From the Field -- Avios MiG-17 90mm EDF Flight Review (The RC Geek)

[@jettechdonatkins]

anther great review from a true master builder and pilot,thanks Chris!

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks Don!

[@mikessi]

Excellent flight and touchdown. Thanks for doing your part to help HK pay the fine.

[@darrenxw3495]

G'day!! Beautiful looking Mig,great to see an honest review of a plane. Nice flying and that afterburner is absolutely brilliant!!! I'm about to buy my first edf and I hope you post to Australia because I really want one. Have a good one from Oz :)

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you! Shipping to Australia is no problem. 😊 Just allow some extra time based on the current Covid situation.

[@NICHOLASRGLORIOSO]

ROCK ON DUDE!! Nice Video! Well explained, great flying as Always! Looks like I will be coming back to Esco Aug 27th for a few weeks. Lol. Hope to fly with ya bro!

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks! Hit me up when you’re in town, I’m sure we can make a flying day happen.

[@NICHOLASRGLORIOSO]

The RC Geek thanks Chris! :)

[@ER_666_]

What a landing!👍

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks! 😊

[@nate9755]

Very nice edf! It looks great in the air!

[@Thercgeek]

It sure does!

[@bad65dad]

The best landing I've seen very nice flying

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks!

[@bad65dad]

@@Thercgeek your welcome

[@mrt10352]

Yes. Chris, yes it was. Lol. I love mine. I have boxed it back up for the summer however.

[@mikebird8290]

Hi sir i really enjoy your videos. Full of great information we need to know to HELP US ALL get full advantage out of the plane in question. Thanks sir

[@Thercgeek]

Thank you so much!

[@tomheetderks9997]

No one ever mentions the sound!!! I spotted for a guy flying this at a show, and man..that crazy howling sound is the best, a shame the QC wasn't better on this, or I'd snag one for sure.

[@Thercgeek]

yeah, it does sound good.

[@JohnVHRC]

Love mine! Most people cant get used to having to cycle the gear switch once before flight to make the gear operate right. Its odd.

[@Thercgeek]

It’s extremely odd. Removing the gear sequencer completely solved that issue. 😊

[@airbus7379]

Nice review and flying Chris :)

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks man!

[@gehanameresekere1345]

Very nice flying.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks!

[@HoundDogMech]

Chris my friend would or could you PLZ ask your Editor to place any lower third text above the progress line so when one has to stop the video to read it the progress lind doesn't obscure the text thanks Nice to see someone tell it like it really is and not just white wash a review.

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks for the heads up on that and my apologies. I do all my own editing, so I’ll be sure to keep that in mind on future uploads.

[@HoundDogMech]

@@Thercgeek No need for apologies, every one does it. Only us slow readers have to pause and rewind so we don't miss anything. CRS don't helpeither. Thanks for Listening.

[@shannonshull6989]

Thanks Chris, I have learned so much from your videos and love that you share your setups. I'm relatively new to flight (1yr now), and I hate breaking parts because set-up was off, etc. I love the MIG 15/17 style, particularly this artic 90mm but Im hearing a lot of hesitation and issues I don't want to deal with that, especially when spending $400-500 on a model. A shame Avios didnt get it right with a simpler retract setup and better quality servos. I guess I will pass on this edf for now and go with the blue angles e flight F18 if its ever put on sale. It seems like a pretty solid model.

[@Thercgeek]

It’s a nice airframe and the retracts themselves are quite nice. What holds this one back is the quality of the servos, they are marginal at best.

[@janne-pekkahuuhtanen4691]

Hi there, Very nice scale flying -and I like the AB too. I bought my MiG about three years ago, but have been too lazy to make it fly...embarrassing... Greetings from Finland, Janne Huuhtanen

[@louispetherbridge9754]

Hi there, just come across your review and love it , have you tried taking off / landing on grass as here in the UK there are very few places that have a hard runway .

[@Thercgeek]

Unfortunately, I have not. Everything here in SoCal is paved.

[@fdm225]

just used your link to get one of the remaining units out of the warehouse. could you expand on what it is to "reclock the server arms"? I have not heard of that before and want to make sure I am not missing something basic. great review dave

[@Thercgeek]

Thanks! So the servo arm clocking relates to the arms being positioned similarly on the servos left to right. I experienced the servo arms being off by a spline or two on one side vs the other which resulted in asymmetric movement. So, I had to reposition them.

[@gavstreet8976]

Awesome review just curious are you going to do a review on the eflite su30

[@Thercgeek]

Yup! I’m working on that now so hopefully will post in a couple weeks. The SU is a sweet ride!

[@gavstreet8976]

The RC Geek awesome Super excited I’m really looking into getting that plane and your video is gonna probably make me want it even more

[@Thercgeek]

So glad it’s helpful for you!

[@gavstreet8976]

The RC Geek :)

[@vintageracer3734]

Hello Chris. What Pilot did you use in the model? I finally ended up with one of these, and as I am sure you are aware, doesn't included a Pilot. Thanks.

[@Thercgeek]

I used the 1/8 scale bust from my folks at jethangar.com

[@vintageracer3734]

@@Thercgeek OK, perfect, I will order one soon. Servos first, flaps were INOP, and others acting un-airworthy!

[@Thercgeek]

@@vintageracer3734 good call on the servos. The stock servos are not very good in this one unfortunately. :(

[@victorrcjets7660]

Did you have it in the box for a while or what? Sold out for a while now. Stock power system? I love your door mods!

[@Thercgeek]

This was a model I purchased and had it together but ran into issues with the doors, etc. which delayed filming. Then we filmed this review and I had to delay the post due to other priorities and obligations needing to post first. Not my most timely, but figured I’d still out the info out there. It’s a cool model and with a little better quality control, it could be great!

[@Thercgeek]

Forgot to mention, this is the bone stock power system.

[@src2920]

Hi Chris, Did you change the servos? Can you please suggest if FW Hawk metal servos might work. Thanks

[@Thercgeek]

My friend has the airplane now and he put freewing metal gears throughout. Any servos will be better than what this comes with I hate to say.

[@wtfmimshag]

If you badger HK hard enough they'll ship you out a box of nice servos. At least they did 12 months ago lol. You know much about the power system? I was sufficiently impressed that i grabbed a spare and put it in a freewing venom, the thing hauls. The door sequencer is a pain, i ended up sequencing everything through an extra channel on the RX, but the mechanical solution is fantastic.

[@Thercgeek]

I don’t know much about the power system, but I was pretty impressed by it. Honestly, I really liked the looks of the airplane, but I didn’t want to go through the hassle of replacing all of the servos not to mention HK’s customer support. 😉 So, ended up giving the model to a friend of mine.

[@whippexeboof3389]

Do you recommend this as a first jet? I got it from my club president and im right around a intermediate pilot. I can fly without stabalization and have the parkzone SE5a (Really old model) that im flying. Its pretty tricky.

[@Thercgeek]

There are better choices for a first jet than this one. The eflite viper jet is hard to beat as a first jet in all honesty.

[@normleonard52]

Hey Chris....great review and flying as always. Just curious. Do you think the issues you had with this plane are a one off type deal or an ongoing problem with this particular plane. Wouldn't mind having one, but I was just curious. It's a pretty cool plane overall and looks like it flies well......of course with you on the sticks they all look good....lol. That being said it did look like it's a pretty good flyer.

[@Thercgeek]

Honestly, I think the issues are systemic to HK unfortunately. I’m not the only one who has had QC issues on this airplane. That being said, when it’s all together it’s a really cool looking model that flies really well.

[@s737500]

The gear sequencer is odd. But all you need to do is put the gear switch in the up position, turn the radio on, connect the flight battery, then set the gear switch back to down. The gear doors will cycle once, and it is set for flight.

[@burlingtonfilms]

I'm thinking of running 2x4000 in parallel, do you think it would be too heavy? I only have 4000 6S batteries

[@Thercgeek]

I flew this one with a 6s 7000mah pack, so I would think it would do fine.

[@burlingtonfilms]

@@Thercgeek Awesome thanks for your reply. Do you still fly this jet? Any problems in the long run?

[@Thercgeek]

You know, I don’t have the airplane anymore. A friend of mine has it now. 😊. The one thing I would say is to keep an eye on the servos. They’re not the greatest.

[@radioflitercairplanes1715]

Greaseeeer ! 😎

[@RCFlyBy911]

Finally found all the information I was looking for here on this MiG 👊🏼 This is how it should be if you are going to create a vid about a EDF Jet. Thank you ! Think it’s been almost two years since purchase of this and ordered the Freewing digital hybrid servos. I did manage to get the door sequence to operate as was intended 👍🏼. Now , with this info you provided ( again !! Thank you ) I have a good starting point !! I’m really getting into your vids 💪🏼 you give all the #’s and that is what is important!!! Not .. oh” it flies on rails , a must have in the hanger ... looks great in the air 😂😂😂 use my link to get yourself one

[@Thercgeek]

I’m so glad you found the vid helpful! 😊

[@RCFlyBy911]

The RC Geek Totally ! Appreciation Chris ,

[@pilotimodele4598]

👏👏👏...👌

[@shelbyseelbach9568]

I would have bought this plane if it had been available with just the airframe and the retracts. It WAS available in a kit version like I'm talking about, but for some reason it didn't include some of the plastic components needed for a complete plane and the parts weren't available separately, it also didn't include the retracts which were available but so expensive as to make no sense at all, if I'm not mistaken. It's been a while, I can't remember the exact situation (I think this is correct), just that it was ridiculous Hobby King nonsense.

[@Thercgeek]

Well, for what it’s worth this model has been upgraded and is now available through banana hobby including a turbine version in addition to an edf version.

[@shelbyseelbach9568]

@@Thercgeek I was absolutely unaware of that, my friend.

[@shelbyseelbach9568]

@@Thercgeek There is no EDF version of this plane listed on banana hobby website, either currently or discontinued.

[@Thercgeek]

Well shoot, sorry about that! I could have sworn they had an edf version. Let me check if they have one coming or if it’s only the turbine version they’ll be carrying.

[@shelbyseelbach9568]

@@Thercgeek What's wrong with you, getting my hopes up like that? LMFAO!🤣🤣

[@rkelley8475]

But how can we get one

[@Thercgeek]

Hopefully HK will have them back.

[@amasat71]

👍👍👍

[@williewideback]

Why won't they improve on this model it has awesome potentials!

[@Thercgeek]

It has huge potential! With some better quality components and some better QC, it would be fantastic.

[@williewideback]

@@Thercgeek Nothing against the current Co. but I'm hoping another company introduce this model such Freewing etc. with better more quality servo's and landing gears just to mention a few

[@Thercgeek]

I hear you. There is a turbine version of this that has surfaced. So, it may get new life from another distributor.

[@wtfmimshag]

@@williewideback Sequencing and controllers aside, the retracts on this thing are absolutely bomb proof. You'll tear a wing off before you bend or snap one of these things lol. The real crime is how much HK were charging for the kit version, which would have been the way to go.

[@williewideback]

mshagg yes but this plane should come out da box with no issues or any modifications needed

[@hechtspeed]

Gettin miggy with it........wooowww #allthedad lolol

[@Thercgeek]

😂. Gotta embarace myself and kids somehow, right? 🤪

[@EDF_FANatic]

Looks great, shame hobbyking dgaf about quality control.

[@matthewjames2649]

Why do they make this make with an OutRunner you would think it would be an in runner that comes with the kit.. rackin frackin snapping kraken.. it doesn't matter what rc you got.. 7m or less..

[@Thercgeek]

It really depends. Outrunner or inrunner, both can work well in an edf. It’s ultimately about matching the motor kv to the number of cells and the fan to get the best setup.

[@matthewjames2649]

@@Thercgeek I was thinking about energy consumption.. isn't the internet or more efficient

[@Thercgeek]

Again, it’s about having a matched system. Ultimately, inrunners are typically better at higher rpms.

[@MrMerlinPower]

Hahaha ventral performance anxiety!!!!

[@Thercgeek]

🤪

[@WarbirdFan66]

odd, and with a few points missing in my opinion, you usually do more thorough reviews

[@Thercgeek]

It happens. It’s worth checking my write ups in those cases as I try to ensure anything I missed in the vid gets covered there.

[@narupol4260]

[@ponyboy5.0coyotewild63]

Outside of plane is nice. Internal all total junk !!!!

[@Thercgeek]

Yeah, the servos are marginal at best. The retracts are decent as well as the power system. The servos are what really hold this one back from being so much better.

[@zubuxstein]

Horrible airplane

[@Thercgeek]

Actually, the airframe is pretty good, it’s the quality of the components that hold this one back imo.