A lot of things that were normal when the MiG-29 came out are no longer normal and the MiG-29/FC3 planes can trip people up. This video acts as a crash course to give you a baseline to learn from. I will make further MiG-29 videos in the future to go into more detail on things like the RWR and radar + weapons.
Additional notes: - RPMs change depending on altitude. Optimal cruise speed is between 540-600kph Indicated Air Speed, which shows when in navigation mode (BVR mode turns airspeed indication to True Air Speed) - Radar Center scan is only 30 left and right. Slewing your radar left gives you 60 left and 0 right, and vice versa for slewing right. - Radar Pulse Repetition Frequencies: There are ways to squeeze more range out of the mig29s radar. By switching to TWS, TWS2, or by manually switching the radar's PRF, you can scan a further distance (out to 75km on fighter sized targets), while sacrificing a bit of acquisition time. - The best way to fly the Mig-29, contrary to popular belief, is up higher over 7000m. While flying low and being sneaky with R27ETs is cool and all, it leaves you very vulnerable when outside of mountainous areas. Being higher up gives you much more control over an engagement, and much more room to defend incoming missiles. More Advanced note: - Predicted target range (good for acquiring a target off of a BRAA): Setting your predicted target range to the range given by a gci or overlord bot, and then slewing your radar elevation in relation to both your and your targets altitude (if you're at 5000 meters and he is at 9000, you can select +4 on elevation), it can give you quicker target acquisition via radar. other than that, good video 👍
Definitely excited to see more interest in the mig-29 series. if flown right it can definitely remain competitive with some of the newer western modules
2 года назад
@@GenericDCS true the TWS2 (CHP2) mode on the Mig29S is criminally underused ! It permits multiple tracks and multiple launches when used with the R77s, something the Flankers can't !
Pity but by the time you clock 10 points to get into the 29 you spent quite a few hours in the server and you are tired :) You should not take off in burner and save fuel , you should gain altitude at steady rate and just stick the jet in AP until reaching the required altitude. You can drop tanks at 3,5 tons of fuel. You need to bind the Stick deflection ovveride to be able to turn rapidly for one off shots. Also the ECM is available on the S model but not on the A and G . You want the radar freq on high so you can detect targets from further than in ILV. One should bind LA override so you can fire outside max range if required. Right shift + H will put the shader on the HUD so you can see in clouds and in the sun . You should put gear down at 450 and flaps at 400 , touch down should be at 280-290kph plus chute immediately after ..... you land it bit slow by the looks of it . Always good to try and level off on top of the runway and than back to idle and you will gently drop on the tarmac to be able to apply chute. Another thing is you can taxi on one engine while the other one is spooling up but you should be careful as on the right instrumental cluster where you have the indicator lights for the burners and which engine is being staiting up there is a red light saying "ДЕМПФЕР" if that is on you will have the Fulcrum really badly missbehaving after take of and many will crash it at that poing. If not under attack wait until the light is off and than take to the sky. Also I always pre trim the 29 quite a lot up until the stick moves visually about 1/5 towards the pilot and this allows me to take off with no burner use with ease.Take offs are done with pre trimmed Fulcrum , no burner and first gentle pull at 270-280 to get her off the ground, keep her there for couple of secs to avoid tail strike and than second harder pull to strat climbing .... flaps off at 330 and gear as well .. Do not stick into AP until you get to 500kph and level the wings . Bind also radar elevation keys so you can tilt the dish up and down ( never bother with left and right) and you will fine that a few positions up and down make a lot of diff towards finding the ratrget. As turn rates..... go into burner and try to pull on the stick hard enough to keep her between 600-700kph that will give you the best turn and when you are ready to cash in and take a shot at them you hold stick deflection override and pull hard to basicaly mimic a cobra as in the Flanker. Over 850kp you risk breaking the wings off with the SDOR usage and if over 1250kph you will brake them if you pull hard even without it .When refuelig on the ground canopy open and engines off but do not turn power off as it will allow you to maintain radar on and TWS + ECM even when on the ground. Put TWS on when you find targets to be able to soft lock one until the onboard computer lock it up for you when you reach distance required, so basically you soft locked them all the way from detection until hard lock so no need to track target manually on the hood . Do not use TWS2 agains fighters hot on you unless AI as it will get you killed .... by the time onboard computer locks them up and designate pylons and give you LA you are way too close to them ... use only then they are cold or if you track bombers...... Well That's is most of it I believe :) The real 29 has lot more to tune and set but DCS one is simple :) ENJOY the mighty Fulcrum :)
@@GenericDCS point the nose left and right and never bother to slew left and right as many will forget it in combat situation an than wonder why not finding a thing . Up and down yes , left and right never..... Never done in the real thing as well .....
2 года назад+234
On the Mig29 startup : please note you should not start taxiing before the plane has finished its "Damper Test" or else you might have an autopilot damper issue.
Underrated comment. People might quit flying the mig when they see the crazy instability if the big red damper light is still on. I never care about the damper because I got used to taking off like that, but it's something to learn, not something to start learning with
I wondered why that happened! Sometimes I start taxi-ing before the second engine has fully spooled and had problems I assumed were with my computer system. Thanks for this!
2 года назад+1
@@ChrisPBacon-my7yt yes it is, it blinks for 2 minutes while it's doing its self-test.
2 года назад+4
@@julianmorrisco the Mig29 doesn't have a FBW system, but it still uses a auto-damper for the pitch to prevent the plane being too instable. If it's not initialized properly, you won't have it and you may have crazy reactions durint take off or at transonic speed.
I really hope ED are able to get around to the full-fidelity MiG-29 relatively soon; it's such a beautiful and cool plane and it deserves more attention, rather than being eclipsed by the Flankers like it is now. This video is a great primer for the FC3 version, and hopefully it'll get some people to give it a go
Additional Info for landing: You want to airo brake as long as possible while keeping the nose up if you dont want to use the shoot. While doing that and while taking off as well one thing to note is to never cross the 15 degree alpha, or else you will tail strike the aircraft and damage your engines. Mostly I have noticed that your AB(After Burner) gets damaged when you tail strike the Mig 29. Also, the tires for the Mig 29 burst at around 330Kmph(depending on the weight), this is important to know as this beast can really gain speed quickly while utilizing full AB during take off. Fun fact if you hold the breaks, then go to Full AB and release, due to the powerfull engines you will start rolling with the aircarft does a wheelie.
Thanks for sharing. That wheelie thing, I do in the BF-109 by holding brakes down and lifting the tail off the ground. I love the slam sound it makes when it comes down lol
@@mckseal Made my day! :D Pro tip: Don't take off with AB in the 29. I typically only run it up to just 90% as it's mostly sufficient. Saves a lot of fuel early on. Same for the Tomcat BTW. It can easily guzzle like 4k on just the takeoff and getting up to like 400+kts quickly which is just mental which basically means you just wasted a quarter of your endurance on just saving a minute, maybe a minute and a half when getting airborne.
you shoul trim up heavily before take off and than use no burner ,,, pull up at 280 until she lifts , keep her there for couple of secs to avoid tail strike and than pull up again to start your climb ...
Isn't it 10 degree alpha on landing? I know I've miss timed it loads of times and gone in nose wheel 1st. This is very bad. Knowing the landing alpha is extemely useful...
You forgot something important that's only MiG-29 specific: After engine start on the left lower part of the front panel are the autopilot controls, the leftmost top one (labeled демп i.e. pitch dampener) starts flashing for 3 minutes if memory serves in a test. This has to go through prior to takeoff.
Thanks for flagging. I typically always start electrical, then arm and then engines so that usually covers that time gap to get past it, forgot to mention it in video so thanks
@@Enigma89 For me it's always in the back of my mind that if I don't want too much fun in the pitch axis after takeoff I better wait on that light to stop flashing xD
This original lightest early variant named MiG-29A or 9.12, with straight fuselage behind the canopy (without hump) looks awesome. One of the best looking fighters out there.
I’ve been flying the mig 29 for about a year now and it’s been one of my most flown planes. But I still learned a lot in this video! Great video Enigma
Another thing for new players is that most key binds are shared; so for example I made binds for the MiG-29 and was able to basically use them for the Su-25. I'd imagine the Su-27 is basically 1:1. Easy to branch out to other FC3 planes!
This is true. First got FC3 back in 2014 and it hasn't changed one bit. The F-15 is the same as the MiG-29 is the same as the Su-33 is the same as the Su-27 etc. etc. (with some minor differences between each)
Great tutorial Enigma, one thing I'd like to point out is that takeoff speeds are best kept under 300kph in the Fulcrum - any higher and you risk blowing a tyre. With a full A-A loadout rotation should happen at around 280kph, and from there the plane has enough thrust to hold a 30-degree climb up to 20,000ft.
Love the DCS MiG-29 it's probably the closest to a clickible model of the FC3 aircraft. Would still be awesome if we could get a full fidelity version at some point. On the Cold war server it just takes too long with proper fuel management to get it into the fight though from the far bases to make it really worth taking IMO.
Something important to mention that often gets overlooked, the later Soviet IRST systems, namely those of the MiG-29 and Su-27, have an integrated laser rangefinder. When in parameters for functioning, which are generally pretty similar to parameters for the IRST, it gives you ranging information just like the radar. It was implied in your explanation but it is useful to specifically point it out as the ability to continue getting weapon parameter information without radar ranging is incredibly useful Also, the circle that indicates target position on the HUD communicates some information that I don't see pointed out much. The diameter of the circle indicates the size of the HUD. If the center targeting reticle symbol of the hud is within that circle, then the target will be within the drawing area of the HUD and will be indicated with the little dot. Very useful if you're trying to align yourself to put the bandit directly inside the hud to get a visual cue of where they are, and are wondering what the circle actually means for their relation to you. This other bit is more intuitive, but that circle also communicates where you can maintain lock, with the edges of the HUD display being the other indicator. If the circle passes outside the HUD, it'll also be outside the gimbal limit and lock will be lost, so this is mostly useful when doing F-pole maneuvers in fox 1 BVR fights
Using the HUD filter is almost essential in bright conditions, it's very useful. Additionally, setting target size in BVR mode changes the sensitivity of the vertical scan bars, typically I like it at about 15. There's also an indication for where your nose is pointed relative to where your radar is.
great video! there's only one thing that I'd add: Weapons won't come off the rail unless the LA label appears in the center-bottom portion of the HUD. You can override this "Launch Authorization" with LAlt-W. It helps in certain scenarios, especially if you get "too close".
I love the MiG29, especially after the 2018 flight model update. I agree about landing the MiG29 too. I've never managed to land at less than 300kph approach speed and find keeping final approach in the 320kph range the safest and dropping the landing gear at the marker beacon like you did in your video. The MiG29 slows down pretty fast with flaring so by the time my wheels touch down I'm probably around 280. I found the MiG29 instant action mission called "final approach" invaluable to learning to land it. Plus it's a low visibility landing with rain and strong cross wind, so once I perfected that I knew I could land anywhere.
Great effort and nice video. Playing DCS after long and this is a good refresher course. Regarding landing the mig29 - one tip that helped me was to fly and Alpha of 10-11. That removed the need for knowing approach speed as it cud be diff for diff weights - but alpha is always constant Cheers
Thanks so much for doing a quick updated intro guide to the MiG-29. I love this aircraft but it’s been difficult to learn as most stuff on YT is outdated. Now I finally know why I’ve been having trouble taxiing 😅 Cruising at 87.5 RPM is also a crucial bit of info I’ve been trying to dig around for. Thanks again Enigma! Always showing redfor planes the love they deserve
additional info on trimming the miggy : trim up for below 750kph, at 750-900 the trim is fairly neutral and above 900 to 1200+ trim down HEAVILY. too fast on landing, gear down and no brakes? alternate rudder as an airbrake. also you can pop chute without weight on wheels, so feel free to press p when youre like 1m above runway and about 300kph. oh also smoky engines unless on A/B or low throttle
cheers came across this video for the bits that are missed or not even covered by others. honsetly forgot i had FCS and have stepped back from av88 for a week or two to re learn the basics flying these. Thanks again for the tips
My favorite plane in a knife fight. You can pull an incredible amount of alpha, and take extreme off bore shots with the Archer and still have high Probability of Kill PK. Use the Mig29 properly and its very capable in certain combat scenarios. Pro tip on the 87% throttle for cruise, you can stretch your ranges by managing your thrust properly. Excellent video
I love flying the Fulcrum more than any other plane in my hangar, though her situational awareness leaves a lot to be desired when compared to something like the Flanker. No other plane gives me the same feeling of constantly being just on the edge of losing control. And the thrust she has is insane - you can hit 800kts at sea level without too much issue
Fulcrum is such a wonderful plane. It accelerates like hell compared to others. Yet it is so bad fighting in complicated situations where map and awacs are banned. It won’t be improved by a DCS standard model, but even with r60m and r27r it will still be entertaining.
Love this tutorial! Really hope to see more information on Mig-29. And, yeah - totally agree on landing thing! Never had such a hard time with no other module in DCS but Mig-29 is absolutely different beast. It's either land fast and pray to stop on the runway or try to land it on a slow speed and pray not to whack your tail on the concrete runway.
You can arm/re-arm FC3 planes with the canopy closed. You just have to keep the engine off. You can also refuel the plane with the engine running, just not re-arm.
Great vid! I was thinking of getting the flaming Cliffs module so that I can have some RED planes for the Tempest multiplayer server. Right now I'm flying the KA-50 (and F18 as well). This really helped.
A note about the reheat: while many planes have their mil power around 80% - 90% of the throttle way, the mig-29 has it already at around 60%, so you get into reheat very early, what some might not realize
Very good video, thanks! I've learned a lot and Eager to learn more. One thing I know and I think it's important: when in afterburner, the engines produce a lot of dark smoke, making you very visible
it's the other way around - they don't produce smoke when in AB, but do when not. If you want to be stealthy, sometimes you have to sacrifice some range by throttling up to low AB
One thing that I see all the time is people forgeting that just like the Su-27 radar you can zoom out on the radar picture and pick out targets in the right TWS mode at 100-125 Km. The mig-29 radar is quite poweful if you use it right.
Aw man, just in time! I’ve had the mig 29 for a little while now, but haven’t really put the time into learning it, and was thinking about getting into it.
I already have followed you for you great DCS content and server but man, your tutorials are EXACTLY what someone like me with ADHD needs. Guys like GR and others make super long drawn out content thats hard to focus on but yours is short and straight to the point while also being smoothly explained, also you got that ASMR voice lmao
I love flying the MiG-29. May of the things that you covered, I learned from simply flying them around. Your explanation of the various A-2-A engagement methods are very helpful. So many times, my wing-man is already launching missiles and I can't even get mine to lock-on to the target yet. It's annoying to have to get so close before they will lock-on. Now if the F-86 could get some love. ;-)
I'm just getting into the fast jets now (Su-33, and now MiG29), straight off Warbirds (mostly IL-2 Hurricane) and helicopters (DCS Gazelle, Hind, Mi-8), so this kind of thing is baffling but informative.
You need to be very gentle with the flight controls and AoA as well as with the fuel consumption. And you have no data link. But apart from that, it's a cool plane and you can have a lot of fun :) MIG29-S can carry R77 Fox3s and in combination with it's massive thrust, it's a very competitive fighter
Thanks for the info on this bird. Funny, I bought FC3 just for the MiG 29. But I ended up flying the Su-27. Now I want to get more familiar with the Fulcrum and it is a heck of an adjustment not having the datalink. It is still a badass plane and FC3 is a must buy especially with the 50% off first time buyer discount.
I know it's a year later, but I noticed on your final for landing, the sun was shining behind the HUD making it difficult to see. The key binding to flip the shade up to make it easier to see is Shift + H. Labeled as the 'HUD Filter' in the controls I believe.
i am not a noob with the mig 29 but i still learned a thing or two. one other thing about the missiles, the r-27t and et, you have to be locked on to the aircraft you are firing on with the EO and not the radar. i have recently learned that you can launch a r-27et and r-27er at very short range. i find that they are very good close quarters missile. meaning i use them if and when i have made it to a merge and are dogfighting. the er is a good on to use instead of the r73 because the bandit thinks its a ir missile and will flare when flares are the wrong countermeasure. plus the et and er burn so long that its that perfect missile when the bandit is a little far away to use a r73. i find the same tactic holds true for the f-15c and the aim-7. i now take 2 sparrows with me on a sortie and use them all the time. thank you for everything you do , i hope you have a wonderful rest of you day! your friend wayne
This was helpful, thank you. Also, could you tell us what the corner speeds are for the MiG-29? What mach speed to use for max sustained turn rate and min radius? Or how to get into any plane and figure out those parameters?
It's funny, I started DCS a few months ago. And I bought FC3 on my initial purchase with the 50% discount as I wanted the MiG 29. But I started with the FA-18 as I was deterred by the FC3 being low fidelity. I had to take a hiatus because my new pc had to be returned for warranty work then hurricane IAN. Now I am having some time to actually fly and I have been spending most of my time in the MiG 21 & J-11a. Now I am looking forward to learning more about the other FC3 planes. For some reason I am digging the "Cold War" era Soviet planes. I look forward to seeing more videos & eventually flying some eastern block planes on the cold war server.
I just got into dcs and the mig 29 is the first and only plane I flew and I love it. It is really simple and fairly easy to fly for a newbie like me. The only thing is that I cannot understand how to use the navigation mode, I always end up doing circile trying to line up with the "navigation circle"? I also don't understand how to put custom waypoints for it to follow. But other than that, great plane !
The comment is old but I hope you'll be glad to have an answer. For navigation you have to understand the logic behind "following the circle": if you have the su-27 try the navigation mode in it and watch the datalink screen you'll see that the flight computer will indicate you the way to return on course and that's what the circle is indicating. If you care only about the waypoint position it's better to use the HSI. For the custom waypoints: you can set them only in ME or with NS 410 (that's valid for all FC3 aircraft)
No, you're right about the MiG-29 and landing it (safely, undamaged). I find the MiG-29 the least forgiving jet in DCS and I have more crashes-on-landing in the MiG-29 than I do in any other aircraft, that includes learning to land on aircraft carriers with the F/A-18C and F-14A/B *combined*.
I might be misremembering it, but I think your own IFF is tied to the radar on the Fulcrum and Flanker, so if you have your radar off your friendlies will see you as enemy in their radars.
I've discovered that the Mig-29 is particularly underrated in DCS. I can understand it though, it's low fuel capacity makes for very short flights so people probably opt for other jets.
Best way I save fuel is climbing from takeoff to around 10km, then leveling off or even diving to 9km then get around 1500kph then climb up to 16-17km height for engaging BVR then turn off and before you know it You've flown nearly 500km in Burners xD
Despite this being FC3, or maybe because of it, I love flying the Mig-29 when I want a quick flight-fight and want to concentrate on tactics rather than plane admin. It’s a delight to fly (IMO) and is arguably one of the most beautiful jet planes in DCS, equalled by the F16. Again, IMO. It’s lack of realism (simplicity) gives it a purity for someone like me who doesn’t really spend enough time in any one plane for it to become intuitive. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the challenge of the full fidelity jets and I’m glad I have most of them. But sometimes I want to fly a jet but don’t want the heavy gamification of something like War Thunder. Also, as I have a bit of a sour feeling flying a Russian plane at the moment, the Mig-29 can be flown by East Germany, Ukraine or a host of less annoying countries, unlike the Flanker. Plus I find the ‘sting’ at the back of the Flankers quite ugly. :D.
I mean Ukraine can definitely fly Flankers and have it be realistic. I get preferring the Fulcrum over the Flanker though. It's like preferring a F16 to a F15 because of that crazy TWR in a sleeker package. I think Mig29 and F16 are aesthetically more pleasing than their Su27 and F15 counterparts, although I personally still find the Su27 pretty slick looking.
2:36 Which is why everyone is sitting in a Flanker instead... and I have to agree with you, it's not true. But you really have to stay out of burners as much as possible and only go above 90% rpm when you need it while always checking the estimated range gauge which basically is an "inverted" fuel flow gauge. But if done right, you can take off in Tbilisi, get to altitude and fly all the way over to Anapa in full burners at M 1.8+ even without bags. Just keep the fuel flow low with high enough altitude. Can't wait for the full module though. Not a fan of the FFB trim in some of the FC3 modules, though this one is far better than the Flanker which is basically unflyable with FFB on for ages (still have to push forward with full nose down trim at ~380kph or more) and sadly, they don't care.
I'm still a newbie to DCS but I love the Mig 29. Definitely not the hardest plane to land lol. F-14 on CV is much harder. What you smoking 🚬 🚬. lol Good video.
thanks man im currently going through the hell of trying to make space for dcs and once i get space im think about getting the mig-29 and this helped a lot i also wanted to ask if there is another plane i should start with that is some what cheap not 60$
The FC3 pack contains the MiG-29 and like another 4 or so planes with it. I really like the cold war stuff. You can wait for a sale and get the mig-21 or the f-5.
Found it helpful! I am new so had to watch this video 3 to 4 times, rewind listen again. Thanks for putting it together. What I am not clear about are the keyboard controls. Also, are you using a VR headset? I am planning on getting Quest 3, however I am not sure if that makes the controls easier or harder.
I have been playing DCS for 15 years but never got into the mig29. Just starting now and it was surprisingly hard to land, thought I would land it first try like most of the other planes but it took a couple of practice attempts. Great video 👍
So I finally got it for the first time on Syria the other week after taking some time to learn the Frogfoot to get the points. First thing I noticed was that there’s no way to actually know if the R-60s have tone…? I felt like most of them just failed to track at all, is that just a quirk or is there something to be mindful of when using them?
A lot of things that were normal when the MiG-29 came out are no longer normal and the MiG-29/FC3 planes can trip people up. This video acts as a crash course to give you a baseline to learn from. I will make further MiG-29 videos in the future to go into more detail on things like the RWR and radar + weapons.
Additional notes:
- RPMs change depending on altitude. Optimal cruise speed is between 540-600kph Indicated Air Speed, which shows when in navigation mode (BVR mode turns airspeed indication to True Air Speed)
- Radar Center scan is only 30 left and right. Slewing your radar left gives you 60 left and 0 right, and vice versa for slewing right.
- Radar Pulse Repetition Frequencies: There are ways to squeeze more range out of the mig29s radar. By switching to TWS, TWS2, or by manually switching the radar's PRF, you can scan a further distance (out to 75km on fighter sized targets), while sacrificing a bit of acquisition time.
- The best way to fly the Mig-29, contrary to popular belief, is up higher over 7000m. While flying low and being sneaky with R27ETs is cool and all, it leaves you very vulnerable when outside of mountainous areas. Being higher up gives you much more control over an engagement, and much more room to defend incoming missiles.
More Advanced note:
- Predicted target range (good for acquiring a target off of a BRAA): Setting your predicted target range to the range given by a gci or overlord bot, and then slewing your radar elevation in relation to both your and your targets altitude (if you're at 5000 meters and he is at 9000, you can select +4 on elevation), it can give you quicker target acquisition via radar.
other than that, good video 👍
Definitely excited to see more interest in the mig-29 series. if flown right it can definitely remain competitive with some of the newer western modules
@@GenericDCS true the TWS2 (CHP2) mode on the Mig29S is criminally underused !
It permits multiple tracks and multiple launches when used with the R77s, something the Flankers can't !
Pity but by the time you clock 10 points to get into the 29 you spent quite a few hours in the server and you are tired :) You should not take off in burner and save fuel , you should gain altitude at steady rate and just stick the jet in AP until reaching the required altitude. You can drop tanks at 3,5 tons of fuel. You need to bind the Stick deflection ovveride to be able to turn rapidly for one off shots. Also the ECM is available on the S model but not on the A and G . You want the radar freq on high so you can detect targets from further than in ILV. One should bind LA override so you can fire outside max range if required. Right shift + H will put the shader on the HUD so you can see in clouds and in the sun . You should put gear down at 450 and flaps at 400 , touch down should be at 280-290kph plus chute immediately after ..... you land it bit slow by the looks of it . Always good to try and level off on top of the runway and than back to idle and you will gently drop on the tarmac to be able to apply chute. Another thing is you can taxi on one engine while the other one is spooling up but you should be careful as on the right instrumental cluster where you have the indicator lights for the burners and which engine is being staiting up there is a red light saying "ДЕМПФЕР" if that is on you will have the Fulcrum really badly missbehaving after take of and many will crash it at that poing. If not under attack wait until the light is off and than take to the sky. Also I always pre trim the 29 quite a lot up until the stick moves visually about 1/5 towards the pilot and this allows me to take off with no burner use with ease.Take offs are done with pre trimmed Fulcrum , no burner and first gentle pull at 270-280 to get her off the ground, keep her there for couple of secs to avoid tail strike and than second harder pull to strat climbing .... flaps off at 330 and gear as well .. Do not stick into AP until you get to 500kph and level the wings . Bind also radar elevation keys so you can tilt the dish up and down ( never bother with left and right) and you will fine that a few positions up and down make a lot of diff towards finding the ratrget. As turn rates..... go into burner and try to pull on the stick hard enough to keep her between 600-700kph that will give you the best turn and when you are ready to cash in and take a shot at them you hold stick deflection override and pull hard to basicaly mimic a cobra as in the Flanker. Over 850kp you risk breaking the wings off with the SDOR usage and if over 1250kph you will brake them if you pull hard even without it .When refuelig on the ground canopy open and engines off but do not turn power off as it will allow you to maintain radar on and TWS + ECM even when on the ground. Put TWS on when you find targets to be able to soft lock one until the onboard computer lock it up for you when you reach distance required, so basically you soft locked them all the way from detection until hard lock so no need to track target manually on the hood . Do not use TWS2 agains fighters hot on you unless AI as it will get you killed .... by the time onboard computer locks them up and designate pylons and give you LA you are way too close to them ... use only then they are cold or if you track bombers...... Well That's is most of it I believe :) The real 29 has lot more to tune and set but DCS one is simple :) ENJOY the mighty Fulcrum :)
@@GenericDCS point the nose left and right and never bother to slew left and right as many will forget it in combat situation an than wonder why not finding a thing . Up and down yes , left and right never..... Never done in the real thing as well .....
On the Mig29 startup : please note you should not start taxiing before the plane has finished its "Damper Test" or else you might have an autopilot damper issue.
Underrated comment. People might quit flying the mig when they see the crazy instability if the big red damper light is still on.
I never care about the damper because I got used to taking off like that, but it's something to learn, not something to start learning with
Is that the aemn light?
I wondered why that happened! Sometimes I start taxi-ing before the second engine has fully spooled and had problems I assumed were with my computer system. Thanks for this!
@@ChrisPBacon-my7yt yes it is, it blinks for 2 minutes while it's doing its self-test.
@@julianmorrisco the Mig29 doesn't have a FBW system, but it still uses a auto-damper for the pitch to prevent the plane being too instable.
If it's not initialized properly, you won't have it and you may have crazy reactions durint take off or at transonic speed.
I really hope ED are able to get around to the full-fidelity MiG-29 relatively soon; it's such a beautiful and cool plane and it deserves more attention, rather than being eclipsed by the Flankers like it is now. This video is a great primer for the FC3 version, and hopefully it'll get some people to give it a go
except they won't because, russia
Unfortunately, due to the current conflict regarding Russia, ED has scrapped the MiG-29 9-12 project. It’s up to a 3rd party now
@@PrezDCS is this true?
Ed dont give a fuck about what we want, all planes from fc3 dont have full options avalible
@@ethanb7388 That's the common knowledge among people who know about ED projects
Additional Info for landing: You want to airo brake as long as possible while keeping the nose up if you dont want to use the shoot. While doing that and while taking off as well one thing to note is to never cross the 15 degree alpha, or else you will tail strike the aircraft and damage your engines.
Mostly I have noticed that your AB(After Burner) gets damaged when you tail strike the Mig 29.
Also, the tires for the Mig 29 burst at around 330Kmph(depending on the weight), this is important to know as this beast can really gain speed quickly while utilizing full AB during take off. Fun fact if you hold the breaks, then go to Full AB and release, due to the powerfull engines you will start rolling with the aircarft does a wheelie.
Thanks for sharing. That wheelie thing, I do in the BF-109 by holding brakes down and lifting the tail off the ground. I love the slam sound it makes when it comes down lol
@@Enigma89 That slamming sound is actually the mechanic pounding his fist at the weekend he just lost to repairing your Bf109.
@@mckseal Made my day! :D
Pro tip: Don't take off with AB in the 29. I typically only run it up to just 90% as it's mostly sufficient. Saves a lot of fuel early on. Same for the Tomcat BTW. It can easily guzzle like 4k on just the takeoff and getting up to like 400+kts quickly which is just mental which basically means you just wasted a quarter of your endurance on just saving a minute, maybe a minute and a half when getting airborne.
you shoul trim up heavily before take off and than use no burner ,,, pull up at 280 until she lifts , keep her there for couple of secs to avoid tail strike and than pull up again to start your climb ...
Isn't it 10 degree alpha on landing? I know I've miss timed it loads of times and gone in nose wheel 1st. This is very bad. Knowing the landing alpha is extemely useful...
You forgot something important that's only MiG-29 specific: After engine start on the left lower part of the front panel are the autopilot controls, the leftmost top one (labeled демп i.e. pitch dampener) starts flashing for 3 minutes if memory serves in a test. This has to go through prior to takeoff.
Thanks for flagging. I typically always start electrical, then arm and then engines so that usually covers that time gap to get past it, forgot to mention it in video so thanks
@@Enigma89 For me it's always in the back of my mind that if I don't want too much fun in the pitch axis after takeoff I better wait on that light to stop flashing xD
@@NSAdonis Can you still taxi whilst it's flashing?
@@joelthorstensson2772 no, it needs to be stationary for it to calibrate properly
This original lightest early variant named MiG-29A or 9.12, with straight fuselage behind the canopy (without hump) looks awesome. One of the best looking fighters out there.
I’ve been flying the mig 29 for about a year now and it’s been one of my most flown planes. But I still learned a lot in this video! Great video Enigma
Another thing for new players is that most key binds are shared; so for example I made binds for the MiG-29 and was able to basically use them for the Su-25. I'd imagine the Su-27 is basically 1:1. Easy to branch out to other FC3 planes!
This is true. First got FC3 back in 2014 and it hasn't changed one bit. The F-15 is the same as the MiG-29 is the same as the Su-33 is the same as the Su-27 etc. etc. (with some minor differences between each)
Great tutorial Enigma, one thing I'd like to point out is that takeoff speeds are best kept under 300kph in the Fulcrum - any higher and you risk blowing a tyre. With a full A-A loadout rotation should happen at around 280kph, and from there the plane has enough thrust to hold a 30-degree climb up to 20,000ft.
Your content is just the best for DCS. Super informative, minimal fluff.
Love the DCS MiG-29 it's probably the closest to a clickible model of the FC3 aircraft. Would still be awesome if we could get a full fidelity version at some point. On the Cold war server it just takes too long with proper fuel management to get it into the fight though from the far bases to make it really worth taking IMO.
Thank you. I try to be respectful of everyone's time so I try to keep things concise so nice to hear you appreciate that.
Something important to mention that often gets overlooked, the later Soviet IRST systems, namely those of the MiG-29 and Su-27, have an integrated laser rangefinder. When in parameters for functioning, which are generally pretty similar to parameters for the IRST, it gives you ranging information just like the radar. It was implied in your explanation but it is useful to specifically point it out as the ability to continue getting weapon parameter information without radar ranging is incredibly useful
Also, the circle that indicates target position on the HUD communicates some information that I don't see pointed out much. The diameter of the circle indicates the size of the HUD. If the center targeting reticle symbol of the hud is within that circle, then the target will be within the drawing area of the HUD and will be indicated with the little dot. Very useful if you're trying to align yourself to put the bandit directly inside the hud to get a visual cue of where they are, and are wondering what the circle actually means for their relation to you. This other bit is more intuitive, but that circle also communicates where you can maintain lock, with the edges of the HUD display being the other indicator. If the circle passes outside the HUD, it'll also be outside the gimbal limit and lock will be lost, so this is mostly useful when doing F-pole maneuvers in fox 1 BVR fights
That's actually a thing that I didn't know and I see no one says it
Using the HUD filter is almost essential in bright conditions, it's very useful.
Additionally, setting target size in BVR mode changes the sensitivity of the vertical scan bars, typically I like it at about 15. There's also an indication for where your nose is pointed relative to where your radar is.
great video! there's only one thing that I'd add: Weapons won't come off the rail unless the LA label appears in the center-bottom portion of the HUD. You can override this "Launch Authorization" with LAlt-W. It helps in certain scenarios, especially if you get "too close".
Thanks for pointing that out
I love the MiG29, especially after the 2018 flight model update. I agree about landing the MiG29 too. I've never managed to land at less than 300kph approach speed and find keeping final approach in the 320kph range the safest and dropping the landing gear at the marker beacon like you did in your video. The MiG29 slows down pretty fast with flaring so by the time my wheels touch down I'm probably around 280. I found the MiG29 instant action mission called "final approach" invaluable to learning to land it. Plus it's a low visibility landing with rain and strong cross wind, so once I perfected that I knew I could land anywhere.
Great effort and nice video. Playing DCS after long and this is a good refresher course. Regarding landing the mig29 - one tip that helped me was to fly and Alpha of 10-11. That removed the need for knowing approach speed as it cud be diff for diff weights - but alpha is always constant
Cheers
Thanks so much for doing a quick updated intro guide to the MiG-29. I love this aircraft but it’s been difficult to learn as most stuff on YT is outdated. Now I finally know why I’ve been having trouble taxiing 😅 Cruising at 87.5 RPM is also a crucial bit of info I’ve been trying to dig around for. Thanks again Enigma! Always showing redfor planes the love they deserve
Thanks! I feel like so few people talk about these planes and i get drawn to them for that reason.
additional info on trimming the miggy : trim up for below 750kph, at 750-900 the trim is fairly neutral and above 900 to 1200+ trim down HEAVILY.
too fast on landing, gear down and no brakes? alternate rudder as an airbrake. also you can pop chute without weight on wheels, so feel free to press p when youre like 1m above runway and about 300kph.
oh also smoky engines unless on A/B or low throttle
cheers came across this video for the bits that are missed or not even covered by others. honsetly forgot i had FCS and have stepped back from av88 for a week or two to re learn the basics flying these. Thanks again for the tips
My favorite plane in a knife fight. You can pull an incredible amount of alpha, and take extreme off bore shots with the Archer and still have high Probability of Kill PK. Use the Mig29 properly and its very capable in certain combat scenarios. Pro tip on the 87% throttle for cruise, you can stretch your ranges by managing your thrust properly.
Excellent video
I love flying the Fulcrum more than any other plane in my hangar, though her situational awareness leaves a lot to be desired when compared to something like the Flanker. No other plane gives me the same feeling of constantly being just on the edge of losing control. And the thrust she has is insane - you can hit 800kts at sea level without too much issue
Fulcrum is such a wonderful plane. It accelerates like hell compared to others. Yet it is so bad fighting in complicated situations where map and awacs are banned. It won’t be improved by a DCS standard model, but even with r60m and r27r it will still be entertaining.
Love this tutorial! Really hope to see more information on Mig-29. And, yeah - totally agree on landing thing! Never had such a hard time with no other module in DCS but Mig-29 is absolutely different beast. It's either land fast and pray to stop on the runway or try to land it on a slow speed and pray not to whack your tail on the concrete runway.
These 10-minute crash course tutorials are superb. Granted, the information is in the manual - but who has time for manuals? So, thank you!
I actually love how this thing handles. Good looking jet as well!
Thank you for this. Been trying to get into DCS via this plane.
You can arm/re-arm FC3 planes with the canopy closed. You just have to keep the engine off. You can also refuel the plane with the engine running, just not re-arm.
Great crash course, a lot of important things in just a few minutes. Thanks!
I'm in luv with the 29! It easily matches the F-16.
Great vid! I was thinking of getting the flaming Cliffs module so that I can have some RED planes for the Tempest multiplayer server. Right now I'm flying the KA-50 (and F18 as well). This really helped.
All the FC3 planes are of great value. Though, The flanker can feel like you are cheating. :)
Thanks for the effort and a reminder to jump back in the 29. Definitely going to try fuel management. 😊
A note about the reheat: while many planes have their mil power around 80% - 90% of the throttle way, the mig-29 has it already at around 60%, so you get into reheat very early, what some might not realize
Very good video, thanks! I've learned a lot and Eager to learn more.
One thing I know and I think it's important: when in afterburner, the engines produce a lot of dark smoke, making you very visible
it's the other way around - they don't produce smoke when in AB, but do when not. If you want to be stealthy, sometimes you have to sacrifice some range by throttling up to low AB
One of my favorite fighters.
One thing that I see all the time is people forgeting that just like the Su-27 radar you can zoom out on the radar picture and pick out targets in the right TWS mode at 100-125 Km. The mig-29 radar is quite poweful if you use it right.
Isnt the TWS mode in both the 27 and 29 kinda weird when theres jamming, somehow screws up locking even non jamming targets?
@@Jerkzilla all radars gets weird with jamming
This is definitely my hardest DCS plane to land!
Aw man, just in time! I’ve had the mig 29 for a little while now, but haven’t really put the time into learning it, and was thinking about getting into it.
It's a very fun bird, it really feels like you are flying a rocket
Nicely done… Buying FC3 is a good call out as a good gateway drug to DCS and best value for money
AWWW YOU MADE THIS JUST FOR ME THANK YOU❤
New to dcs. Flying the mig with x56 with rudder.. Love the videos cap
I already have followed you for you great DCS content and server but man, your tutorials are EXACTLY what someone like me with ADHD needs. Guys like GR and others make super long drawn out content thats hard to focus on but yours is short and straight to the point while also being smoothly explained, also you got that ASMR voice lmao
Thanks
Planning to start playing dcs and learn mig 29
Seems like a challenging first plane to learn but I'll take it
Nice straightforward set of instructions.
I love flying the MiG-29. May of the things that you covered, I learned from simply flying them around. Your explanation of the various A-2-A engagement methods are very helpful. So many times, my wing-man is already launching missiles and I can't even get mine to lock-on to the target yet. It's annoying to have to get so close before they will lock-on. Now if the F-86 could get some love. ;-)
I'm just getting into the fast jets now (Su-33, and now MiG29), straight off Warbirds (mostly IL-2 Hurricane) and helicopters (DCS Gazelle, Hind, Mi-8), so this kind of thing is baffling but informative.
not new to the Mig-29 but always mess up the landing..thanks for the video!
You need to be very gentle with the flight controls and AoA as well as with the fuel consumption. And you have no data link. But apart from that, it's a cool plane and you can have a lot of fun :) MIG29-S can carry R77 Fox3s and in combination with it's massive thrust, it's a very competitive fighter
Thanks for the info on this bird. Funny, I bought FC3 just for the MiG 29. But I ended up flying the Su-27. Now I want to get more familiar with the Fulcrum and it is a heck of an adjustment not having the datalink. It is still a badass plane and FC3 is a must buy especially with the 50% off first time buyer discount.
Man, the RWR is so much better than I thought it was
Great Video! I will add two things; Get yourself the English Cockpit mod. Get yourself the Clickable Cockpit mod.
I know it's a year later, but I noticed on your final for landing, the sun was shining behind the HUD making it difficult to see. The key binding to flip the shade up to make it easier to see is Shift + H. Labeled as the 'HUD Filter' in the controls I believe.
I really like Mig29, thanks for making this great Video, it's very entertained to watch!
i am not a noob with the mig 29 but i still learned a thing or two.
one other thing about the missiles, the r-27t and et, you have to be locked on to the aircraft you are firing on with the EO and not the radar.
i have recently learned that you can launch a r-27et and r-27er at very short range. i find that they are very good close quarters missile. meaning i use them if and when i have made it to a merge and are dogfighting. the er is a good on to use instead of the r73 because the bandit thinks its a ir missile and will flare when flares are the wrong countermeasure. plus the et and er burn so long that its that perfect missile when the bandit is a little far away to use a r73.
i find the same tactic holds true for the f-15c and the aim-7. i now take 2 sparrows with me on a sortie and use them all the time.
thank you for everything you do , i hope you have a wonderful rest of you day!
your friend
wayne
Solid video! I do agree this bird doesn’t get the love it deserves, and yes, it’s not fun to land. Hope we get the full fidelity soon!
Thank you ligma
great video, thanks!
This was helpful, thank you.
Also, could you tell us what the corner speeds are for the MiG-29? What mach speed to use for max sustained turn rate and min radius? Or how to get into any plane and figure out those parameters?
i love you, i've been searching for a mig 29 tutorial for ages
couldnt find it cause its not labeled as mig 29 and youtube is stupid
I hope you liked it
It's funny, I started DCS a few months ago. And I bought FC3 on my initial purchase with the 50% discount as I wanted the MiG 29. But I started with the FA-18 as I was deterred by the FC3 being low fidelity. I had to take a hiatus because my new pc had to be returned for warranty work then hurricane IAN. Now I am having some time to actually fly and I have been spending most of my time in the MiG 21 & J-11a. Now I am looking forward to learning more about the other FC3 planes. For some reason I am digging the "Cold War" era Soviet planes. I look forward to seeing more videos & eventually flying some eastern block planes on the cold war server.
Channel is full of the redfor planes. I personally find those planes more interesting than the blue planes
thanks for posting this the moment I got fc3!
Hope you enjoyed it!
I just got into dcs and the mig 29 is the first and only plane I flew and I love it. It is really simple and fairly easy to fly for a newbie like me. The only thing is that I cannot understand how to use the navigation mode, I always end up doing circile trying to line up with the "navigation circle"? I also don't understand how to put custom waypoints for it to follow. But other than that, great plane !
The comment is old but I hope you'll be glad to have an answer. For navigation you have to understand the logic behind "following the circle": if you have the su-27 try the navigation mode in it and watch the datalink screen you'll see that the flight computer will indicate you the way to return on course and that's what the circle is indicating. If you care only about the waypoint position it's better to use the HSI.
For the custom waypoints: you can set them only in ME or with NS 410 (that's valid for all FC3 aircraft)
I don't even play DCS and I thought this was great! Please do other planes!
No, you're right about the MiG-29 and landing it (safely, undamaged). I find the MiG-29 the least forgiving jet in DCS and I have more crashes-on-landing in the MiG-29 than I do in any other aircraft, that includes learning to land on aircraft carriers with the F/A-18C and F-14A/B *combined*.
I might be misremembering it, but I think your own IFF is tied to the radar on the Fulcrum and Flanker, so if you have your radar off your friendlies will see you as enemy in their radars.
Thats great i understand like the only the take off i think other stuff is like on a higher level
You should show how TWS and TWS2 works, it can be helpfull for new players
I've discovered that the Mig-29 is particularly underrated in DCS. I can understand it though, it's low fuel capacity makes for very short flights so people probably opt for other jets.
Best way I save fuel is climbing from takeoff to around 10km, then leveling off or even diving to 9km then get around 1500kph then climb up to 16-17km height for engaging BVR then turn off and before you know it You've flown nearly 500km in Burners xD
Great and informative video! Please continue with the other aircraft in the server
That's the plan! Su-25 is next.
Awesome work as always keep it up God bless you♥🙏
Definitely helped thank you very much!
I found this video very helpful, thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Good stuff Enigma.
Despite this being FC3, or maybe because of it, I love flying the Mig-29 when I want a quick flight-fight and want to concentrate on tactics rather than plane admin. It’s a delight to fly (IMO) and is arguably one of the most beautiful jet planes in DCS, equalled by the F16. Again, IMO. It’s lack of realism (simplicity) gives it a purity for someone like me who doesn’t really spend enough time in any one plane for it to become intuitive. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the challenge of the full fidelity jets and I’m glad I have most of them. But sometimes I want to fly a jet but don’t want the heavy gamification of something like War Thunder.
Also, as I have a bit of a sour feeling flying a Russian plane at the moment, the Mig-29 can be flown by East Germany, Ukraine or a host of less annoying countries, unlike the Flanker. Plus I find the ‘sting’ at the back of the Flankers quite ugly. :D.
I mean Ukraine can definitely fly Flankers and have it be realistic. I get preferring the Fulcrum over the Flanker though. It's like preferring a F16 to a F15 because of that crazy TWR in a sleeker package. I think Mig29 and F16 are aesthetically more pleasing than their Su27 and F15 counterparts, although I personally still find the Su27 pretty slick looking.
The best way to tell that you are being engaged with a Soviet rwr is when your wingman suddenly explodes.
lol
Very helpful. Thank you.
God I hope to live to see a full fidelity Fulcrum.
this was very helpful, thanks
Awesome tutorial, my favorite Russian plane to fly with. Very useful info. 😀
Thank you this was very helpful
2:36 Which is why everyone is sitting in a Flanker instead... and I have to agree with you, it's not true. But you really have to stay out of burners as much as possible and only go above 90% rpm when you need it while always checking the estimated range gauge which basically is an "inverted" fuel flow gauge. But if done right, you can take off in Tbilisi, get to altitude and fly all the way over to Anapa in full burners at M 1.8+ even without bags. Just keep the fuel flow low with high enough altitude.
Can't wait for the full module though. Not a fan of the FFB trim in some of the FC3 modules, though this one is far better than the Flanker which is basically unflyable with FFB on for ages (still have to push forward with full nose down trim at ~380kph or more) and sadly, they don't care.
I'm still a newbie to DCS but I love the Mig 29. Definitely not the hardest plane to land lol. F-14 on CV is much harder. What you smoking 🚬 🚬. lol Good video.
Dont play DCS yet. Good video
Great vid for an icon fighter jet
thanks man im currently going through the hell of trying to make space for dcs and once i get space im think about getting the mig-29 and this helped a lot i also wanted to ask if there is another plane i should start with that is some what cheap not 60$
The FC3 pack contains the MiG-29 and like another 4 or so planes with it. I really like the cold war stuff. You can wait for a sale and get the mig-21 or the f-5.
@@Enigma89 i think ill get the f-5 and mig 29 thanks man
i got the f-5 and have been having lot of fun with it and have and have snapped my wings around 100 times but its still fun thanks
A good chance to brush up on the Mig-29 and cash in all my server points.
Found it helpful! I am new so had to watch this video 3 to 4 times, rewind listen again. Thanks for putting it together.
What I am not clear about are the keyboard controls.
Also, are you using a VR headset? I am planning on getting Quest 3, however I am not sure if that makes the controls easier or harder.
I use TrackIR
I have been playing DCS for 15 years but never got into the mig29. Just starting now and it was surprisingly hard to land, thought I would land it first try like most of the other planes but it took a couple of practice attempts. Great video 👍
Be sure to wait for the damper test to finish before taking off as other people have mentioned
Thank you.
Great Video, thank you @Enigma! Could you do one for the F-15 as well?
ABT. Always be trimming (pitch trim).
MIG29 so undertalked i ain even realize it was in the game 😭
Now theres PLENTY of Migs and SUs online man.
Nice informativ video please continue👍👍👍
Thank you, I will
I love it!
So I finally got it for the first time on Syria the other week after taking some time to learn the Frogfoot to get the points.
First thing I noticed was that there’s no way to actually know if the R-60s have tone…?
I felt like most of them just failed to track at all, is that just a quirk or is there something to be mindful of when using them?
Frogfoot or fulcrum?
@@Enigma89
Fulcrum, there’s no missile tone - or is there? Maybe that’s my problem 😅
Thanks!
Thanks!! Does she have any parashute? I can not find any option..
thanks man!!
It would be cool if they added the carrier capable mig 29.
NWS: you cant enhance steering while your flaps are extended :) -- underrated plane, FF version is overdue!
Having only flown the su-25t and su-25 I'm going to try to dip my toes into the MiG-29.