MiG control lockup

[harryleith 12]

I have a fondness for Soviet aircraft, and today I took a break from flying modern jets and went retro with a MiG-17. However, flying these early aircraft isn't without its hair-raising moments. I was in a high-speed dogfight with some A-4 Skyhawks and F-8 Crusaders when my MiG became unresponsive. I had forgotten the MiG-17 has a disturbing habit of locking up the controls at high speed, meaning you can't maneuver and just fly along in the direction you are going until you can slow down. I understand this is caused by the flow of air over the control surfaces which at high speed were just too great for mechanical linkages and pilot strength to move. Western aircraft had hydraulic controls to avoid this issue.

 

Consequently, my angling for a stern gun-attack turned into an embarrassing overshoot as I sailed blithely along in a straight line, madly trying to bleed off speed with my air-brakes. The F-8 tried, but with shells whistling past the cockpit I finally got some control back and barrel rolled up and over before breaking into a hard turn to force an overshoot. Not a lesson I will forget in a hurry!

 

[+ST0RM 145]

I've done the very same thing, but in the MiG-15. Approaching MACH 1, my elevators froze up and I had to pop the speedbrakes to slow down and regain control.

 

My next pass probably looked stupid to the casual observer. Me, in a dive, cycling my boards in and out trying to keep speed up, but not over-speeding.

[Gr.Viper 131]

Stock TW Hunter F.1 (at least) also loses all control response at Mach. It gives you a very funny feeling when happens in a dive.

[Karyovin 0]

I certinly learnt my lesson about that when my PF got a handful of 30mm Aden Rounds from an Avon Sabre that I badly overshot.

[Slartibartfast 153]

it's great fun... your just along for the ride from that moment on... and praying that your speed brakes work enough and you can pull up before being a lawn dart...

[+CrazyhorseB34 937]

Is this with the new patch? Reason being the stock TW MiG-17 flight models are horrible. They are like TIE fighters. The only accurate 17 flight model is Fubars. So I am really interested to know what patch level you are at and what PF mod you are using.

[+Jug 99]

I have a fondness for Soviet aircraft, and today I took a break from flying modern jets and went retro with a MiG-17. However, flying these early aircraft isn't without its hair-raising moments. I was in a high-speed dogfight with some A-4 Skyhawks and F-8 Crusaders when my MiG became unresponsive. I had forgotten the MiG-17 has a disturbing habit of locking up the controls at high speed, meaning you can't maneuver and just fly along in the direction you are going until you can slow down. I understand this is caused by the flow of air over the control surfaces which at high speed were just too great for mechanical linkages and pilot strength to move. Western aircraft had hydraulic controls to avoid this issue.

 

Consequently, my angling for a stern gun-attack turned into an embarrassing overshoot as I sailed blithely along in a straight line, madly trying to bleed off speed with my air-brakes. The F-8 tried, but with shells whistling past the cockpit I finally got some control back and barrel rolled up and over before breaking into a hard turn to force an overshoot. Not a lesson I will forget in a hurry!

 

Red Eagles book about US MiG AF in Tonopah, NV, says the MiG-17 (the real thing) is at its best in a low speed horizontal yo-yo, but is very limited in a vertical fight. Above 450 knots the controls freeze up since they are not hydraulically assisted. The stick is actually longer and sits higher than most aircraft to assist the pilot in overcoming the controls at high speed (doesn't work though, all the pilot, even a real strong one, can do is bend the stick). Remain between 300-400 knots and you can stay vertical better and out-turn anything.