ORIGINAL: bkdavy
And one more thing I have noticed. Cold air has a lot less lift than warm air. Just ask my Twists' nose!
Not true! Cold air is denser than warm air (PV=nRT), and consequently provides MORE lift. However, it is still dependent on air speed. Denser air will increase the drag on the plane, causing it to lose airspeed sooner in the approach.
Cold air also makes our engines run better, as we get more air into the mix, which is why we have to richen the mixture in cold air.
Now back on topic. Yes working weight is better, but there are times when you have to add some small weights on the tail to balance the aircraft. I like to use the lead strip weights and just tape them on with packing tape until the plane performs the way I want to. Then its just a matter of moving equipment or adding weight to adjust it to that point.
Nominally what you're looking for is for the plane to adopt a very slight nose down angle when the throttle is reduced to idle and no elevator inputs. The nose down angle should be somewhere in the vicinity of the planes nominal glide angle (1 or 2 degrees down). Now on approach, just a little up elevator is all thats required to hold the plane level. With this setup, you can easily get the plane into a nose level attitude while it is sinking to the runway. As you practice, don't ever try to push the nose down to get the plane onto the runway. This just adds airspeed, and complicates the problem. Pull more up elevator to reduce speed, and the plane will sink down. Add throttle to increase altitude (actually bring the plane back onto glide path from below). Use small blips of the throttle and let it off so as not to add too much airspeed. Before long you'll be landing like a pro.
Brad