The most successful small planes I have built for .010 and .020 engines have been more like motorgliders than anything else. A single wheel in the fuselage and a music wire skid on the nose makes for good landings. I first did this with an extended wingspan version of the Mayfly built from MAN plans in the early 70s.
ORIGINAL: BMatthews
ORIGINAL: vh2q
What do you folks think about landing gear on these little ones? I fly on my own hayfield, no asphalt, so it can be a little bumpy (the odd bit of sheep poop as well). Is it practical to land a plane this small on grass?
Models this small are totally useless with landing gear unless you fly from a dead smooth bare patch of dirt or off some form of pavement. Meanwhile they hold the model back in the air a lot.
But then again some models just don't look right without gear. So go with what your heart and eyes tell you.