Unix4. you are getting a lot of information, and much may well be a bit beyond your stage. Now, personally I don't like simulators for initial training. OTOH, after a few flights in a real trainer, you can certainly improve your skills in a simulator, if for no other reason, you know what you are trying to accomplish. Like learning to fly 1:1 scale if you are solo all the time, you are simply praticing mistakes. A good instructor is worth the time spent.
In any airplane there is very little time during any period, and especially in the approach and landing phase, where any one rule works ALL the time. Let's analyze a run-of-the-mill landing pattern.

Mentally place yourself ( actually the airplane but think on it) on the downwind leg directly across from yourself. Now is the time to slow to like 30-40% of the normal speed.
That means you throttle back, and hold the nose up with elevator. The airplane starts to slow. If you can trim in the proper back-pressure on the elevator that is fine. Otherwise learn to hold the back pressure. Remember at this time you may have a fair tailwind, so the airplane will be flyng on AIRSPEED, but your perception is GROUNDSPEED. You may think it is moving fast, yet the airplane is flying through the airmass and that airmass is moving downwind also, there fore the airspeed for lift is LESS than that speed that YOU see.
At about 30-40 degrees off the straight across point yuu roll into a bank to turn cross-wind. A square pattern is best to learn with but a rounded pattern is OK. When you start rolling, the lift vector rolls also, as it remains perpendicular to the lateral axis, wing tip to tip. Therefore the same angle-of-attack (lift vector) that kept you flying before the turn is less in the vertical leg. You will have to use a bit more elevator to keep the glide path as you wish. Then your machine will began to slow as you added a higher angle-of-attack to the wing. That induces additional lift, threfore more drag, the airspeed will slow and you have to add more throttle, albeit just a tad.
Now you are turning onto final and you are slower than on the downwind, as you are now into a headwind, which reduces the groundspeed. You are aiming to some point on your runway, and if the airplane seems to be losing ltitude, jazz some throttle up. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE A RISE IN ALTITUDE. Jazz the throttle up and down as you need it. You most likely will NOT be able to retrim, especially with the transmitters that have digital trim on the elevator. (They are terrible for elevator trim. Jus' Hate 'em Jus' hate 'em) So you need to be able to learn how to HOLD whatever pressure you need on final.

One other item: Maybe 2! as you start the landing itself, you will be coming back with the throttle. Be gentle. In reality as you pull back, while trying to touchdown, reducing throttle removes the accelerated airflow over the horizontal stabilizer, thus reducing the ability of the elevator to hold the wing in a landing attitude, thus you will continue to add another tad of UP. So many props get broken at that point as the new pilot-to-be releases the back pressure on the elevator about the same time he pulls the throttle back to touchdown. No need to try to patent such a maneuver as it gets done many times. BTDT

Don't forget the wind on the nose makes the airplane actually flying faster in the air mass, than apparent over the ground, so use the throttle for short blasts (just a tadd blast) and back - better to do it sevral short times than wait until you see the results of holding a long movement.
Good approaches and landings are the results of knowing what the airplane feels, being ahead of the natural hazzards that will attack the machine if YOU let them, and your not allowing the AIRPLANE to CONTROL YOU!

Don't worry much about running off the runway with a simulator. If you fly any decent Trainer, you will very likely never have such a problem and if grass it's much better.


This thread has a lot of good information from a lot of good fliers, mesh it all together, and fit it to work for YOU. Just remember that YOU are the CAPTAIN and that machine does what YOU want it to do. Don't take NO for an answer! Best of luck to you.