ORIGINAL: jester_s1
If you're not using rudder, you're really not controlling the plane. It sounds like you're flying out in a field which is great if you can. Chances are it doesn't matter how or where you land there. Flying on a regulation field one of the first goals of learning to fly RC is making straight and level shots down the runway, and then landing in the middle of said runway. I haven't seen anybody do it yet consistently without using rudder. When learning aerobatics, you'll rarely make perfectly straight loops without some rudder control, and uplines and downlines will rarely come out right either. Even in just flying ovals, the rudder lets you put the airplane exactly where you want it to be and then to keep it there.
*heh*
As allfat said...it's a little extreme to say "If you're not using rudder, you're really not controlling the plane." If the situation doesn't demand a change on the Yaw axis, there's no reason to use the rudder.
And it ABSOLUTELY "matters where you land" at the field I was at yesterday. Not sure what you mean by a "regulation field", since i'm unaware of any rule or regulation dictating the shape and size of a field, beyond minimum distances for safety purposes. It is, however, a paved (narrow) runway, with a flight line, fence, pit area, boundry lines, residential area, etc...in other words, the same sorts of constraints any other field might or might not have.
It just so happens that the approach didn't require overflying any of those...so i used it. Sat the plane down at the threshold, in the middle, and stopped well before the first "turnoff" area. in other words...they were all routine, normal, proficient landings.
Have I flown in other places that were far more demanding? Sure. Do the demands sometimes require a slip in a corsswind? Absolutely. Note, please...I made no assertion that slipping through a crosswind was somehow wrong or bad...indeed, I made clear I PREFER that method in scale flight. It's just something I choose not to do in RC flight, unless the situation requires it.
Again...I absolutely agree...mastery of the rudder is ESSENTIAL for becoming a truly competent pilot.
I simply maintain that many of the old saws about "you can't do this without rudder" simply aren't true.
ORIGINAL: Insanemoondoggie
Couldn't agree less.
What you've just said is that only those who INTENTIONALLY UNCOORDINATE their airplane are truly in control of it.
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You know, I looked over my post and be danged if I can see where I wrote that..
Or when you have a crosswind on landing , the guys that fly with rudder , can land the plane on the runway ,the ones that dont use rudder ,usually end up landing into the wind across the runway , which can be fun to watch ,as they do not really have control of the plane.
From coordinated flight, a yaw moment uncoordinates the airplane, by definition. You just told us that if you don't use rudder in a crosswind, you don't really have control of the plane. Thus:
What you've just said is that only those who INTENTIONALLY UNCOORDINATE their airplane are truly in control of it.
*shrug*
If we presume "X" to be the necessary correction factor to account for a crosswind:
Pilot A crabs his airplane X amount...flying it uncoordinated (simply meaning its direction of travel into the relative wind does not follow its nose)...such that the ground track is in line with the runway. He puts the airplane down at the threshold (dealing with sideloads on the gear if necessary), stops it short of the end, shuts down, calls it a flight.
Pilot B flies his airplane starting X degrees right or left of the runway threshold, maintaining coordinated flight, and allows the crosswind to bring his groundtrack to an intersection with the runway threshold at touchdown (dealing with sideloads on the gear if necessary), stops it short of the end, shuts down, calls it a flight.
Pilot C points his airplane X degrees right or left of the runway threshold, again maintaining coordinated flight, and flies a groundtrack in line with the runway. He puts the airplane down at the threshold (dealing with sideloads on the gear if necessary), stops it short of the end, shuts down, calls it a flight.
Are any one of those guys not in control? Of course not. And, admittedly, each of those 3 methods has its own challenges, benefits, drawbacks, and places. 2 of them, however, don't require the use of the rudder during the approach.
Is any one of them 'better" than the other? Obviously not, if they all result in safe operation, and safe recovery of the aircraft. (Any landing you can walk away from....)
Take gaRCfield's statement...He uses the rudder to kick the tail "inline" just before the plane touches down.
Is he in "less control" than someone who used the rudder all the way down the approach?
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Not using the rudder because you don't know how it works is, indeed, sacrificing some control of the aircraft. Those who don't use rudder due to lack of understanding are, indeed, not in full control of their airplane. They've given up 1/4 of the available means they have to control the airplane.
To say, however, that rudder MUST be used to be 'in control" is a fallacy however. It's akin to saying ailerons MUST be used to remain in control. If the airplane's doing what you want it to do, and you're capable of maintaining that condition...you're in control.