ORIGINAL: dick Hanson
The Showtime takeoff "character" Bubba, is usually due to the restricted AOA from the relatively long tail wheel setup-
At least the stock setup does this . Mine did the same thing and I ran into this long ago on other "flat" landing gear setups - (control line stunt models)
A small foamie which sets flat will even do the same thing. They will hug the ground then pop into the air
The plane simply can not rotate to a good takeoff angle till speed builds then it "pops" off the ground, mains first , tailwheel last.
Typically -simply lenghtening the main gear or shortening the tail wheel will fix this.
The "dead spot " on approach is again rather typical of short wing long tail setup where the model can be held controllable in a high sink but until flying speed is rebuilt the sink rate will simply increase as the pitch control is added . Power added , has to be huge to overcome the sink.
The best approach is to add power first then add elevator. The model will accelerate more quickly if it is at the lower angle of attack.
Maybe this was not exactly what happened in your case -but it is a typical scenerio
Interesting note Dick. You are so close to what happened you should be a mind reader.
I had read earlier in this thread where someone thought the same thing and used another tailwheel setup to lower the tail and that cured his takeoff issue. I never even remembered it until you brought it up. For the landing, I was nose high but not that much, just going into the flair trying to stop the sink rate and it now sounds like I did not add enough power, soon enough and the landing was somewhat faster than usual when it quit flying and pancaked. I was sinking more than normal and recognized it but I guess I did not try to overcome it quick enough and in the proper sequence.
So based on everyone's comments I'm thinking it was pilot error, basically just me simply not understanding the characteristics of the plane.
Since yesterday I have re-thought my position on the plane and I really did love the way it flew so I may just go and buy another. To get the parts to repair the damaged one would cost more than buying a whole new one besides the LHS has one on discount for $215.99 which is not bad at all.