Fan-Tastic Models MiG 15

It's 0700, and there is an eerie calm to the crisp morning air. The mission: protect the North Korean front from UN forces. There, just below the horizon, a lone F-86 Sabrejet is on patrol. The Russian VK-1 engine roars as it pushes your MiG 15 along at a 670mph top speed in pursuit of the enemy. The MiG flies only a few feet off the ground and banks around the treeptops to avoid detection. Then a familiar voice crackles over the radio and lets you know you're about to be late for work, so you reluctantly ease off the throttle and settle the tiny MiG for a perfect belly landing on the lawn at your feet.

This scenario-and others like it-will undoubtedly be played out many times over by modelers who build the Fan-Tastic Models MiG 15 ducted-fan park flyer. Designed around the GWS EDF-50 electric ducted-fan unit, the Fan-Tastic MiG and F-86 Sabrejet allow modelers to fly a jet just about anywhere.

GETTING STARTED

Inside the box, you'll find nicely molded foam wings, stabilizer and fuselage. The fuselage is a thing of beauty in how it is molded and put together; I spent about 15 minutes looking it over to figure out how it was made. There are also many vacuum-formed plastic pieces, including the fan shroud, a cockpit with a pilot figure and a clear canopy. All of the small hardware pieces are packaged in a plastic bag, and the decal sheet is extensive enough to complete three models.

Don't mistake this kit for an ARF just because it is foam; truth be told, a fair bit of work is involved. The photo-illustrated instructions do a good job of guiding you through the construction, and builders who have a few kits under their belts shouldn't have any problems.

Building the wings is simple and straightforward. The main tasks are to remove the excess foam from the edges and to cut the ailerons free. Lines molded into the foam help with both of these tasks. Add the wooden leading-edge dowel, and wing construction is complete.

The stabilizer assembly is a little more complex in that it consists of two stabilizer halves, a joiner tube, a laser-cut plywood control horn and washers. You need to assemble all of the parts and glue them so that the stabilizer is flat and the control horn is canted slightly for proper operation inside the fin.

A quick inspection of the fuselage shows that all of the lines for the necessary cutouts are either molded in or clearly drawn on at the factory. The lines are also very clearly marked in the instructions. The first step is to mount the wings. I found that I had a minor but noticeable gap at the joint between the root and fuselage on both wings. Considering the flight loads the MiG is likely to encounter, I'm sure there was enough contact area for a solid glue joint, but I filled the gap with a light mixture of epoxy and microballoons just to make it look nice.

For the most part, the other work on the fuselage is just cutting the cheater hole and the access opening in the belly, cutting holes for aileron control wires and trimming the various vacuum-formed plastic pieces.

RADIO AND MOTOR INSTALLATION

Two vacuum-formed servo mounts are included with the kit along with laser-cut plywood reinforcing pieces. The plywood is glued inside the plastic mounts to provide both stiffness and hard points for the servo-mounting screws. I trimmed the plastic piece to fit my Hitec HS-55 microservos and then glued each assembly to the inside of the fuselage. There is a top and bottom to the plastic mount piece, so pay close attention to the photos for the correct orientation.

The MiG has a full flying stabilizer that's mounted near the center of the fin. To install it, you'll need to carefully cut off the top half of the fin. The fin is hollow, so it provides a neat interior pathway for the elevator pushrod. Use plywood washers to level the stabilizer in the fin, and then glue them in place. Now attach the elevator pushrod to the control horn and run it down into the fuselage before you reattach the top half of the fin.

The next step is to insert the fan with the intake shroud attached through the belly opening and slide it as far toward the rear as you can. In its proper location, the fan housing will be about 1 inch away from the end of the tailpipe. Working through the cheater hole, tape the shroud into place. The fan installation is complete.

With the components mounted as shown in the instructions, all that remains is to determine the proper location of the battery pan so the MiG balances at the recommended CG. I mounted a 7-cell, 150mAh Ni-Cd battery in the pan and strapped the assembly into place to check the CG. Once I was satisfied, I marked the location and taped the battery pan and the belly cover into place. Then it was off to the paint booth.

Weighing in at a hair over 7 ounces and powered by a fan that produces about 2 1/2 ounces of thrust, the Fan-Tastic Models MiG 15 is in some ways even more powerful than its full-size counterpart! It has the power to transport you 50 years back in time flying above the treetops of the Korean countryside. That is, of course, until that familiar voice crackles over the radio: "Dinner's ready!"

Copyright Air Age Publishing Jul 2003
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