test flights.

Here are a few photos of the Mig 29 in action















JohnP

[billscottni]

The control surfaces (ailerons and elevator) will have been designed with a fast flying EDF in  mind and may need enlarging or the throws increasing.

If it flew ell close in ie in the lift band, it may be it just needs a better wind to fly well. Wing section could possibly be a problem and perhaps a change to something like Eppler 374 would help? (would also allow you to increase aileron size)

my tuppence worth and others may know better. :wink:

[JohnPearson]

Hi Bill

Thanks for the input, I think the controls surfaces do need to be increased, however the elevators are very big and she was still very poor in pitch. This model was designed for speed, therefore may be if we fly it in a stronger wind with a greater wing loading this may help with the control response. What about the large air intakes, would these cause alot of drag even with the air able to pass freely down the intakes, what do you think??

JohnP

[Fred]

Hey John,

Looking really good ! Like the colour scheme !  :clap:
For the poor response, in my opinion, maybe 2 things to have a look at : CofG, and as Bill said, flying speed (I would increase the wing loading.. Maybe put a ballast system on it or something like that  :?: )

Had a F15, roughly the same size, and flying was wayyyyy too slow to generate lift, and to look like a jet ! (now proudly hanging on my garage wall  :roll: ). Made of depron, the thing was too light to be a good PSS machine...

Hope this help.

Fred - Who have a scale F16 still in a box !

[DennisZ]

John, that looks great !

I'd love to see more of those with Red Stars flying ... 'cos I'm Russian ;-)

[JohnPearson]

Thanks guys

I will try your idea Fred, with the extra wing loading to see if an increase in speed will improve the overall control. Also a friend of mine suggested that I install a few LED's in the tail pipes to simulate the after burners, also, install a sound generator and speaker in the model with jet sounds which can be turned on and off on low passes along the slope, mmmm now I like the sound of that!!

JohnP

[Happy Days]

Sound card, speakers, batteries,...Hmmmmm that'll increase the weight a bit. :?:

Like to know the price of the sound card John, the last time I looked it worked out to a couple of hundred, with all the gear :!:

Great picies, (nearly as good as mine :roll: ) must have a big, fast lense on that camera.

Are you gonna bring this bird to the Sept. Fly-In so we can all have a close up viewing?

K.

[JohnPearson]

Hi Mr K

Good to here from you, if the model is in one peice after the next test flights, I hope to have it on the slope in Sept. I also have an F86 from the same range of suppliers, it's the one that Fred was talking about trying out. I may give this a go as well if I get time.
The sound cards are expensive if you buy from the dealers, however, one of my fellow jet jockeys Peter, is a whizz at designing little gizmos for models, so I will put the idea pass him and see what he comes up with. Looking forward to the flyin in Sept.

JohnP

[IceWind]

Hi JohnPearson,

That is one great looking plane, looks awesome.
You have to make a video of it flying.

Does it have LG or you removed it for the slope?
I guess been foam and landing always on the belly may start to wear it.

[JohnPearson]

Hi Icewind

Thanks for the kind comments, The Mig does have landing gear, however I removed them for the slope. The bottom would as you say, start to wear away, therefore I glassed the bottom of the intakes to help prevent this. If I can get the jet to fly better of the slope, I will post a video of the Mig in action.



Here's a pic of the Mig ready for flat field flying (EDF version)

JohnP

[billscottni]

silly question John, but you have taken the fans out of it?
The intakes and ducts themselves shouldn't create a huge amount of drag, but the fans would!

[JohnPearson]

Hi Bill

I have removed everything from the model, when she was first set up for EDF, I had to use two 5 cell Lipo's in the nose, one cell for each motor and the 90mm fan unit. The model was very heavy, however, with the fans at full power, the Mig would hover vertically in my workshop.

When are you going to get a chance to join us for a spot of slope soaring at Moneymore.

JohnP

[billscottni]

When are you going to get a chance to join us for a spot of slope soaring at Moneymore.

JohnP

when my neck starts playing the game enough to let me fly! Haven't flown since the crash on the 24th of April.

[JohnPearson]

Bill, hopefully things will be better for Sept. flyin fingers crossed, by the way started working on the B52 again, could see a test flight by Sept if I get better organised.

JohnP

[billscottni]

I "HOPE" to be able to fly in september too, but I'll be going down anyway (unless the forecast is abyssmal!)

With the recent winds (south), test flights of the B52 would have to be at Moneymore