SPECIAL EDITION BOX CONTAINING 6 GAMES FOR THE FLIGHT SIMULATOR/ACTION ENTHUSIAST
F-15; NUCLEAR STRIKE; ISRAELI AIR FORCE; MIG-29; COMMANCHE GOLD; USNF '97.
SECOND-HAND BUT NO SCRATCHES
With both RD-33's running at 185% of their normal regime, the MiG's acceleration is nothing short of flabbergasting, and in a handful of seconds you will easily get past Mach one.
The acceleration is so breathtaking that speed control can sometimes become a very important factor in air-to-air missions, especially if one keeps in mind that the Fulcrum enjoys a significant edge in low-speed manouvering over the F-16, whereas the latter becomes more efficient at the high speed end of the flight envelope.
You will have to watch out for excessively fast flybys though, since exceeding structural limit speeds in the sim could result in your MiG blowing up in bits and pieces. In the sim, Novalogic has set the maximum recommended airspeed for the MiG-29 at around 1500 Kmh, which is a credible average ceiling if the aircraft is fully loaded with external stores, even if in real life the Fulcrum is actually capable of easily going past 2 Mach ticks at high altitude.
Both RD-33's running at 185%
One of the most striking features of the flight model is that the MiG-29 picks up speed extremely quickly yet at the same time bleeds it off in no time too. When I first tried to experiment with tight loops, the MiG pitched up so quickly that I soon found myself inverted at the top of the loop with no energy left to sustain the aircraft; I had to promptly push on the throttle to add some more power to keep on turning and prevent entering a stall. Very much the same applies to a tight break turn, esp - ecially if engine power is kept well under 80% and the stick is pulled all the way Back to achieve a sudden 'turn on the spot'.
During fast and crisp turns, the 'special effects' are really well done, with transparent vortices streaming off the MiG's LERXes ( Leading Edge Root Extensions ... Ed) , airstreams swiftly trailing off the wingtips and blurry smoke impatiently puffing out of the engine nozzles. Even for an experienced pilot, pulling a 'clean' cobra is one hell of an exercise, and it turns out to be crucial to keep an eye on airspeed, engine power setting, and AOA indicator in order to briskly go vertical without gaining too much altitude.
The wing root LERX's stream vapour during tight turns.
